Christmas 2007 - The End

Wow! I'm a postin' fool tonight. Well the culmination of all of this celebrating came to an end today - Christmas Day. We opened gifts this morning, and then spent a lazy day relaxing and playing with all our new toys. It was definitely a digital Christmas this year and Mike and I spent the better part of the day at our computers figuring out how everything works.

Sofie in the eeaarrlly morning before we opened presents...

Lilia enjoying her new present!
John has a love affair going with the movie CARS. I think that he now owns every CARS car that he can. He spent most of the day racing them around a new track that he also got for Christmas.
It was a very merry Barbie Christmas for Sofie!


Above are some (well most :) ) of the Christmas presents that I received this year. I must say, I made out like a bandit! Do you notice what's down at the bottom of the frame, resting against the frame? That would be my new iPod. Now whether your a fan of Apple products or not, I am and I have been wanting an iPod pretty bad. So I have to share how Mike squeezed all the suspense out of my Christmas morning that he possibly could.

I had been asking for an iPod. But not quite sure that I would get one because 1. they are expensive, and 2. I do have a completely adequate MP3 player.

Well the gift opening commenced this morning and when all was said and done, I had some wonderful gifts...though no iPod. I was a little disappointed, but, reminding myself of the reasons above, it was O.k.

Then Mike says casually, " I don't think we've opened all our gifts from our stockings yet." Oh yes! Stockings! Hopes were again realized and we opened all of them... Again, no iPod.

A little more disappointed this time, but remembering the above reasons, I TRULY was very thankful that my husband had thought to get me anything at all.

At last, though, he reaches into a drawer and pulls out two more packages, the last one being the iPod. :) So Mike had fun, then again, so did I. I love surprises, even when they are delayed. :)

Christmas 2007 - The Party Continues

The merry making continued at my sister-in-laws house on Christmas eve. We had the "immediate" family Christmas as opposed to the "extended" family Christmas that we had a couple of evenings before. We had a wonderful time and among many lovely gifts, I got a digital photo frame!

Sofie and her cousin Jake.

JOHN GOT HIS VERY OWN LEAPSTER! HE IS BEYOND EXCITED THAT HE GOT HIS VERY OWN LEAPSTER!!!

Ah dude! His guitar is awesome!


There aren't many gifts that can bring a look of sincere delight to a 13 year old males face, while also sparking the interest and joy from his adult father. But a Wii will do it...
It was an all around digital night, this is my FIL receiving HIS digital photo frame. :)

Christmas 2007 - The Party

The party went fabulously. We had the kids re-enact the Nativity. Remembering why we celebrate this time of year. And then, just to really confuse them, Santa made a visit! A wonderful time was had by all.


John was a Shepherd. His line was, "Let's go straight to Bethlehem!"
John was MUCH more accepting of Santa than he was last year...
I am still amazed at how more "grown up" the third child is. She absolutely knows what presents are and can open them all by herself, so no help, thank you very much!
The Fam!

Christmas 2007 - Gingerbread Houses

On my husband's side of the family we rotate where the big family Christmas is each year. Well this year it was at my house, Yeah!! I love to host parties so Christmas was especially fun for me! I wanted to have the kids be able to decorate Ginger bread houses, but I didn't want to make big ones. Well it all came together when I found a recipe and stencils for tiny gingerbread houses. It was surprisingly easy to make and so fun to watch all the kids decorate their houses. They are the perfect ages to do such things. Yeah!

We assembled the houses before everyone arrived. This is my "attention to detail" at work. :)

Here are the kids in full decoration mode!


Here are the finished products! They all did such great jobs.

Atlanta trip - part 3

I knew it would take a while to blog the Atlanta trip. Who knew it would take a month! Anyway, this is the last installment of the trip. I wanted to show our Christmas down there! Mostly because John got one of his favorite gifts, of maybe all time, down there. It's a knights armor and sword. Oh, my goodness, he wears it every day. The new rules have been established of what you can and can not stab with a sword, etc. etc.

My niece. I gave her the earrings, purse, shoes etc. Supposedly she wore them everywhere until the dog got a hold of them... Another good reason to never own a dog.


John with his new armor. Now when he and Sofie get dressed up he has something to wear!

Each time we have gone to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, the next day (Friday) we do "Christmas" complete with setting up the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas carols. It's always lots of fun. Notice Sarah in the foreground with the "luxurious" hair. It's a Hanna Montana? wig and she wore it constantly!

Gift opening!
My SIL, the giver of the glorious gift.

Christmas is in the air!

We are in the thick of Christmas Season right now. I thought that I would share some random festive pictures...

Can I have a Giraffe for Christmas?

(I need to edit this post! I received a call from my brother DAVID "nicely" informing me that it was him and ANDREA who bought the giraffe and not Joe and Carrie. SO sorry for the mix-up! :) )

We went to Iowa this last weekend for Christmas with my parents and siblings. It was a whirlwind trip! We had a great time . My sister-in-law is newly pregnant and we were all excited to see her . The kids got some great presents. One of the bigger ones (well the biggest) was this giraffe tent. It reaches the ceiling! So thanks Uncle Joe and Aunt Carrie for the giraffe. :)


We've thrown pillows, blankets, and a fold-up Pooh bed in there and the kids love it!
We love the giraffe!

Sofie was trying to "feed" the giraffe...

Atlanta trip - part 2

I guess it's gonna take me a while to blog this trip! In my own defense, I am just screamin' busy right now with Christmas so close.


I included this picture because this is what the kids did for most of the week we were down there. Played outside on the swing set in 70 degree weather. They LOVED it.


My MIL and me.

At the end of the week was Thanksgiving! (The whole reason for being there.) My SIL set up the kitchen table with LOTS of crafts and fun projects for the kids. Even the adults had fun sitting down and making Leaf placemats.

A family picture, yeah!!

My poor John was so tired on Thanksgiving that he fell asleep in the chair.

Atlanta trip - part 1

For Thanksgiving we traveled, by car (23 hours with a 5, 3, and 14 mo old), to the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. Mike's sister Michele and her family live there. We stayed there for a week. All of us, including Gma and Gpa Wolfe and family friend Dorothy, stayed in Michele's house. I can't believe we weren't tripping all over each other the entire week, but we weren't. We had a wonderful time and I miss them all crazily!


With 6 girls and 1 boy running around the house that week. Finding time to do all those heads of hair was at a premium. So I proudly give you the mop heads!

On one day we went to an interactive children's museum. They had store fronts set up where kids could go grocery shopping, get their hair done, work in a diner, be a vet or a doctor, etc. It was just perfect for our brood.

One day we took the 4 older girls to a bead store and they each got to make a necklace. I have to toot Sofie's horn a little. The owner said that they usually don't let anyone under 6 make the necklaces because they don't have the co-ordination or the patience to put together a whole necklace, but Sofie (5) and Sarah(4) both finished their necklaces with hardly any help from their Mom's. I've couldn't believe how Sofie was concentrating!

Gracie and John, aren't they cute. Autumn colors were in full riot color during the Thanksgiving week.

We went to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. (Oooh La La!) The girls absolutely loved being able to go out to dinner with their dolls. Sofie ordered a Strawberry shake that ended up being as big as her. She was over the moon! (and a little sick after consuming most of it..)

The steps to walking - part 2

Well after a long stay in Atlanta, GA last week, we are finally back in the swing of things! I took some great pictures that I will share later, but first things first. Lilia is FINALLY starting to walk. She's 15 months old! I can't say I'm shocked, though. Both Sofie and John were this age before they started walking. Anyway, proof positive that my baby just keeps growing up...

Lilia and the Laundry

Lilia can't walk yet, but she still tries to help out around the house anyway. When I'm cleaning the kitchen I usually throw the old towels at the kitchen door way, then I have Sofie or John pick them up for me and throw them down the laundry chute. Well yesterday Lilia saw the towel on the floor and knew where I wanted it to go. What a little helper!


(Sorry for the dark, grainy video, it's pretty dark in our hallway! Where's a good solar tube when you need one.)

The steps to walking

Like I said in the previous post. Lilia isn't walking yet. Both Sofie and John didn't walk till well after the 1st birthday, so it must be in the genes. The funny thing is that all three of them have done some of the same things on the road to being mobile, this inverted "V" stance being one of them.

2003 - I don't have the picture, but I remember Sofie doing this.

2005 - March, right before John started walking
2007 - November, Lilia must be close to walking...

An Iowa Weekend

We went to see my family in Iowa this last weekend. We hadn't been back since last Easter so it was high time!! We didn't have any planned activities, but just enjoyed visiting with each other.

I'm always amazed at my kids' memory. As I said, we hadn't been there since Easter. But they remembered the stash of games that my Mom had for them. Here they are playing Elefun. Lilia was even getting the hang of it!

A room full of people and no one will rescue Lilia from the predicament she found herself in. (Grandma did come to the rescue shortly after I snapped this photo.)

We were able to squeeze in a visit to my Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was John telling Gma his Bible memory verse. He's always happy to be the center of attention.

Sofie with her Great Grandma!

Lilia...she's not walking yet, she walks on her knees and does this move all the time. I'm sure she'll put both together here soon. The funny thing is I remember the other kids doing this too.

Leapster

We've actually had a Leapster for a couple of years. I bought Sofie one for her 3rd Birthday. The kids have never been addicted to it and just play with it randomly. Well, that all has changed here lately. This is how I've been finding John. He doesn't even care that it's pink, just as long as it plays his new Cars cartridge. (No worries, being the mean Momma I am we have now introduced time limits.)