Christmas

Okay, I was planning on having a simple Christmas with not a ton of gifts.  James ended up getting a bonus that he was hoping for, but not really expecting to get.  So, of course, he splurged and instead of buying himself an X-Box w/ Kinect (which he wants really bad, because well he's a guy) he was generous and got extra gifts for the kiddo's.

I got tents for all of the kids which they absolutely love (we gave to them on Christmas Eve).  Then I got baking sets, a t-ball set (for the boys), and a new tea party set (for Eva).  James got them pillow pets and an electric ride on tractor for them all to share.  Can I say score for them and they love everything that they got. 

We had fun visiting with everyone over the weekend!  Thanks for helping our Christmas to be fun and memorable.

Sting Like a Bee!

Okay, I was driving home from picking Ethan up from school today.  It was nice outside so I had the windows down with my hand hanging out windsurfing down the road.  I felt a bug hit my fingers, it was soft and kind of big feeling.  I thought that it was a moth or something, but it wasn't.  It was a bee and it stung me!  Owwwie!  I smashed that bug right off of me! 

If you guys don't know already. . . I have never, ever been stung by a bee before.  Ever. Until today.  It hurt.  Plus, I was for sure that the only reason that I had never ever been stung before is because I just must be allergic to them and the good Lord knew it and didn't want me to die a puffy, swollen death.  Hey, it's been 15 minutes and I'm still alive!  Yay!  My finger does still hurt though.  I am going to have to have Eva kiss it better for me (after I put a band-aid on it of course).  She gives cold kisses and that should help the swelling to go back down.

The boys kept asking me if the bee's bum was still stuck in my finger, but I let them know that I smashed the heck out of it when it stung me and that there was nothing left of it.  After we got home I did find the stinger and bum on my pants and showed it to them.  They were very impressed!f

Peanuts

I know what you are thinking.  Oh hey, it's Mr. Peanut!  Nope.  It is Peanut Man.  Ethan made him.

I have had a bag of peanuts in the pantry for quite awhile now.  The kiddos are always begging to eat them.

But did you know that peanuts (shell on) are a very messy snack.

Today Jacob asked if he could have peanuts for snacks.  I let out a big, long, heavy sigh.  How about after Ethan get's home you guys can have them.  BUT it has to be outside.

When I told them that they could just throw the shells on the ground they got very excited!  It was fun shelling peanuts with them.  While I was out there with them I thought they would be really good warm.  Mmmm.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving this year.  My mom and my sister Stephanie came by.  Between us we still had enough food to feed an army.  We really didn't even touch the appetizers and I may have been the only one who went back for thirds a couple of hours later.  There was so much of it! 

That night James was a good sport and set up the dome tent in the back yard.  The boys and I had a cold night out (James had to work the next day so he stayed inside for his alarm).  Ethan ended up barfing, so about 5am we moved everyone inside.  We will have to try it again next weekend.  (I still haven't cleaned it out)  My knee went out again on Friday, so I am hop along Joe again. 

Very frustrating.  Hopefully it won't last too long.  I have really enjoyed going for walks every morning after I drop Ethan off at school.  And I have finally been able to keep up with the downstairs housework again.

We will be doing our Christmas decorating tonight (if James get's off of work on time) so,  might have some pic's tomorrow.

Lost

Yesterday afternoon I decided to clean the garage.  Ethan was in the house finishing his homework and Jacob and Eva were playing on the driveway.  It got really quiet, I went to check on them, and they were gone!  Oh my gosh. . . . can I say Aaaaaaaaaah!  I looked around the middle part in my street and they were no where to be seen I got Ethan and got in the truck and started driving around.  There were a few people outside of their homes and asked if they had seen them and they said no.  Oh my gosh!  They were very kind and started to help look.  I drove around the park and the streets by it with no luck. I met back up with my neighbors and one of the ladies called the police for me (yes mom, now I know what it feels like).  I left my phone at home so I went back to get it really fast and thought that I would just check with our next door neighbor Toni.  I ring the door bell and it takes her a minute because she has a dog and she is older.  She opens the door and there they are.  Thank the heavens they are safe!  She said that they had been ringing her door bell and she let them in and was feeding them.  She said that she called and left a message.  I asked her to please not let them in if they did it again.  They were probably over there for 15 minutes, but that is definately eternity when you can't find your little ones and horrible thoughts are going through your mind.

If you haven't already, give your kids a hug today.

Toothless!

Ethan has lost his very first tooth!  Not only did he loose his first tooth, but he lost it as well.  It fell out at school and he lost it there.  He was bummed.  He now has another tooth that is loose and is looking forward to loosing that one as well.

Park Play

There is a good sized park right next to Ethan's school.   After we dropped Ethan off to school this morning we hopped on over to the park to play with Jr. (Jacob's friend).   We had a blast!

When it was time to go Jacob hung his head and was sad.

They can't wait to play with Jr. again!