2008......Not so great:)

Its almost time for another new year to begin and I can't wait! 2008 has been a very odd year, to say the least! From the economy's breakdown and Wall Street's bailout to the price of gas dropping from around $4.00/gal to $1.59, a lot of strange things have happened in '08. And, oh the political drama! Obama's the new President, Sarah Palin goes from a mayor to VP nominee overnight, Blagojevich gets impeached, and President Bush gets a shoe thrown at him!!!! Thats not all. The war on terrorism, yeah, its STILL going on.

"Adios 2008, Hello 2009!"

I'm ready for a new year and a new beginning and I hope everyone has a blessed and prosperous 2009!

"I WISH THE WHOLE WORLD WAS PINK!"

as quoted by Kenzie last night. I just thought that was hillarious!

3 more Christmas's

We headed over to Grandma Judy's around 10 am on Christmas.

Here's Grandma and Kenzie with her new Barbie. Its one of those Barbie heads where you can do her hair and stuff. She also sings and has a microphone that you can sing along with her. Kenzie loves it! I don't have a picture of Aydan but he got an army tank that makes sounds with little army guys. He also got a bunch of Hotwheel cars. He loves cars and anything that makes noise! :)

Around noon, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Schauble's for lunch. As always, the food was great. Kenzie is holding her new 'real' camera in this picture. It really takes pictures but you have to download them to the computer to be able to see them. After lunch, gift opening, and visiting with everyone for a while, we headed out. We had one more stop at Danny's sister's house. Grandpa Bracken was there too so we visited with them for a while. Aydan was getting tired and was acting like he didn't feel very well, so we decided to call it a day and head home. We were all pretty tired. I just wanted to take a nap at home but there was a lot of stuff to be done. My house was a disaster from all the new gifts from everyone. Toys and boxes and paper all over the place. We got all the garbage tossed out and all the new toys in there places.

We had a wonderful Christmas and are very thankful that we were able to spend it with our family. God has really blessed our lives and we truley have a lot to be thankful for!!

Christmas morning

I give up on the whole 'pictures in the right order' thing!!!!

For us, Christmas started at around 7am, which I was very surprised about! Danny and I were wondering if we needed to go wake them up! Kenzie was up before Aydan so she went to see what all Santa had brought. She was just so excited and for Danny and I, that was the best part. Just seeing the look on both of their faces, knowing that they were so happy was priceless. Its funny how when you were a kid, Christmas was mostly about getting gifts than giving and now as an adult and parent, its definately all about the giving part!

Once Aydan was up Kenzie started passing out the gifts and opening them.

Kenzie wearing her new hat and scarf. Now she can really stay warm in this subzero weather:)

Aydan with his cowboy hat on. Since he didn't end up being a cowboy for Halloween, we just gave him his cowboy stuff for Christmas. He wore the hat all morning! Doesn't he look so cute!!

This was supposed to be the first picture but here's Kenzie in front of the tree. Aydan's not in it because he was still in bed.

Christmas Eve

Ok, once again my pictures posted in the reverse order, just bear with me.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Aydan woke up from his nap and he was beet red and on fire. We took his temp and it was 102.8 before he pulled it out. I gave him some Motrin so his fever would go down. He went over and layed on the couch and a few minutes later, he threw up. So we were off to a great start for Christmas Eve. Well, soon after that, I think the medicine started to kick in and he seemed like he felt a lot better. He was being more active and playing more, just being more like Aydan. We decided to go over to my Mom's as planned for our Christmas with them. We had a nice time. The kids played and we had good food. The kids were so excited about all of the gifts they received and couldn't wait to get them out of the packages to play with them. Would someone please tell the toy manufacturer people that it is NOT neccessary to bind the toys in their package so it is impossible for anyone to open them in a timely fashion. They even sewed Barbie's hair into the box! That is a little extreme!! Anywho, back to my story. By the end of the night, Aydan was acting like he didn't feel good again and ended up getting sick a little bit. We decided we'd better head home. We got home and got settled then we sent the kids to bed so Santa could come, not to mention, we were beat.

Aydan playing with his new 4 wheeler from Grandma and Grandpa. It came in a million pieces so Danny put it all together for him on Christmas Eve. He loves it.

Kenzie with her new Flicka movie. She's really into horses lately.

Go Dale Jr! Its a Shake N Go car. Aydan took it with him everywhere on Christmas Day.

Aydan working on opening his gifts. He really got into that part this year!

The grandkids sitting by the tree at Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house. Do you know how hard it is to get 4 little kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time!

Jarrad is showing the kids where Santa was at on Christmas Eve using the NORAD Santa Tracker on the internet. I think he was somewhere near Ireland at the time.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!!

Where in the world did December go!?! I'm in shock that Christmas is already here! Tomorrow night is the big night. I finally got the rest of the gifts wrapped last night and I even got some cookies baked (insert big sigh of relief!) I haven't even attempted to put any gifts under the tree because I just know that Aydan would have them unwrapped in no time!

If anyone was in doubt about having a white Christmas, I don't think you can worry anymore. First there was ice and now there is snow, snow, snow. I would much rather have snow than the ice, but really I just don't like the cold weather! Its been like a high of about 2 degrees with a wind chill of -18 degrees lately!! Brrrr!!!

Poor Kenzie had the touch of something yesterday. She did not feel good at all, mostly she said her stomach hurt and she did get sick a couple of times. I felt so bad for her. She would be crying about her stomach hurting and there was nothing I could do to help her. She would try to lay down and take a nap during the day, but she wasn't able to sleep because she was so uncomfortable. Finally between 7:30-8:00 last night, she fell asleep watching a movie and I didn't hear anything from her until she got up this morning. She woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed and feeling a lot better! I'm so glad she's feeling better, I didn't want her to be sick on Christmas! Hopefully everyone else stays healthy, at least until after the holidays:)

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!!

Why am I not surprised

Remember when I said its a miracle that our tree is still standing? Well....not anymore. I'm not completely sure if it was Aydan or the cat's fault. I could hear it fall and I walked in the living room and Aydan's standing there looking at it then he turns to me and points to the tree at the same time, "Uh oh!" We stood it back up and put the ornaments back on that had fallen off. Looks good as new, well, at least as "good" as it looked before it fell. (Need I remind you that its lacking of ornaments and is a bit out of shape, but it serves its purpose.) I think next year I'll just hang the tree from the ceiling, that way no one can bother it:)

All of those toys, and this is what he plays with

Aydan is always pulling around this wagon, which is suppose to be a decoration, not a toy. Maybe we ought to get him a toy wagon.

I found Aydan is his room the other day like this. All of those toys and he wants to play with the toy box.

What happened to my little baby?

Here's Aydan, after yet another haircut, with his favorite snack-mini marshmallows. This kid would seriously eat ALL DAY LONG if you let him!! I think he looks so much older with his hair short like that. He's definately not my little baby anymore! He's growing up way too fast!This is the cat's favorite resting place-up inside the branches of the Christmas tree! Everyday when I come home, I have to re-adjust all of the branches and ornaments because the cat has been laying in there and messing it all up. I think I'm missing about half of the ornaments that were originally on the tree, between the cat running off with them and Aydan pulling them off the tree. Its a darn miracle that the thing is still standing!

To tell or not to tell

Like a lot of young kids, Kenzie still believes that Santa Clause is the one who delivers all of the gifts to children on Christmas Eve. She gets so excited when she sees the big man dressed in red at stores and in parades. She made a Christmas list and instructed me to send it to him in the mail and she wondered if she was good enough this year to be on the "Good" list. I assured her that she probably was, although, whenever she won't listen or is being "naughty" I tell her "he" is watching her very closely so she had better straighten up. In a way, I almost feel somewhat guilty when I say things like that, knowing good and well that it just isn't true. Every year we lie to our children about jolly old Saint Nick but at the same time, I just don't think it would feel quite like Christmas if we left him out of the picture. I mean, I grew up believing in Santa and it just seemed to make Christmas that much more exciting. I remember lying awake on Christmas Eve, wondering if I would be able to catch Santa in the act.

Today after I picked up Kenzie, she tells me, "Mom, guess what (insert classmate's name here) said to me. She said that Santa Clause isn't real and that our parents are the ones who get our presents! Well she's just not right because thats not true, right Mom."

I didn't quite know what to tell her. I'm just not ready to break her heart and tell her that he isn't real, especially right before Christmas. I remember how disappointed I was when I found out the big news that the big jolly guy wasn't real. So, as of right now, she's still a believer. Maybe we'll tell her next year.

Just a side note: We do make sure she understands why we celebrate Christmas, and that it's Jesus's birthday. We try to let her know that Christmas isn't all about getting presents from Santa, but about being with family and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Oh no he didn't!

This is kinda disgusting but I felt the need to share it with you all because its pretty funny at the same time! The other night, I opened the fridge to get Aydan a drink and he grabbed a slice of cheese. Normally, I wouldn't let him have it because either its right before supper or because he usually never eats it, he just plays with it. Well, since we had already eaten supper, I just let him have it. So we're sitting in the living room watching a movie with my brother and his girlfriend and Aydan walks in holding that piece of cheese. All of a sudden he puts it up to his nose. I thought he was just going to smell it so I didn't think much of it, then to my surprise he decides that he needed to blow his nose using the cheese as a Kleenex! Gosh I could have vomitted, right there in the living room! I had to get it away from him right away. I was so grossed out, but we all couldn't help but laugh.

Must-watch Christmas movies and shows

With Christmas just around the corner, I'm ready for Christmas music and Christmas movies. There's certain movies and even shows that I love to watch around Christmas. They bring back memories of being a kid at Christmas and really put me in the Christmas spirit. Heres a list of some of them, not in any certain order. If theres one that I didn't mention that you like, please leave a comment and let me know.

1.) How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I remember getting so excited when this came on TV when I was a kid. Its a classic. The movie is OK, but the cartoon is much better!

2.) Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Funny and Christmasy at the same time. And I'll admit, I used to have a crush on Maculley (spelling?) Culkin when these movies came out.

3.) Santa Clause. I'm talking about the older movie from the 80's. Its also a great classic.

4.) Santa Clause-the one with Tim Allen. I think there's 3 of these movies out and they are all pretty good.

5.) A Christmas Carol. Theres a ton of these movies made but I like the older ones.

6.) A Christmas Story. They play this all day long on TV on Christmas Eve, but its still a great movie. I think it taught every little kid NOT to put your tongue on an ice covered post! Ouch!

7.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I think its a movie that most families can definately relate to and its hilarious!!

8.) Frosty the Snowman/Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/The Night Before Christmas/ These are all really old cartoons that are on every year that I love to watch.

9.) Merry Christmas Charlie Brown! Gotta love Charlie Brown.

10.) Miracle on 34th Street.

(Ice+Car+Road+Kim)-Friction=Ditch

I had quite a scary little incident this morning on my way to work. The roads were pretty icy today from all of the snow and sleet from last night. My car does horrible on ice anyway because its rear-wheel drive. I'm driving down the highway and I just barely get out of town and I don't know if I braked a little bit or accelerated a little bit but my car starts swerving and fish-tailing. I'm trying to correct it but its so slippery I think it just made it worse. Anyway, I slide across the other lane and spin around and land in the ditch. It was so scary!! I'm just glad that there were no cars coming in the other lane-that could of been very bad!! Poor Aydan didn't know what to think. After sitting there shocked for a second, I grab my cell phone and call Danny. All I could say was, "Um.. I'm in the ditch." He was on his way out of town too so he stopped by and picked us up. Kenzie was with him and she asked, "Mom, how did you get the car in the ditch?" "I have no idea, " I told her. I was so upset and so embarrassed about the whole thing. What a great start to a Monday! Well, luckily Danny and his dad were able to get my car out this morning, but now I'm too paranoid to go anywhere! And this is the first snow!