Cruisin' in the Garage

It has been quite chilly here the past few days so the kids made Dad mop the garage so that they could have an indoor "race track". Claire instantly had control of her scooter, Landon however is still figuring out he has to pedal to make "Thomas" go. They had so much fun that they asked if they could bring their "rides" in the house to have a run at the hardwood floors! Yeah Right.... okay they got to do it for one day....look at them, how do you say no!! All for now.

Note on video

You have to scroll to the bottom of the blog page and pause the music before watching the video in the Christmas blog.

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas. What a wondeful week we have had. We started last Friday heading to Gram and Poppy's. Gram and Poppy had just gotten power back on Thursday from all of the snow and ice previously in the week. Friday night and Saturday it snowed again and the kids were ready to play.

Claire and Poppy made snowmen in the backyard and played until their fingers and toes were frozen. Uncle Fred, Aunt Staci and Uncle Frank joined in the weekend fun too. On Sunday we took the kids to see Grandma Svitak in Marion. The kids shared presents and laughs with Grandma.

On Christmas Eve we left and went Nana and Papa's and to hang out with Ling (and baby), Hoopy (Kevin) and Lucy. When you get these 3 cousins together watch out! Everyone had a great time.

Claire's big hits were High School Musical "anything" and Landon was all about Thomas the Train, his new drill and his marble run.

It was great to spend so much time with all of our families. On the 26th we packed up and headed back to Arkansas so that we could see what Santa had left under the tree. Below is a video from this morning.

We hope all of you enjoyed your hoiliday. Now lets get ready to ring in the New Year!

Christmas Fun

Claire and Landon hosted a cookie decorating party yesterday. We all had so much fun. They both had friends come over, decorate cookies, dip pretzels and oreos, and of course, play! Claire helped baked the cookies and clean up the house, and was SO excited to see all her friends. Claire and Landon also used their creative juices to decorate a gingerbread train. Claire actually did most of the decorating, while eating as much frosting as she could sneak! Landon, on the other hand, had more fun watching the candy balls roll off the table. I am still finding them all over the house!

Here are some other tidbits our children have been saying and doing:

Landon now sings "Santa Claus is coming to town"...everywhere he goes to anyone who will listen. He also sings "Go Tell It On the Mountain", which was a song Claire sang for her school program.

Claire is into High School Musical movies, big time. She came out of her room wearing her pink bikini the other day so she could sing along with Sharpay in the second movie (Sharpay is poolside singing about all things fabulous, Claire knows every word).

Let It Snow!

It snowed for the first time this season yesterday afternoon. Claire was excited, but Landon, being the over-zealous two-year-old that he is, had to run to every window of the house to make sure it was coming down everywhere! Then we had to go outside, in the freezing cold to watch it. We went out and played in it a little bit (the wind chill was too much for baby faces) but it was dry snow, and not good for snowballs. It was lovely this morning, with no ice on the roads and the sun shining brightly...the perfect snow in that sense! I know some of our family in Kansas is not this fortunate right now, so we are thinking of you!

Claire's Christmas Program

Claire had her school Christmas program today. The whole preschool sang several songs and told the story of the candy cane. They did a lovely job. Then her class invited the parents to their classroom for their own program. They told the story of the nativity...Claire was the angel. She was the only one to have a part to say. She practiced all last night, and this morning on the way to school, but when her turn came, she froze! She whispered the first line and then turned her back to the parents! It was cute; she was so nervous! Her class also played the bells "Joy to the World". They did a great job. This picture was from the bell song...she had a blast (probably because the pressure was off from the nativity play!).

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I really wanted to go all out this year with the lights, but the roof pitch is just too steep, and a ladder that is long enough has no business holding me! This year I stayed on the ground and went with really big spot lights! The kids love the colorful presents and reindeer. Merry Christmas.

TERRIFIC TWO's!

Guess who turned 2!! Our little man is growing up fast. Landon celebrated his second B-Day on November 23rd with Gram and Poppy, November 30th with Nana and Papa, and officially on December 9th with Mommy and Daddy. Can anyone say SPOILED! The big hit for his birthday was all things "Thomas the Train". Landon plays content for hours on his new train table with all of his new train cars. Landon's 2 year statistics: 37.5 inches long, 33.5 lbs. Our little monster continues to stay on the high end of the charts. I think there are times Claire thinks twice before picking on him now. Below are several pictures of the kids.

Halloween 2007

What a fun time this year! Both kids old enough to keep both Mom and Dad running on Halloween. Claire was bride this year, this was hard on Dad, but the good news is she did not want a groom!! (Hopefully I can keep it that way). Landon was Thomas the Tank Engine, he is all boy! If it doesn't have wheels, or get him dirty he is not interested.

As you can see Landon had no issue getting his hand in the candy jar. He doesn't seem to care much for sweets but had a blast going from house to house. Landon continues to live up to his "Tank" nickname, he is in a size 9 shoe, and is within 10lbs of Claire!!

Claire is still 4 years old, but you can't tell her that. This is my toddler going on teenager quickly. She continues to test her attitude with us, but look at the picture above, how is a Dad suppose to discipline her??? Funny story happened while visiting Nana and Papa, I was upstairs with Papa when Meggan came up from the basement with a look of frustration, she just said "YOUR daughter (notice she is all mine at this point) just said she was going to hit me" I immediately headed to the basement where I was met with the following "Dad, stop, listen to me, let me just tell you how the conversation went, Mommy said I had to waer this outfit, and I said that I didnt want to, then she said I had to, so I told her I was going to hit her, and Dad that is exactly what happened" (for a minute, I thought I was going to lose this one!!) Everything worked out, and in times of frustration stories like this lead you to do nothing but laugh!!

Pumpkin Patch 07