Happy New Year's Eve

We are enjoying a night @ home with the boys! We are going to play games & snack on honey/brown sugar Lil' Smokies, chips & dip & hot chocolate chip cookies! We have air horns & confetti poppers ready for midnight. Our neighbors are usually out so it is fun for the boys! We'll see who actually lasts that long!

We hope 2008 is a year of good health & happiness for each of you & your families!

Happy New Year!

Random tidbits

A few random things we have enjoyed/experienced in the last few days.

Now that our Christmas cards have gone out, I can share some of my favorite photos from our November photo shoot with our photographer Chris Harder.

Why is it that the day after Christmas I always have this sudden urge to start purging closets, cupboards, drawers, etc...? Maybe it is because all of the new presents need to go somewhere & there just isn't any more room! I have cleaned my closet, the boys drawers, my scrapbook room, the cereal/can cupboard, junk drawers etc... It feels good & I think my house is 200 lbs. lighter.

I did some day after Christmas shopping! I hit Pier 1 & Target. Found some storage boxes for my wreaths, a few ornaments, & wrapping paper that was super cheap. I even managed to pick up two presents for next year.

Carter has FINALLY lost his 3rd tooth. It has been loose for about two months. We have heard about it daily & I have had to wiggle it each day just to "See" for Carter's sake. It has been a big deal for this boy! Lots of drama & tears. He wouldn't just pull it, then he'd get frustrated that it was still there. It is out & we are ALL happy. The tooth fairy came & left him $2.00.

The boys are loving the Wii. Amber,Kenny, my Mom & Dad stopped by for a quick visit last night & brought Tanner his birthday presents. Amber was a sucker & let Tanner open her gift early. It was the BMX Wii game. They have been enjoying that today! Thanks Amber.

Brody has a nasty cold, green snot & all. I know TMI! He does not feel well & you can tell. He is still on the move & into everything but he cries or whines while doing so. Poor baby!

In just about one month, I will be enjoying a scrapbook weekend @ the beach with friends. I can't wait!

Can I just say that I love the people @ Wal*MArt who look @ me like I am crazy & ask if all four of boys are mine. I want to say "No, I enjoy borrowing the neighbor kids when going to Wal*Mart"!

We are enjoying Dreyer's peppermint ice cream with Oreo cookies. It is a Christmas treat that we look forward to each year. Love that we are still enjoying it close to New Years.

We are also enjoying all of the Christmas cards/photos that everyone sent. Thank you! We love the updated pictures!

I was able to scrapbook with some friends last night! These were Friends from Memories! I met them while teaching classes there. I got there late, then it was time for dinner & then some other girlfriends stopped by the store to say hi(Hi Erin, Hi Jan, Hi Morgan). After chatting for an hour & a half, I got to work. I had completed one page by the time I left @ 11:50 pm. I was not very productive but I sure had a good time!

I am glad I started this Blog. It has been our family journal for the last 6 months. I created a Harry Potter page for Tanner last night (yes the one page I completed). They were the pictures I had taken when we went to get the book @ midnight when it was released. For some reason those pictures did not have dates on them. I was able to find the date on my blog because I had blogged about it. I wish I hadn't journaled the layout @ the store. I should have waited & used my blog entry. I had better details in the blog entry. So... if there are some of you who have not started your blog, do it now! I highly recommend it!

We are looking forward to New Year's Eve! We can't believe 2007 is almost over! It has been a great year filled with lots of memories! We hope you have a happy & safe New Year's Eve!

Merry Christmas to All - photos

P.S. you can place you cursor on the bottom part of each picture & the caption will show up & the picture will pause! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to All!

We hope you all had a a very Merry Christmas! We can't believe it's over. Our house says other wise. It seriously looks like a tornado ripped thru our house yesterday. Christmas day was fabulous. We started off @ home enjoying Santa gifts & opening presents. The boys kept yelling that this was the BEST Christmas ever. Everyone seemed pleased with all of their presents. Tanner received some new golf clubs & DS games that he has been wanting! Carter received some new golf clubs & games too! I think Garrett had the best morning ever. This was the first year that he really understood what what going on - LOL! He got a new bike with a new helmet. He kept saying "my new bike, my new bike". John bought him motorcycle PJ's & when he opened them he said "SO COOL". It was so cute & so much fun to watch! The magic of Christmas! Then Tanner commented that the only thing that Santa didn't bring them was a Wii. John & I told him that Santa doesn't always bring everything on our lists. Tanner was okay with that. John started to open his presents & Brody had bought him the Call of Duty 3 Wii game. The boys looked so confused. John told them that Santa must have misplaced one of the gifts. And sure enough, they found a big Santa bag that had the Wii, Nun chucks, & a few games in it. The boys went wild & were super excited & so LOUD! It was so fun to watch. We were on the road by 11 am & made it to my parents by 1 pm. We enjoyed my Moms yummy scones with carmel syrup & her homemade carmels- YUM! Once everyone was there, we had to get all of the family shots. It is becoming quite the chore with 10 grandchildren! We were able to get a few cute shots (at least everyone was looking @ the camera)! Then we opened presents & enjoyed the festivities with Grandma & Grandpa. Our next stop was Great Grandma & Grandpa's. More cousins, more food, & more memories were made.
My Grandma sent me home with her Nativity set yesterday! It made me get all teary eyed. They just don't have the energy to put up all of their decorations each year. They are beginning to down size their Christmas stuff. Receiving her manger scenes was the best gift I received yesterday (along with my license plate frame)! I have always loved her nativity. It is even more special because it was a gift to my Grandma from my Grandpa. I can't wait to put it out next year. It will have to go somewhere high enough that it can be protected :). Our wise men (2 of them) lost hands this season :) due to a curious 3 year old.

We truly hope your December has been a month filled with LOVE, PEACE & JOY. We hope you were able to enjoy all of the sights, sounds & smells that December holds!
P.S. Pictures will be another post!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

And the boys in our house are SO ready for Christmas. They are so excited, they can't stand it!!! I had to laugh tonight. They were so tired that it took them 5 minutes to fall asleep. I remember laying awake till 1 am with my siblings. We would all sleep in one room. We would talk & talk & wonder what Santa would leave us that year. Fun Memories! We enjoyed a great afternoon/evening with John's family. The boys loved the quad rides, frosting the sugar cookies (thanks Auntie Petra), playing with the cousins, & of course opening presents. The Reindeer food has been sprinkled on the lawn, cookies & milk have been left for Santa, & I was able to get all of our yearly pictures in front of the tree. I better get into bed so Santa will visit our house! Merry Christmas to each of you! We hope your day is fabulous & filled with the Christmas spirit.

5 days...

till Christmas! If you have children in the house or work retail, I am sure you are aware of this! My boys are giddy with excitement! Christmas can not come fast enough. My friend Camie gave us this cute picture frame where we can count the days down (thanks Camie). My boys don't let us forget & remind us when it needs to be changed.

A few highlights from the last few days:

-Garrett has learned how to ride a two wheeler @ the age of 3 1/2. I was a t the scrapbook store tonight so there weren't any cars in the garage. John said he found Garrett out there riding his bike in circles ( without training wheels) with a huge smile on his face. He is so excited.

- Garrett went ice skating today on a preschool field trip. He did really well & was skating by himself @ the end of our session.

-One more day of school for the older boys.

-My shopping is done WOOT-WOOT!

-We have lots of wrapping left to do!

- John is on vacation till the New Year.

-Lots of holiday parties @ the school.

Are you ready for Christmas? What's left on your to do list?

Family Christmas Party!

We sure did enjoy our annual family Christmas party with the Shores. Mom & Dad hosted the party this year. It was loud & crazy with all of the kids running around. They sure do enjoy one another. I am grateful that they have the chance to get together & reconnect. The family Christmas parties are some of my fondest childhood Memories. Our family is not known for our singing abilities & it was apparent last night. We tried singing Christmas carols while waiting for Santa. We ended up signing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer over & over again because it was the only one everyone new knew the words to! We are pretty pathetic in the singing department. Santa finally showed up & passed out presents. Brody has already seen Santa a couple of times this season & was totally fine & happy! When Santa walked in last night, Brody began to scream. We think he was just upset because someone else showed up to the party in his outfit :). It was another great party! We look forward to next years.
P.S. I was taking pictures on both cameras, I will add more later!