Sunday, January 27, 2013

Disney on Ice

 For Christmas this year, Ricky and I got the kids tickets to see Disney World of Fantasy on Ice in Indy. It was so much fun, and also Ricky's first time ever going! We got to sit in the 8th row, so we were really close. I don't think I've ever been that close before! It was really good for us, since they had Cars, 
 
 Little Mermaid, Tinkerbelle, and Toy Story. 
 
We got some cotton candy for the intermission (crazy expensive, but came with a cool hat!) and the kids modeled the hats. The nice family in front of us gave us a Car hat, so we didn't have to buy 2!


What a fun family night!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Back to life

I promised Dylan that we would go to the Children's Museum before he went back to school, so Friday we finally made it down there. The place was packed! Ricky took the day off to hang out with us and it was a good thing he was there! The kids loved the slide and we tried to steer clear of the crowds.
 
 On Saturday, Ricky had to work again, so the kids and I headed to my parent's house for the day. We played Ticket to Ride with Dylan and then got all geared up for sledding. My mom and I took the kids to the same place I used to go to as a kid. It brought back a lot of good memories! The kids LOVED sledding and they each went down the hill by themselves. What a great day!
 
 
 
We started back to normal life this week. Dylan and Lauren went back to school, Jack and Cadence are coming over, and mom and tots started again. Date night also starts back this week and I am really looking forward to that! It's nice to get back into the schedule of life.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Happy New Year!

Monday morning, we woke up and realized that it was New Years Eve and we had no plans! How lame is that? I decided to start calling around to some friends from church and we got a great party going! We had 3 families with 12 kids and only 1 fell asleep before midnight! We had a dance party, played games, and ate lots of yummy food! At midnight, Ricky set off some fireworks. The kids LOVED it! It was way too cold for the kids to go outside, so they all stood in the window watching!

What a great way to bring in the New Year! 

4 Christmases!

What a great week of celebrations we have had!
 
Friday, the 21st, was Dylan's last day of school. They had a little Christmas party and since I have wonderful friends, I was able to go help out! It was so fun to see the kids playing the games and having fun. It was also nice to see Dylan at school.
 
Then on Saturday, the kids and I headed to Illinois with my mom to spend the day with my grandma. It was so nice and relaxing. We played war, pinochle, and cribbage, ate some yummy lunch and just hung out with grandma.  I had a thousand things I could have been doing in preparation for Christmas, but it was the perfect day for me! Family time is what Christmas is all about! I was telling Dylan about all the things we had planned for Christmas (We had four different celebrations!) and he told me that this was going to be the best Christmas ever! I was just thinking and then he continued, "Christmas isn't about all the toys and presents. Christmas is about spending time with family, and that's what we get to do!" My heart melted. I guess I am doing a great job at instilling the meaning of Christmas in my children!

My mom had Dylan spend the night, since we were headed to Indy on Sunday for dinner at Kris and Joanna's place. Ricky had to work on Sunday, too, bummer. Someday he may have a job that isn't in retail so he can have a few days off for Christmas, someday! It was nice to see Ricky's family and let the little boys (Keegan and Ethan) exchange gifts, since Keegan was going to be with his mom on Christmas.
 
Christmas Eve we had our Christmas celebration with my family. It was our year to host, thankfully, because Ricky had to work again. We just got everything ready and then had dinner and presents when he got home. It was so nice to spend the day with my mom and dad, sister and her family, and brother and his family.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins all day, too.
 The cousins with their new jackets on.
I made my first ever ham for dinner. It turned out really good, and I'm pretty sure I can do it again! We got sleeping bags, a gazebo, lantern and other camping gear, as this was our 'camping Christmas.' We asked our families to get us camping gear for Christmas this year so we can plan some fun camping trips this year! After my brother and sister left, we read the Christmas story from the bible and sang Christmas songs with my parents. I love remembering Christ during the holidays!
 
 The kids got to open the last present for the 12 days of Christmas, which was a recordable book, The Night Before Christmas. Ricky and I read the book, so the kids will always have a recording of us reading to them. Then they got to open their Christmas pjs, a tradition that I love!
Christmas morning we always spend at our house. I love seeing the kids get so excited to see what Santa brought them! They were a little tired this year, so they didn't even get up until 8:30!
Dylan got a Lego set.
Lauren got a LalaLoopsy remote control car.
Ethan got a shake and go Race track.
We have another tradition, that my parents started a long time ago, of having the missionaries from our church over for breakfast. We had Sister Carter and Sister Fullmer this year. It was great to share our celebrations with them. We had egg casserole and monkey bread, yum!
My beautiful kids! I love this picture of them!

Around 2pm, we headed to Ricky's parents house for dinner and another Christmas. It was great to spend the evening with them. Ricky's parents got us a tent so we can now go camping! Yeah! After dinner and presents, we played some games and just hung out. Fun family times!
The day after Christmas, it snowed a lot! Ricky was supposed to work, but his boss told him to take the day off! Yeah for snow days! It was so nice to just spend the day at home in our pjs and play with all of our fun new stuff. Ricky decided he should probably shovel the driveway since he would have to work the next day, so the kids got all suited up and headed outside with him. They had a blast!
Lauren made a snow angel!
Thursday and Friday the kids and I just hung out while Ricky had to work. Very different having just my kids all day. I found out that Dylan has a lot of energy and loves to chase the other 2 around the house. Fun times! Boys will be boys! Saturday, we headed to my Aunt Marsha's house for another Christmas. It was so fun to have all of the kids together!
On Sunday, we headed back to Ricky's parents house because Spencer was here for the weekend visiting. We hadn't seen him in almost 2 years! It was really fun to have all 4 brothers together for the evening. They had a great time catching up! The kids also enjoyed the great company!
Lauren and cousin, Keegan.
Ricky and his father eating Christmas pudding (from England!).
 The kids showing off their moves!

I just have to say that I am tremendously blessed to be able to spend so much time with my family! I loved every minute!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Anniversary Time

December 20th was our 9th Wedding Anniversary, WOW! It fell on a Thursday this year, and we already went to Chicago for my birthday, so we kept it low key. My Visiting Teacher offered to watch the kids so we could go to dinner. It was nasty outside, cold, windy and snowing, so we didn't want to be out too late. We went to Mountain Jack's and it was really good. It is different going out to dinner on a weekday. Very nice to spend some time alone with the man I love! Happy Anniversary!