Merry Christmas

Presents, presents, everywhere! What could be more fun than Christmas morning?!


Merry Christmas!

Santa

This past week we visited with Santa. Of course C was scared to death so she did not take part in the picture. Maybe next year! A is a little too cool for Santa this year. But he still wants to believe - or at least he still really wants that new light saber...

Getting Ready for Christmas...

I love getting ready for Christmas. Fortunately, the kids seem to enjoy it too! After Thanksgiving, it is time to get the tree up in our house. C was still recovering from her ear infection so Dad got a free pass to sit and hold her while the rest of us worked! M and A had a great time putting on the ornaments and remembering where each one came from. Most of our ornaments were made by the kids (or myself when I was little) or they have been collected on all our travels. It is fun to remember each trip or adventure as we hang them on the tree every year. Of course the highlight is putting the star on top of the tree. We usually do it several times so that everyone gets a turn!

Thanksgiving

Well, it has been quite a while since I have updated pictures on here. Our computer was out of commission for a few weeks so it was difficult. Here are some photos from Thanksgiving. We were able to spend the weekend with family. The kids of course love playing with their cousins and I enjoyed shopping on black Friday without the kids! The big event of the weekend for C was her first taste of icecream and a trip to urgent care for an ear infection. Life is never dull in our Family!

Hanging out with "Gipa"

Happy Halloween!

What fun we had on Halloween this year. The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with some friends. A dressed as Anakin Skywalker, M was Fancy Nancy and C was Frenchy (Fancy Nancy's posh puppy!) The weather was beautiful - warm and sunny. Great for trick-or-treating but not optimal for great photos. C was not in the smiling mood during this photo shoot either but at least you can see their outfits! Enjoy!

BRRRRRRR!

We had our first snow here today. It only lasted about 30 minutes and was really just blowing around. None the less, it was cold and seems to be the start of winter. Hopefully we will have a few more warm fall days before the real winter weather hits!

Happy Birthday Baby!

This past week we celebrated C's first birthday. What fun! She hated her cake but loved the chicken taquitos I made. Here are some photos from her celebrations. There are a few from her party and a few from her actual birthday. She loved her new baby doll the most!

My Big Brother

C sure loves her big brother and he adores her right back. Some of our biggest smiles come when A gets home from school each day. He is certainly missed during the day. I caught a few priceless giggles and smiles on camera the other day. Enjoy!

Happy Fall!

Today we decided to take another fall adventure and went to a big Pumpkin Patch. This was C's first real trip there so we were not sure what to expect. After her little introduction to pumpkins a few weeks ago, we were hoping for a better day. Unfortunately, she seems to be scared to death of those big orange things. She loves to drum on things so we tried to get her to pretend they were drums but we did not have much luck. We still picked our pumpkins, fed the goats, ate caramel apples, and enjoyed the beautiful fall day. At least A and M had a great time. Their favorite event may have been trying to pull the wagon filled with all the pumpkins and their sister. It was seriously hard work - especially up the gravel hill! Maybe next year we will get a few smiles from C when there are pumpkins around!

A Fall Day up North

Last weekend we went up North to enjoy the fall festivities. We spent a little time at a pumpkin patch. As you can see, C was not too thrilled with her introduction to pumpkins. Maybe they will grow on her... We spent the rest of the afternoon just playing around by the water and enjoying the day. The kids love to run around and enjoy watching all the boats too. Of course a day trip like this would not be complete without some ice cream. Another fun weekend day!

First Day of School

The first day of school has come and gone so I thought I should post some pictures. I take them every year so we can see how much the kids change. A was not so sure about smiling for me until I threatened to take the camera to school. I told him I would take pictures with his teacher, at his locker, in his desk, etc. He told me that only girls do that and decided to smile for me very nicely! M is almost always ready to be a ham and was especially happy this time to show off her new hair. She woke up the other morning and announced that her hair kept getting caught in her bike helmet and she wanted to cut it off. So, off we went. I think it is adorable! Enjoy the pictures.

Lake Charlevoix

We spent a week in Boyne City, Michigan on Lake Charlevoix with grandparents and cousins. We had tons of fun playing in the water. The kids swam, tubed and had a great time. The adults had even more fun water skiing! Here are some pictures from our time there.

All the cousins hanging out together.

A loves the water!

Nothing like a bunch of silly cousins to make the week go by quickly!

All the kids had fun fishing with Boppa off the dock each morning - we loved it too because it meant we could sleep in bit while they were out!

Looking so sweet and innocent in the middle of a water balloon war!

Happy Independence Day!

We enjoyed our first July 4th in town this year. We had a fun morning at the park. The kids started the day by participating in a fun run. A was the head of the pack for the 6 - 10 year old, 1/2 mile race. It was too close to call if he was first or second from my angle. Either way, he ran like a pro. M had fun with her 1/4 mile race too. After that it was off to the kids bike parade. They got on their decorated bikes for a jaunt around the park. Then it was time to enjoy the bouncy castles and other activities. We ended our morning with hot dogs and hamburgers before heading home for naps. Tonight we will enjoy a baseball game and fireworks. What a day!

Summer fun in Mexico

We recently spent a week in Riviera Maya with some friends from Atlanta. We all had such a great time. The weather was beautiful and the hotel was great. The kids spent the entire week in the pool and just loved it. By the end of the week, I think they had gills! The beach was beautiful as well and we had fun in the sand and the waves. Our friends have two kids as well so it was lots of fun to watch the kids get to know each other and play together. Enjoy some of our photos from the trip!

This was the first trip to the beach for our littlest family member. She seemed to like it and fortunately did not eat too much sand!

M is a new swimmer this summer and she did awesome. By the end of the trip she was swimming completely on her own - jumping in all by herself!

A is quite the jumper... He perfected his belly flop on this trip.

Here is the whole gang together... amazing to get a single photo with everyone (almost) looking at the camera! Until next time...