New Pictures

I am going to post more pics very soon..maybe today!

Christmas, Family, Fun

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I know that we sure did. It seems that in our household Christmas is a week long celebration. It began on Saturda, Dec. 18 when the boys received an early presents from Santa...a trampoline with an enclosure. Santa actually come over Saturday afternoon and set it all up for them..I guess it was too big to fit into the sleigh. It was too cold that nighSunday, Dec. 19...we had Christmas as my dad's house in Carlinville...we then celebrate Christmas with Chris' family on Christmas Eve day. His whole immediate family came and we had great food, lots of social time and tons of presents! The morning of Christmas Eve the boys got up and we had already put out all the presents for his family...they were so excited to see all the presents and went around and asked who each present was for. Once everyone arrived and we had lunch, we went to open presents and all the kids were sitting in front of the tree waiting patiently. Within minutes, it turned into a mad house of present and gift wrap...I don't even remember what everyone got. There were about 15 people opening presents and it got pretty crazy for those 25 minutes or so that it took to open all the presents. The boys loved their gifts and were so excited...
We stayed home Christmas Eve..the boys went to bed at a decent hour..they were very excited for Santa to come..so it took a whle to get them calmed down. Christmas morning the boys actually slept in a bit. It gave us time to get showers and dressed before they woke up. They woke up about 8 and we went downstairs and saw that Santa had eaten the cookies and the reindeer had eaten most of their food...but they made a bit of a mess.
We opened presents and then loaded up and went to my mom's for Christmas breakfast. Presents were opened there and the boys got to play a little with their presents before breakfast. We then headed home to rest before leaving again for my aunt's house for dinner. At my aunt's house, the boys really loved my cousin's 10 month old baby. They just made over him like crazy! They wanted to hold him and thought he was the funniest thing...
So, that was our christmas week. We had a great time and the boys had so much fun with all their cousins and toys!
We are very fortunate to have such great family and such a warm and loving relationship with each one of them...

ICE..Ugh!

Two posts in two days....dont' expect this every week. I did not think that the roads and driveways would be too bad. It looked as if everything had started to melt as I headed out the door this morning. Boy was I wrong...as I was driving my car to Taylor's Tire and Auto to get my car tuned up and tires rotated, I applied my brakes and ...nothing! My car slid right into the building leaving a large, large dent in the shape of my car in the metal building. Of course, I just sat there with my hand over my mouth. Finally, I put it into reverse and backed out of the little hole I had just created for my car. I put it into park and got out..almost falling down. Apparently, the lot was a sheet of ice! Anyway, it was 7:15 and they don't open until 8, so I waited until 8 and called and told them the obvious...I am sure they saw it as they drove up today. My insurance company is dealing with it and I am just thankful it was only tires on the other side of that wall, and not some expensive car equipment!
Lesson Learned!
Just thought I would share this with everyone. I am still a bit shook about it all.

First Blog

So...this is my first blog. So bear with me. As Christmas nears, my kids are getting so anxious, they have begun asking me,"Is Santa coming -night?" I have to continue to say, "Soon." They then answer with,"Monanday?" (that is monday in their language) I then say, "no, in a week," as if I am expecting them to know what a week means...they then reply, "a week?" I then answer, "yes"
This conversation goes on every evening after dinner and baths. Owen and Peyton are so pumped, I love it! It is such a blessing to see Christmas through the eyes of a three year old. Actually 2 three year olds. In one just year, their interest in Christmas has grown 200 %. They wanted to put the tree up at Halloween, but we were able to hold back until Thanksgiving. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we put the tree up. Their eyes were so big when we finally turned on the lights, the glow of the ornaments and glitter on the tree engulfed their attention.

Boxes:
For those of us who are parents, we know the fun and excitement of boxes. At our house, we actually used a refrigerator box as furniture for about 2 months. The boys played in it for weeks and weeks. They just loved it! We finally were able to get rid of it in early spring. Just a few days ago...we received a package in the mail. I opened the box up and inside was another box with a gift in it. I took the gift upstairs and left the large box downstairs in the kitchen. I came back down and heard fighting...very common in my house. I came downstairs and saw my two boys fighting over who could sit in the box and drive and who had to sit on the floor outside the box and be passenger. Well, Owen won the battle and Peyton had to sit next to the box and be the passenger. So I sat behind the box and was the "baby". THe boys loved that!
The box is still in the house and its been used as a car, cart, baby stroller, table...etc. The possibilities are endless.
That's it from here... for now...
Everyone..have a great Thursday.