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.