Delivering Cupcakes

This year Uncle Brian gave my kids a couple of cupcake-making kits. I helped the kids make their cupcakes the day after Christmas and told them they could deliver them to our neighbors the next day. They practised their Christmas carols and after we got home from church on Sunday they went out to deliver their treats.

Unfortunately, most of our neighbors weren't home. The kids still had a great time singing to those folks that were home and enjoyed themselves in general...except when Cami fell and dropped her cupcakes on the ground. Also, Cami was in such a hurry to leave the house that she didn't put any gloves on. After a while her hands got really really cold. Tears ensued...

Christmas Day 2009

Let the shredding begin! Christmas morning 2009 got started with a bang. Oddly enough we had to wake Ian up. I would have thought that he would have been up at the crack of dawn.

Santa was good to the kids this year. They got new slippers, and Barbies, and sketch pads, and remote control cars, etc etc. They had a great time opening their gifts and they also really enjoyed giving us their gifts. Their school has an event where they can pick from some inexpensive items. They were so excited for us to finally open them.

Later in the day we went to my mother's house where the kids got even more gifts!

I've tried, probably unsuccessfully, to remind the kids that this day is really about celebrating Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. Perhaps as they get older I'll have better luck.

Christmas Eve 2009

The Christmas season is upon us again and joy is in the air. This Christmas Eve my in-laws came to our house because Aura wasn't feeling well.

My mother-in-law cooked a fabulous meal of turkey and all the fixings. My kids' favorite part of the meal was dessert. No surprises there. Cami has a particular fondness for whipped creme (Cool Whip to be accurate). She jammed a whole piece of pumpkin pie into her mouth and smeared the creme all over her face. I was able to snap this photo before most of it was licked off.

Running Away

The other night, during a snow storm, Cami decided that she was running away from home. It was around 1:00 am when she got herself into a snit about something, so she packed a pillowcase full of her clothes and got herself dressed up in some snowoutfit and headed out the door.

I tried to talk her out of it but she kept saying that, while she would like to stay, it was "best for her" to leave. I told her I would miss her and asked if she would come back and visit with us from time to time, especially when she had her grandbabies. She said she would and she admitted that she would miss us, too.

I let her leave and then I turned off all of the lights and then watched her out of the window just in case she actually did start walking down the street. After about a minute I heard the back door open up. I turned on the lights and asked if she had forgotten something. She was crying and said that she missed her family. I sat down with her in my lap and she cried and cried. She said that home was the best and she missed her mom and she missed her dad and...are you ready for this...she even said that she missed her brother. Oh, and she missed her stuffed animals and her comfy bed.

I made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and we went to bed. It was a cute episode and I'm happy that I got a picture of her as she was getting ready to leave.

We Need Some Doggie Diapers

We're still not sure what type of dog this is. It is probably a miniature pinscher but it could be a rat terrier. Either way he smells bad. At least he isn't a barker.

This little four-legged dude needs a diaper. Last night he came into the basement where I was working and he pooped right on the floor!

The First Santa of 2009

This last weekend my dad took me and the kids to his Masonic lodge for a Christmas party. They had a magician, who was pretty good, and they had a santa and later they had cake and cookies in their kitchen area. When it was all done each child got a present. Ian got a baseball mitt and Cami got a "Chic UNO" game.

The kids really enjoyed the magician, though in my opinion his act had too many slow spots where most of the kids' attention began to wander. But he had birds and mice and bunnies in his act, which were a big hit.

The man in the santa suit did a great job but my kids were quick to point out that he wasn't the REAL Santa.

A Fun Night Out

A few nights ago we took our kids to a local indoor party place. This place is sort of like Chuckie Cheese, but it's more scaled down (but just as expensive). There is a huge inflated thingy that the kids can jump around in and there are games they can play where they get tickets back that they can turn in for cheapo toys.

One of the more enjoyable games there was the bull ride. It would spin around and basically try and knock the kids off. It looked like a blast. Unfortunately, Daddy was too big to get on.

They also had a laser tag room but it wasn't going when we were there. I would have liked to have done that. They also had a mini golf area but with all of the other activities I couldn't get the kids to focus long enough to have done that.

It was fun but next time we're going earlier to take advantage of all of the stuff.

The First Snowman of 2009

Yesterday we got a lot of very sloppy snow. It was wet and squishy, but it was very good packing snow. What happens when you get that kind of snow? You make a snowman of course!

Our snowman looks a little dirty because it's still early in the year and many of the leaves that were on the ground got caught up in our efforts. You can tell by how wet the kids are in the photo that they had been out for quite some time. Ian and I had a great snowball fight also. Thankfully neither of us were hurt, even though I took a couple of snowballs in the face. Ouch!

There was a massive storm this morning throughout the Midwest but thankfully it missed the Chicago area. However, it's supposed to get much colder this afternoon and all of this sloppy wet snow will solidify into one giant block of ice.

2009's First Snow!!

It took until early December but it has finally snowed. The kids loved it. Even before they got ready for school they put on their snow clothes and ran outside and rolled around. It does my heart good that my kids love the snow as much as they do.

This year I hope to redouble my efforts to do more fun things with the kids in the snow, like sledding and building forts and snowmen, etc. Last winter we didn't go sledding even once and that bummed me. The weather folk tell us that we may get close to 10 inches by the end of this week so my resolve will be put to the test very quickly.

Pooped Out

This last weekend was our 10 year wedding anniversary. I felt bad that we did not get to go to Ireland like we told ourselves we would. We couldn't afford to go to Ireland when we were first married so we figured by the time our 10th came around we would be in a better position, but we didn't anticipate the terrorist attack on the trade towers, and the resulting collapse of the economy, and we had no idea how much children cost to raise. So, basically we, like just about everyone else, are broke. So, instead we spent a quiet night at home and just basically hung out.

And speaking of children, my mother-in-law took the kids this weekend so that Aura and I could go out to dinner for our anniversary and when she brought them back they were so tired that they laid their heads on each other and just pooped out. They were so cute I had to take their picture.

A Dream Come True

I love the Doctor Who TV show. In fact, I've been watching it since I was around 10 years old. I also have been going to Doctor Who conventions for the past 20 years. They are great fun and I get to see the same folks every year, though some of us are getting to look a little old. Not me, of course.

Since my kids have been born I have been hoping that they would some day come along with me to a convention. Recently Ian has been watching the show and he has discovered that he enjoys it. He especially likes the Daleks (who doesn't?). I gave him the option of going to this year's convention..and he went! It was a dream come true for me.

He really enjoyed the convention and was "bored" only a couple of times. It's not surprising as waiting in line for photos and autographs can be a bit tedious. He enjoyed it so much that next year he wants to go to all three days. This year we only went to the Saturday session.

It was wonderful for me that Ian went along to the con and maybe some day Cami will come, too. Instead of going to the con Cami went with her mom and her Nanna and got her ears pierced (more on that later).

One of the more memorable things that happened during the show happened in the video room. For those who aren't familiar with conventions there is usually a video room going just about 24 hours where they run episodes of the show or other shows that the various Doctor Who actors have played in. Ian and I ducked in to the room as they were running the Doctor Who episode called Terror of the Zygons. The scene we saw had the Loch Ness Monster chasing the Doctor across the moors of Scotland. Ian really liked that but then they showed one of the Zygons and Ian got up and couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He was really scared. He said he would have nightmares if he watched any more.

He loved the costume contest and spent a fair amount of time taking pictures of the contestants, especially the girls. There was one girl in particular that he liked. She was dressed as a female Dalek.

We both had such a good time that we're already looking forward to next year.