Christmas Time 2010

Christmas has really already come and gone?  I usually feel like I have had my Christmas decorations up for months and cannot wait to take them down and clean my house.  This year feels much different.  I feel like everything has been a little bit of a whirl wind the last few months.  Day in and Day out, go through the motions and do it all over again.  I made sure to put into my head that Christmas weekend would be much different.
We started off with a great breakfast as a family on Christmas Eve morning.  Katelynn was so excited because she knew that today was a special day, she would get to wear her pretty dress, open presents, and Santa Claus was coming that night.  The house was clean and my plan was too attempt to keep it as clean as possible throughout the day so I could really relax and enjoy myself.  We played some games and cleaned our bedrooms in the morning (I know, I know, but I have to get things done when I am home).  The kids took naps and I took that as my opportunity to get myself showered and ready for our special family evening.  I started making our lasagna afterwards because our plan was to eat supper around 5:30pm.  Junior goes to bed around 7:30pm and I wanted to make sure that we had time to open some gifts and take our time and then let the kids play with a few of their toys before rushing them to bed for Santa!  Once the lasagna was in the oven and the kids were both up from their naps we got on our "fancy" clothes for the night.  We went downstairs and played Wii games for about an hour while the lasagna cooked.  It was so much fun.  We were all relaxed and truly enjoying our time together as a family.
Dinner Time!
We had a great salad, lasagna, and garlic bread.  Dan had picked out some great wine and we let the kids have a treat of drinking 7-Up.  Katelynn even got to drink hers out of a wine glass.  She was so precious to watch as she was sooo careful each time she grabbed her glass and took a sip.

Present Time!
I decided that this year I would play Santa and hand out gifts.  I had asked Dan for one gift and one gift only (because it was far beyond the gift per person budget!).  I was pretty sure that I had gotten what I asked for, but not 100% and wanted it to be the last gift that I opened, the big finale gift.  Katelynn had made us all gift bags from toys and drawings and pages from her coloring books at the beginning of December so Dan, Junior, and I opened those before dinner.  Since Katelynn technically did not get to open a gift she got to open the first gift of the night.  Junior went next and then Dan.  We had multiple gifts from each other and my parents under the tree.  Really a lot more gifts than we should have.  (Next year I think Dan and I will need to decide on a set amount and a set number of gifts per kid).  It was fun watching everyone open gifts and Junior even got into it.  He would see a gift like he liked and get this expression on his face and say either "Wow" or "Look".  Katelynn did not open one gift that she did not like. She was excited about each and every gift.  A hard task for my 5 year old.  So it came down to the last few boxes under the tree and it was time.  Time to open what I have been researching and wanting for the last month!  My husband does know how to make his wife happy on Christmas Eve each and every year and I love him for that.  I opened my box and there it was!!  The Canon Rebel EOS  T1i - Digital SLR Camera!  A 8 GB SDHD Card and a HUGE Camera bag to fill with cameras and lenses.  And after that there was still another gift for me to open, my surprise gift.  I opened it up having absolutely no idea what it would be.  Dan bought me a 9mm hand gun and it's Pink!  I actually had seen this gun at Sportsman's Warehouse a few months ago when we were there on a date night and told him if he really wanted to buy me a gun then that would be the one that I would want.
Bed Time!
Katelynn ran upstairs and quickly got out a plate for Santa's cookies.  She picked her 2 favorite one's and then an extra Hershey Kiss just for him.  A glass of milk was set out and she was ready for him. We then cleaned up boxes and wrapping paper and we played with some of our favorite gifts we got. We actually let the kids stay up until 9pm which for Junior has never happened and for Katelynn it's rare unless she has taken too long of a nap.  Dan and I had a little talk with Katelynn about Santa Claus coming.  Dan specifically told her that she was not aloud to go all the way downstairs without first coming and waking us up first.  Santa's milk and cookies were in the main living room and the stockings were downstairs.  Dan and I stayed up and he played his new Wii game and I was charging up the battery for my new camera and downloading software.  We sipped the rest of our wine and just enjoyed the night.  It was bedtime for us around 11:30pm, which is even rather late for us nowadays.
Wake Up Wake Up Santa Was Here!
True to her word Katelynn came down the stairs and went straight over to Dan's side of the bed, "Dad, Dad, Santa was here!  He ate some of the cookies and drank the milk!"  Katelynn normally wakes me up when she gets up in the middle of the night or the morning so it took me a second to realize what was happening.  Dan had no idea what was going on.  I opened my eyes and turned over and looked at the clock -4:30AM.  OMG!  I told Dan it was 4:30 in the morning and we had Katelynn crawl into bed with us and told her it was great that Santa came, but it was still time to be asleep.  She didn't complain and climbed up into our bed between us and went back to sleep.
Junior woke us up around 6:30am and we made coffee and headed down to the stockings to see what Santa brought us.  Katelynn and Junior both had books and silly bandz in their stockings.  Katelynn got a couple of games for her new Leapster 2 and a Keyboard to learn how to play the piano.  Junior got a Mickey doll and a race track for his hot wheels.  Dan got an Air Hog helicopter and I got a make-up case for my Bare Escentuals.  I love Santa, he always brings what we ask for!  We yet again opened all of our boxes and packages and then watched the Walt Disney World Christmas parade on TV.

We played all day long.  This was probably one of the most memorable family days that I have had.  No one stopped to clean this and that.  No laundry to do.  No running any errands.  Just a complete day of family time.  What a joy this Christmas has been.

Here are a few random pictures that I took.  Keep in mind I have no idea yet how to use my new camera; there is a lot to learn.

Me and my new "Pink" hand gun. 

Junior and his new Crayola set from Santa.

Katelynn wearing all of her Silly Bandz.

Daddy always get the job Christmas morning of assembly.

Please mom - no more flashes.

Katelynn enjoying her Leapster 2.

Dan playing his new Wii game.
FYI - it's not a war game which is why the kids are able to watch.

Katelynn and her new piano.
Can't wait for us to learn how to play together!

Christmas Shopping, Oh How It Has Changed

I have been done with my Christmas shopping for a few weeks now.  Presents are wrapped and under the tree and the kids have very good about leaving them alone and admiring from afar.
I was thinking the other day how much Christmas shopping has changed, at least for me and in my mind.  I remember when both sides of my family used to draw names for Christmas presents amongst all the aunts and uncles and the kids.  The excitement of shopping for those gifts was so fun.  You would go out and shop for someone already knowing a few items that they truly wanted, but didn't have and wouldn't be buying for themselves.  It was exciting to get a wish list from people or their family members (if you asked them for ideas instead).  It was exciting to watch them open a present that you knew that had been wishing for.
Oh how things have changed.
I find it really hard to find items now where I feel that I am not just buying them more "stuff". What can I buy them that they haven't already went out and purchased?   I truly enjoy the joy of giving, but when I give a gift I want it to be something that someone wants or needs.  I am as much at fault as the next person in this.  If I want something I go out and buy it.  At least kids are still easy to buy for.
Eventually both families stopped drawing names for gifts because there just wasn't anything left to buy people or it got to expensive to buy a gift someone would really want.  Our families now bring grab bag type gifts and play games at the Christmas parties.  They now have the joy of playing the game and the laughs that are shared.  I guess I wouldn't trade that for "stuff"!

Ah My Junior

My little man, Junior, need I say more?!  He has been such a gift to our family and brought so much joy to each of us.  He is definitely a daddy's boy.  And boy oh boy is he ALL BOY.  He runs and jumps and seems to never tucker out.  He throws balls and plays with cars and every other type of boy things there are in the house.  He is starting to get a good vocabulary going too.  He can say little sentences when he chooses to.  He loves to look at books.  He will sometimes climb into his rocking chair in his room and be in there looking through the pages.

Junior's Day

1. Where's Daddy?  Where's Daddy?  Where's Daddy? This is asked multiple times a day at home even when Dan has just walked in the room.
2. What's that?  He asks this about everything.  It's sometimes hard to get through a book.
3. Sheep - sounds like "shit"  (this is the one that I think is funny because he really does think he is saying sheep!)
4. No - this is now his favorite word in the last couple of weeks.  Noooooooooooooo!
5. If he really wants to say yes to a question we ask he will say "MmmHmmmm"
6.  No matter what football team is on TV:  Go Vikings!
7. Mickey, Mickey, Mickey -Show?
8. Gum? Halloween obviously left an impression on him and he asks for candy all the time, but insists that it is all called gum.
9. He loves our Wii fit.  We just bought it recently and Katelynn has really enjoyed playing some of the games on here.  Since they don't all use the Wii remotes she seems to enjoy it more.  We will all take turns playing and when we are on either the Obstacle course or Ski Jump and are rotating you will of the sudden here "Junior, Junior turn".
10. Time for Bed.  He will run into the bathroom to brush his teeth and run into his room and pick out his bedtime story.  He will wave good-bye and tell you Nigh-Nigh!

Metrodome Roof Collapses

Metrodome Roof collapses

Even if you are not a football fan you should check out this video.  It is unbelievable.

Christmas Card Sneak Peak

For those who receive our Christmas card in the mail sorry if this ruins it for you.  I couldn't decide between the two pictures this year so our card will have two.  We had a pretty good experience at Sears Photo Studio except we didn't have the best photographer at the beginning of our session.  We wore our Christmas outfits to the studio and brought a clothing change. One unfortunate piece was there was no where to do a clothing change.  We changed the kids behind the curtains and then Dan and I each took turns changing in the public restrooms.  Junior was not excited to be taking pictures and did not want to sit still.  Dan tried really hard to get him to smile in the pictures, bless his heart, instead of letting the photographer do her job and get everyone set.  In a bunch of the pictures it looked like Dan was talking.  Another bummer was that we didn't get Katelynn's pretty Christmas dress in the picture.  The funny part is I bought her dress first and then picked out the rest of the family's to match her.  They wanted to take a bunch of pictures of the just the kids, but I passed on a lot of them because I had just had both of them in at separate dates and had theirs taken and we just did pictures with my mom over Thanksgiving weekend.  I will have to re-think taking our Christmas picture at Sears again next year though because they only have the one back ground with a Christmas tree so our picture back ground is the same as last year. (I know the little things that I pick at.  I can't help it.  I have to have control over what I can!)
Once again this year we drove two vehicles to the studio.  This seems to still be the best way for us.  We take the pictures and then Dan and the kids head home.  I wait around for the pictures and pick out the one's I want.  I sometimes wonder if Dan would pick out a different photo than I would have?
If you look at the casual photo you will notice that Junior is once again holding the football from the studio just like in the pictures with my mom.  It kept him happy and smiling and his thumb out of his mouth, so its in the picture.

I would love to hear which picture you like better out of curiosity!

So here you have it!

Reindeer Feed

The kids love cooking in the kitchen and we really hadn't started any Christmas baking - yet.  I figured since I had posted on my blog about the Top Ten Trends from Betty Crocker, Click Here to View, that I should try one out.  We picked the Reindeer Feed and I picked up the ingredients last night.  The kids were excited for Saturday to come and wanted to know when we got to start making this for Santa's reindeer.  I used this to my advantage of course and said when the living room and kitchen are clean then we will start it.  I have never seen my 5 year old move so fast to clean!  The preparation was easy, the recipe was easy and the kids think it tastes great and can't wait to leave some for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve.  We put a few aside to save just for them.  

The kids really enjoyed the first part of the recipe of hammering candy canes in a bag.  What kid wouldn't.  Dan even had to come and see what the commotion was about and had to take a couple smashes!

 Once all of the candy canes were in little tiny pieces it was time to melt the white chocolate and pour in half of the candy cane.  I have my little helper to stir it all together.

 I did the mixing of the chex mix and chocolate mixture and both kids helped me sprinkler the rest of the candy cane on.  

 Yep!  We have a winner he says.

 And the finished product.  Yay!  

Hope the reindeer will be really happy and Santa leaves us all a little something extra this year!

Me and the kids really enjoyed this time together and it was a nice easy recipe to start off with our holiday cooking / baking.  Next on the menu is Puppy Chow.

Betty Crocker Top 10 Trends

Need some Holiday Ideas?  A few things to keep you busy each night?  Check out the Betty Crocker Top 10 Trends for this year.  There are recipes that are easy to follow and some fun things to do with the kids (even quick video's for those of us who need a little extra help!)

Visit http://redhot.bettycrocker.com/trends.   What makes a trend red hot? When it's exciting, it's fresh, and making its mark from coast to coast. From the DIY craze to the rise of beer and bacon,  the food trends that made our red hot list are each very different, but have one thing in common – they'll get you excited about food.

Choo Choo - Take A Ride on the Santa Express

Me and Mom wanted to do something really fun while she was here with the kids.  I looked through some places around home, but there was nothing really happening at the big venues until December.  A couple of years ago I was looking at internet sites and stumbled across a site at an Arizona train station that had a train ride for the Polar Express - I kept thinking how awesome it would be to take the kids.  Well, after doing some more Google searching this year I found the Polar Express in Durango, CO, but a 7 hour drive was still a little too far.  I then found the Santa Express in Canon City and only 3 hours away.  Perfect for an overnight stay!  I booked our tickets and was so excited.  I had personally never been on a train ride before and couldn't wait.

Black Friday Shopping Day

Let's Go Shopping!

Katelynn had started getting a cold on Thanksgiving Day and with a cold for her comes coughing and nights with no sleep.  I was up and down the stairs multiple times that night and had the alarm set for 3:30am so we could hit Target a little after 4am.  I kept getting nervous that I would be too exhausted or sleep through my alarm clock and of course felt so bad for little miss Katelynn all night coughing.  I almost said screw it and stayed awake and thought about hitting Kohl's at 3am since I was awake anyways, but I didn't.  My mom kept hearing me come u the stairs and every time thought it was her wake up call coming to get her up.  Needless to say none of the girls in the house got much sleep that night.  3:30am came and Katelynn was miserable.  She needed to sit up for awhile so I had her come downstairs and sit on the couch with some books and look through them while I got ready to go.  I can only imagine what she was thinking.  What are Grandma and Mommy doing up and where are they going when it's suppose to be sleep time?  As we were getting ready to head out the door she did give me a look and asked if she could come with.  I of course had to say no, but felt a little bad since she was awake.  I told her she could look at books for a few more minutes and then she needed to go crawl into bed with Daddy.
Alright - coffee in had, keys in hand and cash in hand - it was time!  I am not really sure when my obsession started with enjoying this shopping day so much.  Sad to say, but a lot of the shopping that I do is for myself.  The deals are just too good?!  This year though I had an agenda and items I wanted for the kids.
So our first stop was Target.  We got there a little after 4am.  I was not interested in standing in line outside and making a mad dash for a TV.  We got everything we wanted at Target within probably 20 minutes.  Not too bad with two of us shopping.  The checkout line however wrapped around to the back of the store - whoa!  We stood in line and as most shoppers do decide while we are standing there that we could grab more.  I figured me and my mom are every retailers dream at this point.  We of course had the Target ad with us and as we look through it my mom decides that she wants something for Dan and off I go and there are a few left - into the cart it goes.  I had waited to grab a few items of clothes for the kids so I set off to grab them while she held our spot in line.  I detoured and then couldn't resist grabbing a Wii Fit for $67.00.  There were only 2 left and I grabbed one and another lady snatched the last one within in 5 seconds and they were gone.  I had debated for 2 days on my real need to have one and temptation got the better of me.  All day I kept saying "Dan's going to kill me on that one!"  Through the checkout we went and off to Walmart we go.
Walmart is not my favorite store and I have never went there on Black Friday, but they had some items for the kids that I wanted and my mom wanted to games for gifts as well.  I should have done my research on the store because I made a big mistake.  We got to Walmart about 30 minutes after they opened.  We see people with cart's and of course the big TVs checking out.  One interesting thing that my mom noticed was that the shopper's at Walmart had only one or two items in their cart's whereas Target shopper's had cart fulls of stuff; very interesting.  I make my way to the toy section and my mom heads to the entertainment for video games.  I am severely disappointed to see that the Leapsters are already gone.  As I keep looking though I don't even see where they were or a sign that said they were on sale.  I then look for the Crayola items I wanted and can't find them either.  I walk around to see if any other toys are on sale and nothing.  I am now not happy that I cannot find any of my items.  I head over to find my mom and she has a handful of video games, but has run into the same issue - no sale prices.  We ask a worker if the one's she has are on sale and she says she doesn't know, but we could scan them at a scanner in the store and check them and also something about the sale items being by produce.  Produce?  We find a scanner and only one is on sale.  I am honestly pissed off at this point and want to leave.  Ugh is all I can think - Walmart!?!  We check out with our one item and leave.
We head over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Old Navy and do a little shopping.  I am still steaming over the Walmart ordeal.   We head to the outlet mall to check out Toys R Us and see if the midnight shoppers have left anything for us early risers.  There were a few items there.  I see the Crayola items that I had wanted at Walmart and they are a little over double the price.  They won't do a price match so I decide there is no way that Walmart sold out of them within the first half hour of being open.  Back to Walmart we go.
Walmart again!  Back at Walmart my mom is heading over to McDonald's to see if they have coffee.  I stroll around the store and head down a different isle then I did the first time.  I start noticing all the displays in this isle from their ad.  I follow around a square of the entire store and low and behold I find the toy section of all the display items.  Damn it for dumb of me!  I find my Crayola items, but of course by 7am the Leapsters were gone.  Now I am just mad at myself.  I keep walking around the square and end up by produce and McDonald's and my mom.  I can see the displays that are now empty and that is probably where all the Wii and Xbox games were for extremely cheap - damn it again!  Now I am just mad at myself for not knowing how the store worked and not asking someone where the stuff was the first time I was there.  Ugh!  I bought my few items and then out the door again.  We headed over to Home Depot to grab some Christmas decorations I needed that were on sale.  A pleasant surprise there was the poinsettia's on sale for only .99 cents - thanks Home Depot - good deal!
8am - Time to Head to the Mall.  The mall stores opened at 8am.  I was definitely hoping to find some good deals on a few work clothes items.  We parked the car and started with Eddie Bauer.  Not too bad - everything in the store was 50% off.  I found a shirt for me and a present for my dad.  Next was Gap - they did have a good sale of 50% off everything, but it was a bust.  Off to New York and Company - they know how to save people money.  This was our best stop.  Everything in the store 50% off and if you shopped before Noon they took off another 10%.  They have Long pants, which I can not find anywhere else and their prices are very reasonable, especially with this sale.  Loved that store.  The Loft was a bust for me this year - my favorite store and I didn't find anything that I really wanted or loved, bummer.  I always go to Yankee Candle and Hallmark.  I was very happy that Hallmark brought back the Snowmen that sing for their Christmas item.  Last year they changed it to some Snoopy display that I had no interest in.  I also found the cutest little snowman to put in the bathroom.  I tried to take a little video of it, I will see how it turned out.
We got home around 11:30am.  Whew!  Now that was some serious shopping folks!  The car was packed full of bags and boxes.  We got home to the kids still in their pj's and a Christmas tree up getting ready to be decorated.  What a fabulous day/morning!  Thanks mom for coming with me in all the craziness.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a special treat this year of having Grandma Dickhaus spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us.  Dan as always cooks pretty much the entire Thanksgiving meal.  He loves to do it and I love him to do it!  He made his grocery list this year and headed to the store and since Grandma was here I took the opportunity to catch a ride with him and go and get my nails done - yah! It was even nice to spend some time in the truck together talking without the kids and without the kids music on.
I am really enjoying the deal that I am getting right now from Sears Photo Studio.  I signed up and paid $10.00 for their membership card and it is awesome.  I have probably saved over $250.00 already in pictures now.  So, with my mom in town I figured it would be a great time to go and have some fun and get some professional pictures taken.  I get a free 8 x 10 at every session and then during the week it's buy one get one free.  So Wednesday night after work and a quick supper for the kids we did our hair and make-up and dressed casual and headed to the Photo Studio.  We took some great pictures and I can't wait to get them back and get some nice picture frames.  It was really special to take some pictures of my mom and me.  If you would like to take a look at our pictures here is the link Sears Photos .  If you are in Greeley and have make an appointment ask for Megan if she is available.  She did a great job, was patient with the kids, and wasn't pushy at all about us ordering their enhancements or collages, and really let us pick out what we wanted.
Back to Thanksgiving!  Dan had his turkey stuffed and most everything oven ready (that could be) by Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday morning he woke up and put the bird in the oven.  We had some good coffee and all 3 of us scoured the Black Friday ads.  The kids even got into looking through the ads.  We have been asking Katelynn especially what she wants for Christmas and what she wants from Santa for Christmas.  I try to have her look through the toy section and pick her top 5 items.  She usually does pretty good, but sometimes she just decides she wants it all!  We watched the Thanksgiving Day Macy's parade of course and then when the dog show came on Junior that that was the coolest show in the world.  We ate around 12:45.  The adults stuffed themselves and the kids kind of picked at all of their food.  We all took nice naps and then just hung out for the day.  After we put the kids to bed my mom and I grabbed the ads once more and attempted to choose what items we wanted and what stores we were going to go to.  After our game plan was set it was time for bed because 3:30am comes really fast!
We had a great Thanksgiving Day.

Free Veggie Tales Christmas MP3 Downloads

Check it out!  I downloaded the entire CD and am making a copy for my car.  How fun.  Thank you Veggie Tales and Amazon!


Get 24 FREE Veggie Tale Christmas MP3 Downloads on Amazon.com.

Hamburger Helper Coupon

As the holidays approach and schedules get hectic, Hamburger Helper skillet meals provide a quick and easy weeknight meal that your whole family, from picky eaters to hungry adults, will enjoy!


Click the link to get a coupon for Hamburger Helper.  The coupon is good through November 30th, so while you are out getting your last minute shopping for Thanksgiving done or out this weekend for Black Friday Deals grab some, eventually you will be "turkey(ed)" out!


Click here for a coupon from Hamburger Helper


Enjoy!

It's Turkey Time _ Crafting that is!

As I stated in a previous post I searched high and low in the stores for different Thanksgiving stuff.  I love, love, love the foam stickers.  They are clean and easy and the kids can do as many of them each and every day as they would like too!  I bought these blue finger paint trays too for them. 1 - An attempt to keep Junior's coloring at bay.  2 - I bought a few foam crafts that were not stickers so Katelynn could do some gluing and didn't want to risk the glue on my table! 

Here are a few of the turkey's that we made

  .  

Poor Little Man

Last Saturday we were having a great day.  Dan made us a delicious breakfast and the kids were being good all morning.  Everyone was helping to pick up and clean and we had a quick shopping day ahead of us.  Our goal of the day was to buy the kids their winter coats and snow pants.  I had already breezed through Osh Gosh and Target and didn't really see anything that I wanted.  Osh Gosh was too high priced even at the Outlet Mall and Target's quality didn't seem very good.  If we spend a fortune on these items I better be able to re-sell them or hand them down I figured.  So we decided to head to Kohl's.  Lucky for us (okay, really for me!) Kohl's was having a sale and Kohl's cash.  Dan and Junior found a jacket for him and Katelynn and I found a great set for her.  They were both on sale too.  I also found a few Christmas decorations and Dan found a few items for himself.  Katelynn even brought her purse along and bought herself a book with her own money.  When the kids received their flu shots this year the clinic gave them each a certificate for a free scoop of ice cream.  We hadn't cashed them in yet, so I told them if they were good we were close enough to the ice cream place that we would stop after shopping.  They were both well behaved in the store so off to get ice cream we went.  The ice cream store doubles as a coffee shop as well.  We got in and me and the kids started looking at the different flavors and Dan went over to the coffee side.  Katelynn found a coloring contest and sat down to start coloring her page.  I was standing and ordering the ice cream.  Junior was behind me and was walking towards Katelynn.  The next thing I hear is a stumble and "CRACK".  Junior had tripped on his own little feet and smacked his little nose right into the wrought iron chair that Katelynn was sitting in.  Tears and crying from Junior.  One worried Mama.  The staff at the ice cream store were great and brought me a towel with some ice in it.  I knew right away that his nose was probably broken.  Katelynn then of course was screaming because I said we had to leave and get Junior home to check out his nose.  We took the ice cream and out the door we went.  Junior is really a tough little boy.  He would barely let us get near his nose for the next couple of days and was clearly upset if anything bumped it.  We kept up with Tylenol for the pain and any on-coming head aches.  What a little trooper he is.  A week later he is fine and the nose is back to the size that it should be.  My poor little man. 

Professional Photos - Why is it so Stressful?

Why is it so difficult to find a good place that stays open to take pictures?  I have still have an issue with Portrait Innovations and it seems to start irking me about this time every year now.  They herd them in like cattle to take the pictures and then make you wait 2 to 3 hours to view them on a computer and decide what you want to order.  This is even with an appointment.  I have been taking our pictures this year at Sears Photo Studio and I have like the service they give and when there are issues on-line their customer service is very prompt and treat you nice, always a big plus in my book.  There is still an issue though.  They seem to take one picture of each pose and if it isn't perfect, oh well, on to the next pose or outfit.  They also charge a lot for their "enhancement" photos that only take them minutes to create.  At my last sitting I wanted a head shot of Katelynn in an 8 x 10 photo and the photo was a little off centered so I asked them to fix it. The manager helping me stated that it would be an enhancement to the photo and they should charge accordingly, but she would do it without charging.  I kept my mouth shut, but wanted to state the fact that it was the photographer that took the shot and it wasn't centered.  So, I have yet to decide which is better, option 1 where the photographer takes 100 pictures for you to weed through and you get a couple of good shots or Option 2 where they take a few specific poses and you still get a couple of good shots?  I also have noticed that all the photographers that we have used in the last couple of years have not positioned us for the photo.  They may tell us where to sit and who should sit where, but as far as, chin up, look a little left, fix the hair that is out of place.  What happened to that or is that now only if you pay a really large fee for that photographer that may make us go broke when we want to buy all the prints?
We will be gearing up soon to go and take our Christmas pictures.  We do have a plan as a family that we follow now.  We take two vehicles and when the picture taking is done Dan and the kids head for home and I stay and take my time going through and picking out which is the best for the Christmas card.  Wish us luck for 2010 photos!

Halloween 2010

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Congrats to My Girls!

I know that I have not gone back and finished my posts from my 2 week trip home this summer. Here is a picture of my 2 best friends from high school. We had such a great night. It was so relaxing hanging out, eating supper and enjoying a few glasses of wine. We talked and talked and talked. I just wanted to give a shout out to both of them of Congratulations! They both have gotten engaged! I love you girls.

Thank you Cheerios!

For being part of the Cheerios Blogger Circle, Cheerios and General Mills sent us a few items. The kids are loving them. My kids feel the need to eat immediately in the mornings as soon as we get in the car, even though they know they get a full breakfast at daycare and it's only a 10 minute drive. Since Cheerios gave us a few boxes of cereal I have been letting them snack on the way there.

Here is a picture of Junior and his bag of Cheerios!

Katelynn of course is in love with all of the other fun items they sent.

She has never really been one for eating cereal in the mornings (at least at my house!), but ever since she got her cereal mug from Cheerios she has been eating them like a trooper. It makes for some nice, easy, and healthy breakfasts too!

She also thinks her little Cheerio snack container is pretty cool too!

What Happened to Thanksgiving?

The kids and I were on our own this past weekend because Dan headed out deer hunting. I love those weekends when they are planned of just the kids and I. I always pick one day to go shopping (of course!) and a day to hang out at home.

It was time to take down the Halloween decorations and switch gears to Thanksgiving. For some reason I do enjoy stripping items down to put away. It must be that cleaning feeling I get, a little bit of serenity when everything is put away and in its place. I do like that some decorations stay up from one holiday to the next. It feels like I am saving a little bit of money on it. Fall colors and pumpkins still stay and you add a couple of turkeys.

So this weekend we were on the hunt for Thanksgiving decorations and Thanksgiving crafts for the kids. We ended up going to three different stores trying to find them.

Seriously, did every store forget about Thanksgiving?

• Target had one flimsy set up of only cups, plates, and napkins and one decorations for the windows.
• Safeway had all the fixings for cooking a Thanksgiving meal, but no decorations.
• Michael's had two places to find Thanksgiving items in the store, but both were small and not much there and was hard to find after weeding through all of the Christmas items out. I had to ask someone finally if they had any. The worker asked, "Like turkeys and pilgrims?" "They are on an end shelf over there." We were successful here though in finding our crafts and some Turkeys and a sign that says Give Thanks.

I know that stores want to make money and people are out already Christmas shopping, but c'mon people let's not skip over Thanksgiving! I heard Christmas music in two of the stores we were in already. I heard on the radio station people calling in and saying they put up their Christmas trees already. This is the time to be thankful. Let's try and slow down a little bit and not forget this holiday and everything that we are thankful for this year.

Trick or Treat - 2010

Although my family and I were still on the mend from being sick and getting rid of colds we were still excited to head out and do some trick or treating. After the Vikings game the kids were bouncing around the house, or at least Katelynn was, to get on costumes and get ready. Dan had to a lot of the work this year of getting the kids ready, I was just too worn out from the funeral, being sick, and traveling that morning. Junior was not thrilled to be in his Mickey Mouse costumes; he would have much preferred to see someone else be Mickey so he could look at them. I was able to get some pictures this year before we headed out. Dan and I had costumes that I bought for us, but with everything going on we weren't up to it. I will save them for next year. The neighbor girls were outside waiting for us and we all set out. Junior got the hang of trick or treating after the 2nd house. He started running up to the doors and would say knock, knock and then was in pure awe that people would answer the door and put candy into his basket. I wonder now if he thinks when we go to people's houses and knock on the door if he is going to get candy or if he understands that they were dressed up and this was a special occasion day? We all went for a few blocks and then Junior and I headed back to the house so we could hand out candy to the trick or treats. He thought that was fun too and would get excited every time the doorbell rang or someone knocked. Dan and Katelynn came back a little earlier than I thought they would. It seems the three girls were got into a little tiff at each house about who was going to get to knock, but she had plenty of candy. She had fun after that handing out candy to the other kids, although I did have to tell her to limit it to two pieces per kiddo because she was wanting to give out handfuls to each. Everyone had a good time, it wasn't perfect or how I was envisioning, but that is just the way life is sometimes.

When it rains it pours

Last week did not start out to be a good week and ended even worse.

Sunday we were gearing up for the Vikings game. We made lots of goods snacks to eat and the entire family was dressed in their Vikings gear. Throughout the day the kids started to get the sniffles and by bed time neither were feeling very good. I figured that I would be staying home from work on Monday. Sure enough, they coughed all night long and nobody was able to get much sleep. Dan and I were crossings paths in the night and we all played musical beds. Here is how that went: Katelynn in her bed, then in our bed and back to her bed. Dan in our bed, then in Katelynn's bed, on the couch and back to our bed. Junior in his crib then him and I downstairs and then him back to the crib. Me, in my bed, in Katelynn's bed, downstairs with Junior, Katelynn's bed and then back to my own bed. Whew, what a night.

While I was dealing with my sick kids my own mother was dealing with my grandma who was sick and in the hospital. Grandma went from one town to another with almost all of her 8 children following her with each move. All the grandchildren were kept up to date.

All week long for us was coughing and sniffles and not much sleep at night. Then we had the dreaded call that Grandma was going to the hospice hospital and shortly it would be time to say good-bye. This is when things get extremely difficult living far away from family. You can never drive an hour to go and say good-bye or give someone a hug who needs one.

Wednesday the kids went to daycare and Katelynn had pre-school. The daycare called me after they picked her up and she was screaming about her ear hurting. Dan was already home so I called him to go and pick up the kids early and said that I would take Katelynn to urgent care as soon as I got home. I got a call 10 minutes later and he asked me to meet him at urgent care because she was getting a little hysterical about her ear. I actually was thinking sooner rather than later as well and was already on my way. I was starting to not feel very well myself and figured that we all better just get checked out while we were there. 5 minutes before the daycare called me my mom had called me and told me my grandma passed away. I had to have my mommy hat on and went to urgent care and filled out the paperwork for the 2 kids and myself. Dan went with Junior and Katelynn and I in a different room. Katelynn did not have an ear infection and I did not have strep throat, so no good stuff to make us feel better. Junior was given a prescription for a nebulizer and antibiotics in case he got an ear infection. I went to Target with our prescription orders and waited a long hour and half. I did get a chance to finally talk to my mom while I was waiting. It was another long night with the kids and with me not feeling well either a lot of work fell to Dan. I was starting to get very worried that I would be too ill too travel home for my grandma's funeral. I immediately started taking vitamin C and prayed and hoped for the best. I kept the kids home again with me on Thursday and we hung around the house trying to get better. I again cleaned and disinfected my house and toys and did as much as I could muster for the day. I eventually did start feeling about 50% better and decided to go ahead and book a ticket home and flew out Thursday night. Dan was left to deal with the sick kids.

I was so glad that I went home. I was able to say a final good-bye to my grandma and be around my family at a time when everyone needed to be together. We rented condos that slept 17 people each and were together for 2 full days. I was able to go and visit my grandma's house and take a few pictures. I thought about all the times I had been there and the things that never changed on her walls. I saw items there that I had even given her as gifts. What a joy she was too everyone who knew her. I hope that I can be even a quarter of the woman that she was. I hope that my children will forever treasure the blankets that she made them when they were born and know how much she loved us all. I love you Grandma.

I flew back on Sunday in time to grab a nap and take the kiddos out for some trick or treating. It was a very long week.

Pumpkin Fruit Baskets

This project was really fun. Project # 2 from our expensive magazine. While the kids were doing quiet time and naps I took 4 oranges and cut a sliver off the bottom so they would sit and then cut the tops off and basically gutted out the fillings of orange. After Katelynn was done with quiet time she came and helped out by cutting up the grapes for me. She was so excited to use a butter knife. Once I had her busy I then cut out of the faces on the oranges like they were little Halloween pumpkins. We cut up some of the oranges, grapes, an apple and a pear for the filling. We used silvered almonds for the teeth. I think these are probably the craftiest thing that I have ever done! I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. The kids loved them with their supper and it was healthy too.

Halloween Goodies

A few weeks ago we were at Lowe's and I paid the ridiculous amount of $10.00 for a Halloween cook book. I figured since I paid so much I better find something that me and the kids could attempt to make from it. I had Katelynn look through the book before we went grocery shopping to see what she would like to make. I had to eventually sit down with her and go through it too because the couple that she picked out were beyond my skill level. We decided (or I did) that we could make these Halloween bugs. They seemed easy enough with candy bars, pretzel sticks, a little chocolate frosting and decorations. We had a ton of fun making them, but they sure didn't turn out as pretty as the one's in the magazine picture!

Junior really just thought it was about eating candy bars, which he had never had until that day.

Katelynn as always is ready to go.

He eventually did get the idea!

Our finished projects!

BUGS, BUGS, BUGS