Haircut!

After taking this photo today I noted how overgrown Ty's hair has gotten again.....

Doesn't he look so much older? Yikes! I need my sweet friend Anne to show me how to use the clippers. Her son's hair is always so cute and I seem to mess it up every time. Today I went too far above his ears and he has bald spots! You should have seen the amount of hair in the bathroom when we finished! He has his daddy's thick hair. Those of you who have only known Greg for the last 10 years will be shocked by that statement. Greg is not bald. He shaves his head every day....seriously. Why? You may ask. Well, let's just say he strongly opposes the color phrase "salt and pepper".

Indulgence

Mom said yes!!!!

Erin calls hers "I love Grandpa" (He is responsible for the whipped cream being in the house...for that matter, Grandma is the reason the marshmallows are too!)

Makenna's "marshmallow mountain"

Hot cocoa.....mmmm.

Santa Claus!

I took the kids to see Santa today. Kate drew him a picture and he very boisterously exclaimed, "HO HO HO!" in response to his gift. Kate was tickled especially when he directed one of his elves to hang it on the computer counter for all to see. She told him she wants a pretty doll and princess slippers. Ty checked Santa out and decided it was okay to sit on his lap, but opted out of smiling. Oh well. Lauren and Makenna were in tow and Lauren asked for Justin Bieber...the boy, not a CD, not a tee shirt, nope, the boy. Santa assured her that he was not able to deliver and suggested that she was probably not THAT good anyway. Good eye Santa! She giggled as she headed off to have her photo taken with the Justin Bieber cut out instead. On her way back through the mall, she stopped to show Santa her photo and he wished me luck with my "wild child".

Big Boy/Big Feet!

Love this boy! He is so determined to make a break for it each time he sees the gate off the stairs. So, I decided to move it up a few steps to allow some practice space for him to learn how to go up and back down safely. He loves his new-found freedom.

Grandma bought Dr. Pepper this last week. Ty's saying "thank you" which is his way of asking for something. Not a chance buddy! And yes, this is cold sore #7 in 8 months. We've started some natural immunity boosters in hopes of finally stopping these outbreaks.

He is also determined to explore the kitchen and now flips things out of the drawers because he can't see inside them. I have all the cupboards locked, I really don't want to lock the drawers too! It just slows me down in the kitchen and I am a bit too busy for that! Ty doesn't mind.

Kate saw three snowflakes outside yesterday morning so we bundled up and headed out to play in it.....needless to say it wasn't enough to impress Ty!

And....what is the story on little boy feet? Good grief! He is outgrowing his 6.5 shoes! I cannot believe we are headed into size 7 shoes before he is 17 months old! Kate is only an 11 at five and a half years!

Tree lit photos

Typically I am not ready to see this season arrive; however, for whatever reason, I am ready to embrace it. I've baked, ordered Christmas cards, decorated and shopped.....it's still good! I guess God's been working on me a bit this year! I still believe most of it is unnecessary and pulls us away from any resemblance of the true meaning of this season, but in perspective, I am thus far, enjoying this time with my family.

I love the old fashioned style bulbs. I used only two strands as an accent over 500 white lights. They were a little too pricey to decorate the entire tree. I like the final effect.

My friend Stacey gave this to me a few years ago....it's one of my favorites.

The stockings were hung by the front door with care in order to keep Ty David out of Urgent Care! (He'd pull them off the mantle and likely onto his head!)

This little nativity is still my favorite. My mom has one just like it and it was my favorite growing up too. I have five different nativity sets! My grandma's would be under the tree; however, I'd like to keep all the pieces intact so I'll hold off on that one another year! We have two that the kids can play with and are great for advent devotions.

Only a few snowmen remain from my original snowman collection. You know how things tend to take on a life of their own? I've passed on so many decorations over the years. I want to keep from getting bogged down with "stuff" and enjoy seeing the things that hold special memories for me.

Deck the Halls....

Hey Grandpa, are you going to eat all of that?

Left over pumpkin pie....oh yeah!

Ty will only cuddle with Daddy and Grandpa. Lucky guys.

Multi-tasking Erin is able to text on her iPod while decorating the tree.

Greg's working or I would not be allowed on this chair! I love my safety guy!

She literally popped in for one ornament and a photo...too busy for tradition this year!

Everyone's a camera hog when Mom wants a nice photo!

Seriously, my poor shy children!

Much better....what a group!

My dad helped me get the tree up by fixing our tree stand issue. I am grateful. Greg and I bought this tree the day after Christmas six months before we were married anticipating our first Christmas together. I still love it. It needed new lights this year and I was thrilled to find the old fashioned bulbs like the ones I grew up with. They made for a fun new twist on an old favorite. Kate couldn't wait for the tree or our first snow. Lucky Kate, today was her day! We got both! Mom took the big girls out for the new Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber cds while Dad held onto one very curious little boy. I hope I don't regret having this tree with Ty on the loose!

Thanksgiving with my favorite people....

Mom, Dad, Theresa and her family joined us for Thanksgiving this year. Greg started his famous turkey after work this morning. It was amazing, as usual. We had all the traditional favorites, thoroughly enjoyed each other and ate too much. After Theresa and her crew headed home, Mom and I slipped out for a little shopping. We happily tackled Old Time Pottery, accomplishing much but mostly making room for dessert! Afterward, we planned to hit Toys R Us, but bailed upon arrival! Holy Cow, people are crazy! There had to be 1000+ people standing outside in the freezing rain. There isn't a deal around worth that mess. Returning home after the kids' bedtime made dessert that much sweeter, in the quiet company of my husband and parents.

Each of the grandchildren contributed a hand print to our Thanksgiving wreath.

He's ready for the pros!

Mason is Makenna's buddy, but really likes playing with Kate.

One of Grandma's boys! Love this kid!

Dad says pumpkin pie is an excuse to eat cool whip. When planning our meal, I called and asked him how many 5 gallon tubs he thought we'd need and he suggested only 2!

Check out these rock stars!

Games and dessert.....it was a great day.

Early Holiday Fun

Note the little fingers reaching for the cookies in the bottom of the photo.....Ty hoped I was really distracted!

She's thinking a lot about Christmas....already!

Kate came down the stairs this morning and sat on the bottom step. After a few quiet minutes (which are really rare when Kate is awake), she said the spot where we put the big stuffed Santa needed something. Really? Hmmm....what do you think we ought to put there? After a thoughtful expression crossed her face, she decided the big stuffed Santa would be perfect! Score one for Kate.

During Family Fun Night last night, Ty was given his own bowl of popcorn. He was delighted and had it refilled twice! Up until now, I had only given him the soft part of each piece of popcorn, but he is clearly ready for big boy food!

Makenna's health update

Poor Makenna has not eaten since Sunday. She has visibly lost weight this week. Her 103 degree temp finally broke today and she is no longer taking Tylenol and Motrin in rotation every three hours. I had to take her into the doctor yesterday because she woke up with a mouth full of blisters. I was convinced it was still viral but had to be sure given the duration of the fever and body pain. Sure enough, she has a virus, but she tested negative for mono. It was so weird since her symptoms mirrored exactly what her friend's did and Hannah was positive for mono....anyway, given the season upon us, we are relieved that this will wrap up in a few days and she should recover quickly. We were also informed that this is not contagious so we pray it stops with her. Dr. Rezaei was out of the office so we met with Dr. Sepheri who prescribed ice cream and milkshakes for two days to add fat, calories and comfort for the painful blisters. Makenna likes Dr. Sepheri!

On a fun side note, I had to run errands today since we've been house bound all week. My van's transmission acted up again so I pulled off the highway to restart it and see if it would comply. It did. Praise God. Kate said that we'd call Daddy if it didn't work because he is really smart. I agreed that he is really smart but inquired as to whether or not she thought I was. She thinks I am too but since Daddy works at UPS, he must be smarter. Hmmm????

So I moved the toy box today......

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Lauren was celebrated this weekend. Her baptism and birthday fell within two days and she was well doted upon. Kelsey spent the weekend with us and they requested donuts for breakfast. She chose whole grilled chickens, mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade mac n cheese and slow cooked green beans for her birthday dinner yesterday. It was a starch overload but oh. so. good. We topped that off with cookie cake. Her gift was her concert ticket to see Justin Bieber this past week and we also gave her his new book. Overall, I think she is having a great birthday!

We had to celebrate a day early since Erin has school and works on Mondays. It is the one day a week we don't have dinner together as a family. As of three am, we were really glad we celebrated yesterday because Makenna appears to have Mono and our house no longer feels like a party!

Little blessings

This boy is wild and 16 months old today

Kate and Ty are both captivated by this little guy. He is a sweet little addition to our family two days a week.

Last week, I hit a mailbox with my passenger side mirror while avoiding a school bus in oncoming traffic who was left of center. I counted myself blessed to have hit only a mailbox and turned around to find the mailbox I hit to make it right with the owner. I knew the general vicinity but after two round trips looking for the right one, I couldn't narrow it down because four in a row were bashed in.....apparently this is not uncommon on that road! I was worried about it and talked with Greg about how to find the right one. Kate, the helpful one, has looked "for the mailbox Mommy hit" every time I've taken her out. By her calculations, I've hit no less than 1000 mailboxes thus far!
My van is having some mechanical issues and Greg was under it in search of our latest culprit this morning. Kate, again, our helpful one, pulled her little battery operated jeep up next to my van and her dad on the garage floor and told him it didn't sound right when she started it. That just happens to be the issue my van had a month or so ago when the battery was dying!
Greg was off work this week. It was a beautiful week. The weather was amazing and we did a whole lot of nothing. It was the calm before the storm. The upcoming season stresses us out with the demands of everything that comes with it so it was just wonderful to hang out together all week. Have I mentioned how much I love that man?

A Beautiful Day.......