First snow

We had our first real snowfall yesterday so we woke up to snow on the ground this morning.  Kira could not wait to get outside and play!  They both were dressed and out the door before 9 a.m. and back in by about 9:30. ;)  We had some yummy hot cocoa and just hung out all day playing with the new stuff and relaxing.  I didn't even get out of my PJ's all day.  Yippee!

Christmas 2009

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. We went to Kyle's mom's house on Christmas Eve for dinner and opening presents there. The girls were so blessed again this year. We had asked Kay for a Wii as a family gift so that's what we got. It's been fun trying that out but I have to admit, I'm sore in strange places from playing it.

Christmas morning the kids got up about 7:30 a.m. We made them wait while we took pictures. They were so excited to see if Santa came! They walked in and it was so fun to see the look on their faces. They got a Cinderella castle that we had seen in Disneyworld. Kira told someone later that we couldn't get it in Disneyworld because it was too expensive but that Santa knew she wanted it so he went there to get it for her. They wanted to sit and play with the castle for awhile before even opening any other gifts. They got some fun stuff but both of them loved the new baby dolls they got.

That afternoon we went to Kyle's dad's house for lunch and more presents. It was such a wonderful, magical day. The next morning I went out shopping. That evening we went back to Kay's house to spend time with more family that was in town. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. Merry Christmas!

Sugar cookies for Santa

Every year we make a bunch of sugar cookies for Santa. That's what I say anyway, I know that I am the one who really likes eating them. The kids love to help and decorate them. I sure hope Santa likes frosting and sprinkles.






Frankie is our Elf that came to visit us this year. We had met his cousin Freddy in Wisconsin and kira asked if he had a friend who could come to our house. Frankie watched the girls all the time. It was so cute when Kira said goodbye to him on Christmas Eve. She got a little teary saying she would miss him till next year.

Preschool party

Kira had a birthday party for Jesus at her preschool that all the family was invited to. They had cake and sang a couple songs. It was so cute.


Kira is quite a performer. Some of the other kids were just looking around but she was singing her heart out.

Getting ready for Christmas

We finally got our Christmas tree this year. We waited until we got back from Wisconsin. I had an artificial tree for years but Kyle likes live ones so we've gotten live ones the last few years. Since it was so close to Christmas, I told Kyle just to get a decent, smaller one but he came home with this beauty. It's huge! It smells so good and looks so pretty. The kids helped decorate a little but they had already done their little ones in their room so weren't too interested.



Every year we do a gingerbread house. Let me just say that I will never be a cake or cookie decorator. I do such a poor job but it doesn't really matter because the kids just love putting all the candy on (and eating the majority of it). It turned out ok and they really had fun doing it.


This was Kira most of the time. Her fingers were either in the frosting bowl or the candy bowl eating it.
Such fun stuff getting ready. Most of the kids' shopping is done but I still have a little left to do for the grown-ups. Then the wrapping begins! I like to try and get it done before the week of Christmas so I can just enjoy the fun of it. We'll see...

Kids are growing up

Kaylee finally got her "big girl bed"! She has never once tried to climb out of her crib so she's been in there for a long time. We finally decided to order bunk beds for the kids but only put up the bottom one in Kaylee's room for now. I took her to pick out her new bedding and she was so excited! She went to sleep just fine the first night but didn't want to take her nap the next day (she's asleep for a nap now though - whew!). She loves her new bed and now I just need to find some decorations and window coverings to match and make her room like a big girl room. My little baby is getting so big!


And speaking of big... The other day Kira said her tooth hurt while she was eating her lunch. I was afraid maybe she had a cavity or something so I asked her to show me where. She took a bite of her chip and pointed to her front tooth. I pushed on it and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it move just a little. It was barely moving so I'm sure it will be some time before it gets really loose but it was definitely wiggling. I just can't believe she's ready for that milestone already. I think it's early. I told Kyle he's the tooth guy because it makes me way too squeamish. She thinks it's pretty cool and was excited to hear all about how the tooth fairy will come to get her tooth when it comes out.

Family Fun in Wisconsin

We had a wonderful visit with my family Dec. 4-8th. We stayed at Ryan and Michelle's house in Wisconsin. My mom and dad and Mitch and Kimberly all flew in from Utah. The main reason for the get together is that Ryan had tickets for the Green Bay Packers game for Monday night football and invited Kyle, Mitch and my dad to come. Well, I just informed them that the kids and I were coming for the weekend too and then my mom and Kimberly decided to come too. It was great!

The first day we went to a Children's Museum and it was so cool. The kids could have spent all day there. They were so excited to get back and see Grandma and Grandpa though.



That evening we went to a drive-through light show. At the end, we got out and saw Santa and his reindeer. My girls wouldn't go near Santa this year either. Maybe next year... it was still so fun seeing it all.

Kira and Olivia had a ball playing together all weekend. Actually, they all played together so nicely. We celebrated Christmas together on Sunday. Nice dinner, games, cookies, presents. What could be better?


Modeling some of the white elephant gifts.


Then it was time to decorate cookies. Yummy!


They had so much fun opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

On Monday the ladies took the kids to Monkey Joes while the guys went to the game. I had never been to anything like that before but it was great! They had tons of inflatable slides, bouncy houses, etc. I wish they had something like that around where we live. The kids played for hours and had a blast!

During our visit, the kids got to meet "Freddy". The Elf that was living at their cousin's house. (it's the Elf on a Shelf) Kira decided to ask Freddy if he could ask Santa if an elf could come to our house too. Well, the day after we got home Freddy's cousin, "Frankie", appeared on the kitchen table. Kira was so amazed! She kept saying "I can't believe he's really here. It sure it good I asked Freddy to have a friend come to our house." Each morning first thing she has wanted to come downstairs to find Frankie. She had to call her cousins and tell them that Frankie is now visiting our house. It's so cute to see the magic of the season through a child's eyes. I love it!!!

Thanks again to Ryan and Michelle for hosting us all in their lovely home. We had such a good time seeing the family for a quick weekend. Love you all!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Kyle took the girls to the Daddy Daughter Dance at the Festival of Trees this year. They were SO excited to go with dad to the "ball". This was the first year that Kaylee got to go and she was thrilled. There were some other neighbor girls that went so they had a wonderful time. It's so exciting that it's this time of year already! I think I'm already getting more excited for Christmas than they are. Although, they've looked through the ads that have come and want nearly EVERYTHING. I've had to explain that Santa can't bring all that they want so we'll see how they react.

We got corsages for the girls and they thought it was so cool!

So gorgeous!
And the nails done to match.
On another note, looks like Kira will be having to have surgery to get tubes in her ears and her adnoids out. They did a standard hearing test at her school and she didn't pass. After more tests and a visit with the ENT, he said that she's got fluid and they want to try this surgery to see if it helps. It's just been such a shock because she has never had ear infections or had any indication she had trouble hearing. We have a history of hearing issues both on Kyle's and my side so it could be hereditary and we are just hoping that this surgery will help the issue and it's not something else. So, we also have Kaylee scheduled for tests in a couple weeks so that if she has problems too, we can catch it sooner.

We have been so lucky to have such normally healthy kids so I suppose it's just a hurdle to get past and hope it improves from there.

Otherwise, I'm doing really good after my surgery and healing up. We're looking forward to Thanksgiving next week then getting together in WI with my family the first of Dec. I LOVE this time of year!!

Getting older stinks - part 2

Well, here we go again. I'm going in for surgery on Friday for my gallbladder this time. I swear since I turned 40 this year, I feel like I'm falling apart. I've not been feeling good for awhile but it finally dawned on me what it might be so I went in and had some tests done. They said it's kind of an optional surgery at this point but I figured since I've already had one done this year and pretty much met my insurance deductible, I may as well get it done. Hopefully it will help me feel better and I can get back on the exercise and get in better shape.

We found out the car will take 2-3 weeks to get fixed but they're not going to total it. They almost may as well because they're replacing so much all along the passenger side. At least we've got a rental and everyone is fine so all is good. I think that van has just been bad luck since we got it. Broken into, transmission replaced, accident.... hopefully that's it!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Halloween 2009

We went to Curtis Orchard again this year to pick out our pumpkins. We usually just get some from up front but it seemed like they didn't have a great selection so we decided to make the walk back to the pumpkin patch to see if there was any more to choose from.

Not too much. They were pretty picked over and most that were left were bruised but we did find some good ones out of the bunch to bring home.

Kira had her preschool Halloween party on Weds. She was sad that Kaylee didn't get to stay for the party this year like we did last year but I think they had a great time.
It's time to carve the pumpkins! The girls were so excited to starts doing it. Last year Kaylee wouldn't hardly touch them but this year she dug right in and was so helpful getting all the seeds out. For the first time, I tried getting all the seeds out and roasting them. I did a batch with cinnamon and sugar and another one that was salty. They both were so yummy!




Kyle and I went to an adults only party again this year at a friend's house. The kids liked seeing our costumes this year. We had a really fun time at the party.

On Halloween, we took the kids tailgating before the Illinois game (I didn't go to the game so I could do all the Halloween stuff). It was pretty cold so most of the kids sat in our friend's van and watched a movie. It was fun hanging out with everyone.

We got the kids dressed up and went to Grandpa and Grandma's house to show them their costumes. Kira said "Kaylee, look at this"
"No, I don't want to!"
Who is that??
Silly Grandpa!!
We went to a party at a neighbor's house and all the kids went trick-or-treating together from there. We ran into Santa in front of a house. They thought that was so cool! Kaylee kept saying "I like Santa because he is so cute".

We had such a fun and busy Halloween. The only drawback was that the day before, I got hit in the van while driving home. A teenage boy ran through a stop sign (he said he brakes weren't working - yeah, right). Thankfully, we were all ok but now it's just the inconvenience of having to get the van fixed and all that.

Hope all our family and friends enjoyed the holiday too! Now, on to Thanksgiving and Christmas already. Wow...