Will he deliver?

Well the countdown is on.........getting excited now that it is close and all the "work" is done!
I hope this jolly man pulls a little magic out of his sleigh Thursday morning! And of course it wouldn't be the holidays without a persistent mom terrorizing her children with their fear of costumed adults......Brady had an iron clad hold on my neck and hair and Brooke was playing the shy card......She also went to see Santa another time and actually sat on his lap and conversed about all the goodies she wanted.....but unfortunately this Santa did not meet her fancy!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Naughty or Nice????

Well isn't that the million dollar question these days? The kids, they are truely good kids, but that doesn't mean we don't fall back on the whole "Santa is watching......." every once in a while. Well this year we are using a lot more of "little Nicky" is watching...... ELF ON THE SHELF (thank you Grandma!) What a great concept! It is this little elf that you hide in a different spot of your house everyday and he is Santa's spy to tell him if they have been naughty or nice...... The kids love searching everywhere in the morning for it and it comes with a story that explains that you can't touch Lil' Nicky, but you can talk to him and explain things......he has been strategically showing up in the greatest spots...... where we get dressed in the morning (when not a lot of people are apt to cooperating, peering over the kitchen table (when we don't want to say "two more bites") ah the trickery of it all.......But seriously I feel like Lil' Nicky has been peering down our backs lately....perhaps we need to be careful on how NAUGHTY we are being.....but come on most of the NAUGHTY gets rationalized out with a lot of the NICE right?.....Cases in point.....

1. A neighbor of ours did some fancy lawn art on our grass this summer - well we told them it was coming, payback that is......They happened to leave for the weekend when snow storm 2008 hit.....perhaps a bit NAUGHTY.........

opps I have never used a snowblower are you supposed to go the other way?

Bringing in reinforcements....Just spreading good holiday cheer....

but like I said when they came home and realized they didn't have a front door key and the only way in was the garage door - we let their kids stay in our house while they shoveled.....NICE right?

2. I served my kids fish sticks for dinner tonight MAJOR NAUGHTY especially when I had something way better to eat! As I watched Brooke's face contort to many faces that I so clearly remember and when the shivers and goosebumps appeared from the memories and the smell - I immediately said, Brooke you don't have to eat it - can I make you a ham sandwich? NICE right? Because as Chris liked to point out any other meal it would have been eat what's on our plate or no asking for anything else......

3. For someone that loves the snow - my kids don't have much of a choice - get outside and enjoy. Brooke no problem...... its hard to drag her in sometimes......Brady doesn't exactly have the stamina yet - especially when the snow drifts are bigger then he is - so I feel kinda NAUGHTY as I try to have him brave the cold when he doesn't even move that much and they come in with cheeks as red as Rudolph's nose.......but I wrap them in blankets, serve them hot chocolate, rub some vasaline on their chubby cheeks, and plop their frozen little bodies in front of "Santa Claus is coming to town video" NICE right???......
4. The last NAUGHTY thing that is coming to mind is to show my mom a picture of what she will be arriving to in 2 days........I know your 80 pairs of long johns are already packed......but just to be NICE we will furnish you with flannel sheets, your abominable snowman jacket and I will bribe Chris to keep the heat above 70! Safe travels!
So all in all any Naughty can come out Nice........at least the way I see it :) Go easy on us Lil' Nicky!

1,888 days.....

This is how many days we have gone without hiring a babysitter.
This either means:
#1 We have an incredibly lame social life
#2 We have no hobbies or interest
or
#3 We have incredible Grandparents and friends who are always making a way to be available!

Not that we are socialites by any means, but we have been very fortunate that the reason is #3! I am always blown away at how eager and willing the grandparents are to take them at a moments notice. Even the ones that live far away - they love the time they spend with you guys! I hear about it all the time. There are definitely things that they associate with all of you guys. For example I hear "oh were going to ______, we must be having this for dinner, or I can't wait to play with ________there. ect. ect...... So I guess this isn't a woe about hiring a babysitter, it's more of an ode to the family and friends that have been so kind to watch our kids! Thank you. We will be hiring a babysitter this weekend (And trust me I didn't step too far out of the box) it is their teacher from school! :) So do you think she will be offended when I pay her with hugs? That's what everyone does right???

Well no such luck - Christmas party was cancelled due to a crazy snow storm - so our no babysitter trend continues - well at least until this is rescheduled!

Songs and Silence....

The kids had their Christmas program last night and it was super cute! Some of these kids are natural performers and have no shame on the stage :). We were lucky enough to enjoy 3 separate performances last night
#1. The one on the car ride over to the place where Brooke sang non-stop in the car any and every Christmas song there was known to man kind at the top of her lungs and Brady interjecting with "me sing too" during each one of her inhales.......They were both very excited for the festivities....
#2 The actual performance
Brady was all wound up seeing all his peeps from his class when we got there, and I thought... wow he is really going to be into it.... and then as he walked up onto that stage he quietly faded to the background and became a wall flower for the rest of the performance (big surprise) but hey I would be a little nervous too in front of a good 100 people! He is the one in the back in the red sweater vest biting his hand for dear safety........
Brooke was all business, focused on the words and choreography, she even made comments after wards that some people were not behaving and that is cute if your little, but they should have known better....ahhhh Brookie a girl after my own heart! She got to sing four songs and here they are.... she is third or fourth from the left depending on who was boxing who out at that moment :)










Dad this last one is for you - I think she could show you some moves to assist you in the "Dr. Who" renditions at any upcoming sporting events.......



#3 The third performance was on the way home in the car where Brady seemed to finally "come out of his shell" and sing at the top of his lungs the whole way home.....timing is everything!

Emily Young and Daniel Cook.......

For those of you who are not totally tuned into the Disney channel every morning - Emily Young and Daniel Cook are these two kids who go off and interview people on how to do different things (ie make juice slushies, go ice fishing....) So anywho our kids are REALLY into them and every morning after we get our fill of the top news stories on the Today show and the local weather we switch like clockwork at 7:20 to see what CRAZY Emily Young is up to before we get dressed for school....so as you can imagine there is a lot of "role playing" as Emily and Daniel......

This is Emily Young and Daniel Cook making gingerbread cookies......

Chef Daniel Cook.......

Getting their hands dirty (ummm the best part!!)

Oh wait - never mind this might be the best part -mmmmm frosting!

Decorating with gumdrops.....she almost missed giving him eyes as she decided to decorate her own mouth more than the cookie!

Can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man! (no really you can't catch me Brooke and Brady ate my leg before I even had a fighting chance!)

Flakes O' Fun!!!

Well we had our first Big snowfall of the season this past weekend and I am seriously all for it....Bring it on! I am sure I will regret those words when February comes......but for now I love it, it just seems to make the season more enjoyable and gets ya in the mood. We ventured out and took the kids sledding, ignoring that it was a complete snow storm. I thought this would be a five minute adventure as Brady did a face plant in the snow 3 seconds after we got out of the car.... I thought here we go he will be freezing in one minute - but these kids don't care. It's like they have no internal thermometer....They lasted much longer than anticipated but to be honest I can't tell you who had more fun the kids or the moms and dads - sometimes you forget how fun sledding can be......I just remember looking at my friend and going - "why are they so tired and ready to go.... I don't want to leave" and was perplexed as we watched all the other adults standing at the top of the hill freezing their buns off not "joining in the reindeer games"..........

Saddling up.....

Dad and Brady Bugs

I don't know if Brady was seriously so happy or secretly squeezing his eyes shut and wishing to be on some tropical island

Brady and big Lew maxing out warp speed.....

Umm yeah so Brady who I thought I would have to carry up every time - surprised us all as he proclaimed "me climb" and walked up the hill every time! Meanwhile the princess pooped out after about an hour.........

Away we go.......

Brooke and her sledding partner in crime Addison...

And perhaps all the fun that is had on the hill out weighs the disaster of what is to be cleaned up after your sweaty red faced kids are sipping on some hot chocolate and talking about how much they love snow!

Studio 54

So it is cold, snowy and time to hibernate! This time of year sometimes feels like it is more work than it's worth to go somewhere and why when you can turn your own house into Studio 54 and turn that mutha out......The kids are hilarious and love to jam out - Brooke freaks us out when she does some dance moves, like where did you learn that, and I make a mental note to cancel cable as soon as she figures out the remote. Brady just pretty much hops and jumps around and loves life....apparently there was a dress code to get in ........Pants only.......my two kids also have no concept of temperature - they would dress the same way if this was an outdoor activity.....where I am usually wrapped head to toe in fleece......

Enjoy the jam sessions......

Untimely Turkey Day recap.....

Well I realize turkey day is a distant memory, but I seem to be caught in the funnel cloud that encompasses the next holiday! It seems like the minute you clear the table of the turkey feast and load the dishwasher it is instant Christmas mode and we will speak of no other subject for the next 25 days.......
We had a good thanksgiving and I was fortunate enough to have my mom in town this year.....we didn't do a whole lot, baking, parade watching, and stuffing our faces, it was a casual laid back day and no one was mad about it.

The kids did some ooohhhing and ahhhhing as Dad let them watch the unveiling of the bird......

There was a lot of slapping of meat and tugging at skin as the kids thought it was so cool to feel how cold he was and the texture of the loose floppy skin (braver than I - as the thought kinda makes my stomach turn as I type this) - Don't worry guests, all hands were washed prior to assaulting the bird.

We were visited by Pilgrims and said what we were thankful for......Brooke was thankful for candy and Brady was thankful for "COWS" (of course he was......)

We feasted on good eats made from the little ones who came over on the Mayflower.....

As much as it didn't seem like I slowed down any - It was great not even step foot outside that day and spend an entirely lazy day at home with the family!

Then at 8:01 the next morning let the chaos begin.......let us stand in line at Kohl's for 45 minutes, let us proceed to pull out every xmas decoration and have it up by that afternoon, let us look through every toy catalog known to man that comes to our house literally every day, let us spend the day at the outlets shopping for -me, I mean Christmas presents for others, let us get infuriated with inadequate seasonal workers at Walmart, fa la la la la........ la la la la la.............
The kids got into the spirit too .....
Brady helped decorate the tree and is infatuated with all Chris "sports" themed ornaments.....

Brooke decided to forgo the garland this year and decorate her room with baseball cards.... A new treasure that they found in one of Dad's "collector" boxes......

Then the kids got to go see a real live reindeer......

Tis the season it has arrived........