Visit from Uncle Aaron and Auntie Stephanie

Camden played Wii with Uncle Aaron...Thanks for helping get him to level 3!

Happy 4th Birthday Riley

Riley's Birthday was a Blast!!! 7 kids and 8 adults met at Pizza Hut at 10:30 a.m. on December 26th for Pizza, gifts, and fun...then the party moved to Regal cinemas where we got a private booth tour, reserved seating and a private excort to our seats for Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquall.

Merry Christmas!!!

Cookies for Santa

Camden enjoyed putting cookies out for Santa and making sure all of the reindeer had a carrot to eat!

Pony Rides at the Carriage House 2009

Carriage House

A local Hotel put out a family fun day with Santa and it happend to fall when my parents were visiting! We waited in line forever, but it was worth it for the kids...We met Camden's friend Jaden there, and the boys were pumped about the characters....I think they had about 20 of them walking around!

Girl's Day

Riley's Friend Kimberly has a December birthday as well...so the girls met at McDonald's and made crafts, ate cheddar popcorn and played while the moms sat and chat...Three hours later, we were all still having fun!

Mom's Day Out

A local church youth group hosted a free babysitting service at our local firehouse so that parents could have time to prep for the holidays! The activities included: watching Polar Expres, eating popcorn, drinking hot cocoa, coloring, making various crafts, and a visit from Santa! When I walked in to pick up the kids, Riley and Anna were on Santa's lap (apparently they had been sitting there for about 10 minutes) both sulking...It was so funny! Riley is not a huge fan of Santa's, so I was suprised to see her on his lap...after she saw me (and the camera) she warmed up a little. Here are the pictures...

First Snow Day December 11th, 2009

Camden and Riley could not wait to go out and play in the snow; even though it was FRIDGID! So They got bundled up and I watched them from my warm entry way. They lasted about 5 minutes. I think it took longer to put on the snow clothes than anything else about this adventure!!!

The Sugarplum Ball

The Sugarplum Ball is a Father-Daughter ball that is held every December. It is a very formal affair, and very much suited for Princess Riley. Riley and Kevin went with Riley's friend Anna and her Daddy, Joe. Here are some photos that I took before Riley and Daddy left.

Happy Holidays!!!

From our family to yours...Have a very Merry Christmas.

Hair cut

So I went to have my hair done on Tuesday and ended up having my head shaved!!! hahaha! Not really shaved, but cut a lot shorter than I like; or am comfortable with. I have given it a week, but I am frusterated, because I can no longer curl it with curlors...for those of you reading this post that may not understand girl hair (you know who you are)...that means the hair is not trained yet to accept the curl. It totally sucks! I think I should be fine by Christmas, thank goodness! The cut is not bad, so I shall post some photos of me soon.

Men in the Kitchen

Camden was insisting on eating steak for lunch the other day, and since I had it thawed in the refrigerator, he was determined to cook it right that minute. "Mom, is the oven hot?" "No Camden, it is not turned on." I replied. Camden then proceeded over to the oven, opened it, and placed the steak in the oven, pkg and all! "What are you doing, Camden?" I asked. "Cooking the steak for lunch." He replied. I couldn't help but giggle. I had to explain that the steak was for dinner and that Dad would be sad if Camden ate all of the steak up. We worked out that he and Dad could cook dinner together that night. Here are some great shots of the men doing the cooking!

Halloween in December

So I had been telling the kids we would carve our halloween pumpkins since September...and we never had. In my defense, I really was not looking forward to the slimy guts; and I knew the kids would not like it much either. But I held on to my every word and since our pumpkins were still good, we carved Halloween pumpkins December 2nd! As suspected, Camden only wanted to cut the pumpkin and got very frustrated when his design was not perfect. Riley however, really got into it...she was very determined and focused with her pumpkin carving.

Advent Craft

The tree is up, and the reindeer are ready for Santa!!! This year I wanted to celebrate Christmas throughout the month of December. I found this great craft in one of my parent magazines. For each child I purchased 1 pkg of 12 red bags, 1 pkg of 12 green bags, 24 clothespins, and 3.25 yards of ribbon or rope. I numbered each bag from 1-24, and then filled each with items such as hot cocoa pkgs, candy cane, notebooks, pads of paper, small toys, etc... each bag contains less than 1$ worth of items. The newfound tradition in our home is that the kids must be in pajamas and ready for bed before 7:00 p.m. and sitting in front of the Christmas tree before opening the days treat. I have also added that the treats are just that, TREATS. If I hear complaining or fighting, or if the kids do not say thank you, then I will open all of the other gifts and keep them for myself. We have also, read the story of baby Jesus, bought gifts for kids from the angel tree, read books about winter, watched Christmas movies, and enjoyed quite a few cups of hot cocoa.

Men and Their Vehicles

I think it all starts at a young age...the passion for cars and trucks! Here is Camden and Kevin playing with one of Kevin's childhood Hotwheel cities.