Christmas 2007

The past 2 weeks have just flown by. Ben has been home since the 19th and goes back to work this Wed. We have had so much fun spending time together. I wasn't sure how it was going to work. Normally when Ben is on vacation we are traveling. This has been the longest he's been at home. We've seen lots of movies and eaten way too much. The kids have had a great vacation. All three spent the night at Nana and Papas house Sat and Ben and I celebrated an early New Year out on the town. Sophie starts back to school Wed but Lexie and John William don't go back until next week.
Christmas was great. Sophie and I spent Christmas Eve at Urgent Care. She started running a high fever the night before and the dr. found that she had strep throat. She and I missed the evening church service but she was feeling much better for Christmas morning. My parents came over to give the kids their new pjs. And my dad read us the Night Before Christmas. My dad has been reading The Night Before Christmas to me from the same book since I was born. We've never missed a year. It's my favorite traditon. For my 30th birthday my mom had the book mounted in a frame that I keep hung on my wall all year long. It has pictures of my dad reading it to us through the years. The kids got tons of gifts that have kept them busy all week. I have so many pictures that I need to go through so I'll have to post them later. We had a yummy dinner at my parents and opened gifts with them, my grandmother and Kimie and Brad and their boys. Jack and Sophie are too cute! After some drama with Ben's family, his parents weren't able to come into town, but we'll celebrate with them sometime soon.

Seeing Santa

Yesterday we took the kids to see Santa. I was so sad. Lexie has decided that she's too big to go see Santa. My little girl is getting so grown up. I bribed her with a trip to her favorite restaurant Olive Garden if she would just sit with her brother and sister. Sophie loved it and told Santa that she wanted "blue presents". Then we went to Olive Garden with my Mom and Dad and stuffed ourselves.

Christmas Programs

Lexie and John William had a Christmas program at school on Monday night. Silly me, I charged up the camera batteries and forgot to put them in the camera. Thank goodness Mom had her camera. The kids did such a great job. Lexie played her recorder and did an awesome job! The christian school the kids go to is pretty small so the program was only an hour long which was perfect for Sophie and Jack. We sat in the front row so Sophie could say hi to all the kids she knows as they walked off the stage.

Sophie had her first Christmas program this year. She sang The Itsy Bitsy Snowflake, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. It was so cute. She spent more time fussing with her hat then singing. Bunny ended up on stage with her in his Valentine sweater and got lots of snuggle time when Sophie was nervous. Aunt Kimie, Jack, Sam, Nana and Papa all got to join us.

Sophie's Party

Sophie had her Christmas party at preschool on Monday. We had snacks and made crafts and had so much fun. She loved showing off her daddy to all her friends. Sophie made us a Christmas ornament that she opened for us at her party :).

Our Tree

Here is a picture of our tree all decorated. My grandmother who is 88 made stockings for the kids and a tree skirt for us this year. My mom gives the kids an ornament every year. This year they all got pickles.

Sponge Rollers and New Teeth

Here are pictures of the girls in rollers. Lexie has been in a curly hair phase and tonight Sophie wanted to be just like her big sister.
Lexie got her braces off a few weeks ago and today had her front teeth worked on at the dentist. She looks beautiful!

Cutting down our Christmas tree

We drove to the mountains today and cut down our Christmas tree. The weather was beautiful! Normally, we really have to bundle up, but not this year. The kids had so much fun. Sophie has been asking all week when we were going to get our "Merry Christmas". We ate lunch at the Daniel Boone Inn in Boone. Now we have to pull out all the decorations and get to work!

Silly Bella

This is Bella, our great danes favorite spot on our deck. She's such a goof ball!

Hunting with Daddy part 2

John William, Ben and my dad went hunting again this weekend. This time John William got to shoot my dads 22. He was so excited and loved hitting the turkey target.

Hunting with daddy

John William and Ben went hunting Monday night and Tuesday. Ben took him last year for the day but this is the first overnight trip that they've taken together. They spent a cold night in the camper and the day in a tree stand. John William got to drive the four wheeler all by himself. He was so excited to miss school and wear all his new hunting gear (just like dads :)) After a slow day they shot a deer right before the sun went down. They were both tired and ready for a hot shower and a bed when they got home late Tues night. John William couldn't wait to go to school and tell all his friends about his trip. The girls and I believe that we had lots more fun cuddled up in bed drinking hot chocolate and watching movies.

Happy Thanksgiving

Things I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful for my wonderful kids, even when they are mean to each other and talk back and don't clean up their rooms

I'm thankful for my husband who I love with all my heart, I'm really thankful that he's in the kitchen washing dishes so I don't have to

I'm thankful for my family, it's nice to have them close by

I'm thankful for Kimie's new baby and the sweet little boys that are here now, when I miss having a little tiny one around I can go and snuggle hers

I'm thankful that Ben's family is here to spend the holiday with us

I'm thankful for all of my animals, I love each and every one of them

I'm thankful for my house, I just wish it were cleaner

I'm thankful for the wonderful dinner that my mom is cooking

There are so many more things I'm thankful for but I have to go make breakfast now :)

My Trip

Outside of our hotel

the Strip

the water show at the Bellagio

another picture of our hotel

Robin :)
I don't even know where to start. Robin and I had such a great time. Everything was even better than I expected. We crammed so much in to our time in Vegas. Of course we didn't get much sleep. We got to town Friday afternoon and picked up our rental car.We stayed at the New York, New York Hotel. It was beautiful! There is so much going on all the time. We checked in and got something to eat. We got cleaned up and went to see our first show. We saw the Thunder from Down Under and all I can say is WOW! I screamed until I lost my voice. We went to Coyote Ugly for a beer and realized that we had way too many clothes on and that we were way too old for that bar. We gambled our $10 away on the slot machines and ate dinner and headed to bed.
On Sat we got up and spent the day sight seeing. The city is really beautiful. We got all dressed up and headed to Mary's wedding. It was beautiful. We had such a good time. The reception was on a yacht on Lake Mead. We ate and danced and had a blast.
On Sunday we slept in and had room service and headed to the spa for a pedicure. We rode the roller coaster that was in and around our hotel. We saw another show and went shopping in the amazing shops. We had dinner at a great restaurant in the MGM Grand and took a taxi back to our hotel since our feet were exhausted.
There is so much that I'm forgetting. We did and saw so much. It was nice being with Robin and enjoying a break from the kids. Ben did a great job and the kids had fun spending time just with him.

Countdown to Vegas

I am getting so excited. I leave on Friday to go to Vegas with Robin. Wouldn't you know it, Sophie started with a cold last night. Isn't that always the way it goes? Lexie's bladder infection started hurting again today too, so I guess we'll be making a trip to the dr tomorrow. It's been a long day and the Halloween candy is calling my name. I put it all in a bag today when I was cleaning up and I'm throwing it all away. Somehow, Sophie keeps getting into it and has been on a sugar high for days. I have so much to get done this week. I wasn't very smart and planned a fall party for Lexie's class on Wed. I'm her room mom. Lexie is getting her braces off on Wed morning before the party. She's so excited! Now I just have to find time to finish shopping for clothes to take on my trip and catch up on all the laundry before I go. I found a great dress to wear to the wedding in Vegas. It's going to feel nice to get really dressed up and out of my jeans for a change.

Trick or Treat

Lexie the peacock, her nana and gram made this for her

Sophie the princess with Bunny

John-William the army guy

The whole crew

The kids had such a good time last night. This was the first Halloween that Sophie understood what the deal was. She was so excited about ringing the doorbells. We walked all around the neighborhood. Bella the guard dog :) went with us. She is such a chicken, but she loves being around all the kids. One of our neighbors was sitting in a chair, very still, with a mask on and scared the kids. After that Sophie wanted her daddy to walk her up to the door. After the kids filled their buckets we went to Aunt Kimie's house. Jack and Sam were'nt feeling well so we went to show them the kids costumes, then off to Nana and Papas house to show off. Everyone was tired today.

Sophie's first field trip

Sophie got to help stuff a scarecrow that her class got to take back to their room.

Sophie's class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. She was so excited to go on a hayride with all of her friends and her teachers Miss Sue and Monica. I had fun getting to meet all of her friends that I hear about all the time.

Random thoughts

I am getting so excited about my trip to Vegas with Robin. Only two and a half weeks left to go. I can't wait.
Sophie is in her big girl bed now. It makes me so sad to see the crib out in the garage. John William got a new bed also and we redecorated his room. Lexie and Sophie are now sharing a room and Sophie is thrilled, Lexie not so much.
I am watching Sam in a few minutes while Kimie takes Jack to the doctor. He is such a cutie. I could just eat him up.
Big News: Kimie and Brad are having another baby! I'm very excited. Three was just right for us, but I still get cravings for another baby. Kimie's little ones give me the chance to snuggle with babies all I want. I'm hoping for a little girl this time, but another sweet boy would be great too.
Report cards come out on Thurs. We have PTF Thurs night. The kids have worked so hard!

Cheerleaders

I'm getting the carpet cleaned today. We started moving furniture around last night to get ready for today. I have a big chest in my closet that has all of my baby pictures and the kids baby books and the outfits that they wore home from the hospital. It has all of our wedding pictures in it too. Last night we moved it out and the kids wanted to see what was inside it. I had forgotten most of it. They found lots of old pictures and my cheering uniform. Lexie had so much fun trying on the uniform and my wedding veil. I started looking at all the pictures and some of them made me laugh! The kids has quite a laugh over Mommy and Aunt Kimie and Aunt Jamie's hair do's. Here's a picture of Jenn, Jamie and I right before Jenn and I's suprise sweet 16 party. That was so much fun!

13 Years

Yesterday was our 13th anniversary. I don't know where the years have gone! Ben brought home the most beautiful tulips, my favorites. This weekend we have date night. He always makes our anniversary so special. He's such a great guy.

Our Vacation

So we had a very busy trip! We left Thursday night and got to Ben's parents in Fredricksburg late. Friday we went to the Air and Space Museum and then went to the Spy Museum. Lexie had a allergic reaction to something on the headphones in the SPy Museum and we ended up taking her to the doctor. Her ears swelled up and her throat started to close. She's going to be on medicine for ten days. It was scary. Sat. we went to the Natural History Museum and had a blast. My niece Savannah who is the same age as Lexie came with us and Ben's parents. The kids got to ride the Metro and thought it was a great adventure. I thought it was gross! Sunday we went to Kings Dominion with Ben's sister and both of her girls. Lexie and her daddy rode all the rollercosters they could find while John William and I stayed pretty close to the ground. We got blisters from all the walking. Then Monday we got up and packed up and went to Williamsburg. It was hot!!!! Lexie and I are wimps and decided that we really wanted to go home, but the boys made us go on. We ate lunch at the Kings Arms one of my moms favorite restaurants. Then we headed home. My feet still hurt and we took today to sleep and finish schoolwork and go grocery shopping. Sophie had a wonderful time with her grandparents and didn't seem to miss us at all. Nana said she was so good. We missed her so much! Now I have to get back to the laundry :(

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids and Lexie's friend Attalie to the pumpkin patch this weekend. My camera died and I left the extra batteries in the car so we only have a few pictures. It was so much fun. My mom came with us. The kids went on a hayride and got their faces painted and went to the petting zoo. The weather was perfect! This weekend we also took the older kids to see The Game Plan with the Rock. It was really cute and I just have to say that the Rock is yummy!

Poor little Bean

Tues night Sophie was running around with her brother when she fell and landed on her hand. The next day she was still crying when I gave her a bath and when Nana picked her up from preschool ( Lexie had an ortho apt) she was having trouble pulling up her pants. Her doctor is closed on wed.'s but the nurse told me to take her to urgent care for an xray. At urgent care they told me that her hand was okay and to ice it. Tonight they called and told me the radiologist looked at the films and that she does have a small fracture. I thought the radiologist had already looked at it. I guess the dr is the one who made the decision that it was fine. They wanted to refer us to an ortho dr, but I think we'll get our regular doctors opinion tomorrow. Poor baby!

The Child

After preschool, Sophie and I went to one of her favorite places to eat, Poppa'a Hot Dogs. It was really busy and we had to stand and wait for a table. As we walked over to get our drinks, Sophie dropped down and grabbed my ankles and started screaming for me to pick her up. I bent down and said " child you're going to make mommy fall down". Standing next to us was an older man with biker clothes on and a long white beard. Sophie was terrified of him. Somehow she thought that I called him child and decided that was his name. Unfortunatly, he ended up at the table next to us and sat closest to Sophie. She started screaming that the child was going to get her. She climbed over me to sit farther away. Then everytime he looked in our direction she started yelling that the child was going to get her and eat her french fries. The "child" didn't think this was funny, although everyone else in the restaurant did. He moved to another table when one came available and then gave us angry looks until he left (which didn't help). Sophie was so distracted that we ended up bring her hotdog home so she could eat in peace. Kids are so funny.

Happy Birthday Sophie!!!!

Sophie is turning 3 on Tues and Kimie is 30 today so we had a party for them this weekend. I just can't believe that my little girl is so big. The time goes by so fast. She has been so excited about her birthday. We had Backyardigan hats and plates and balloons. She got lots of pretty new clothes and some playdough from her cousin Jack. Nana gave her a special dress to wear to her party that had the number 3 on it. She and Jack got very silly and very messy feeding each other cake.