Christmas Eve 2010

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, the kids were counting the hours until St. Nick would be there!

Empty wrapping paper rolls are as much fun as any toy out there!

My little treat making elves

While I ran to the store for a few last minute things the kids used the leftover M&M's for a few hands of blackjack, it helps w/their math skills right?!

TIme for the traditional Christmas Eve present, hmmm wonder what it could be, I'm thinking pj's (forgot to get a pic of the new digs, dang!)

We threw in a few games too, then it was off to look at Christmas lights!

TEENAGER!!!!!

Well I can't believe it but my first born is officially a teenager! Not sure if I want to laugh or cry, I think a bit of both. I still remember the day I found out I was pregnant like it was yesterday and now he's 13. He is turning into quite the young man! He puts on an act that he is very serious but he is a joker and likes to have fun. He is the typical older brother and loves teasing his siblings. He also loves hanging out with his dad. His new passion is hunting, not my favorite thing, but he can't get enough. He hasn't been able to get anything yet but he loves trying! We love having him as part of our family!

The only thing he wanted for his birthday, a new gun, but of course if you give a boy a gun he'll want ammo to go with it and if you give him ammo he'll want to go out and shoot something!

An accessory for his other favorite past-time, sleeping!

For months he has been trying to convince me that he is taller than me. He may have passed me up in the weight department but I'm not conceding on the height. I still have him by at least inch (but not for long!)

We got style!

Our friends had an ugly sweater Christmas party, and we couldn't come up with any sweaters but we did our best to be festive. I really thought there was no way I could get Trent to participate but he was a good sport and wore the wonderful gingerbread man scarf I found for him. The shirt I found for me was extremely flattering (not!)

After the ornament exchange Trent came away with the "super duper reindeer pooper" It was a huge hit at our house!

Sing It

Madyson finished out our December programs with her vocal music concert. She was also super excited for her concert. They sang lots of cute songs and had lots of fun. I was wrestling Brayden so Preston took over as official photographer (hence the lack of usable photos!)

Penguins save Christmas

December is full of programs! Preston was so excited for his second grade program. He practiced hard and sang his heart out! He and his fellow penguins helped Santa, who had amnesia, remember who he was and helped save Christmas! He looked forward to it all month long and it was so fun to watch his excitement grow!

Cutest Rudolph Ever!

I love pre-school Christmas programs! Like last year, Brayden didn't sing a word but he looked dang cute standing there!

Getting ready to head to school, he insisted he wear his boots because "Santa wears boots"

Here come the reindeer!

Unlike last year (when he screamed) he was more than excited to sit on Santa's lap!

I love this little guy!

All in one place

So I have to give a shout out to my friend Kimberly. She was here over the weekend and spent a portion of it taking my pictures (there are thousands of them) that were all over the place and getting them on iphoto for me. She was amazing and I can't tell you how nice it is to have them all in one place! We talked about making sure we took a picture together but never got it done. I figured I would find one from our trip this summer and didn't have one of us in those either. Guess it's time to start passing the camera around so I can get in some pics. Here is one of the pics that is finally on my computer, yeah!!!! Thanks Kimberly!

Field Trip

Preston's 2nd grade went to the zoo and I got to go with them. I think it was field trip day for just about every other school in the state too but we had fun! So glad I got to spend time with my kiddo.

Running

Austin decided to run cross country this year. At first I thought it was because Trent ran cross country and Austin wanted to follow in his footsteps, but I think the real reason was he wanted to get in shape for a hunting trip. Oh well, whatever the reason it kept him off the couch!

Rainbows

The kids and I spotted these double rainbows on our way out the door for a walk. Rainbows always make me smile and think about the day Trent proposed.

Lunch w/Walrus'

We picked Madyson up for lunch and headed to Pei Wei. At least they stayed busy while they were waiting for their food. These too are crazy together!

A day off

Spending one on one time with the kids is pretty tricky these days so when Preston had a doctor's appt. it wasn't hard for him to convinced me to let him skip the rest of school. We ran some errands and snuck in a lunch w/dad. It was simple but he was the happiest kid around!

Trees

If there is a tree around my boys will try to climb it!

We were at the park and I told Brayden he couldn't climb the big tree, he needed to find a little one. A few minutes later I heard his sweet voice and he yelled "look mom, I told you I could climb this tree"

Preston loves climbing trees but he loves getting out of them just as much. Usually he jumps down but he decided to "repel out of the tree". Luckily no injuries were incurred!

Not so fast Daddy

Trent and Brayden decided to take the training wheels off his bike without my consent.  One push from dad and he was off and riding by himself.  He did a great job and of course wanted to keep them off.  The problem is he can't get started by himself and I'm not up for that so the training wheels went back on the bike at the end of the day.  Maybe next summer we can try it again w/only 2 wheels!

Yee Haw!

Brayden and Madyson needed birthday pictures and Brayden did not want to go to a studio so I decided to just take them myself.  B had to dress up in his "cowboy clothes" so M joined in.  I'm not much of a photographer but how can you go wrong with these two!  (Warning there are a lot of pics and I didn't even post them all, I just couldn't choose!)