Happy New Year! (almost)

New year's eve tradition in my house states that we sit around, play games, watch movies and stuff ourselves with unnecessary food. I am adding a twist on it this year...pajamas. All of this is to be done in our PJ's. The big girls are currently in the living room in their tent "camping" and waiting for Bret and I to get the Wii going. Maddison is ASLEEP! I doubt she will sleep all night from here but it's shocking that she is sleeping this early. So, to each of you whatever your traditions are have a safe, fun, happy new year. Here's to good things in 2009. May God bless you all and touch those who have faced hard times this past year. Praise Him in good times, seek him in bad times and thank Him at ALL times.

Merry Christmas

What a beautiful Christmas day. The sun is shinning brightly and the snow is shimmering. We are grateful for this day and all the Lord has given us through out the year. After being on the road the last couple days I am glad the roads are clearer today so Mom and Dad could join us this morning. After dropping Briana off last night the roads were a sheet of ice. The temperature has risen to a whopping 25 degrees for now with highs in the 40's expected over the next couple of days.

We opened gifts with Briana yesterday morning then headed over to the in-laws for our family Christmas. This morning we opened a few more gifts and are getting ready to sit down to a nice ham dinner.

Hope you are all enjoying your families and the beautiful magic of the season.

As promised...

Miss Beth was so nice to send me a few pictures from the Christmas party so here they are. Ella was decorating an ornament and in the bottom picture Maddie is really enjoying that sucker. Her mouth was green for a couple of hours after she ate it.

Holiday party

Today was the Christmas party at Ella's school. The kids were so excited, hopping and jumping all around. I would love to post some pictures of it but guess what? Yep, I forgot my camera. Another Mom and Miss Beth have promised to share their pictures with me. During the week Ella told us that she was working on something "secret" at school. We were teasing her and asking her if we could guess what it was. She kept saying, "NO! It's a SECRET." Well, we got our surprise today. A cute handmade ornament. I always love when she makes us things but this felt extra special because I wasn't involved this time. Something she did (almost) all on her own.

Christmas Musical

Today was Briana's turn to do her play at church. The kids do a good job memorizing so many songs and dance moves. Other kids have huge parts to memorize as well. This year Briana decided she'd rather take the background but all important singing parts. She gets so into it and does such a good job. You can tell who has their heart in it and who is going through the motions. She did a great job and we are so proud of her.

15 months of joy

Our little "angel" had her 15 month check up today. She is doing great. No issues as far as her heart or growth. She is 33" tall and 22.3 pounds. She is tall and lean. Her behavior on the other hand as far as strangers go is something else all together. She normally does pretty well with them but not today. The nurse came in and started to measure and weigh her and she lost it. She kept tearing the measuring tape off of her head, putting her little head down and crying. Then when the doctor came in things really got fun. She didn't even want to LOOK at him. I had to hold her hands down so he could look in her ears and mouth. He said he is going to start working out now for her 18 month appointment so he can keep up with her. Just goes to show how strong our little fighter still is. We are praising God for her continued health and enjoying her everyday. Not to mention at night when she has decided not to sleep. :)

Tree Farm

Ella had yet another field trip today to Peacock Road Tree Farm. http://www.peacockroadtreefarm.com/ It's really a cool little place. They have all kinda of fun things to do for kids of all ages. There is a petting zoo, train rides to the North Pole to visit Santa, and a gift shop. They even offer places to get married, a snack barn and of course they sell Christmas trees and swags. After checking out the website I see they even have a one room school house.

As soon as we got there the kids took off to meet the animals. The best part was they did a pig race for us. Ella got to go out and "sweep" the pigs to make sure the pigs kept running. These poor pigs were so cold they didn't want to race they just wanted to get back in their house. The farmer actually had to lure them out with marshmallows.

After the animals they got to jump on the train. It was a cute little ride out to meet Santa. We walked into a little cabin and there he was. Unfortunately a few of the kids wanted nothing to do With him. Mine being one of them. :) She asked me if she could just get a candy cane from him and leave.

Up next was the train ride back to the front of the farm where donuts and hot chocolate were waiting for us in the snack barn. After warming up for a few minutes we went off to the gift shop where the kids all made a swag for the classroom. They even got to hang an ornament on a mini swag to bring home.

Even though it was very cold it was a great day. We are looking forward to going back soon.