Wet kisses

Something I'd hoped I would never walk in on....Wyatt, standing over the toilet with a wet chin, wet hands, wet binky, and a BIG smile on his face! And to top it off, it happened twice in the same day! It's a good thing he's so dang cute...

A belated present to be shared with all :)

For Christmas I got John the Rabbid Rabbits game for our Wii. We played it Christmas night, and as I watched my honey groovin' to the tunes I could not stop laughing!! It is freaking HILARIOUS!! I love this game! The video is 3 minutes long, but seriously is worth the time it takes to download. I could not even hold the camera still I was laughing so hard! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

What a difference a year makes!

Christmas 2007


Christmas 2008

I found this picture from our visit with Santa last year and I'm amazed at how much each one of our kids have changed in this last year. One thing is for sure, there's a lot less hair in our house! (although it is starting to grow back and look "normal" again).

Saige is succeeding in 1st grade. She LOVES to read the Magic Treehouse books and Junie B. Jones. Her teacher recently tested her on the second grade word list, and she already knew 93% of those words! She also loves crafty projects of any kind. Saige started taking Dance class and she became a Brownie scout. It's definitely been a big year for her! She continues to be a great big sister and is a good helper around the house too.

Micheala is succeeding in Kindergarten too. Last week she finally "got it"! The lightbulb finally came on! Most parent probably know what I mean by that. Micheala has learned all of her letters this last year, and letter sounds, but just wasn't quite getting that letters make up words. But the lightbulb came on and now she is learning how to spell all kinds of new words! We're so proud of her!

Mariah just started preschool about 2 months ago. She's very glad to be a "big kid". She takes every opportunity to tell you that she goes to school, has teachers, and a classroom, etc. She's very proud when she gets to do things by herself. Dress herself, brush her teeth herself, etc. She is definitely a 3 year with a 13 year old attitude at times, but a sweet girl too!

Wyatt also started preschool 2 months ago. He is making great progress at learning to sit for circle time, complete tasks, and participate in activities. It is definitely making a difference at home too. His attention span is MUCH better and he enjoys playing with others more.

Not much to report for John and I. John survived a round of layoffs at his work and we are greatful his job is secure. I'm still working weekends as a nurse and still loving it (most of the time).

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

A Rare Occasion

On Sunday we had a wonderful early Christmas with ALL of Mariah and Micheala's siblings (yep, 5 altogether). We went to their baby brother Ashtyn's foster family's home and met up with their other siblings Starla and Serria to celebrate an early Christmas. They very, very, rarely get to all be together in the same room, and have never been all together without it being some sort of supervised visitation with a family member, or in front of the judge when we go to court. It was so exciting to get to see them all together in a relaxed, fun environment. Thanks to Kimberly and Micheal, we had a wonderful time filled with great food, crafts, gifts, and even a visit from the real Santa. I'm not kidding...this guy was the real deal, beard and all! The reindeer must have been resting up before the big night because Santa pulled up in a PT Cruiser! The kids were in awe that Santa came to THEIR Christmas party! We had a great time!


Left to right: Serria (4), Micheala (5), Ashtyn (almost 1), Starla (7), Mariah (3, going on 13)

All together again!

Thank goodness for snowdays!

Upon hearing that school was getting let out a few hours early yesterday I drove through the slick snow to Target to get boots and snow pants galore! It's not often that we have enough snow to actually have some good old-fashioned "sledding/snowball fighting/snowman building/freeze your tail off in" .....fun! $150 later, we had an incredible afternoon filled with tears (Wyatt and Mariah wouldn't keep their gloves on, and didn't really like having their fingers frozen into popsicles), and cheers!



This is how Wyatt spent most of the time. He's not diggin' the snow yet!

My Angel! (The tears started shortly after this picture was taken).

Quick survey, how many times this month have you used the threat, "If you don't stop (fill in the blank), then I'm calling Santa. Am I the only one?

Christmas chain

Saige has her own tradition that she MUST do every year...making a Christmas chain to keep track of the days until Christmas. The kids all had fun decorating each link in the chain, even Wyatt got in on the crafty action! By the way, anybody have suggestions for getting rid of "Binky Rash"? (Besides getting rid of the binky!) Wyatt's rash is getting pretty fierce now that winter has set in!

Saige's dance recital

Saige had her very first dance recital on Saturday. They danced to a song from the Nutcracker and did a great job! She is really enjoying dance and I have seen her self-confidence increase since she started this past fall. John repeatedly tells me he doesn't see the point of dance, he would much rather see her in t-ball, soccer, basketball, etc. We do those sports too, but there is just something special about little girls all dressed in tutu's! What can I say....it's a girl thing!

Christmas decorations are.....DONE!

We had some fun decorating the tree this year. The girls were posing by the tree that they are so proud of having decorated!

Lighting ceremony

Last weekend we decided to go to the Zona Rosa Christmas lighting ceremony. The kids had a hard time understanding exactly what a "lighting ceremony" was, but when we told them Santa would be there, they were excited to go! We had a great time, and boy do the lights make it look beautiful there! We also saw Mrs. Claus and the Snow Fairy Princess, very exciting night!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING ALERT!

So, I was in the car the other day listening to the John Tesh radio show. Unusual...yes...but between songs he actually shares interesting, sometimes important information. A few days ago he mentioned a website www.retailmenot.com You know all those "coupon codes" you get emailed to you from the stores you shop online? This website has all of them! 10% off here, 20% off there, free shipping...etc. I checked it out and it is awesome! This could be a dangerous find for me. More reason to shop online! Just thought I would share this great find! Enjoy!

DDR Showdown!

What a fun Thanksgiving we had! My brother Peter and his wife Laura had a DDR Showdown, not sure who actually won. But I think Mariah gets the best dancing award of the night. This video shows her very kind cousin Savannah trying to tap the mat for her while Mariah danced in her own little world in the middle! Groovy moves!

Micheala's day to shine!

We are so proud of Micheala for winning the "Caring" award this month! Her school focused on this character trait during the month of November, and then Micheala was chosen as the person in her classroom who best exhibited this quality. Congratulations Micheala!