Preparing for Christmas!

This month has been full of Christmas things to do! First, Lexi's class met one morning at Pat Catan's Craft Store for all the kids to make candy jars to sell at their Christmas Program. Lexi sat beside her best buddy Logan and they both made wonderful snowman and penguin candy jars (I ended up buying both of Lexi's jars). The following week, her whole Preschool performed a Christmas Program. I wasn't sure Lexi would take part - thought she would cry and not go up front - but she surprised the heck out of me and went up there with no tears and sang her little heart out! She knew EVERY SONG! Maybe the present sitting at home that I promised she could open if she didn't cry helped a tad?!?! So proud of my big girl. We even got a picture of Lexi with her teacher Miss Sharon. The next morning was the final day of Preschool for the year and they had a Birthday Party for Jesus - complete with 2 bouncy houses. Even Lexi's teacher got in one of the houses. She couldn't wait to wear the Christmas Tree shirt she had made at school.

With school being over for the year, we must have other things to look forward to... like grandma and Papa Gary coming! They came out so Matt and Bethany could both work on a Friday evening. I think they have a lot of fun when they visit - oh yeah, the kids do too! Last Saturday night (while grandma and Papa Gary were still here - Marc and Jen came over and Matt and I went out to eat with them. Thanks for babysitting again g'ma and Papa! When Marc and Jen showed up, they had 2 gift bags for the girls! Books and dress up clothes!!! They loved the gifts! Thanks so much! Anyway, last but not least was the preparing for Christmas weekend. We were in charge of taking a shrimp ring and Krazy Krunch to G.G.'s house this year for Christmas dinner. The girls - especially Lexi - had to help mommy cook in the kitchen. I think Lexi would rather eat than cook, but she was a great little helper. Jill still needs some practice! Enjoy all the pictures and Merry Christmas!

It's that time of year!

Yes... I made them do it! I made the girls go see Santa at the mall! Lexi was her usual emotional self and Jill wasn't too fond of sitting on the big guy's lap, either - so mommy got in on the picture, too! Enjoy!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend '10

Matt and I were fortunate enough to get a 4-day weekend out of this Thanksgiving! Usually one of us is due to work the Friday after, but we both got to stay home this year. As per our little tradition... we went down to Smithville on Thanksgiving Day to spend it with Matt's family. "Baby" Zach is growing soooo much! Lexi also got to open her birthday gifts from Matt's family. Then we put up our Christmas trees on Friday and headed out Saturday morning for Paulding county. Nola and Gary hosted this year and it was a full house! After lunch, Lexi opened even more birthday presents and later that evening all the girls (minus Jill) plus Papa Gary went to Van Wert to see Tangled! It was Kaitlyn's very 1st movie in the theater!!! They loved it! Anyway... enjoy the pictures!

Lexi is 4!

Last Saturday we had a birthday party for our big 4-year-old! She wanted to go with a Toy Story theme... wow! There are a lot of great ideas online right now for a Toy Story party. She had 10 friends/family members come and every child made a Buzz Lightyear rocket ship and a blue or green "egg" alien. We then moved downstairs and had a potato head contest (to see who could build the best-looking potato head) and then finished with pin-the-tail-on-Bullseye! Of course we had to have cupcakes and ice cream after the kids were done playing. All the kids had a great time and Lexi opened some great gifts. Thanks to everyone who came and we'll see what theme she comes up with for next year.

Elf Yourself Returns!

Yes folks, it is that time of year again. I know it's silly, but I just can't help myself. It is so stinkin' adorable! Enjoy this year's Elf Yourself!
First... our family!

And next... cousins!

Fire Station!

Today Lexi didn't have school. Instead, her whole preschool took a field trip to the Bath Fire Station. First, Fireman George told us all about the station and how many trucks and ambulances they have. They get called out on average 4 times every single day! After the short talk, we moved on the the garage to see the EMS vehicle. He opened up the back and showed all the kids the equiptment that was inside to help the first responders take care of injured people. He also showed them some of the tools they use to help them get to people in a burning building. Then we moved on to the bright, shiny, red fire engine that was parked outside. The firemen even rolled out the water hose and helped the kids (one-by-one) spray the water out! Then some kids even got to pull the string and sound the horn on the fire truck! Lexi chose not to do that. To top off our trip, each child received a red fireman's hat to take home with them and got to wear the hats in the group picture taken with Sparky the dog. All in all it was a great little field trip - and even Jill (who got to tag along) enjoyed herself. Thanks to fireman George and his crew for all you do!

Preschool Pictures!

Ah, my child... our first Preschool picture will definitely be a memorable one - notice the tissue in hand! Don't know what I am gonna do with my emotional child. Anybody want to take her in when she enters her teen years??!! Just kidding! At least she wasn't crying in the group shot.

Jill is 1½!

I took the girls to Portrait Innovations today for a photo shoot. I thought I could combine Christmas pics, Jill's 1½ year pics and Lexi's 4 year pics into one trip! We survived... with tears from Lexi of course. Even bribery doesn't work anymore. Oh well, at least we got a few good ones. Here are a few of my favorites (see the rest on facebook).

They Got Me Good!

This past weekend, we went to mom and dad's for what I thought was a family picture session with my good friend from high school, Kim. Little did I know that she was just helping my family out with a huge surprise early birthday party for me! It was great! My dad rented a karaoke machine and many family members and friends were waiting at mom and dad's house for us when we returned from our photo shoot. I had absolutely NO IDEA! It was a great time and we had a lot of fun. My girls really like to ham it up with a microphone. Then, to close the weekend, my brother Ben gave the sermon at dad's church on Sunday morning. Great message and good job for your first ever sermon, Benny! So proud of you! Enjoy the pictures.

Smithville Football and Sesame Street Cake Pops!

On Friday night, Matt and I took Lexi and Jill to their annual Smithville football game. It just so happened that Smithville played against Dalton!! For those of you who don't know, Matt's brother Andrew took a teaching/coaching job this summer at Dalton HS and is now helping to coach the football team. Also, Matt's dad still teaches/coaches for Smithville. As you can guess, we weren't sure which side of the field to sit on! We decided to deck out in our green and cheer on the Smithies. After a Bulldog win, the girls at least put a smile on Papa's face and even got to see uncle Andrew after the big game. Congrats Bulldogs and maybe next year Smithies!

Then today, my friend Becca and her 2 kids came to our house for the afternoon. I was trying to find something we could do to occupy our time and then it came to me! Several months ago (while looking for cupcake-themed decor for Jill's 'big girl' room) I ran across a website for cupcake pops. While on the site, there was a link to Sesame Street Cake Pops and I was intrigued. Cake pops are just what they sound like. It is cake (I made a 9x13 white cake) crumbled up and mixed with a container of frosting then molded into balls with a lolipop stick stuck in them. Then, you coat them with colored molding chocolate and then decorate. The kids' attention spans were not quite long enough for the project, but Becca and I sure had some fun! Not too shabby for our 1st attempt. Enjoy the pictures!

King's Island Adventure!

This past weekend, while Matt was at the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game, I took the girls down to Cincinnati to uncle Benny's house. GE - the company Benny works for - bought out King's Island for the weekend and only sold tickets to their employees and family/friends of their employees. Benny got a bunch of tickets and the whole family went to King's Island! We went down on Friday night and stayed with Benny (only 2 miles from the theme park). Grandma Nola and grandpa Gary stayed with Matt, Brittany and Kaity in a motel down the road. Teresa, Earl and Cody drove up from Kentucky and - along with my friend Sarah - all met at Benny's on Saturday morning and made it to the park by 10 am. Most of the adults ventured to the roller coasters while Brittany, grandma, grandpa and Bethany attacked Snoopy Land with the 3 little girls. They loved it! Around 1 pm grandma and grandpa took the little ones home for a late lunch and mid-day nap. Brittany and I then had our chance to ride a few coasters. We got a little wet from a few rain showers, but all in all it was a great day. To top off the afternoon, Benny and Cody jointly rode the human slingshot! What brave souls! We left the park around 7 pm and dined at Skyline Chili for supper. Lexi, Jill and I went back to Benny's to sleep and headed out Sunday for a noon lunch with my high school friend Julie Hyman (who recently moved into the West Chester area near Mason). It was great to catch up with her. On our drive home, we stopped in on aunt Julie and uncle Ben to see the ever-growing baby Zach! What a cutie. It was a great weekend and we all really enjoyed seeing everyone. Enjoy the pictures!

King's Island



At uncle Benny's house



At Ben and Julie's house

First Day of Preschool!

Well, the day finally came! Lexi started Preschool today. She is attending Montrose Zion Christian Preschool at the big Methodist Church in Montrose. Things were a little shaky at first with some tears, but mommy sneaked out and she ended up having a great time. Miss Terri and Miss Sharon helped her make a family tree! There are 3 boys and 5 girls total in her class. Lexi got to be the 'weather girl' today and they ate pretzels and apples for snack. They even got to go outside and play on the playground! She is all excited to go back on Friday. Mommy and daddy are very proud of her and it actually went smoother than mommy expected. Can't wait for Friday when we have (hopefully) no tears!