christmas overload

Meeting with the Big Guy. And *adding* to their lists....

My new tree skirt. Last year's clearance.

And my festive black, red and green wrapping. I love it!

Our newest ornament. Courtesy our Home and Visiting Teachers!

At Grandpa Dave's. Playing with the dog's toy. All the kids' favorite - a rubber chicken.

Disobeying and sliding down the stair wall.

And it didn't take long to find the colorings.

Christmas Morning.

Look what Santa brought!

A Barbie Horse (and Barbie clothes).

A Barbie Horse (and Princess and the Frog toys...she asked for the actual movie-even Santa isn't that good;).

Candy!!!

Let 'er rip!

New shirts! I needed these!

This is boring. Can I just eat my candy now?

But wait! What is this?? A new trike??

Ah, that's better.

Grandpa's creative wrapping. And Marryn's creative unwrapping.

And a kiss for the Princess. Or would that be for the Frog....

Finally, double digit weather. Time for some sledding.

{I still bust up laughing when I look at these!}

But what a good sport (surprisingly). She hopped on again.

Some fast sledding with Dad.

Grandpa showing them how to make and throw snowballs.

Making snow angels (and of course she picked out a spot right next to the mailbox post...).

**********

Okay, so does anyone else have problems with Blogger and how it annoying the spacing of words and pictures can be??? I've been working on this post waaaaayyyy longer than I should be and it's still not how I want it!!! Grrrrr!!!

our christmas card

So, I'm barely getting around to getting our Christmas, or um, for this year, Holiday Cards, out. And by barely-they'll go out tomorrow.

I wanted to keep them really simple-no letter, just a picture and our blog address (let them come see for themselves how we are;). But I was struggling to get a good picture of the kids together. So last night, I set them up, in poor lighting and uncoordinated clothes (or jammies for Christian), and completely bribed them. I finally got a decent shot, loaded it up to the holiday card template I picked out (for free!), added our name and blog site and sent out for 1 hour prints. I was so excited! I didn't really think I'd get around to sending them out this year.

So today, our busy last day before we leave for WY, I ran into Costco to pick them up before the girls' dentist appointments.

Yes, they chopped off half of our blog address.

But, what could I really do? (Maybe if I hadn't waited until the absolutely last moment...)

So for those who don't follow my blog, there is a little sticker on the back with a fully readable blog address:). And for those who do follow us and are reading this, I tried. Next year, maybe, something better...

a little gratitude

I know, a little late, but really, is it ever late to express a little gratitude?

I am grateful that although our trip was delayed a day, we were able to drive to Arizona to visit my family over the Thanksgiving week. (And on that topic, I'm also grateful that my oh-so-not-mechanical husband and I were-with the phone assistance of his dad-able to jump start our car and that after battery tests, were in the clear with a perfectly fine battery. ???)

I am grateful that after 14 hours in the car, at least someone was at my parents house to greet us. And at a house we had never even been to.

I am grateful to my not-so-little brother Garrett and his fine entertaining skills while we waited yet almost another day for my parents to finally arrive.

{I love Uncle Garrett's horse rides}

{I love my Uncle Garrett and even though I haven't seen him for 2 years, I can't stop talking his ear off}

{How come I didn't get to go outside????}

I am grateful for the full day we all spent together, totally relaxing doing nothing, before heading to Mesa.
I am grateful for my aunt and uncle for putting us up for a couple days. On top of just welcoming a brand new little baby girl the week before and hosting our family's Thanksgiving dinner.

{Kim and Steve with baby number 4, sweet Maycee}

I am grateful for all the wonderful food prepared. Especially those extremely hot HOT homemade stuffed jalapenos.

{My mom, the non-cook, getting sucked into some intense food preparation-hence the gloves and masks}

I am grateful for my little cousins that entertained my kiddos the entire trip. And for my uncle for bonding over a can of whipped cream with Reganne.

{Digging dirt in their Thanksgiving best-Hanging out in the Playroom-Four girls in a tub}

I am grateful to Kim for lending me some short sleeved tops to wear in the near 80* weather. (My Thanksgiving sweater was just not going to cut it.)

I am grateful to April and Camry for helping to clean up the cherry Dr. Pepper that sprayed everywhere when Christian threw an unopened can on the floor.

{What the heck??? Why does everyone else seem to be enjoying these???}

I am grateful that we decided to come home one day early-yes, only a little grateful...:( -and that our car's DVD player decided to turn back on when the screen suddenly went blank after only a few hours on the road.

***

And, I am so very grateful for my own sweet little family.

bedhead

What do you think, time for a haircut?

*****

There's the door Mom.

Really, another picture?

Please, I just want out.

Seriously Mom, put that stupid thing down and get me out of here!

*****

He actually wakes up really happy. He was just a little upset that I walked out of the room without him and came back with that *big black thing* and still didn't get him out of his crib. And no, that's not stuck on food on his face, he scratched himself yesterday. I did some nail trimmings today. I know, a little too late....

witches brew and the tiger's roar

I *love* this second photo. It represents them all so accurately.

Marryn is trying to be patient and take the pictures.

Reganne is throwing a fit because I made her wait until after the pictures to have a sucker.

Christian is looking for more candy and wants to head out for another round of trick-or-treating.

(Yes, I dressed them up and took pictures a little over a week after Halloween.)

and a little bit of pixie dust

October 28th. 2009.

Reganne turned 3.

It was a fun filled day at Pixie Hollow. Reganne loved her *adorable* jammies from Grandma Jean, her new Tinkerbell toys and DVD and of course, her very own Snuggie.

(Don't ask what the girls were posing as in that picture...?)

winner winner, chicken dinner

Does anyone else watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (or Triple D) on the Food Network? Joey loves that show, so we watch it often...
****

Anyways, after a pretty crappy weekend, I got a sweet little message.

I won something off of the Making Memories Blog! Check it out to take a quick survey to win yourself something fun. And to see my name;)

And then Friday, after waking up to a sinus infection (you've got to be kidding me!?!?!), I got my little package.

Yippee!!!

a sick update

I guess I better post an update on the kids, before everyone really starts to worry that we've been swept away by the swine or something...;)

After my last post, I decided to take Reganne in. She was very excited about it and it perked her right up. Must be the sticker she knows she'll get at the end. And other than the vomiting and little bit of diarrhea, she was fine. Doctor did prescribe some medicine to help her keep stuff down. And it worked great. Didn't get sick again until the next morning...and then we just gave her another dose and she was good to go.

Christian started throwing up that next day, but just a couple times. And it was so sad. I think it wore him out just a little bit more. But like Reganne, he was fine otherwise. We put off a weekend trip to see my parents (who were visiting my brothers on the Western Slope) because we weren't sure how things were going to continue, but no one else got sick.

So the week continued on. Wednesday was Reganne's birthday (more to come) and Marryn's school was cancelled that day, despite having hardly a flurry until that afternoon (???) and Thursday (with a little bit of snow on the ground-we were not hit like "they" said we would be) and then Friday came along and so did a fever in Marryn. So she stayed home from school. No other problems, just a fever that was easy to bring down with some Tylenol. Saturday, same thing. Sunday-good to go. But then, yes, Reganne had a fever...and Monday too...but today is doing fine.

Now, as for me.

I. Got. Sick. (And after I bragged about how I never get sick...)

With a cold.

And it totally knocked me out.

Halloween, I could hardly get out of bed. Didn't even take any pictures of the kids. But don't worry, Grandma Jean was here and not only did she take care of everyone, she took some pictures:) Sunday I managed to stake claim on the couch and eat dinner, but that was about it. I'm better now. Just have a normal cold now, you know, cough, stuffy nose, that kind of stuff. But no fever or chills or body aches. Man, I have never had a cold like that before. Friday night when my chest was just burning, I thought, I better visit the Urgent Care in the morning, but I after a "you'll-feel-better-after-a-shower" shower, I was so wiped out that I never made it. But I got better, so no big deal.


But then I'm sad to say, Grandma Jean left us yesterday...with the start of a cold...


Yes, I am so sorry that she's sick, but I am SO grateful that she was here.