Christmas Review

I wish I could say everything about our holiday weekend ran smoothly and glitch free.  Unfortunately that is far from the truth.  

For starters, I had to work through Thursday, and our first family celebration was Friday in Kansas City.  Hanna had to work the nights of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we didn't have a whole lot of options.  Anyway, we all got together at Abby's Friday evening and Saturday morning.

 The kids were spoiled with giant brick blocks from Nana Bobbi. 

Notice how excited John looks.  I am pretty sure he was sneaking a peak at the K-State score on my new IPad which he conveniently hid under the couch.  

 Avery wasn't totally into opening presents.

 Lilly made sure she played with her new toys, as well as Avery's

 Cheesing it up after breakfast Saturday morning.

 After a full morning in KC, we headed back to Holton for the Christmas Eve church service and onto the Stous house for more celebrating.  This is where things got ugly.  As soon as we got there, I wasn't feeling so hot.  At first I thought I was just really hungry, but that was definitely not the case.  I really don't remember much of the night, except trying not to get sick.  I only lasted till about 8:30 before I lost that battle.  Everyone else appeared to enjoy themselves!

 I was up most the night and slept all day Christmas Day.  This was the only picture I got of Lilly opening presents.  I really hope she enjoyed going to church with Grandma Karen and then back to the Stous' with her daddy for Christmas lunch.  It makes me sad that I missed the entire Christmas Day with her, but there was no getting out of bed for me.

 Lilly and I were supposed to go on to Great Bend Christmas evening to see my mom's family and my dad's sister, who were only in town for the day.  Luckily we were able to go on Monday, but unfortunately no one was still in town.  Lilly got to open the present Aunt Karen left for her, and has played with it nonstop ever since. 

I talked to John several times on Monday, and sure enough, he got sick while Lilly and I were gone.  The only good thing about the stomach bug we had was that it was short lived.  We were both only sick for a little over 24 hours, but long enough to make us pretty miserable.  I know the meaning of Christmas is not how many parties you go to and how many people you see, but it sure makes it a whole lot more enjoyable when you can get out and do those things.  I sure hope we don't have another holiday like this one anytime soon.

Joyful Noise

 Lilly's children's choir, Joyful Noise, performed at church on December 18, and yes I am very slow blogging about it.  They did two songs, but Lilly mostly just stood there watching the other kids.  She does a great job singing Jingle Bells at home and in the car, but wasn't about to sing at church.

 Not real sure what she was doing, either checking Kolden out or giving him the stink eye.

Overall, it was adorable!

Christmas at Glenmore

 We had our first Christmas celebration last night.  Every year, the residents of Glenmore Meadows, the assisted living facility John's grandmother lives at, gather to exchange gifts and see Santa.  Lilly was excited to see her Great Gram.

 She got her first present of the season.  I was shocked she actually went up to Santa to get it!

She even posed for a picture with him!

Cookie Time

One of my favorite things about the holidays, is making Christmas cookies.  Lilly and I got started this week.  We tried a new recipe which involved wrapping chocolate cookie dough around a Rolo. 

Lilly opened all of the Rolos for me and handed them to me one by one. 

She was every bit as helpful as she was last year!

Oops

Tonight could have been a major disaster.  I was heading out the front door to get the mail, and for some reason Lilly pushed the door shut behind me, and for some reason, it locked!  Crap!  I knew she would be fine because  I had just turned Mickey Mouse on for her.  Then I realized I had just started my bath water!  Double crap!  

I checked every door.  No luck.  I tried to break a window.  Still no luck.  I broke down and called 911.  I yelled for Lilly and told her to turn the bath water off, which she successfully did, and waited for the police to come. 

After about 20 minutes, they got me in without even breaking anything! Lilly looked a little surprised to see a policeman come through the window.  She was a big girl, showed him the back door, and in I came.  I honestly don't think she was scared, or even knew anything was wrong!  I am so thankful I had shoes on and had my phone on me.  I think I would have been a lot more stressed had I had to leave the house and go to the neighbors to call!

Christmas Present?

I am thinking I may have to get Lilly a changing table for her babies.  This is what she does now!

One Cold Parade

 Saturday night Lilly and I went to a Christmas parade in Holton.  John wasn't back from the KSU game since there was an hour and a half rain delay.  It rained most of the day and was just plain cold.  We took the Jeep and watched out of the back.  Lilly got to wear her new winter coat.  She immediately did a little dance and declared herself a ladybug. 

 We had her old car seat in the back of the Jeep.  She had the best seat in the house.

 Here are a couple pics from the parade.

A Time of Thanks

 We loaded up and went to Great Bend for Thanksgiving this year.  All of my family was there so it was quite the houseful.  Three sisters (two pregnant), three husbands, a dog, Sophie Kitty who spent her time hiding from the dog, two kids under three, and of course the generous homeowners who actually gave up their room so prego #1 didn't have to sleep in a full-sized bed. My Aunt Karen even came to see everyone.  

The weekend was relatively uneventful, but Lilly took advantage of every person who would push her on the tree swing.  It almost always ended up being Papa Layne or Uncle Grant.  Suckers!

 This kid had no fear.  The higher, the better!

 Somehow over four days, I only managed to take two pictures.  Overall we had a great time, and were thoroughly worn out by the time we got home!  We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!

A First Glimpse

Another First

For no real reason, other than I wanted to give it a try, I roasted my first turkey.  I was surprised by how easy it actually was! Not at all as stressful as people make it out to be. 

Conversations with a 2-Year-Old

Lilly and I have had some deep conversations lately.  Here are some of the key points of said conversations.
* Yes Lilly that is a bogger on your finger.  Go wipe it on a kleenex please.
* Yes Lilly, my bottom is bigger than yours.
*Yes Lilly, poop is stinky, that's why we don't touch it.
*No Lilly, daddy doesn't drink apple juice out of a can.
*Yes Lilly, daddy has boobs too, just a little different.
* No Lilly, those aren't mommy diapers.
Oh the joys of a two-year-old

What a Weekend!

This weekend was a total blur. We left for Manhattan at 11 on Saturday morning.  John and I had our annual Rec reunion followed by the KSU vs Texas AM football game at 2:30.   It was great to see some old friends, even a few we didn't plan on seeing! The game went well, for a while.  The it happened.  4 overtimes.  KSU finally pulled out a win, 4.5 hours later.  By the end of the game it was cold and Lilly was asleep.  She woke up as we walked out of the stadium in mass chaos.  She looked around and said, "Daddy, we won!  What a super day!"  Where does she get this stuff?

 We went out to dinner and didn't even get home until 9.  Poor little Lilly had next to no sleep.  She was up at 7:30 rarin' to go, slept 15 minutes in the car on the way to the game, maybe 30 minutes at the game, and 30 minutes on the way home. 

 Somehow Sunday morning she was up at 6:30.  I was not impressed, especially since my dead-to-the -world husband never even knew she was awake.  I showed her it was still dark outside, daddy was asleep, and did something I never, and I mean never, do.  I tossed her in our bed and told her to go back to sleep.  She got the hint and we both got another hour of sleep. Not my ideal start to the day.  Now here it is Tuesday night, about 8:15, and I am 100% ready for bed.  Goodnight world, see you in the morning!

Farm News

Everyday I have the pleasure of teaching a kindergarten reading group.  One of the first ways we teach the kiddos to read is with rebus boxes.  This concept mixes words and pictures to share an idea.  Here are a couple sentences I wrote using this concept.

Farmer John

did some planting.

Anticipated harvest 

is May 28th!

My Favorite Bug

 Is a ladybug of course!

 Before heading out to Trick-or Treat, a group of friends stopped by to get some pics of our kids together.  We did the same thing last year (as you can see here).  Hopefully we can make it a tradition.  Olivia looked super cute in her Strawberry costume her mommy made!

 Olivia's cousins Brody and Haden came too, along with Zoe and her little brother Nolan (not pictured)

 There is just something about these three little girls that makes you think the are up to something!

We ventured out to see the grandparents and great-grandparents and then  hit a couple neighbors' houses before jumping in the bathtub and putting the sleepy ladybug to bed.  All in all, a great night.

Helping Dad

 Lilly is a super helper.  No matter what it is, she is ready to help.  After helping me plant tulips yesterday, she helped John clean out the sand box.  The people who lived in our house before us left it, and come to find out, it was full of sand and little green army men!

 John and Lilly also did some trimming on the bushes.  They made about 10 trips back and forth with branches. 

 She was always three or four steps behind...

 but was always proud when she threw her branches on the pile!

Nana and Hanna

Lilly had lots of visitors this weekend.  Nana Bobbi, Auntie Hanna, Grant, and Jack came up for the weekend.   Lilly had all of the attention she could ever want. 

 She insisted on modeling her Halloween costume

 Got some cartoon watching in with Grant.

 Poor Jack had no one to pay attention to him

 And finally, spent some time outside with Hanna.

We had a great weekend overall.  Lilly was exhausted, and I got a much needed break!

Pumpkin Time

 I am not a fan of carving pumpkins.  From the smell, to the mess, it is just not for me.  This year we painted pumpkins instead.  We stripped the kid down and put her to work. 

 Here are my creations.

 and a final pic of all three.

NYC Part 3

After the family gathering Sunday night, John took another walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Here are a couple of the night time pics.

 Monday morning we were back at the airport bright and early.  We found a nice quiet area and Lilly had a blast watching planes take off.

 Lilly did a super job flying.  Several people commented on how well behaved she was!  She seriously never got upset or scared and was fairly quiet the entire flight.  When we took off, she all of a sudden yells, "Weeee!"   She had lots of people laughing!

NYC Take 2

 Day three of our adventure took us on a leisurely walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.  It was about half a mile from our hotel, 1.1 miles across, then back, and half a mile back to the hotel.  Not bad for one morning!

 Here was the view approaching the bridge.

 Quick family pic.  There was so much going on it was impossible to get Lilly's attention. We were about half way across and met a huge, and I mean huge, group of pink people.  We literally walked into the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk For  a Cure.  It was an amazing sight to say the least!

 This was our view to the right, the Manhattan Bridge.

 And our view to the left, no intro needed.

 Day four, we went into Brooklyn a little farther, to John's aunt and uncle's for a family gathering/post wedding reception.  Lilly was so excited to ride the "school bus" aka public transportation, because she sees the school bus go by every day at daycare.

 She spent lots of time playing with baby Everette, John's cousin Kristin's son.  He was such a cutie!

 And finally, a quick family picture.  Somehow we were never able to get Lill to look at the camera.  Seems to be a trend.

NYC Part 1

We were very lucky to travel with John's family to NYC for a wedding.  We flew out last Thursday and returned on Monday.  It was a super fast weekend with tons of sight seeing, family time, and city stuff.  I had to break it into multiple posts because I had so many pictures to share. 

After relaxing most of the day Thursday, after our 7 AM flights, we set out to see the city on Friday.  John, Lilly, and I were staying near the Brooklyn Bridge. Lilly was super excited about the hotel because she got to ride the alligators (elevators) and sleep in a king size bed with mom and dad.  This was a new one for us.  At home Lilly never sleeps with us, and I mean NEVER! Ok, back to sight seeing....We took the subway to Central Park and from there just started walking. 

 Lilly and John did some hiking in Central Park.

 When in the city, you have to visit with some pigeons.

 Gotta love Letterman

 One of the two high points to Lilly's day.  If you know her at all, you know she is nuts about Mickey and Minnie. She literally jumped right out of her stroller into Minnie's arms!

 After some more walking we took in the sights and sounds of Times Square.  It was oddly relaxing, even with all of the hustle and bustle.

 High point number two for Lill...the HUGE Disney store.  She was truly in awe!  We actually got out without any new stuffed animals, but did splurge for a NYC t-shirt with mouse ears on it.

 We hit a giant Toys R Us store, complete with a Farris Wheel inside.

We hoped back on the subway for two more stops.  Our last was Ground Zero/WTC Memorials.  Everything was under construction so we couldn't see anything, but we did run into the Occupy Rally between the subway and the memorials.  It wasn't as crazy as it was over the weekend, and it was kinda funny to see them all scramble when a monstrous downpour began.  At that point, we headed for the subway and called it a day since we were thoroughly soaked.  

(We did have one stop between Times Square and Ground Zero, but it was kinda illegal so I am not going to go into great detail.  We hit up Canal Street in search of a new purse, wink wink.  It was scary, but probably not as dangerous as it seemed.  I would do it again.)