More Scenes From Christmas

My cousin works for a large company in their airport hanger taking care of the corporate planes. On holidays they let them bring family in to play on them so my Dad took the kids on Christmas day to see them. Here they are walking up to the airport. Ever the Gentleman, Little Man loves helping his cousin whenever he can!

I was not there, but from what I understand this is the newest plane that only cost a mere 40 mil or something!

Hanging out on the wing.

Big Man said it was a little scary up there!

They thought it was "totally awesome" that they got to sit in the cockpit.

Wish they had seats like this on the planes I ride in.

Checking out the outside.

After they all had to sit in a tree, I thought some of these were pretty funny so I had to include them.

It looks like he sat on a branch the wrong way or something!!!

At least Little Man looks relaxed compared to the other two:)

Hunting and Guns

I loved this post from my sister-in-law so I thought I would link to it since I'm too lazy to write anything on my own tonight. If you aren't into hunting and guns just bypass. My kids are still asking when you are going to cook them the ducks, squirrels and quail Carlee??!! Next time Little Man says he wants to shoot 50 cal too:)

http://carchica2000.blogspot.com/2009/12/duck-hunting-and-so-much-more.html

Catching Up

Since I'm sure all of my loyal followers have been wondering what I have been up to in my exciting life, I'm going to do a quick recap of the last few weeks. We went to the light parade. The kids had a blast with their friend Payson and we froze while looking at the lights!

My dog got an ear infection and a terrible sore on her face (you can kind of see it below her ear). You wouldn't think that having to give a dog three medications twice per day would be a big deal, but it was not very easy to do...

Big Man had his Christmas concert and sang a few songs

and played hand bells (they were sooo cute).

Then the baby got croup and an ear infection. Her breathing got so bad she had to get a steroid breathing treatment and then take them by mouth as well. Obviously she enjoys her breathing treatments.

Big Man had his class party and Santa came to visit. Little Man was in heaven that day because he got to hang out with the class for the entire day and do whatever they did. Here he is telling Santa he wanted a dinosaur for Christmas (and he got one).

Here is Big Man telling Santa he wanted Rocky the Robot truck (which he also got!) My boys both totally believe in Santa.
They had a little gift exchange.

and decorated Gingerbread houses.
Then we had a party at my MIL's house for my Hubby's, nieces and the baby's birthday.

Here is the baby grabbing the hot candle.

She was not interested in playing with or eating the cake no matter how hard her Daddy tried!
The next night we were at my FIL's house. These are just some of the kids cousins!

Four generations with my hubby's Dad and Grandmother. Too bad none of my kids look happy at all:)

Christmas Eve we went to a candlelight service and then to my hubby's Grandma's house. Yes, my baby is walking all over!

Christmas morning she looked like a little Miss Clause showing off her teeth. She just got two more of them last week...needless to say her sleep has been hit or miss that past week which only adds to my exhaustion!

She loved her first Christmas, though, and I hope everyone had as good of a time as we did.

So between all of the events that we were involved in, the present shopping, wrapping and putting together my daughters kitchen (by myself and it did take forever) cookie making and craft doing it has been a very busy month. No chance of relaxing this week either because I'm trying to take the boys to do some fun things while Big Man is off from school this week. I think we will be going rollerskating, seeing the 3-D shark movie at the Science Center, going to the zoo and playing at the park if anyone wants to come with us!

Gingerbread Day

Gingerbread Man Missing (originally posted on school blog)

Middle school teacher the likely culprit…

Gingerbread Man Day is a time-honored tradition, one that the kindergarten class participates in every year. This year, on Wednesday, December 9, that tradition was forever altered when the main star of the show, Mr. Gingerbread Man himself, went missing halfway through the festivities. Kindergartners began the day by making small gingerbread men – rolling the dough, cutting the cookies, and preparing them for baking.

I don't have any pictures of Big Man cutting out his cookies but I thought his best friend was a cute replacement!

They also created a giant gingerbread man as a class by giving him yummy, decorative details such as licorice hair and candy buttons.

Then they left their gingerbread man in the classroom while they went to recess. Upon their return to class, the students were shocked to discover that the gingerbread man was nowhere to be found, and so they set out to hunt down the whereabouts of “Gingy” and bring him back to his rightful place. The students searched everywhere, sometimes finding a trail of crumbs that would lead them to their next destination. Upon searching the art room, the Principal's office, the playground, and numerous classrooms, they finally had an encouraging tip from 5th grade, who saw Gingy make his way to the 6th grade room.

When he was questioned, he seemed hesitant to give the kindergartners information, but they finally extracted the next clue from him by learning that Gingy had made his way to the 7th grade room.

The kindergartners were shocked to discover that Gingy had indeed been discovered by the 7th grade teacher – who promptly bit off one of Gingy’s legs. When questioned about the incident, he responded, “He just looked so delicious; I couldn’t help myself!” Nevertheless, the kindergartners triumphantly returned Gingy to their classroom, missing leg and all. Rumor has it that kindergartners might be pressing charges against him to serve lunch detention, but reports are not yet conclusive.Here’s hoping the rest of Gingerbread Man Day went a little more smoothly.

The kids had a fabulous day filled with all sorts of Gingerbread crafts and fun. They also thought it was hilarious that they got to bust in to all the classrooms and offices searching for the Gingerbread! I just love his school:)

Shopping Accomplished

My Christmas shopping is 99% done. I did almost all of it at Amazon.com, what a great site! This is what I'm getting the baby. I know she is a little too young for it, but the boys will have a great time with it for now.

Then we are also getting this. Technically it is for the boys, but I think my hubby and I will enjoy it just as much:)

The Hunters

My hubby just returned from an 8 day elk hunt (a long 8 days I might add!) Unfortunately he didn't get an elk but he did get a nice beard.

It was freezing where they were hunting and it looked like this.
The boys went hunting with their Grandpa, Uncle and Aunt and they had better luck and shot 2 squirrels.

So no elk dinners but we have squirrel. Oh yeah I can't wait:)

Christmas Pictures

I wasn't sure they were going to be able to get a picture where all three kids were looking at the camera with a decent smile, but they did! My boys are sooo hard to take pictures of now. So if I were going to send out Christmas cards (which I probably won't get around to) this would be the picture, so pretend I mailed it to you and enjoy the picture and Merry Christmas:)The baby was wonderful for the pictures.
She just kept smiling and laughing and was her usual sweet self. Sometimes I still can't believe I have a little girl, especially one as cute as her! I'm not at all biased...

She quit smiling for Santa, though. I guess he is kind of a scary looking guy for a baby:)

We are getting into the holiday spirit around here. We went to zoo lights last week which was fantastic as always. This week is the light parade and gingerbread house making. If you haven't tried the Dairy Queen candy cane blizzard you really should, it will definitely put you in the holiday mood. I think I am addicted, is it weird to think about a blizzard all day long??!!

Necklace

I forgot to mention in my last post that the necklace the baby is wearing is a Baltic Amber teething necklace from Inspired by Finn. It is suppose to help with teething problems and I do think it is helping! The baby has 4 teeth now and she was absolutely terrible for weeks with the first ones, like non-stop screaming and waking about 10 times at night. She is about to get 2 more teeth and she is still pretty happy and not having a hard time sleeping at all anymore. It could be coincidence, but I'm not going to take it off to find out:)

11 Months Old

I am going to miss my baby as she is quickly becoming a little girl.

She has so much to say now and likes everyone to listen to her.

When I Grow Up...

I want to be a husband. It would be so wonderful to get up and only have to worry about getting myself ready and going to work. I would then come home to dinner that I didn't have to cook and a pile of dishes that I didn't have to worry about. No worrying about bills, grocery's and cleaning house. Yep, that is what I want:)

I was reading a Thanksgiving book to my kids the other day and it was discussing how on the first Thanksgiving the women were busy cooking and serving while the men played games and talked. That is basically how it is still for the holidays in my family. By the time the holiday gets here I am exhausted from staying up late or getting up early to cook something and then having to clean up.

It got me thinking...I'm sure that there are men out there who do cook and clean but I don't know many! It seems that even when the women make money they are still expected to do all that as well. I'm also sure that there are women out there who truly enjoy cooking, cleaning and laundry, but I am not one of them. A dirty toilet or a huge pile of dishes has been known to make me cry. I've told my husband many times that once our kids are a little older (and can behave going out to eat) I will cook maybe once a week. No cooking= no dishes=heaven.

So, since becoming a husband isn't an option maybe my wonderful husband will be nice and get me a regular housecleaner for Christmas to clean up after his messy children and offer to pick up dinner on the way home from work occasionally. Maybe, Please, Pretty Please!!!

Big Green Tractor and the Zoo

We went to the zoo last week and I am so impressed with what they have done to the farm. It was closed when we were there a couple of weeks ago and they have done a lot of work. There was grass where dirt use to be and there are better toys and the playground is shaded now!

My Little Man sure does love his cousin and she loves him too. He was more than happy to share a tractor with her! I can see him in a few years singing to a girl riding on one of his tractors: I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor, we can go slow...

They have a cow in there now that you can milk and water squirts out. Big Man talked for the rest of the day how he could milk with 2 hands. That was my favorite part of the zoo. I'm not sure why but I just think a milking cow is cool...maybe it is because I feel we have a lot in common as I feel like a milk cow most days:)

My niece reminds me of a posing model in this picture. She is too cute and very photogenic when she wants to be, the boys not so much usually!

My sister took this picture and told me: See they really do love each other. It is nice to have pictures where they look so nice and loving with each other, since most days it is the complete opposite when they are together. I will say that they are getting along much better lately so maybe there is hope for them!

My nephew just cracks me up all the time. He always has this big smile and the most hilarious laugh. You just can sit and laugh together, then he spits up everywhere and laughs some more:)

The baby obviously didn't do anything cute or funny since I have no pictures of her at the zoo. She just hung out and took in the sights. She has a few teeth working their way in right now and is not sleeping well and is just generally cranky. She did have her check up this week and she weighs 21.7 pounds and is in the 50% for weight. I can't remember her height but she is only in the 25th percentile for height. Her head is in the 95%, but with her mound of curls it looks even bigger:)