I must have been good this year......

What a Christmas!!! Well the plans got changed just a little bit this year to accommodate the whooper of a storm that we got (I think around 2 feet total over the whole weekend). We decided to let Khloe open her presents from us on Christmas Eve morning. Just to spread it out a little.


She had a great time and got lots of cute things (they should be....since I bought them.) She loved her makeup bag, purse, and quiet book.

Troy and I always say we are not getting each other anything, but I usually always end up getting him something. Usually he doesn't get me anything.....but only because I tell him not to. The last time he got me something for Christmas I opened up a Carhart Coat (well in his defense I had complained about getting cold outside while I scooped) and....wait for it......wait for it....a square green little machine with a crank on it.....that I had no clue what it was for. Turns out you put de-icer in it and turn the wheel and it spreads it all over your sidewalks. I'm still learning how to use it properly. So you might find it hard to believe, but after that Christmas I told him there was really no need for him to buy me anything.

So imagine my surprise after everyone had opened their presents that there was still a box under the tree. I knew immediatly what it was once I held it....which always ticks Troy off that I ruin the surprise. I opened it up and found a new phone. Now before you start thinking that this is as bad as the previous gifts, this one I actually was excited about.

My mom had gotten us a new phone a couple of years ago as a Christmas present and I swear after about 6 months the phones went bad. So instead of buying new phones....because why would I want to spend my hard earned money on a boring new phone....I am just constantly running around the house switching phones because the batteries die before you can finish a conversation. So this was a great gift for me.

Troy really went all out on this phone. He kept asking me if I liked it....I think he wanted me to say no so he could take it back. It must have been expensive! It has three handsets....because I always lose the two that we have, caller id, call waiting, digital phonebook, speakerphone, hold and it even announces who is calling. That way if you are on the couch and don't want to get up you can wait and hear who is calling....and then decide how important they are! Not that I would ever do that......hmmmm


We did make it out to my parents....just in time. We ended up having to skip Christmas mass this year which was a huge bummer. I think this is probably the first year ever that we have not gone to Christmas Eve mass. But with the ice and snow we just didn't think it was a good idea to have the little ones out on the road after dark.We opened some gifts that night and Khloe, yet again, got some really cute gifts. This was a dollhouse that she got.....I turned around and found Troy playing with it....look where he put the man...just relaxing in the bathtub. He's just lucky I didn't show everyone the next picture of him I took....he realized I was shooting some pictures of him and held up one of his fingers for me. It wasn't his ring finger either! hee hee He knew right where those pictures were going!

Khloe got the cutest little bag from my mom...I really wish I could have taken credit for this one. Maybe next year after I learn how to sew. It is supposed to be their backyard setting....complete with Khloe's swing. LOVE IT!!!!

I was actually successful in stumping my dad this year for Christmas. Every gift he gets he always knows what it is (probably because we get him the same stuff every year). So this year I decided to put his Ebay gift certificate in a box and I dumped in a handful of M&M's. He just couldn't figure it out! HA HA

Khloe lucked out Christmas morning and Santa was able to make it through the storm to Grandmas house. She got a little salon chair for her babies along with too many other toys.

As for me.....I must have been exceptionally good this year because I think I got just about everything on my list that I gave this year. There was one gift that I was really wanting and after we arrived at my parents I went to the tree and thought I scoped it out hiding in the back (good try mom). Yes, I am still like a little kid at Christmas, shaking all the boxes. Usually I don't have tons of pictures of myself at Christmas. But when it came time for this box to come around I handed Troy the camera and told him to start shooting. I got my Wacom Bamboo Craft Tablet and was I excited! These are 3 of the 32 pictures Troy took of me. I can't wait to try it out! I also got a tripod for my camera, a remote for my camera, a new camera strap and TONS of other stuff. I think mom forgot she had told us she was cutting back this year.

We got stranded at my parents until the day after Christmas.....and we only live 10 miles away and I really love my own shower and bed....if that tells you how bad the storm was. Their electricity went out on Christmas Day around 11:00 so the ham didn't get cooked and all we could do was eat of the platter of cookies and treats....oh darn. Lucky for us they have a generator and within a few hours we were up and running with some electricity. Not that it mattered...besides the heat of course....we had a great time.

Dad made a ping pong table so we had a few little tournaments...I must add, I didn't do too bad.

All in all it was a good Christmas....but it is always good to be back home. I actually started taking some of the Christmas decorations down today. I get almost excited about putting up my winter decorations because I love all of the silver glittery stuff.

Well if you are still reading this....congratulations....you made it through one of the longest posts I think I will ever have! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas......

........from our house to yours!

What a great day!

We got to spend time with Aaden.......

We did a little reading......

Khloe didn't really agree with Johnny Depp being chosen Sexiest Man Alive.....I couldn't argue....

Then she found a picture of David Beckham and felt much better!

Don't you just love this time of year? We went to my parents for Thanksgiving and had a very relaxing day! We ate, napped, and got some reading in! It was just nice to have a day off to do NOTHING!

You know how it is...you stay at home on a day off and it isn't ever really a day off between the laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc. It ends up that you work harder on your day off than at your job! So, it was nice being at my mom and dads and not being able to do all of that stuff.

I did however bring a couple of crafty projects along to do. I started working on my December Daily book. This is the first year I am actually doing this. I wanted to last year and just didn't get it done. I know, I really started early this year, right? What is it...only 4 days till December? I better get moving. Ali does a FANTASTIC job on hers every year and I thought it looked like such a great way to document the holiday season.

So here is my plan.......
Yep, that's right....that is my whole plan right now! I used Zutter 8x8 chipboard and used black and white damask fabric and wrapped it using Pellon backing to adhere the fabric to the book. Then I took some red ribbon and edged the fabric on the inside to finish it off.

Luckily I have a four day weekend and plan to spend every free second working on this. That means by Tuesday you should be seeing a finished book.

Wish me luck!

I'm thankful for........

....these two!

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Aaden Pics

Here are some more pictures of the cute little guy and some of him and Khloe. We bought him a monkey and Khloe carried it everywhere until he got there. Then decided to give it to him and threw it on top of him practically smothering the poor boy. She didn't understand why the monkey couldn't just lay right on top of him! :)

Thanks for all the well wishes...I will pass them along!

Aaden

I'm an aunt...again!!! My sister and brother-in-law have adopted a little boy! He is the cutest little guy....as you can see from the picture.

Heidi and Mark have waited a long time for this day and we are all so excited for them! Hopefully Aaden lets them get a little sleep tonight, because I know the past couple of days have been exhausting for them.

I will post a LOT more pictures, but this weekend was a little exhausting for us all. This was Khloe's first stay in motel....I know...we really don't get out much! :) Anyways, she did not sleep the greatest, which of course means we didn't either. So I am headed to bed shortly! But I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow night. If I can figure out how to do a video....Heidi has one of those cool Flip camcorders and got the cutest video of Khloe holding Aaden. I'll try to work my magic on that tomorrow.

More Labor Day fun....

:


We were also able to get out to my parents house over Labor Day weekend and pulled out the old go-cart....I'm not real sure who had the most fun!?!?!

It went way to fast....

We had a GREAT Labor Day weekend! It went way to fast for us though. We had great weather so we finally got a day in at the lake. Probably our first and last for the season. We spend the entire day there on Saturday and had a great time. Khloe LOVED driving the boat. Yes, I said driving. She wouldn't have it any other way. I just wanted to get a few pictures up tonight. There will be lots more to come.

Changes

Ohhh where to begin....

This last month has flown by. There have been a few changes around our house. First and foremost Khloe is getting so much bigger every day. She seems to just keep growing. Along with that comes more vocabulary. She has definitely learned and now understands the word "NO." She likes to use it a lot now. If she wasn't so cute the way she says it we would probably be having more problems. Sometimes I have to turn my head so she doesn't see me smiling!

As you can tell from the pictures she is loving sweet corn. Which has now come to an end. She has also been working hard on "swimming" in her bathtub. She likes to put her ears, eyes, nose, and mouth (drinks a little too) in the water now. It sometimes can be a fight to get her out. Usually the water gets drained out and Khloe is still laying in the tub hoping for more.

Books have become the favorite around our house. "If you give a pig a pancake" gets read at least 10 times a day. I think there is another one called "If you give a mouse a cookie." I think I need to go hunt that down so we can get a little variety!

Our babysitter that we have had since Khloe was born is leaving for college tomorrow! :( We will miss you Jessica!!!!! Khloe has had so much fun with her and loved going out to her house and seeing all of the kittys, puppies, cows, chickens and sheep.

Tomorrow is the start of daycare....I wonder who will cry more?!?! I'll let you know!

Holly

The Zoo

Here are a few of the pictures we got while we were at the zoo. Khloe hadn't had much of a nap that day so she was not willing to stand still for very long to get some pictures. All she wanted to do was run around and look at the "big kitty!" She really liked that and the big fish aquarium. We began to realize how much work it is running after a kid. She did not want to stand in one place very long. We went to the zoo on July 3rd which was probably not a choice day to go. It was PACKED! You can about imagine us trying to run after Khloe and trying to keep track of her in that crowd.

Digital Scrapbooking

Alright so I finally started playing around with the digital scrapbooking and here was my first project I finished. This was a picture from 3 years ago that I always liked. I just added a frame around it and the word 'treasure' at the bottom. It really adds a lot to the picture! So now.....I'm hooked. This could be a dangerous hobby that occupies a lot of time! Although once I got the hang of it I'm surprised at how easy it is! Don't worry I'll get back to posting pictures of Khloe...I know that is what everyone wants to see. Just had to play around a little with this one!

We are planning to head to the zoo on Friday...if the weather holds out. It is looking like it might rain. Hopefully we can go and have some nice weather. I'm excited to take Khloe to the zoo. She is going to LOVE it!!!

The Park

We have got a little girl that LOVES the park! There is absolutely no fear in her! She will go down any slide by herself, any teeter totters, swings....you name it she loves it. She has decided that she is past the "baby" swing and needs to move on to bigger and better swings. I think this was the fourth or fifth swing she had tried out that day. Mind you they are all the same, but apparently not to her. She had to try them all out. We took her to a different park the other day and she was not at all afraid to go down the 15 foot slide all by herself.

Happy Mother's Day!

It was a little bit chilly out on Mother's Day, but we were able to get outside just long enough to fill some buckets and pick some dandelions!

Picking Dandelions with Gramma

New Camera has arrived!

Well I finally hit the pay button after months of anticipation and got my new camera this week! I can't believe what a difference it makes. I may not even need Photoshop now! Here are a few of the pics I took.

After Troy got over the initial shock of how much this camera cost, he decided maybe it wasn't such a bad purchase after all.

Here are a few more fun pictures that I took over the weekend!

These are two of Khloe's favorite place. She loves to sit up on my station and "destroy" everything in site. She especially loves to dig through my makeup bag and get her hands dirty. She also loves to climb up on the couch and watch for birds and "bugs" (flies). She could watch those flies fly around all day long! Nevermind all of the toys that clutter the floor. Then it was time to head outside!
We went to DG last week and purchased a $5 yellow chair. Probably the best $5 I've ever spent on her! She carries that chair around everywhere!
What are you looking at Khloe?
Oh don't worry it is just your dad trying to hide from my camera. He thinks my camera isn't fast enough to catch all of his crazy moves.

Notice the blurriness....I was actually trying to make the photo like this just in case anyone was questioning my ability!

I tried to tell him my camera can shoot fast and he didn't believe me!

Needless to say I am already having tons of fun taking pictures. I can't believe how crisp the photos are just straight out of camera. I can't wait to get some printed and see how they look compared to all of my old ones. I think I'm going to regret not getting this camera sooner!