Gabriel and Grace

Superbowl 2012

2012-02-06T21:30:00.003-05:00

We headed to the McAfee's last night for their annual Superbowl party. For many of us, the party is just really about socializing and enjoying some snacks. A few others like to watch the game.
It's nice that, among all the boys, there are these two sweet little girls who love to play together.
The kids were pretty rowdy and argumentative with each other, so Alicia turned on movie for them in Daniel's office. Brilliant!
Gabriel had a ball shooting baskets. The basketballs were also a reason for many arguments between the boys. At times it looked like tackle basketball was taking place.
He said that he made 33 shots. I'm not sure whether to believe him or not. Ha!
Darbi crawled through the tunnel and wanted her picture taken. Here you go, Darbs!
Miss Nora is R-O-T-T-E-N! Can you imagine how she got that way? She smiles SO big when her mommy hugs her.
Alicia posed for a pic with her babies. These two kiddos are so stinkin' cute.
Dan made sure to get the kids all riled up before we left. Do you remember what happened the last time he riled up some kiddos? At least there were no injuries this time.
Janelle and Mazden . . . Miss Maz is so cute. She was shaking her head "no," signing "all done," and waving.
By the way . . . Grace took the last 5 pictures for this post. She was having so much fun taking pictures of everyone and many random things . . . like her feet. I thought it was cute that she took a picture of her feet, so I had to include it. She's getting better at taking pictures. Many of them weren't bad at all after I cropped them.

Thanks for having us over, McAfee Family! We always have fun hanging out with friends.

Nik turns 6!

2012-02-05T08:42:00.002-05:00

Gabriel went to Nik's birthday party last night. It was the first time I've taken him to a birthday party and left him. The kids played basketball. Gabriel had a ton of fun, but he has no clue how to play basketball. Poor kid! We are doing him no favors by not getting him involved in some sort of basketball team.
He tried really hard, and he had fun. That's all that matters.
Before the party ended, the kids did a sack race.
They didn't know when the race was over, so the game just went on, and on, and on. I think Gabriel had about four turns jumping.
It didn't matter. The kids were having a ball. He had so much fun that he didn't take time to eat. I brought his pizza and cupcake home so he could eat it, but he was so worn out, he didn't eat. Now THAT is one fun party!

Oh, Deer!

2012-02-05T08:37:00.003-05:00

Dan spotted deer in the yard yesterday evening. At first there was a small doe and a baby.
It didn't take long before another doe and two more little ones showed up.
Dan spotted the buck by the pond a little later.
We threw some apples out in the yard for them. I love being able to watch the wildlife in the woods.

On a Field Trip

2012-02-05T08:34:00.001-05:00

Grace took her babies on a field trip yesterday. I love it when she plays with her babies

He Is Such a Boy!

2012-02-02T17:59:00.002-05:00

Gabriel drew these two pictures at school today. The Green Guy is weaker than the Red Guy. If you look closely, you'll see that the Green Guy has boobs. Oh my! Boys' fascination with boobs starts awfully early!

Ingenuity

2012-01-29T13:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I was working on a project that I have been putting off for quite a while. About 1 o'clock, I told the kids to turn the t.v. off for the afternoon. (Oh, the humanity!) Gabriel was SO bored without the t.v.
The next thing I knew, he was putting together his Lightning McQueen race track.
He had the directions out and was following the pictures to put the pieces in the correct order.
It didn't seem to take him long before he had it up and running. I was SO proud of him!!!
She's just cute.
And she loves it when I do self-portraits of the two of us.
This was MY completed project. The toy room now has one wall with cool orange and navy circles.

Amazing things happen when you turn the t.v. OFF.

4-Star School

2012-01-29T13:25:00.002-05:00

Gabriel's school was honored as a 4-Star School by the Department of Ed. Part of being a 4-Star School requires that their ISTEP+ scores are in the top 25% in the state. It is a really big deal for a school to be designated a 4-Star school. Friday they held their celebration. The PTO treated all of the kids in the school to a special 4-Star School t-shirt and a carnival. Mrs. G painted Gabriel's face like a tiger. He got to eat popcorn and a slushie. The kids played games and got balloons. He was so excited for the carnival that he talked about it all week. I'm sure it was a crazy day for his teacher if all 29 students were as excited as Gabriel!
This picture was in the Staff Insight. I got a copy from the supervisor of public relations. Gabriel is all the way on the right side in the second row. Look for the red sleeves.

Congratulations, Tigers!

Reading to Great Gramma

2012-01-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

Friday Dan and I divided and conquered. While I took Gabriel to Bridgepoint to Family Movie Night, Dan took Grace to visit Great Gramma. Grace sat in Great Gramma's chair with her and read a book to her. Grace loves to look at pictures in books and tell stories to go with them. For now, that's how she reads books, and I LOVE it! It's the sweetest thing to listen to.

Cuddles All Around

2012-01-29T13:08:00.002-05:00

We love to cuddle our sweet kiddos.
Wednesday evening Daddy took a little snooze while cuddling his favorite little girl.
Thursday evening it was Mommy's turn to get some cuddles in before bedtime. Even Hershey wanted in on the cuddle action. Love, love, love these sweet kids!

Craft Time

2012-01-29T13:04:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Grandma, Grace, and I went to Michael's to get a few supplies for a project we're working on. Just as we walked in the door an employee asked if Grace would like to do a craft. Clearly she's never met Grace . . . this girl LOVES to do crafts! She took Grace in the little room by the front door and gave her the supplies to decorate her own Fancy Nancy tiara. Grace wore her tiara through three stores and all during lunch. How fun! And what great timing we had!

Game Night at the McAfee's

2012-01-22T08:17:00.003-05:00

The McAfee's hosted Game Night last night. Gabriel and Grace were SO excited to go play games with Sam and Jake.
Jake and Blaise played Don't Break the Ice. It was a perfect game for a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old.
Marcy was in charge of putting the game back together each time the ice broke. Sam thought it was so fun that his teacher was at his house, and he even slipped in a few "Marcy's" instead of Mrs. Kist.
The bigger kids tried a game of Headbandz. It is a super cute game. Unfortunately, the kids told each other what was on their headband, and the game didn't last long.
Gabriel and Sam got out Connect 4 Launch.
Grace was super excited to play the Play-doh game.
Jake got out his BIG piano. Grace thought it was the best toy ever!
Grace mentioned that she was hungry. As soon as Alicia said the word "popcorn" this girl was sold! She brought the entire bowl over and sat down next to Alicia. Knowing Grace, she probably thought Alicia popped that bowl of popcorn just for her. Ha!
Sam and Gabriel played Angry Birds for quite a while. It must be a pretty fun game. Birthday gift idea?? We'll see.

At this point my camera battery died and I wasn't able to take any more picture. Oh well! Thanks for inviting us over, McAfee Family. We had a fun evening playing games and hanging out!

A House Divided

2012-01-19T21:27:00.003-05:00

I promised Gabriel that when his school played Bridgepoint, we would go together to see the game.
I made good on my word Wednesday when Bridgepoint played TJ at TJ.
Bridgepoint Bears played hard, but TJ prevailed.
I think Gabriel thought he might hurt my feelings if he rooted against my school. He kept telling me that he really wanted Bridgepoint to win. Maybe he was rooting for Bridgepoint because he knows several of the BP players from daycare? Who knows. It was fun enjoying the basketball game with the kids.

Daddy's Hat

2012-01-19T21:24:00.002-05:00

Wednesday when we got home from school, Grace decided to try on Daddy's hat.
She looks pretty darn cute in her Daddy's hat!

Bust a Move

2012-01-19T21:03:00.003-05:00

We have been having the best time dancing to the Wii!
Grace wanted to dance to Just Dance 2, and Gabriel couldn't help himself. He had to join her!
They danced and danced.
I couldn't let them have all the fun. So when they turned on Kidz Bop, I joined in the dancing too.
On Kidz Bop, you can challenge each other and see who follows the dancer on the Wii the best.
Grace takes after her buddy, Alicia. She bogarts my camera and then takes pictures of herself. Ha!
There is one song on Kidz Bop, Paparazzi, that I absolutely cannot beat Gabriel at.
Before long a princess came upstairs to dance with us too!

I love spending time with the kids doing fun things! For now they think I dance well. I'm going to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy . . . because before too long they'll realize I'm a terrible dancer!

Four Z Farm

2012-01-15T07:49:00.004-05:00

We visited Four Z Farm with the McAfee family yesterday. The Zollman family raises goats and lambs. Right now is when the lambs and kids are being born.
Teresa went into the pen to get a lamb for the kids to pet.
The kids loved the goats. The goats belong to the Zollmans' son and daughter-in-law. In the past when we have visited the farm, there were not as many goats. That baby goats, kids, are so adorable. We got to see one that was just a few hours old. Its feet were still wet from birth.
Alicia . . . taking a self portrait with a kid. So funny!
Jake and Gabe held the goats and posed for a picture. The kids were asking if they could bring the baby goats home. It was tough for them to understand why that wasn't a good idea.
Grace couldn't get the goat to stay on her lap because her coat was bulky and slick.
I was shocked that Grace grabbed and handful of feed and walked over to the pen to feed the goats from her hand. Usually at petting zoos and such, she is very timid about getting to close to the bigger animals. She was feeding the goats and sheep like she was on the payroll though.
The kids couldn't wait to go inside the pens to get closer to the lambs.
Gabriel was able to walk slowly enough up to the lambs to finally pick one up.
Sam picked one up too.
Once Gabriel was able to pick the lamb up, he said, "Mom, Mom! Look! Take my picture!" I guess I was slacking on my job a little.
Before we left Gabriel and Grace started feeding the sheep.
I think Grace would like to work at the farm. She loved feeding the animals.
Before we left, Teresa took the kids for rides on the 4-wheeler.
Gabriel told Teresa to go faster. The kid has a need for speed!

The farm is a fun place to visit, and the kids love seeing the animals. I love seeing the animals too. Farm life is hard work though! Teresa was telling us about Wayne pulling some all-nighters in the barn recently so he could be with the ewes as they birthed the lambs. The lambing season takes place during the coldest part of the winter which means long, cold days working in the barns. I hope that one day the kids will understand that behind the cute animals and fun rides on 4-wheelers is a lot of hard work and long days. Farming is truly a labor of love. Thanks, Teresa and Wayne, for letting us visit!

Tomo

2012-01-15T07:31:00.004-05:00

The McAfee's invited us to join them for lunch at Tomo Saturday. We love hibachi grills, but our favorite is Kansai. The kids were excited to go to a new hibachi restaurant.
Me and my girl . . . I tried to wipe the pink make-up off her face before we left home. I just couldn't get it all to come off. Ha!
The chef tossed the egg in the air and caught it in his hat. It looked like the egg just disappeared in thin air. That was a really cool trick.
The boys sat on one side of the table. The adults sat on the other. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well. The boys were pretty well behaved.
Our chef tossed pieces of scrambled egg into the kids' mouths.
He made a pretty cool volcano. He filled the center of the onions with soy sauce and let it bubble up like lava. Grace hid under the table any time the chef made fire on the grill. I don't know when she'll outgrow her fear of hibachi fire. Ha!
I don't know what Grace's funny expression was about.
Before our lunch was over, the server brought the kids chopsticks. They had fun trying them out.

Pizza for Breakfast

2012-01-14T08:42:00.002-05:00

My little Gracie LOVES pizza! She would eat is for every meal if she the chance. She's not a huge breakfast eater. So this morning when she asked if she could eat her pizza Lunchable for breakfast, I didn't mind. I was really just glad that she was willing to eat something.She ate the entire Lunchable for breakfast this morning. She LOVES pizza!

Chick-Fil-A

2012-01-14T08:32:00.002-05:00

Alicia invited us Thursday evening to meet her at Chick-fil-a so the kids could play. It's been a while since we've had a Chick-fil-a play date, so I couldn't say NO.
The kids' meal toy was a computer game CD. Sam and Gabriel were pretty excited about it, but Jake and Grace weren't. Jake and Grace were happy to trade their toys in for an ice cream cone.
Mmmmm . . . chicken nuggets, french fries, and a fruit cup. That's a dinner for a hungry kid!
Gabriel and Sam were pretty excited to get to hang out together. They were ROWDY and loud!
I asked the kids if I could take their picture, and they turned and showed me their rear ends. They thought it was hilarious. Oh my! The kids had a ball playing, and I was certainly happy to not have to cook or clean up the kitchen.

Another Birthday with Chuck E.

2012-01-08T09:04:00.002-05:00

Gabriel decided that he wants to have his birthday at Chuck E. Cheese this year. He, like Sam, is super-excited to do the Ticket Blaster. He also wanted Pokemon invitations and Pokemon on his cake. Get ready, Folks! February 24th you're eating pizza and enjoying time with Chuck E.

Sam is 6!

2012-01-08T08:28:00.004-05:00

We went to Chuck E. Cheese Friday night to celebrate Sam's 6th birthday. It is unreal that Sam is 6 already. When Sam turns 6, it means that Gabriel is just six weeks behind him. Where has the time gone?
Chuck E. came around and gathered all of the kids together to dance and win free tickets.
Gabriel was eager to win some tickets.
The instructions were given, and all of the kids scrambled to get tickets. I think Gabriel and Grace each won 3 tickets. They were a little disappointed.
It was after 8 p.m. before the pizza came out, and these kids were STARVING! They had been so excited about going to Chuck E. Cheese that they hadn't eaten anything at home. Gabriel scarfed down 2 pieces of pizza in no time.
Dan hung out with Mazzi. She was a puffs-eating fool. It was so funny to watch her reach for the puffs. Later she gnawed on a piece of pizza crust. She enjoyed the heck out of that thing.
Sam had an Angry Birds cake. Very cute!
Everyone sang to the birthday boy. He received his special birthday medal too.
There was another party next to Sam's. The party host and hostess got all of the kids chanting "Happy Birthday" and dancing with Chuck E. Cheese.
Sam's birthday crew posed for a group picture before the party was over.
The reason Sam wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday was to be in the Ticket Blaster. He did an awesome job! He got more than 250 tickets!
Grace and Darbi were playing together as everyone was getting ready to leave. They are such girls! They had the rings off of the Angry Birds cake and were trying them on.

Happy Birthday, Sam! Thanks for inviting us to celebrate with you!

A Unique Snow Removal System

2012-01-03T22:31:00.004-05:00

Grace has been so excited about the possibility of snow. Sunday when it began to flurry in the morning, she ran outside in her pajamas and stuck her tongue out to taste the snow. It didn't take but a minute before she decided to come in and get dressed more appropriately for snow.
By the time she was dressed to go outside, there was a dusting of snow on the deck.
Immediately she began scooping up the snow and eating it off of her mittens.
She ate the snow like it was her JOB.
Then she started packing the snow onto the back storm door and watching it slide down.
The snow began to pile up on her, so she had to eat a little more.
You knew this was coming next, right? She packed the snow onto the storm door and then licked it off. Ha! She is such a nut . . . and I love her!

Going to the Grocery

2012-01-03T22:23:00.004-05:00

Grace picks out her own clothes most of the time. Usually it's just not worth arguing with her about what she is going to wear. This is how she came out of her bedroom Saturday. She was wearing a dress that was a size too small, Cinderella tights, a pink scarf, her new Gap hat, and BRIGHT PINK LIP STICK. Oh my! We got some funny looks as she went through the grocery store talking on her Barbie cell phone looking like this. What's even funnier is that she had a Princess headband on under the hat that she was wearing on her forehead over her bangs. She would not let me adjust her headband. She looked like a hot little mess going through Meijer. All I could do was shake my head and laugh. She is her own person! No doubts about that!

The Rest of the Story

2012-01-03T22:14:00.002-05:00

So here is the rest of the story . . . .

Our Friday evening fun with the Bower family ended with Dan limping out the door. Yes, I said limping.
Remember how I said that Dan was being rowdy with the kids?
During the rough-housing Gabriel ended up landing on the side of Dan's ankle. Saturday morning Dan went to the immediate care center for an x-ray. Turns out his ankle is sprained, luckily not broken.
He limped around all weekend and used a cane to get around. The doctor at the immediate care center prescribed a pretty good pain med for him, which helped.

Oh, by the way, the accident policy that I signed our family up for through my work doesn't take effect until January 1st. It has a pay amount for the purchase of crutches, leg braces, and x-rays. Geez!

Dinner with the Bowers

2011-12-31T10:04:00.005-05:00

We headed to New Washington last night to have dinner with the Bowers. We had planned to have dinner together before Christmas, but the Bower boys were sick. We were looking forward to hanging out with them.
Grace spent an hour getting ready to go. She had pink lip stick from her nose to her chin.
The pictures just don't do the make-up justice. I had fixed her hair for her before we left, but she spent the 30-minute drive rearranging her hair clips.
The Bowers served pizza . . . Grace's FAVORITE food! I had been in the mood for pizza all week, so it hit the spot!
The kids had a BLAST playing together! They actually said that in the car as we were leaving. Landon has a ton of dress-up clothes. The kids had so much fun dressing up and pretend playing.
Landon was a police officer and a fire fighter. I'm pretty sure both dads were arrested multiple times last night. Haha!
Here they go to rescue animals from a fire!
Landon has some really cool tool toys. The boys were using a jack hammer and a drill to attack Dan.
Dan was rowdy right along with the kids.
To get the kids to calm down a bit, we let them open their gifts to each other. The Bowers got Gabriel a Ben 10 car. He loves it!
Grace got nail polish, lip glosses, and a Princess headband. As she opened her gift, she said again, "I LOVE make-up!"
The boys checked out the Ben 10 car, and Grace explained to Melissa how she doesn't like headbands with "the pokey things on them." I love how she describes and explains things with her hands. Her facial expressions crack me up too!

We had such a good time hanging out with the Bowers last night! There is a little more to this story, but that is coming later when I have more details to share. The Bowers feel like they are cursed when we come over. We probably won't be invited back to their house again . . . I'll explain more soon!

Baby Doll Daycare

2011-12-30T12:21:00.003-05:00

Grace has been running a daycare for her baby dolls and stuffed animals in the living room this afternoon. She's been saying things to them like "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit!" And "No chit chat! Be quiet!" Maybe she's missing school a little bit??

Indy Children's Museum

2011-12-30T08:53:00.005-05:00

Wednesday Alicia and I loaded up in her minivan and headed to Indianapolis to visit the Children's Museum. When the two of us make this trek, I always feel like we are Thelma and Louise . . . with 5 kids! Haha! We have such a good time, but we always have moments when we look at each other and wonder if we are out of our minds.
Rowdy boys in the back and cute girls in the middle
We had our picture taken on the way in to the museum this time. Last time we waited until right before we left, and we got a picture of five tired kids. Live and Learn, I tell ya!
We started on the fourth floor at Science Works because we didn't really get to explore there much last time.
Sweet Nora is such a good sport. She was a trooper Wednesday. She had three little half-hour naps all day long. There was just too much going on for a girl to sleep!
In the Science Works area, there is a Health House that teaches kids about healthy eating choices, good hygiene, and being active.
Grace and Jake posed with the Couch Potato.
The kids also played in the bathroom at the Health House. The learned about hand washing, brushing teeth, and bathing.
Our next stop was the House of Mirrors. I really liked the mirror at the entrance because I looked tall and thin. Too bad my bedroom mirror doesn't make me look like that!
We brought our lunches and ate in the "picnic" area. As Alicia cleaned up, the kids played with the rented stroller. They are so silly!
Dinosphere was one of our next stops after lunch. The kids LOVE the Dinosphere!
Grace could not wait to dress up like a dinosaur. The kids played for the longest time in the Dino Dress-up area. They were so funny!
One of our last stops was the Jolly Days area. The kids got to "ice skate," "ice fish," and climb in an ice castle.

The museum was more crowded than I've ever seen it! As we were coming down the ramp from the parking garage, we just saw a sea of people waiting to get in. The exhibits themselves were not terribly crowded and difficult to get around, but transition areas between exhibits and the restrooms were really crowded. Some of our favorite areas (Playscape, Jolly Days Slide, and the trains) were pretty crowded so we avoided a few of those areas. It was fine, though, because we got to see some different areas. We had a super-fun day! And we're already looking forward to our next trip!

Big Day!

2011-12-30T08:24:00.002-05:00

Grace had a play date with Cassidy Tuesday. She was gone from noon until a little after 5 p.m. After eating most of her dinner and being told to sit down and chill out, I noticed that she was unusually quiet. This sleeping little angel is what I saw. It was quarter til seven. Oh my!
NO ONE at our house takes a nap without a snuggle buddy, and Grace is no exception. Hershey was happy to cuddle up to Grace and keep her company while she napped. I woke Grace up to quickly give her a bath. She cried for the entire bath time. I carried her upstairs and put her in bed. She slept until 7:30 the next morning.

Sea Monkeys Update

2011-12-27T22:46:00.003-05:00

We had some Sea Monkeys hatch yesterday! They look like little white specks in the water. The only way we know that they are Sea Monkeys is that they move randomly around the tank. We did our first feeding today. It does not take much food to feed these tiny little boogers. I'm hoping that they will grow pretty quickly so we can see them better. The kids are not too interested in them right now because they are so difficult to see.

Grace got Sea Monkeys in her stocking. We purified the water today, and we will put the eggs in tomorrow. We're excited to see if hers will do as well as Gabriel's have so far.

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T20:30:00.008-05:00

Gabriel was out of bed first on Christmas morning. We always wait until 8 a.m. when the grandparents, Uncle Brian, and Aunt Erin arrive before we begin opening gifts though.
Our first job was to take the expectant Mary from the Nativity and put out Mother Mary and Baby Jesus.
Gabriel took expectant Mary away, and Grace added Mother Mary with Baby Jesus. We talked for a moment about why we had to put Baby Jesus out on Christmas morning. I was so proud because the kids could really explain it to me.
The kids went through their stockings. Gabriel found a really cool fleece hat and matching gloves.
There were several books in his stocking, including a beginning chapter book about Lightning McQueen and a couple of math workbooks.
Grace showed Gabriel some lip gloss that was in her stocking . . . or as she calls it "lip chap."
"Mom, Santa brought socks!"
It took her a minute, but Grace noticed that Santa had brought an art table for her.
She got busy coloring right away.
Santa also brought Grace the Crayola Crayon Maker. She was so excited!
Mommy and Daddy got a family gift for us. The kids started opening the box and pulling out Wii games. Gabriel was so excited! Someone immediately asked, "How are you going to play those?" To which he replied, "We'll take them to Grandma and Papaw's house." He had not even noticed that there was a Wii in the box with the games.
Grace gave Gabriel a handheld video game. You know, a boy can never have too many video games.
Brian and Erin gave Grace a princess tent. Uncle Ed curled up inside it with Grace's Fur Real Puppy, Cookie.
The Ellnor's have a mandatory nap time on Christmas Day. Papaw thought he would get a head start on his.
After breakfast, Daddy and Uncle Ed hooked up the Wii, and we broke out the Kidz Bop game Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey gave the kids.
Daddy showed Grace how to work the controller.
Grandma gave the Kidz Bop a try, and Grace danced along with her.
Aunt Stacey busted a move too.
Uncle Ed and Hershey got their mandatory nap time in.

Seriously . . . Gabriel, Grace, Stacey, and I laid down for naps after breakfast, Wii games, and showers. After naps we hung out for a bit, then headed to Grandma and Papaw's house for dinner.
Grace ate her dessert while sitting in Aunt Erin's lap.
Grandma got Wii Zumba for Christmas. It was a hit after dinner! Gabriel did an entire 20 minutes Zumba class.
Grace got tired while dancing and took her shirt off. Then her Baby Alive needed to eat, so she sat down like a good little mama and fed her baby.
Erin is the dog whisperer. Griffey, Lucy, and Hershey love to cuddle with her.
Grandma tried a little Zumba.
Before everyone started to head their separate ways (or lay down for another nap), we decided to get a group picture. Like I said before, our dogs are part of our family too.
Grace is a booty-shakin' Zumba fool!
The three youngest kids (Griffey, Gabe, and Grace) love hanging with Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey.
Baby Alive was complaining that she was thirsty, so Daddy took over baby tending.
Uncle Ed decided to bust-a-move to Zumba.
I'm pretty sure he was doing a little freestyle dancing.
Papaw thought he would show us ALL how this Zumba-thing is done!
Uncle Ed is the best for wrestling and being silly. He was pretending to be a train, and Gabriel and Grace were the passengers.
Here they go for another ride. The kids were wound tight when we left Grandma and Papaw's house. Grace was so exhausted that she cried all the way home. She was suffering from some severe Christmas fun exhaustion. A nice long sleep was the only cure for her.

When Dan and I went to bed last night, I felt like my heart was swelling to the point of bursting. My heart swells with joy when I think about how wonderful our family is and how much fun we have when we're all together. It doesn't matter if we are hanging out with Grampy and Barbara or Uncle Brian and Erin. We always have a good time being together with our family. We are so blessed to have such a loving family. We are so blessed to have the joy and love that constantly surrounds us. Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T19:22:00.004-05:00

This year we changed up our routine for Christmas Eve. In the past we have run from one family party to another. We would get to one party early, visit for an hour or so, and then take off to the next party. By the time we made it to the last party, we were tired, the kids were tired, and we felt like we hadn't really had time to eat a meal or visit with anyone at length. This year, we stayed home. Yup! We let the party come to us. Uncle Ed, Aunt Stacey, Uncle Brian, Grandma, and Papaw came to our house. We had WAY too much food. We hung out in our pj's. Everyone ate, played games, and watched movies. At 7 p.m. anyone who wanted to go to church went to church and then came back to continue hanging out.
In the Holdaway-Ellnor family, the dogs are part of the family too. This year they got to be part of the Christmas celebration. Stacey has said that she's not a "dog person," but I think Griffey has changed her mind about that.
Mommy, Grandma, Aunt Stacey, and Grace attended church after some snacks.
When we got back from church, Grandma handed out a few early gifts. What is it, Uncle Brian?
Mommy gave Gabriel and Grace each a gift to open too. Gabriel got the Cars 2 movie.
Papaw got Connect 4 Launch. It was really a fun game for everyone to play.
Hershey and Griffey were vying for everyone's attention. Uncle Ed was happy to snuggle with both pups.
I love my little girl!
Gabriel and Grandma played Connect 4 Launch.
Then Grandma got some cuddle time with her grandpuppy. Griffey is one rotten boy!

Sea Monkeys

2011-12-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

Sam gave Gabriel Sea Monkeys for Christmas. Gabriel was so excited to start hatching his Sea Monkeys. The first step was to purify some distilled water. We've done that. After 24 hours, we added the Sea Monkey eggs to the purified water. We have about two more days until our Sea Monkey eggs hatch. We have to aerate the water daily so they have plenty of oxygen. We'll let you know when they hatch!

Ellnor Christmas

2011-12-26T13:53:00.005-05:00

Friday evening the Ellnor and Lindsey families got together at Grampy and Barbara's house to celebrate Christmas. With everyone having other obligations and other family to visit with on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it was easiest to get everyone together on the 23rd.
Gabriel and Grace are always so excited to see Bobby and Ben!
Grampy played Santa.
Riley and Grace have so much fun together. Grace thinks Riley hung the moon.
The four youngest grandkids are Gabriel, Robbie, Riley, and Grace.
Gabriel and Robbie play games together so well. They got into a game of Monopoly before dinner.
After we ate dinner it was time for presents. Great Gramma was the first to receive a gifts.
Great Gramma gave Gabriel and Grace new nightlights.
Uncle Rob did great picking out gifts for Gabriel and Grace! He got Gabriel army men, army vehicles, and a box of 72 Match Box cars. Gabriel was in Heaven! Grace got a box of 30-ish baby dolls.
The look on his face when he opened that box of cars was so funny. He was amazed at all of the cars.
After everyone opened presents, Riley showed Dan some of the apps on her iTouch.

The four littlest of the grandkids spent the night with Grampy and Barbara. At 11 p.m. Grampy called "lights out." Robbie and Gabriel slept on the couch in the living room and went to sleep pretty quickly. Grace and Riley slept in the guest bedroom, and those girls talked and giggled until 2 a.m.! Oh my! I'm sure Grampy and Barbara were beat! Barbara had promised the kids pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Dan and I went over to pick our kiddos up about 8:30, and the kids hadn't had their breakfast yet. Barbara sent us away with the assurance that the kiddos would be returned after they had breakfast and a little more time to play. Wow! Two exhausted kiddos were returned home about 11 a.m.
When Dan and I showed up to pick them up, all four kids were snuggled up on the couch watching cartoons.
What a way to start celebrating the holidays! The kids had a ball! Thanks to Grampy and Barbara for keeping them overnight. Mommy and Daddy got lots of holiday preparations taken care of.

Gingerbread House 2011

2011-12-26T13:33:00.003-05:00

Friday afternoon the kids and I tried our hand at gingerbread house decorating. I put the gingerbread house together while the kids ate lunch. The kids were ready to decorate as soon as lunch was finished.
I felt pretty certain that our masterpiece would be at least as good as the one on the box. **wink**
Grace put her gum drops in a zigzag pattern on one side of the roof.
Gabriel was in charge of the front of the house and the other side of the roof.
Uhm . . . Grace . . . those decorations are supposed to go on the gingerbread house.
Gabriel . . . that was supposed to be a bush next to the front door. Geez!
The kids decided that the icing was good enough to eat, so why should it be used for decorating?
Grace had more icing on her face than there was on the gingerbread house. I wish I could have video taped their laughter as they ate squirts of icing from the piping bag. They were hysterical.
The is our completed gingerbread house. Notice that there are no bushes around the outside of the house. Only about a third of the candy from the kit actually made it onto the house. The rest of the candy was eaten by two silly kids. Even though the gingerbread house is not exactly beautiful, we had a ton of fun acting silly while we decorated it. AND it was better than last year's because this one stayed together. All in all, I figure it was a successful project.

Star Wars Legos

2011-12-26T13:00:00.002-05:00

Thursday evening Grandma and Papaw gave Gabriel and Grace gifts to open a little early. They gave Gabriel two packages of Legos. One of them was a Star Wars ship. He asked me Friday morning if I would help him put it together. I have to say I was a little skeptical. I rarely played with Legos as a kid, and I've never put together any specific Lego toy by following a diagram. I was a little nervous.
Luckily, after about 15 minutes, Gabriel and I had built this cool little Star Wars spaceship.
It looked just like the one on the package, so I guess we did it right! Score one for Mom!

Crafts for Kids

2011-12-21T22:44:00.003-05:00

This morning the kids and I hosted some friends for lunch and some Christmas crafts. Kids love to give gifts. I remember, as a kid, being upset because I didn't have any gifts to give at Christmas. Kids are so proud to give gifts that they make themselves, so I thought this would be a great way to spend an afternoon with friends.
The McAfee's arrived first, so the kids exchanged gifts. Alicia gave Grace a Dream Dazzler make-up set. As Alicia opened the package for her, Grace said, "I LOVE make-up!"
Sam gave Gabriel a Sea Monkey kit. I think this will be so much fun to do while we are out of school. We have to get some distilled water before we can get them going.
Gabriel and Grace gave Sam and Jake Angry Birds. Jake was thrilled to see that his Angry Bird matched Gabriel's shirt. Ha!
Nora chewed on the wrapping paper, and that made her perfectly happy.
Grace made herself super-fancy with the make-up.
Then Alicia gave her a little help getting fancied up.
Our first project was painting sun catchers.
Gabriel and Grace LOVE to paint!
This is how I know Alicia is hanging out with us . . . . My daughter is covered with make-up while holding a giant Pixie Stick in one hand and a cookie in the other. Oh my! Is it any wonder that Alicia is her favorite person?

Our next project was decorating jars. The kids could choose from a reindeer, a Santa, or a snowman. Jake called his snowman jar a bug catcher. Ha ha! Gabriel and Grace put some M & M's in their jars so they could give them to some special people at Christmas. I didn't get any pictures of this project because it required some adult assistance.

Thanks, Stacy and Alicia, for coming! We had a good time hanging out. We'll have to do it again some time . . . soon.

Christmas at CBC

2011-12-19T07:39:00.002-05:00

We went to the Christmas Cantata last night at church. It was a wonderful program. We have some very talented musicians at Culbertson Baptist. Grace is going to start singing in the Children's Choir in January. We can look forward to seeing her perform in cantata with the Children's Choir next year.

P90X

2011-12-18T10:30:00.002-05:00

Gabriel had been in the basement this morning watching a commercial for the P90X Workout program. Gabriel came upstairs all excited about how strong the exercises were making him. We asked him to show us some of the moves, and he was glad to.
I love this picture! It is so hilarious! I think he inherited my ninja skills. Ha ha!

A Guest Reader

2011-12-18T10:26:00.002-05:00

The McGrew's came over last night for dinner. When it was time for the kids to go to bed, Tony was given the job of assisting with baths and then reading the bedtime story. The kids loved having a special friend read to them before bed.

Portable North Pole

2011-12-18T10:20:00.002-05:00

Santa sent Grace a message yesterday on the computer.
She was so excited to find out that Santa had been watching her at Brian and Erin's wedding AND at her Christmas program at school.
We found out that she is on the nice list, and Santa made a note in her file that she wants the Crayola Crayon Maker.
Christmas through the eyes of a child is truly magical.

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-17T17:00:00.004-05:00

We breakfast reservations this morning to have pancakes with Santa Claus.
Gabriel got his two favorite things this morning . . . pancakes and Santa, both of them before 10 a.m.
Chris Cakes prepared and served the pancakes this morning. Gabriel caught his pancakes like a pro.
Santa visited each table and talked to the kids.
Then he read The Polar Express to them.
Grace was not exactly the most attentive listener. We had been waiting a while for the story.
Before we left, we asked Santa for a picture, and he was happy to oblige.
Before heading home, we went to Bridgepoint to make an appearance at Breakfast with Santa there. I didn't think the kids would really be interested in sitting on Santa's lap at Bridgepoint, but that was one of their requests before we left.

We had a fun morning this morning, and then took wonderful naps this afternoon! I love being on Winter Break and the holiday season!

Elf Yourself

2011-12-17T00:29:00.000-05:00

Reading a Book

2011-12-15T17:43:00.001-05:00

Gabriel stayed home sick today. He made a book about his family this morning and decided to read it to Hershey. It was cute!

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-15T16:12:00.002-05:00

Grace's preschool put on a Christmas program Tuesday evening. I love preschool programs. There is always the kid who freaks out, cries, and runs off the stage. There is always the loud kid. Then there is always the kid who is more interested in waving at Mom. Grace's part in the program was a lamb.
The kids playing parts in the nativity were so cute.
Next, where the angels. Don't they look angelic?
Finally, the shepherds and the lambs.
Grace was so excited because she was allowed the yell as loud as she wanted, "Merry Christmas!" at the end of the program. I think maybe she was the loud kid. Shocking, huh?

Holiday Dinner with the Hoylands

2011-12-15T15:29:00.003-05:00

The Hoyland's came over Sunday for a little holiday get together. I love it when we get together. We just don't get to do it often enough.
Before dinner, Abby and Grace wanted to do a craft. I got out some holiday sun catchers for the kids to paint while they waited for dinner to finish.
Gabriel chose a gingerbread man to paint, while the girls chose Christmas trees.
It didn't take these kiddos long to paint a sun catcher and be ready to move on to another craft.
After dinner, it was gift time for the kids. Gabriel got a remote control car. He loves it!
Grace got a Cinderella doll.
Then the kids played a game. This game is called Centipede Scramble. The centipede wiggles around, and the kids raced to put colored balls on his "hands." The girls got a little frustrated with the game, but Gabriel seemed to really enjoy it.

Lights Under Louisville

2011-12-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Tonight the kids and I picked up Grandma and went out for dinner. Then we headed over to the Louisville Mega Caverns to see the Lights Under Louisville.
I love the kids' excitement as we drive through. I love how they point out their favorite lights. This year Gabriel was asking me to read e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g to him.
The dino world was new this year.
Rudolph's Flying School is always one of my favorite parts. When we got to these lights, we stopped to see if we could name all of the reindeer.The ice skating scene in the hometown Christmas area was so neat.
I love seeing the praying hands as we leave the lights exhibit. I think it's a wonderful reminder of the reason for our holiday season.

Too Cool for School

2011-12-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

This is the outfit Grace wore today. It took her more than an hour to put this ensemble together. Every time I looked at her today, I giggled. Her shirt was even backwards, and she refused to turn it around. Oh my!

Christmas Lights in Charlestown

2011-12-10T20:51:00.003-05:00

Friday evening we went to Charlestown to eat at the Charlestown Pizza Company . . . YUM-O . . . and see the Christmas lights on the square. I didn't get a lot of pictures because it was so cold outside I didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets.
There was no line to see Santa, surprisingly. Gabriel stuck to his same list. Grace was like a little deer in headlights. She didn't know what to say, so she ended up saying she wanted a book about snowmen.
Here are my cold cuties in front of the Christmas lights. I'm pretty sure it's blurry because I was shivering. Ha!

Christmas at Bass Pro

2011-12-08T21:45:00.002-05:00

Tuesday evening after dinner, we went over to Bass Pro because Gabriel has been nagging us about giving Santa his Christmas list.
This was the first time that Gabriel has been able to play in the Snow Brawl area. Usually it's so crowded that I won't let him go in.
After a while Grace decided to go in and play too. She was yelling, "Hi-ya! Get them! Boo-ya!" It was so funny.
Gabriel played in the Snow Brawl until he was red-faced, hot, and sweaty. I think he had a good time.
Grace was anxious to do the craft. She made a snowman ornament.
Daddy waited in line for Santa while Gabriel did the Snow Brawl and Grace made a craft. It was nice that the kids did not have to wait in line getting bored and antsy.
Such Cuties! I am so blessed! Gabriel must have been rehearsing his Christmas list in his head. When Santa asked him what he wanted, he rattled off, "I want Beyblades, and Bakugans, and Pokemon cards, and a bee-bee gun --- if you have any of those. Oh! And I want a jack-in-a-box." He said his list so fast that we could barely understand what he said. It was so funny. Santa replied quite seriously, "Now bee-bee guns have to be approved by Mom and Dad." Gabriel looked at us, and Dan and I just nodded our heads "no.""
Daddy found a big kid toy to play. He was playing a Wii hunting game.
Meanwhile, Grace and I rode the carousel.
The kids wanted to go upstairs SO badly. I don't know why. As soon as we got upstairs, Dan spotted this hat. He likes hats and went around the men's area trying on every hat he could find.
Before leaving I had Dan take my picture with my little girl. She is so sweet and affectionate. I am so lucky to have to two great kids and wonderful husband. I love weekday evening outings because it distracts me from "git 'er done" mode at home and allows me to slow down and enjoy my family. I think I'm ready for Winter Break to be here.

Holiday Preparations

2011-12-08T21:21:00.002-05:00

Dan's mom used to spend her entire holiday season in the kitchen. She baked every kind of cookie known to mankind. She made candies and brittles. She gave them as gifts and was constantly treating guests to her homemade goodies. The first year we were married, Dan thought that it was necessary to continue this tradition in our home. We spent WAY too much money on supplies for baking and decorating cookies. We spent our evenings baking for a week. Then we decided that it was "for the birds." We don't need to be eating this junk. It's messy, somewhat expensive, and exhausting. From then on, we left the holiday treat-making to Linda. Ha!
Dan does participate in a holiday cookie exchange at work each year. Everyone brings 5 dozen homemade cookies or confections. They exchange their goodies, and he comes home with an unbelievable assortment of treats. Monday evening Dan decided to try his hand at making a homemade Thin Mint. Basically, you melt chocolate, add some peppermint oil, and dip Ritz crackers in the mint chocolate. Gabriel was SO excited to help his daddy.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the exact ingredients, so Dan thought he would adapt the recipe a little. Instead of using chocolate chips for melting, he used unsweetened chocolate mixed with some light corn syrup.
These two were on a roll making their Thin Mints, but I was skeptical of this adapted recipe. I tasted the adapted chocolate, and it was N-A-S-T-Y. Oh my! I had to get something to drink to get the taste out of my mouth! Moral to the story: If you don't have the right ingredients, just leave well enough alone. Ha! It's alright; we had a good laugh.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

2011-12-03T22:36:00.003-05:00

Grandma bought tickets for all of us to go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever this afternoon at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. She even had two extra tickets, so she invited Cassidy and Wayne to come too. It was a super-cute play, and it kept the kids' attention too. They seemed to enjoy it as much and Grandma and I did.
Cassidy and Grace sat together. These two girls have so much fun when they are together.
I sat next to my big boy. I just love getting to spend special time with him.

Thank you, Grandma, for getting us tickets to the play with you! It was a great show.

Hershey Joe

2011-12-03T22:23:00.003-05:00

This member of our family does not get nearly the amount of blog space he deserves. Hershey is 11 years old and has a heart murmur that continues to worsen. His personality is unstoppable though. He LOVES Gabriel, and Gabriel loves him too. Every morning when I go downstairs to wake Gabriel up, Hershey goes with me. He gets between Gabriel and me and insists on being loved on. Hershey is a great communicator. He tells us what he wants and makes his needs known.

When he was a little puppy, he went running full-tilt into the bathroom to get a drink from his water dish. The water dish was big enough for him to swim in, and his body was so tiny that he was a little front heavy. Apparently, he didn't get stopped in time when he reached the water dish, and he fell face first into the water. He came half-dazed out of the bathroom, shook off, and looked at Dan and me like, "What the heck just happened?" It was hysterical! (I guess you had to be there.)

Today he came out of the bathroom --- his water dish is still kept there --- from getting a drink of water. He had been in the bathroom for a while, I had noticed. When he came out, he was dripping wet. His eyebrows were wet, for Pete's sake! I don't know HOW he did it, but he almost looked like he'd been swimming. It reminded me so much of that time when he was just a puppy. I laughed so hard at him this afternoon, and I had to take a picture. I know that his time with us is going to be short, so I don't want to forget how he makes us smile.

Pancakes!!

2011-12-03T22:14:00.002-05:00

This morning Gabriel's school had a pancake breakfast. All of the profit from the breakfast will go toward purchasing treat for the troops. Three parents of students at the school are serving overseas in the military. The PTO and Student Council collect money and items to send to those parents overseas.
Chris Cakes prepared the pancakes and provided entertainment.
The guy was flipping pancakes up in the air and letting people catch them on their plates. I love Gabriel's face in this one. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the pancake is just landing on his plate.
This is a good one too, if you enlarge it. The pancake is in the air. It's in front of the yellow wall so it is a little difficult to see. Gabriel certainly got $5 worth of pancakes this morning. The kid ate more pancakes than anyone else at the table. He ate 4 pancakes altogether and was considering going back for more. I'll take him to an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast anytime!

You Go, Girl!

2011-12-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

Grace finished her tumbling class Tuesday evening. At the end of the class, they gave each child a shirt and a certificate. Grace was so proud of her certificate! She put the shirt on right away and even wore it to daycare the next day. She may try tumbling or even gymnastics again in the future, but I think we're going to give it a little time. I'm not in a big hurry to sign up for another class right now.

Making Their Lists

2011-11-27T17:54:00.003-05:00

The kids have been so funny this weekend. Every chance they've gotten they have wanted to make their Christmas lists. As soon as we got home from Derby Dinner Saturday, they sat down and started making their lists. I'm grateful that their lists are reasonable and don't include things like a new pony or even an X-Box. I wanted to document their lists this year because I know that each year their lists will be so different.
I told Grace to draw pictures of the things she wanted since she doesn't know how to write the words. She was still frustrated so Daddy drew her pictures and wrote the words for her too. In case you can't see her list, she wants a diaper bag for her baby dolls, a bag with jewelry in it, two cars to go with her doll house, and an American doll with clothes. What she means is an American Girl doll.
Gabriel drew his own pictures, and I helped him listen to the sounds in the words so he could write the words. A few of the words were not easy to sound out, so I just told him how to spell them. Gabriel wants Pokemon cards, Beyblades, Bakugans, and a Jack-in-a-Box. One of these things is not like the others, right??? The Jack-in-a-Box is totally out of the blue. He said he wants to scare Grace with it. Whatever . . . he's such a boy! Haha!

'Cause That's the Way Things Happen . . .

2011-11-26T21:47:00.006-05:00

On the Polar Express!
We went to French Lick this afternoon to ride the Polar Express with Grandma and Papaw.
We watched the movie last night so the kids would remember what it was all about.
We ran in to the McAfee family while we were there. There was an activity tent with train tables, coloring, and letter writing.
Grace and Jake were playing crash the trains. Haha!
Daddy sat down with Grace and wrote a letter to Santa together. She asked for a Christmas hat and make-up.
Before long, we were boarding the Polar Express. (What is up with Grace's scared face??)
The elves came around and took group/family pictures for everyone.
Gabriel agreed to have his picture taken with one of Santa's elves.
The conductor came around and took tickets. He sprinkled the kids with the little holes from punching the tickets. It sounded just like when the conductor on the movie punches tickets.
"Hot, hot, hot! We've got it!" The hot chocolate they delivered to us was the most decadent hot chocolate I've ever had. Grace couldn't drink all of hers because it was so rich.
Gabriel enjoyed his hot chocolate, and he followed the rule . . . don't let it cool!
The elves danced in the aisles to Christmas music. At one point they were getting the kids out of their seats to dance with them, and Grace was quick to get up and dance too.
Two of the three entertainers in our train car were really energetic and fun to watch.
Soon, we approached the North Pole. Santa was waiting to be picked up for a train ride.
One of the elves pulled Gabriel out of his seat to dance with her. He was so embarrassed, but I think he really enjoyed it.
Another time, as they danced down the aisle, one of the elves put a scarf and sunglasses on Gabriel. Basically, he was holding them so she could use them for her next song, but he didn't know that at the time.
Santa visited our train car. He had his picture taken with all of the kids. As he greeted each child, he gave them a silver bell.
Before we stopped back at the train station, we got a visit from the characters from the movie. It was so cute!
The elves/entertainers were so sweet to the kids and so willing to have pictures taken.

We had a great time riding the Polar Express! We're already looking forward to doing it again next year!

Velveteen Rabbit Christmas

2011-11-26T21:37:00.002-05:00

This morning the kids, Grandma, and I went to Derby Dinner Playhouse to see A Velveteen Rabbit Christmas.
Santa went from table to table greeting the kids and having pictures taken.
Grace was very unsure about Santa. She does NOT like costumed characters, but she knows that she's supposed to like Santa. She sat on his lap for a picture, but she was very nervous.
We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit cups, French toast sticks, and hash browns.
Grace complained of being cold throughout the play. To keep her warm, she sat on my lap. The play was really cute. I love the children's theater because the shows are 45 minutes to an hour long which is the perfect amount of time for me and the kids.

Family Movie Night

2011-11-26T21:27:00.002-05:00

Friday evening's movie presentation was The Polar Express! We enjoyed eggnog and popcorn to go with it.
Grace was my little snuggle bug during the movie.
So . . . there is a story behind the "viewmongous" tv. Dan went out Friday morning deer hunting with a friend. He got home about 11:00 a.m. Friday morning. When he walked in the door, I asked him, "Did you get anything?" To which he replied, "Come help me drag 'er out of the van." So I raced to get my socks and shoes on, all the while thinking about deer chili, deer roast, deer steaks, etc. I opened the garage door to find the van open and a 60 in. flat screen tv in the back. WHAAAT??? Yep . . . he'd been Black Friday shopping. Movie night was a perfect excuse to give his Christmas gift a try.
Dan and Gabriel started out on the brown couch, but before the movie was over, we were all (Lucy included) under the blanket on the red couch.

Decking the Halls

2011-11-26T21:18:00.003-05:00

Friday afternoon we put up our Christmas decorations. It was strange decorating a different house. In the past we just knew where to put things . . . they had their "place." This time we had to make decisions about where things belonged and even which decorations to put up.
How many Ellnor's does it take to put a tree skirt under a Christmas tree? Apparently, it took 3.
We hung the ornament wreath that I made for Dan's mom above the mantle.
Gabriel's area for his ornaments was on the left side of the Christmas tree.
Grace's area was on the bottom of the right side.
Ta Da! Here is our finished Christmas tree! Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Oh, Tooth Fairy!

2011-11-24T21:12:00.003-05:00

Gabriel lost his second tooth this evening right after our Thanksgiving dinner. He and Dan worked on getting it out last night, but it just wasn't coming. This morning they worked on it some more, but his gum was swollen and sore from the night before. When Gabriel showed Uncle Rob his loose tooth this afternoon, Uncle Rob had a plan.
Uncle Rob tied some dental floss to it and pulled it out.
Gabriel went around the house showing off his lost tooth to all of our Thanksgiving dinner guests. They generously gave him money for his pain and suffering. Ha! In total, he made $5.50 from showing off his tooth. What a haul! And the tooth fairy hasn't even been here yet!

Lil Indian Girl

2011-11-24T21:08:00.002-05:00

Grace made this little Indian costume in preschool Tuesday. There is an adorable little pasta necklace under the vest too. She was so proud of her handmade costume.

Chicken Dancin'

2011-11-24T21:03:00.003-05:00

Sunday evening we were enjoying a quiet evening at home when the kids started chicken dancing in the living room.
Gabriel was making some of the funniest faces as he danced around the living room. It was cracking us up. Unfortunately, by the time I decided to grab the camera, the best was over.

Dinner at Kansai

2011-11-19T19:30:00.001-05:00

Friday evening we celebrated Grandma and Mommy's birthday by eating dinner at Kansai. The kids LOVE that restaurant, and they ask to go there all the time. We always tell them that it's a "special occasion" restaurant, and birthdays are special occasions.

Our chef threw rice for us to catch in our mouths. Gabriel missed and was going to get eat it off the floor. Yuck! Glad we caught him before he'd actually done it.

Papaw tried to catch some rice.

Grandma tried to catch rice in her mouth. Grace flinched like the rice was going to hurt her. Ha! Mommy was the ONLY person who actually caught the rice. Woot woot! Go, Mommy!

Grace ate some of her rice with the chopsticks. She did really well with them!

Evening with Chuck

2011-11-19T19:00:00.001-05:00

We decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and games Tuesday evening. The kids were hungry when we got there, but they were having so much fun playing games that they didn't want to stop to eat.

Chuck came around and gathered kiddos to play a game and sing a song. At the end of the song, Chuck threw tickets in the air for the kids to catch.

Grace hit it big on one of the games and won 40 tickets!

The kids cashed in their tickets. All together we had 500 tickets. For that we got two whoopee cushions (one of which was busted before it got home), a coin holder, two plastic tops, and a plastic bracelet. I'm pretty sure the retail value of their prizes was somewhere close to $1.00. Oh well, it was a fun evening!

Buca di Beppo

2011-11-14T20:24:00.002-05:00

We rarely go to one of my favorite restaurants, Buca di Beppo. My mom loves Buca too, so in the past it has been a quasi- birthday tradition for us to go there for dinner to celebrate our birthday. I say "Our Birthday" (singular) because, for those of you who don't know, my mom and I share the same birthday. Cool, huh? Anyhow, three years ago the birthday dinner celebration expanded to include Erin as well because her birthday is just 10 days before ours. Luckily, she likes Buca too and doesn't mind celebrating with dinner there.
Grace, my little carb addict, loved Buca. She ate spaghetti and garlic bread and enjoyed every bit.
Gabriel was not keen on the family-style service. He complained because he didn't get his own meal. We ordered spaghetti with meat sauce just for him and had the waiter put in front of him so it would seem like his own. The sharing thing wasn't his favorite.
Grace loves her some spaghetti.
She was shaking parmesan cheese on her spaghetti and loving that we let her control the shaker. That turned out to be a mistake because as soon as she was finished shaking, she licked the top of the shaker. Gross!
Momma and her messy girl
Grandma and Papaw
Dan and Gabriel
How can I resist that? I love those three goofballs!
Brian doesn't like to have his picture taken . . . Scrooge! The cute newly weds!

Sunday Afternoon

2011-11-14T20:20:00.002-05:00

Sunday was a laid back day. In the afternoon, I helped Gabriel play Lego Universe on-line.
Daddy and Grace enjoyed a nap.

I think every Sunday should be like this . . . except I get the nap! Ha ha!

Little Techie

2011-11-13T14:05:00.002-05:00

Grace is becoming quite a little techie lately. Both kids love to play games on Daddy's iPad. This morning she was playing Labyrinth.
What a pair! Daddy had the laptop this morning and Grace had the iPad. It's amazing how tech. savvy kids are nowadays.

Tumbling Thursday

2011-11-11T22:59:00.002-05:00

Grace had tumbling class at the YMCA again Thursday evening.
As Grace and I were leaving, Hershey decided he wanted to go too. He's a stubborn boy. He did not want get out of the car.
At the end of class, the little tumblers did hand-stands. She was so impressed with herself after the first class because she did a hand-stand.
Darbi is in Grace's tumbling class too. She did a perfect little roll when she came down out of her hand-stand.

Grace is loving this class!

School Pics and SOM

2011-11-10T23:18:00.002-05:00

Grace came home today with the proofs from her school pictures. I honestly thought that she had missed her school picture day when we were in West Virginia, but apparently not. We were given our choice of two poses, and this was by far the best.
Gabriel's school pictures came in the day of the rehearsal dinner that was being held at our house. Needless to say, we were a bit busy and divvying out school pictures was not a high priority. I think we've given out all that we need to give, and now I can blog them too.
Grace was chosen the September Student of the Month for her preschool class! We had no idea! We were so proud when she brought this certificate home today.

Can I Get a TA-DA?

2011-11-06T21:27:00.002-05:00

The blog is finally up-to-date!! Let me tell you . . . it's been an all day affair! I have posted 13 posts today. To see all of them, when you get to the very bottom, you will have to click on the older posts link. Leave me lots of comments because I need a little positive reinforcement for all this hard work. Ha!

Weekend with the Paynters

2011-11-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

The Paynter family came and spent the night with us Saturday night. It was so fun to just hang out together.
Gabriel and Anthony share the same birthday and are one year apart.
Maria and Anthony loved the kids' truck.
The girls were so excited that they had matching pajamas! This is the most adorable picture ever!
The boys are just plain silly together.
There was no way to get all four kids looking in the same direction at the same time. They are still cute though.
Once pj's were on, the kids bedded down in the basement to see Monsters Inc.
We had such a fun weekend with the Paynters. I hope this is something we can get together and do again.

Y Tumbling

2011-11-06T20:40:00.002-05:00

Grace started taking a tumbling class at the YMCA last Thursday. She was super excited about the class AND that Darbi would be in the class with her. They did lots of little exercises like hopping, ape walking, somersaulting, and hand stands.
Like most youth sports at the YMCA, the class was a little chaotic. I like how it is fun for the kids though, and it is not competitive. She can't wait for her next class.

Halloween Night

2011-11-06T20:21:00.002-05:00

I totally stole this from Jill's blog, and I had seen it in a parenting magazine recently. For our special Halloween dinner, I made the kids open-face pizza burgers. They thought it was pretty cool, but they were much too excited about trick or treating to eat much dinner.
Our first stop was Grampy and Barbara's house. From there we walked to Great Gramma's house. Cousin Robin was visiting Great Gramma with Vada.
Here are our little trick or treaters: Gabriel, Vada, and Grace. Gabriel and Grace are ga-ga for Vada.
Grampy, Grace, and Vada
We went to Grandma and Papaw's neighborhood to trick or treat. The kids RAN from one house to another for the first block. They got a little tired after that and walked the rest of the time.
We ran into one of preschool teachers at Grace's preschool. Her daughter's costume was nearly identical to Grace's, but she was SuperGirl.
I was very proud of Gabriel while trick or treating. He said "Thank You" at every house without having to be reminded. He usually said "Trick or treat" too, but at some houses the people just dropped the candy in his bag so quickly, he didn't get time.
Grace was finished trick or treating after about a block and a half. She rode in the wagon the rest of the way and really didn't care if she got anymore candy or not. They were both cold and tired by 8 o'clock, and we headed back to inspect their loot.

Grace's First Sleep-over

2011-11-06T17:58:00.002-05:00

Saturday night Grace and Cassidy arranged to have another sleepover. This time they wanted to stay in Cassidy's cabin. I didn't think it was a big deal, but it truly became another milestone for me. It is another sign that my baby is not a baby anymore. It is another check mark on the list of items kids do as they grow up, and I was having a hard time with two kids each hitting a milestone in one weekend. Grace was so excited to pack up and go sleep at Cassidy's cabin. They left the Halloween at Aunt Barbara's at 8 p.m. They didn't even stay for the movie on the big screen!

About 10 p.m. Mom and I went to the Tomlin's cabin to give Grace some things for her sleepover, and she was having a ball. She was eating popcorn, drinking chocolate milk, and watching Dora. The girls' beds were made on the floor, and they were having a ball. Oh my!

About 6 a.m. we got a knock on our cabin door. Wayne was bringing her home. She woke up about 5:30 and started putting her shoes on. She was planning to walk to our cabin, in the dark and cold, by herself . . . gasp! Luckily, Wayne caught her and brought her back in his truck. She had told him that she wanted her Mommy, and she was ready to leave. I took her into our bedroom and tucked her in between Dan and me. Dan and I cuddle her close and told her to go back to sleep for awhile which she happily did. I suspect she got cold in the night and didn't know any other way to get warm except come to Mommy and Daddy's bed. That's what she does at home when she gets cold, and quite frankly I was happy that she missed me enough to come home early. I missed her too . . . despite the fact that she was only three cabins away.

Sunday We Had to Go Home

2011-11-06T17:45:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning we were up and packing to leave pretty early. It was a very cold morning, and there was a dusting of snow on the ground in a lot places. This little doe was right outside our cabin, so we decided to feed her. Papaw fed her grapes. The kids fed her 3/4 of a loaf of bread. They fed her all of the left over lettuce, and then I cut up an apple for her. She ate and ate and did not seem to scared of the kids.
I think she finally got full and started to walk away. As she walked toward the trees, she turned around and looked at us and let out the loudest belch. It was absolutely hilarious! I doubt I will ever hear a deer belch again in my life . . . it was priceless. I think it was her way of saying Thank you.
We stopped in Beckley to get brunch. We have to wait until we are well on our way on I-64 because Gabriel gets so car sick. We have to travel down the mountains on empty stomachs. Grace chose pizza from Sbarro's. This pizza was the size of her head, and she loved it! She was only able to eat about half of it, but it was so funny to see such a little girl with a giant slice of pizza.

Saturday in West Virginia

2011-11-06T17:28:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning we went back to Aunt Barbara's cabin for craft time for adults.
We made Halloween pillows. Cassidy chose a ghost.
Grace chose a ghost too.
The girls got bored waiting for the pillows to be ready to be stuffed, and they decided to play in the box instead.
We couldn't stand being inside any longer. Luckily, it had stopped raining and warmed up a little. Gabriel was very brave and went down the fireman's pole several times by himself.
The girls loved swinging.
Grace went down the fireman's pole too, but with help.
I love this big boy!
Daddy came to the park to play too.
Aunt Barbara hosted a Halloween party Saturday night for dinner. Uncle Jim and Diana were both witches. Haha!
April and Little Gabe celebrated their birthdays at the Halloween party.

More Trick or Treating in W VA

2011-11-06T17:20:00.002-05:00

Somehow I forgot these pictures from the last post.
Grandma Mickey made treat bags for all of the kids.
Uncle Jim's cabin was decorated really cool for Halloween. There were moving ghosts, and a witch that cackled. Grace was not a fan. I love how I caught the fear on her face in this picture.

Friday in West Virginia

2011-11-06T17:01:00.004-05:00

Friday morning brought more rain, but this time it was a COLD rain. The kids had gone outside after breakfast, but didn't stay outside for long.
When they came inside, we decided to let them put together candy necklaces.
Grace loves to string beads and make necklaces.
Gabriel likes to string beads and make necklaces, but he also enjoys eating the candy.
We had a very relaxing day in the cabin just chilling out.
Papaw got REALLY relaxed.
When the kids went down for their naps, Dan and I had a little "date" since Grandma and Papaw were staying in the cabin. We went to the camp store and also visited the game room. Dan kicked my tootie at air hockey, but the game did not keep score of his points. It only calculated MY points. The official score ended up being 7 to 0, but the actual score was more like 7 to 27. Ha!
We took a little drive around the park. This is one of the reasons I love to go to West Virginia. The mountains in the Fall are b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.
After nap time, the kids went trick or treating. Cassidy was Cinderella. Grace was Bat Girl, and Gabriel was Heat Blast from Ben 10. It was the coldest trick or treating ever! We literally drove from cabin to cabin because it was too cold to walk.
Trick or treating ended at Aunt Barbara's cabin with craft time. The kids decorated foam pumpkins and made Halloween finger puppets.
Grace got some great loot from cousin April. She looked pretty scary wearing these purple vampire teeth.

Lost Tooth

2011-11-06T16:46:00.005-05:00

Gabriel lost his first tooth while we were in West Virginia. He's had a loose tooth for a few months now, but it just didn't seem to be getting any looser.
In the past two weeks, we've noticed that the adult tooth had come through the gum and it had shoved the other teeth to the side creating a blank space in his mouth.
At the wedding reception several people who hadn't seen Gabriel since the summer thought he'd already lost a tooth because the gap created by the new tooth was so big.
Thursday Dan popped the tooth out, and Gabriel was SO EXCITED!
Here is the baby tooth.
Gabriel RAN from our cabin over to Grandma Mickey's cabin so he could show off his missing tooth.
Everyone was so excited for him.
The Tooth Fairy left him a dollar under his pillow! Whew! We weren't sure if the Tooth Fairy would deliver to the cabin in West Virginia.

Thursday in West Virginia

2011-11-06T16:16:00.003-05:00

Our annual trip to West Virginia is becoming one of my FAVORITE events of our entire year! I love the beautiful Fall colors in the mountains. I love spending a laidback weekend with my family. I love being surrounded by quiet nature.
It was raining slightly on Thursday morning, but the kids still wanted to get out and ride their bikes.
This tree outside our cabin was a great climbing tree. Dan had to try it out.
The he put these two little monkeys in the tree.
I couldn't be left out. I had to join the tree climbing fun too.
We ate lunch at the Hinton, West Virginia DQ. The back side of the restaurant is all windows, and there is a beautiful view of the New River. There was a bald eagle flying over the river right in front of it. I know you can't tell in the picture, but it was one of the most awe-inspiring sites ever.
There is a kids play area in this DQ too, and Gabriel checked it out.
Back at the cabin Dan and I did a self portrait. I was sportin' a side pony for the first time.
The Tomlin family posed for a pic in their Tomlin University hoodies.
Here is the whole group, except Diana and Bianca who were the photographers. The group includes one Grandma Mickey, 4 aunts, 1 uncle, 8 cousins (grandchildren), 9 great grandchildren, and lots of significant others and guests.
Cassidy slept over in our cabin with Grace Thursday night. I hope, and predict, that these sleepovers will become a West Virginia tradition. It's a tradition that I will welcome. I'm so glad these girls enjoy each other so much!

Her Actual Birthday

2011-11-06T16:11:00.002-05:00

I took the day off work on Monday, October 24th to celebrated Grace's actual birthday, and also to recover from quite a BUSY weekend.

Her birthday was very laid back . . . thank goodness. She and I met Grandma Mickey, Papaw, and Grandma at Chic-Fil-A for lunch. Grace and I took a nap together after lunch, though I don't think she actually slept at all. For dinner, she chose "the pizza you order on the computer." What she meant was Domino's Pizza . . . pepperoni and extra cheese, of course.

Grace's 4th Birthday

2011-11-06T15:09:00.007-05:00

On October 23, we celebrated Grace's 4th birthday. She had asked in the summer to have a Build-A-Bear birthday party, so that's just what we did!
Grandma and Papaw met us there.
Once all of the party guests arrived, each child picked his/her new friend.
Then the kiddos marched around the store with Grace leading the way.
The kids took turns stuffing their new friends. While they were stuffing, we all chanted, "Go, Nora! Stuff your bear!"
Look at that tiny foot on the pedal! I love it!
"Go, Sam! Stuff your bear!"
Grandma Mickey and Wayne watched while the kids stuffed their new friends. I can only imagine what my grandma was thinking as she watched.
"Go, Gabriel! Stuff your bear!"
Once the bears were stuffed, the kids took care of their new friends' hearts. They touched the hearts to their chest and made a wish for their new friend.
While Tobi, the party hostess, tied the backs of the bears together, she told a story to the kids. Each kiddo added a little information for her to use in the story. At the end of the story, the kids were told to make a circle around Grandma and sprinkle her with sparkles.
The next thing was bath time for the bears. They had to be all cleaned up before they could go home.
Grace named her bear Tutu.
Gabriel named his bear DJ.
Here are the party-goers with their new friends: Cassidy and Shasha, Landon and his firefighter puppy, Grace with Tutu, Sam with Bear-Bear, Jake with Doggie, and Gabriel with DJ.
Before the party ended, all of the kids sang Happy Birthday to Grace.
She was so tuckered out that she slept with her new bear all the way home.
Once we arrived at home, the party continued with cake and gifts. Alicia couldn't wait to give Grace this pink tutu. Grace loved it immediately!
What a little princess!
Grace chose a Hello Kitty cake with pink and white icing.
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Grace!
Happy Birthday to you!
She blew out the candles like a little champ!
Jake, Sam, and Landon waited patiently for their cake.
Gabriel enjoyed a chocolate cupcake.
The guys, Jeremy, Daniel, and Dan, hung out on the back porch.
Abby and Grace enjoyed chocolate cupcakes too.
The Tomlins gave Grace a Snow White baby doll.
Grandma and Papaw gave Grace a scooter.
Mommy and Daddy gave Grace a Belle doll.
I would say the scooter was quite a hit with this birthday girl.
Thanks, Alicia, for taking pictures for me!

Happy Birthday, to my sweet little girl who is growing up way too fast!

Brian and Erin Got Hitched!

2011-10-31T22:01:00.008-04:00

October 22nd was the day the Holdaway and Fisher families have waited two years for. Brian and Erin got married! It was a beautiful wedding. We were so blessed to have been a part of their day.
Before heading downstairs for pictures, 4 of the 5 Kendrick ladies posed for a picture. Aunt Sandy, Aunt Barbara, Aunt Linda (She did a lot of my photography.), Grandma Mickey, and Mom posed with Gabriel and Grace.
I got a freakin' awesome pedicure at the JC Penney's salon on Shelbyville Road. Dan's cousin, Robin, works there and was able to get me an appointment for a pedi at the (literal) last minute. You love the bronze shoes too, don't you?
Here are all of the ladies: Me, Erica, Blushing Bride Erin, Shannon, Amy, Jessica. The little girls are Grace, Hayley, and Charlotte.
We don't get cleaned up often, so we tried to take advantage of lots of photo ops. Grace got tired of pictures pretty quickly.
This is my FAVORITE picture of the day. I was trying to get a good picture with her and playing peek-a-boo around this light pole seemed to be the best idea I could come up with.
Here is the happy couple. Erin looked beautiful, and Brian looked quite handsome too.
The whole wedding party was photographed together outside. I was so glad it was a nice day. It was chilly, but not as cold as I was expecting.
While waiting for family pictures, the guys were acting silly. I guess you could say that Gabriel gets his height from my side of the family.
Here is my amazing family! Grandma Mickey, Mom, Brian, Erin, Dad, Eddie, Stacey (with child), Dan, Me, Gabriel, and Grace. Yes, that's right . . . Eddie and Stacey are expecting! We are so excited about adding another little one to the Holdaway family. I love how our family keeps growing! Baby Holdaway is due in May.
Gabriel and Grace were so cute for the wedding. They looked so big and grown up.
Grace was so sweet with her daddy. She was willing to pose for pictures and act like such a little lady.
At the start of the ceremony, Gabriel walked Grandma down the aisle. We were so proud of him for how well he did with this very important job.
Then he came back and walked his sister down the aisle. It was so hard for me not to start crying as I saw them walk down the aisle. I was so proud of my big kids. Dan and I are so blessed to have them.
Dan and I walked down the aisle together . . . it wasn't nearly as stressful this time as it was the first.
Eddie walked with Erin's sister, Amy.
The ceremony was so sweet.
Brian and Erin looked so sweet together during the ceremony.
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Holdaway at last!
The happy couple shared their first dance. Brian had vowed to only dance twice during the reception, and this was number one.
This was Dance #2. Brian and Mom shared the mother-son dance.
The cake was so pretty with its Fall decoration.
Mom made a lollipop bouquet for Erin to toss to the kids at the reception. Erin made a rule that the one who caught the bouquet had to share the suckers with all of the kids. The kids really enjoyed having a part of the reception just for them. Unfortunately at this point, both of my kids had already had a long day. They had retreated back to the groom's suite to watch a DVD and relax.
Brian was very respectful to Erin when retrieving the garter that he tossed to the guys.
Grace came downstairs to enjoy a piece of cake with Abby.
The Hoyland's were at the reception. Missy, Abby's mom, and I have been BFF's since 6th grade.
Here's one for the Christmas card! Holdaway clan enjoyed the reception . . . Gus, Chris, Joe, Eddie, Me, Stacey, and Terri.
So, we (the Holdaway family) had been warned that the Fisher clan was quite a party crew. I think the Fisher's greatly underestimated the Holdaway's party potential though. When the reception was wrapping up, it was Holdaway's who dominated the dance floor . . . for better or for worse. Dan, Stacey, and Gus showed off their moves.
Erin and Eddie got a little freaky before the night was over! Haha! I love that we are all able to have fun together!

Congratulations to Brian and Erin! We are so thankful to have been a part of your special day!

Coming Soon . . .

2011-10-30T22:36:00.002-04:00

Alright, Folks! Things have been busy around the Ellnor home. There have been many new developments that I can't wait to blog about, but it probably won't happen until Tuesday or Thursday evening.

Here's a sneak preview of what's been going on:

Brian and Erin have been married for a week now. The kids were adorable in the wedding!
There is a Baby Holdaway on the way!
We took a trip to West Virginia to visit with the Kendrick side of the family.
Gabriel lost his first tooth!
Grace had her first "big girl" sleepover!

I know that you are on the edge of your seat, and I can't wait to tell you all about it! Stay tuned!

The Night Before

2011-10-21T23:21:00.004-04:00

It's the night before Erin and Brian's big day. Tonight the rehearsal was held at the Gillespie and the rehearsal dinner was held at our house.
When we arrived at the Gillespie it was 6 o'clock, and I knew the kids would be starving. Daddy and I brought some Chick-fil-A for them. Aunt Stacey and Grace looked through a new Pinkaliscious book before rehearsal began.
I had to have a picture with my favorite girl.
Here come my two favorite boys too. They are so handsome.
Just as rehearsal began, I made the kids pose for a picture.
Gabriel practiced walking his little sis down the aisle.
The blushing bride was walked down the aisle with her dad.
Rehearsal was so interesting to Gabriel. Ha! He read his new Pokemon book while Father Andy went through the ceremony.
Dinner was served by Little Cheezers Gourmet Grilled Cheese truck. I'm a little irritated with myself that I didn't get a picture of the truck parked in our driveway. That was pretty cool! Maybe someone else got a picture and they'd be willing to send it to me (Hint! Hint!) Papaw tried a S'more Sandwich, and it was YUM-O.
See . . . It was one YUM-O sandwich!
After we ate Erin told all of the kiddos to sit on the brown couch and get ready to open a gift. From left to right are Haley, Charlotte, Grace, Hunter, Gabriel, and Keegan. They all seem to get along amazingly well.
The boys got Legos sets. Despite the look on Gabriel's face in this picture, he was really excited.
He and Daddy went to work right away putting it together.
Grace got a make up set. She was a riot with her make-up. Hunter held Uncle Brian in place while Grace put lip gloss on him. Good times!
I knew that the nail polish would not stay put away for long. Grace wanted so badly to put nail polish on Haley, but Haley's toes and fingers had already been done for the wedding. Instead Grace compromised and allowed Haley to paint her nails.

I think this was one fantastic rehearsal dinner. Everyone had a good time and the food was delish! Thanks, Mom and Dad! Best wishes to Erin and Brian! We hope their day is PERFECT tomorrow.

Rockin' the Cute Skirt

2011-10-21T00:48:00.003-04:00

For whatever reason I've had it in my mind that I really wanted Grace to have a silver skirt this Fall. I've shopped everywhere on-line, and I hadn't been able to find a silver skirt in her size. This week I went to Toys 'r Us to use some coupons and I found silver skirt in her size . . . and they were on SALE. SCORE!! The picture just doesn't do the skirt . . . or the entire Cutie-Tootie justice. Trust me . . . she was stylin' and rockin' that silver skirt.

The Great Candy Sort

2011-10-21T00:41:00.002-04:00

As soon as we got home from Lake Rudolph, the kids started sorting their loot from trick-or-treating. Grace was so cute because she literally sorted her candy. She had Tootsie Rolls in one pile, gum in another pile, Pixie Sticks in another pile, etc. That is SO something I would do!
This was the first time they have ever bargained with each other to get the candy they like the best. At first Grace was just giving Gabriel candy. I had to teach that girl a little lesson and model bargaining for her. Once I showed her how it was done, she was ready to deal.

Halloweekend!!

2011-10-20T23:42:00.007-04:00

Last weekend we camped at Lake Rudolph in Santa Claus, Indiana for one of their Halloweekend celebrations. It was a busy weekend. There was PER-FECT weather. And a great time was had by all!
The kids were awake BEFORE the crack of dawn on Friday morning. Daddy kept them occupied with some cartoons on the iPad until the sun came up.
Mmmm . . . dry cereal by the campfire is the perfect way to start a day of camping.
Grace is a hat thief. Darn it . . . my hat looks better on her than it does on me!
Dan hooked the wagon to Sam's four-wheeler so he could take Grace and Jake for a ride.
Nora hung out by the campfire with us in the morning too.
Two campsites from us was a family who decorated their campsite to the hilt. It was amazing! Gabriel and Jackson could not wait to go down and see it. I took Grace into this campsite so she could see it too. She was hesitant to go into the "ghoulish graveyard." We took about four steps in when she started to to scream and cry. Ha! Poor kid! This was not the year to visit scary campsites.
We celebrated Daniel's birthday after dinner Friday night. I think he turned 21 again!
After a taste of cookie cake, Alicia, Kaitlyn, Grandma, Sam, Gabriel, Grace, and I went to the pavilion to see It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
When the movie was over, we got in line for the hay ride. It took a while, but we got our turn to ride around the park.
It was a chilly ride though, and we had some sleepy kids.
Saturday morning the kids were up-and-at-em early.
Daddy teased his big boy.
Grandma brought edible necklaces for the kids to make Saturday.
Sam decorated his four-wheeler for the Halloweekend celebration.
It wasn't long after breakfast, and it was time to head up the hill to the carnival.
The kids colored a tote bag for collecting trick-or-treat candy. They also played several games like a toilet paper toss, a duck pond, a sucker tree, and bean bag toss.
The bean bag toss was one of the last games the kids played. At each game the kids won some sort of prize, no matter the outcome of the game.
Saturday night was trick-or-treat night. Gabriel --- I mean --- Heat Blast was pretty pumped about trick or treating at the graveyard campsite. The kids had nicknamed it "The Dungeon."
Grace --- uhmm . . . Bat Girl was SO excited to trick or treat. I love that you can see her pig tails flying as she ran from campsite to campsite.
At some campsites bowls of candy are left out for the trick or treaters to help themselves. We tried to teach our kiddos to be considerate of others and only take one piece of candy from the bowls. Some bowls just had too many yummy choices though.
Trick or treating was a blast for the kids!
Antiquated Pyramid Man drove our golf cart while the kids collected their candy.
Grace hitched a ride with the McAfee's and Gettelfinger's.

We love Fall camping! Halloweekend has got to be one of the most fun weekends of our entire year! We've already got our campsites reserved for next year!

Living Room Picnic

2011-10-20T23:36:00.002-04:00

Fall Break was last Thursday and Friday. The kids and I had a fun day at home together Thursday. The kids suggested having a picnic in the living room for lunch. Lunchables and a blanket on the living room floor made for a fun afternoon picnic.

Duh!

2011-10-10T12:25:00.001-04:00

Alright party-goers, I made a giant error on the invitations to Grace's birthday party. I feel so dumb!
I left off the date! AAAAAHHH!

So for those of you who will be receiving an invitation to Grace's birthday party in the mail very soon . . . Her party will be Sunday, October 23rd.

Kitchen Helpers

2011-10-09T22:38:00.002-04:00

We bought some green beans at Huber's yesterday. The kids helped Daddy in the kitchen this morning by snapping the ends off of the beans and snapping them into bite-sized pieces. They love to help in the kitchen.
Grace helps me, almost every Sunday, pick grapes off the stems so they are ready to eat during the week. Tonight she laid down on the island, and said, "Mommy, take my picture." She is such a ham, but this is the cutest darn picture of her. How could I NOT take her picture?!?!

What Imaginations!

2011-10-09T22:33:00.003-04:00

The kids were cracking us up this morning with their imaginary play. Grace wanted to go to the zoo first thing this morning, but we had a lot of other stuff that needed to be done at home. She brought her baby dolls and strollers upstairs and asked Gabriel if he would go to the zoo with her. They took off outside to "go to the zoo." Gabriel, being a 5-year-old boy, only wants to play games that involve fighting. So they combined their two interests and took the babies to the "fighting zoo." Gabriel was going to fight the animals and Grace and the babies were going to watch.
I'm not sure which animal he was fighting, but he was giving it his all.
Grace was cheering him on as he fought too. How funny!

Afternoon at Huber's

2011-10-09T21:59:00.004-04:00

Saturday the kids and I trekked up to Huber's with Grandma to pick some apples and enjoy some gorgeous weather. The kids cracked me up while we were there . . . they ran around asking to have their picture taken everywhere. I think I have trained them well!
This was first. "Mommy, take our picture!" I have a picture of them every year on this concrete cow. I guess when they're 12 and 14 they will try to refuse to this anymore, but I'll probably still ask them too.
Grace wanted to have her picture taken with this pumpkin.
Gabriel wanted a picture that would make him look tough. I think he would look tougher if he had actually been able to pick the pumpkin up. Ha!
I love this one! He IS one of the sweetest kids ever.
One of their favorite things was to pretend to drive the old tractors.
We took a tractor ride out to the apple orchard to pick our own apples. Notice the Kist family is sitting behind us on the tractor.
Grace could only reach the apples on the lower branches, so hers were pretty green.
Gabriel was very selective about his apples. He had some yummy looking ones.
Gabriel is 3 feet 8 inches, according to this. Grace was almost exactly 3 feet. I wonder how close this actually is?
The kids thought the talking tree at the Farmer's Market was pretty cool.
I love those little smiling faces!
Gabriel took a turn driving the old truck too.
Our next stop was the winery. Mom is finally developing a taste for wine. We shared two wine tastings so we could decide which wine we wanted to buy.
Hmm . . . Starlight Red or Starlight White?
A wine-o in training! Just kidding!! When she saw Grandma and me having our pictures taken with the little wine cups, she said, "I want a picture with wine too!"
While Grandma and I finished getting liquored up, the kids played on the patio wall behind us.
We walked down the pond to feed the fish and the ducks. These coy, catfish, and carp were ginormous! They were swimming on top of each other. It was nuts!
I asked Grace if I could take a picture of the prettiest girl in the world, and she replied, "You?" Oh my, she can melt her mama's heart! Isn't that the sweetest?
We had a great time watching the fish, ducks, and swan swim in the pond. It was a beautiful afternoon and such a fun Fall outing.

BP Block Party

2011-10-08T08:03:00.003-04:00

Last night, Bridgepoint hosted it's first Fall Block Party. There were games, music, bounce houses, food, and a silent auction. I picked the kids up from daycare and brought them over so they could enjoy the fun with me.
Gabriel enjoyed this bowling game. He ended up spending ALL of his time here because he discovered that each time he knocked down pins, he got a piece of candy. His goal was to fill his bag with candy.
Once Diane gave him a little instruction, he was practically a bowling pro.
Grace got in the bounce house.
The bounce houses were a HUGE hit with all of the kids, so the lines to get in and jump were pretty long.
I convinced Grace to try the bowling game too.
While she was waiting her turn in line, she was dancing to the music. This kiddo loves to bust a move!

Harvest Homecoming

2011-10-08T07:42:00.003-04:00

We went to the Harvest Homecoming Thursday night to enjoy some fair food for dinner.
The kids didn't remember the Harvest Homecoming past years until they saw this race track. Then they were yelling, "Oh yeah! We raced last year! Let's race!"
Gabriel ended up getting a little help from Daddy, but unfortunately, he didn't win the race.
Corn dog and Big Red . . . oh my! Good thing we don't eat like this all the time! (Disclaimer: Thursday was Pajama Day for Gabriel's class at school. We don't typically let him wear his pj's out of the house.)
Grace wanted her face painted from the time we got there. Luckily, we found a church booth that was doing face painting for FREE!
Despite having pizza for her dinner, before we left my little carb-addict was still hungry. We chose potato ribbons over more sweets.
What a fun evening!

Chewing Gum

2011-10-06T22:14:00.001-04:00

Grace got a piece of bubble gum from Mrs. Wilson today at school.
She was so excited about it that she opened the gum and popped it in her mouth before we even made it to the car.
She chomped on that gum furiously. Oh . . . the enjoyment she got from that one piece of gum. Hahaha! It's the simple things in life sometimes . . . .

Cuddle Bug

2011-10-06T22:09:00.001-04:00

A few nights a week, Grace comes into our room and crawls in bed with me. I let her stay in bed with me if it's close to time to get up. If it's too early in the night, though, I make her go back to her bed. I love getting that extra cuddle time with her, and she loves being close to me too. It makes me smile to see her in bed sound asleep like a little angel.

Visiting Vada

2011-10-06T22:03:00.002-04:00

Tuesday Grace and I went to Cousin Robin's house to get our hair cut. Grace loves to go to Robin's house because she gets to see Vada.
Vada has grown so much since the last time we saw her. Her personality is developing, and she is such an active and funny little girl. We can't wait to spend time with her again.

"I'm a Good Dancer."

2011-10-06T22:00:00.001-04:00

Sunday evening on the way home from the McAfee's house, Grace said from the back seat, "Look, Mom, I'm a good dancer." When I turned around, I saw her bobbing her head back and forth and making this seriously goofy face. She is a hoot!

Jake is 3!

2011-10-06T21:44:00.004-04:00

Sunday evening we went to the McAfee's house to celebrate Jake's 3rd birthday.
Gabriel and Grace were so excited to see that the bounce house was set up in the back yard.
What a great way to bounce out some energy! We were so blessed with beautiful weather to enjoy Sunday too.
The kids love to play with Sam and Jake's toys. They have so many cool toys. You know someone else's toys are always so cool compared to your own.
Alicia made 8 pounds of meatloaf for the party-goers. We all enjoyed the yummy dinner!
Before having cake, the kids enjoyed more time in the bounce house.
Then it was time for cake! Happy birthday, Jacob Daniel! You are such a special little boy!
Grace watched Jake open gifts while finishing up her ice cream.

A Special Gift

2011-10-06T21:36:00.003-04:00

When I was about 5 months pregnant with Gabriel, Dan's Uncle Sonny passed away. Uncle Sonny loved kids. He loved his nieces and nephews. He was so happy for Dan and me when he found out we were expecting. Before his passing he set aside this harmonica for Gabriel. Dan's mom, Linda, wrapped it in Christmas wrap and gave it to us to put away for Gabriel when he was old enough to appreciate it. Well, I thought I had hidden his special gift well enough. Apparently I didn't. Gabriel found it Saturday, brought it upstairs, and was so excited to get an "early" Christmas gift. We let him open it, and he has enjoyed playing. Even though Gabriel never met Uncle Sonny, he knows that Uncle Sonny loved him.