Christmas Photo Shoot

These are some other favorites that didn't make it to our Christmas card.

Our Drive to the Polar Express

Let's just say we do not miss driving in snow. Our drive up to the Polar Express was a stressful, white knuckled, scary, frustrating, and long 4 + hours for everyone. Thank you God for getting us there safe and on-time.

Thankful for our DVD player also! The kids didn't even know what was going on. Pete did ask a couple of times why we were stopped on the freeway and once why it was such a long drive.

At points during our drive we heard the 17 was closed. That's the road we were on. The 40 was closed, that was the road we were going to take next. We heard there were 20 car pile ups on both roads. The 17 was down to one lane and not moving. The on ramp to the 40 didn't move for 15 minutes so we called a friend and she told us how to take a side road for a few miles to get farther up the 40. It worked wonderfully but was a little scary because it wasn't quite as plowed. Pete peed in a bottle twice and pooped in a diaper that I was holding once. We were stuck on the highway without a bathroom. Jamie peed at a McDonalds then peed and pooped her pants in her car seat while on the 40. We changed Jamie, naked, in the snow, threw her clothes away and went through a whole package of wipes trying to get her clean again. The car still smells. Both kids didn't nap so by the time we made it to the train both kids were done. Stick a fork in them, done. Oh, and I was trying really hard to fight off a cold but was losing.....

The trip can only get better from here right.....well, it did! Stay tuned.

Babies

Jamie loves to shop.....for babies. When we go to Target, or Walmart or anywhere, she will spend at least a half hour in the baby aisle looking at each one. Then look at me and say, I want all of them. I hope Santa finds her a good one.....

It's Been Awhile!

Busy. We have been busy. Then I caught a cold somewhere, somehow, and any free time I have these days I try to rest or nap. Boy do I hate colds. They make everything feel almost impossible. Anyway, we have been sick and we have been busy but it's all fun stuff. Stuff we choose to do and stuff we love. Oh boy, how do I catch up. Since I need to do a few things during this "nap free time" I will just post a few cute shots of the kiddos from before we even went to the Polar Express, before the Christmas party with our friends, before Dec even. Yikes!

Here are some of our kids' best buds. We love every second we spend with this amazing family.

Watching the movie Despicable Me while eating raisin toast. Have I mentioned Jamie loves babies? It doesn't matter that she has 10 of them, she loves them all the same.

A tiny handprint on our barstool saved in our memories by a picture. Oh I will miss the days when I don't find these everywhere anymore.
Jamie double hammering. Real nails, real wood and some real Jamie hammering!
Afternoon with Play-Doh. I bought the kids a huge set of 36 cans of Play-Doh for Christmas. They will be thrilled. And I will find dried pieces of Play-Doh in my house for the rest of my life!

Christmas in AZ

Joy is putting up Christmas lights in a t-shirt and not having to worry about snow, ice, or bitter cold temps.

Or not even having to wear a shirt.....
Or when your neighbor moves and asks you if you want some furniture for free......

Best Friends

So lucky to have each other.

Out to dinner after getting tired of Thanksgiving leftovers. Tried a new restaurant called Bravi Tuscan Kitchen. Had wood fired pizzas that were ok and the kids had their usual, mac n' cheese. We only go places that serve mac n cheese.

More of Thanksgiving Weekend

Like we do every year after Thanksgiving, we got all the Christmas decoration boxes down and spent a day putting them up and playing Christmas music. Pete found it all to be too much work but Jamie on the other hand loved it!

Little Sugar Ball helping us decorate for Christmas.Bringing all of her babies to lunch.
Friday night we went downtown to Glendale Glitters. Had a great time seeing the lights, paying lots of money for the kids to play on the bouncy things, ate some yummy ice-cream and fought giant crowds of people just to walk around.



Pete and his best friend in the whole world. He gives spontaneous hugs to his daddy and says, "We're pals. Mom, take a picture of us."

Thanksgiving

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our aunt and uncle. It has been a lovely holiday weekend of family time, relaxation and Christmas decorating.

Coyotes Game

A co-worker of P.'s couldn't use two of his Coyotes tickets so Pete got to go to his first hockey game! Yay for Boy's Night Out. He loved it and has been howling like a coyote for days!

Stuff To Do

There are so many things to do when you have kids. I hear about something new almost every day. We could stay busy every day for a year I think and not do or go to the same place twice. Well, maybe not but what I am trying to say is that having kids is somuch fun and we love finding new things to do.

A friend of mine told me about Story Time with Mother Goose held at the Anthem Outlet Mall just north of our house. So we tried it out. It was great. So great. Story time, snacks, coloring, giveaways and shopping if you want. They also have a play area in the middle of the stores. We had such a fun time and there were some Christmas decorations already up to check out!

They gave away two prizes and Pete won one of them. It was an AZ Cardinals bag. As you came in they gave you one ticket per child and picked numbers at the end. I would have rather had the other prize, a book, but was thankful for our luck! Pete was so excited and I loved watching him claim his prize.

A bunch of friends and I got one of those online deals for this gymnastics place. I paid $15 for each kid for 6 open gym sessions each at this huge gym that has trampolines, rings, foam pits, balance beams, and these big pads made into an obstacle course to climb on. It was totally worth it. Totally. Kids had so much fun and were exhausted when we had to leave. Kids left kicking and screaming and begging to go back! I was exhausted too. Do you know how much work it is to climb in those foam pits and fish your children out to the top, 150 times? :)