Christmas morning pics

Here are a few pics of the frenzy on Christmas morning. They did well and were patient as they watched everyone open their gifts:

Gingerbread Making

Carter and his undie sporting man

The kids enjoyed making gingerbread men with a kit sent by their Aunt Myra and Uncle Billy.

Bye Bye Baby Bed

Tonight Katey is sleeping in what used to be Laurel's bed and Laurel is in a "new" bed. Since Katey had already shown a preference for sleeping in Laurel's bed we gave Laurel a choice. Keep her bed or take the new twin bed. She chose the new bed (which we were able to find at the thrift store, saving me a crafting experience!). We have a mattress on order, and that may prove to be interesting...more on that in a couple of weeks when it arrives. Katey seemed a little sad tonight as she looked around the room taking in her new surroundings as we explained the bed she has grown to love sharing with Laurel is now hers. As I laid in bed with her telling her goodnight she kept looking over at the crib saying "You're gonna give that bed to a baby." She seemed not at all sure about it, but she would agree and say "I'm a big girl, not a baby." Finally she sat up and said "bye, bye baby bed." Hopefully she will adjust well.

Merry Christmas

We have eaten, played, and enjoyed the holiday together with my parents and Tim's Mom. It was a Wii year here and we have all had fun learning how to play and laughing at ourselves. Laurel and Matthew played for hours today (hey, its Christmas, Mom's rules went out the window). Carter was thrilled that he got the Superman toy from the LAMP yard sale and his Star Wars Legos. Katey loved her new toys and all the excitement of the day. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Pictures to come after I get some sleep!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Fridge

We got the verdict this morning. We can't repair the fridge. Tim and I had decided not to buy much for each other this year for Christmas so we are joking tonight that we are giving one another a refrigerator. I went to Lowes and ordered another one- it will be in next week. We purchased the same fridge. We are hoping that a new one won't have the problems we have had before. I really like the bottom mount style (it comes in a significantly larger capacity) so despite our negative experience we are giving it another try. Its cool to be able to buy 4 gallons of milk and still have plenty of room in the fridge. Meanwhile we will be trekking up and down the stairs to our fridge in the basement- we are thankful we decided to bring it when we moved! On the positive side: maybe the stairs will be the cure for those extra holiday calories for me and good exercise for the kids!

Just the facts

We bought all the food for Christmas dinner and the week ahead last night. The fridge went out tonight. Not good.

The Bed Dilemma

We have been trying to decide about beds now that Katey is out of her crib. The options were numerous, but no matter how we looked at it- its expensive. We thought we might get the boys bunk beds and give Katey Carter's bed, but that meant two mattresses and the bunk beds. Also, a friend of ours who is an orthopedic surgeon confirmed our fears regarding the safety hazard. There were six other scenarios which I won't bore everyone with, but for now we are just getting a set of mattresses for Katey, a frame at the thrift store, and I am getting crafty for a headboard. Depending on how it turns out I might share. My Mom and Dad are still stuck on a futon when they visit and the boys are slightly disappointed about the whole bunk bed thing. All I know is I wish furniture was less expensive- I have spent hours trying to find a cheaper way to sleep everyone in comfort!

Baby Jesus Didn't Talk

Clearly the season's message of the birth of Christ has been received this year by Katey. Lately she has been saying her own prayers at bedtime. Very cute, sweet, and usually understandable. Tonight I asked her to pray and she said "Baby Jesus was a baby. He didn't talk." I said yes and told her Jesus was baby when he was born. Then I asked her to pray again. She told me the same thing. She let me pray with her, but clearly the whole Jesus as a child has caused some confusion and she wouldn't say her prayers herself. Tim quickly realized the connection she was making: if he didn't talk, we can't talk to him. I'll spend time with her tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow night she will be saying her sweet little prayers again. Hearing her thanking God for her "bwessings" won't last, so I want to hear her say it every night!

Backwards Day

Katey came downstairs during school today having gotten herself completely dressed, backwards. Underwear, shirt, and pants- all on backwards. I offered to help her fix them, but she told me "No, I wear them like this." Laurel wanted me to make her change saying "Mom she looks silly because her clothes are wrong." I told her we would declare today backwards day so she would be dressed appropriately. Now we are all enjoying "Backwards Day."

New Katey pic

I needed a new pic of Katey for our mantel. So cute I had to share.

You know the cookies are bad if....

Tim found a "simple and won't break the budget" candy cane cookie recipe in the paper. We thought it would be fun to let the kids make cookies after we put up the tree. They enjoyed rolling the dough, forming the candy canes, and dipping them in sugar. Then came the tasting. Not so great. We knew they were really bad when we came downstairs this morning and discovered that we had left the cookies out on the counter overnight. The kids had been awake and playing downstairs for at least a half hour and no one had eaten a cookie. Normally any "goodie" in our house has to be hidden or it will be devoured. Today I am offering cookies as snacks in hopes of not having to throw them away. No fear, my cookie friends, this is not what I am bringing to the exchange!

Laurel is 8 today

Today is Laurel's birthday. We went to the Christmas parade this morning and celebrated her birthday tonight. She had a good time.

Thanksgiving pics

A few pics from Thanksgiving:

Fantasy of Trees

Katey and you know who

Laurel and the birthday cookie she made - a puppy

Thanks Mediacomm

We have had on ongoing battle in our house with the Disney channel. The kids love the cartoons. I enjoy letting them watch Pooh for their TV time if they choose. However, I don't like the tween/teen programming that is prevalent on that station. We have banned it for all but cartoons. The kids have obeyed, but we knew it was a temptation for them. This week Mediacomm solved our problem. They are downgrading our cable and leaving us with just the basic network stations. It simplifies our life and removes more of the TV influence (no HGTV temptation for me!). Unfortunately they didn't "downgrade" our bill.