Merry Christmas!!

The tree was decorated......

The Stockings were hung......

So.....Let Christmas 2012 begin!! Great Grandma spent the day with us and we all opened gifts!! The noise level was relatively calm for gifts and everyone really liked what they got. My camera was starting to go out so no closeup and personal shots, just general pics.

I tell Don to Smile and this is what we get, He really IS excited about his fire dept shirt. Jess, now you know where Tyler gets his grimaces from LOL

Another excited moment for Dad!! LOL

A "ninger" turtle. The belt came out a little tight as you will see in the next shot. A slight adjustment will have to be made quickly today!!

We made a great meal, lots of fun and laughter and then a Ice-cream Birthday cake for baby Jesus. We sang Happy Birthday and each one of the kids had a section of candles to blow out. It was fun and then we sang Happy Birthday to Jason too. He is now 35 yrs old!! Happy Birthday Jason!!

We had a great Christmas and Oh BTW, I did get a new camera, LOL

The New Christmas Look

Our old red Christmas stockings were getting really worn out. I decided to make new one and I wanted something different. I chose to go with green. It isn't a velvet but is soft like it and shimmery and a really soft white fur. My sister made the name tags and she did a great job. Thanks Linda!!

Each tag has its own personalized trinket on it. Don's is a pocket watch cuz he is always on time and mine is a pair of scissors cuz I like to sew. Don isn't sold on the green yet, Valerie said to make him his very own red stocking LOL

They do look nice and gives us  New Look!

Leaves

We have lots of trees in our yard and I LOVE the trees. They are great shade and help keep the house really cool in the summer. They look so pretty when they change colors and also when they have snow on them. But with beautiful colored leaves comes the raking!! I am not so much a fan of raking, LOL We are very fortunate that our town has leaf suckers. Its really a giant vacuum and we just have to get them to the street and the sucker does all the rest. The kids love to watch the leaf suck and well....so do I :-)

We live on a corner so any late falling leaves just blow away down the street to somebody else~~works for me!! LOL

A Bottom Heavy tree

Here is a great example of letting the grandkids put ornaments on the tree: LOL

Grocery shopping with Grandma

Kaleb had 2 choices: Go with Kim to Kyla's volleyball or grocery shopping with me Santa hat and all!!! Photo Opt:

Our Thanksgiving in Texas

This year we were able to go and spend Thanksgiving with Jess, Scott and the kids. It was so nice and warm in Texas.  We were able to wear our shorts!! LOL Molly only liked her Grandpa but I was able to get her to play shells with me for a few minutes. All she wanted was her Grandpa. He even had to change her diaper which is HUGE for him LOL

Tyler is a whiz at building stuff out of blocks. Him and Grandpa spent time building together.

Jess had a project to help her with and it was making and painting a sign for over her fireplace. So off we went to our favorite store~~Lowe's for wood and supplies.

It took awhile but here it is. It looks really good on her fireplace.

We were all anxious for Thanksgiving and we had cooked up a bunch of food and Jess decorated the table. The night before, we all sat and talked about things that we were thankful for and Tyler printed them on these little pieces of paper. Jessica made a table runner by attaching them to the string.

Earlier that day, Tyler and I made some turkey legs out of stuffed sacks, Popsicle sticks and he wrote every ones name on each leg for name tags. He had 9 of them to write so it was a fun writing time for him.

I also brought a turkey and he glued the feathers on for another decoration.

He had a Pilgrim hat from school so he modeled it for us.

Jess had started this wreath awhile back but it just never got finished, so I finished it while I was there. She is going to hang it on her door maybe in the Springtime.

She had a cool idea to make some Christmas trees that she saw on Pinterest. You take a big cone, cover it with parchment paper, soak string in Stiffy and wrap all around it. The next morning, it was all dry and we took the cones off and glued on the red balls. We both thought that it came out really cute.

After Thanksgiving, they put up the Christmas tree. The kids really like to help with that, well not so much Molly but Tyler helps alot. I think he hung up all of the ornaments and did a great job.

Time went by so fast and then it was time to go home. We had a really nice Thanksgiving and a very enjoyable time there. We didn't run and do alot like of stuff like we usually do but we didn't mind a bit. It was  just fun to relax plus we did get all of their gifts while we were there.

Punkpin cutting

Nothing like waiting for the last minute, LOL but we finally got the punkins cut. Kyla has always loved the goupy stuff and she did a great job cleaning hers out.

Kaleb on the other hand would prefer not to get dirty and he usually leaves when the punkins come out. But this year, he was so excited about cutting it that he was driving Kim and I nuts. I am like "Lets cut these, so he will be quiet" LOL Kaleb actually cleaned his out and before long......

He was playing with the goup too!! LOL Not alot but some. You can see by his look that he is not to sure about all of this LOL

Kim bought a fancy cutting set with special eyes and patterns. TADA!! The finished punkins!!

Punkins lighted:

Punkins in the dark:

Now they are ready for a BIG night of trick or treating and we are ready for some candy!! LOL

14 Feet

I took this picture when all the kids were here and I love it!! I think it is so cute!!

Happy 1st Birthday Bailey!!

Today was Bailey's first Birthday. Valerie had it at their house and were hoping for a nice fall day. Well, it was cold, windy and raining so it was inside the garage and there was heat and a TV in there to watch football of course!! LOL She subway sandwiches, and meatball, and chips and she had delicious cupcakes, eclairs, and cream puffs.

She also had a candy bar with bags for people to sack up their own candy to take home.

Bailey wasn't too sure about this candle/cupcake business....

but...it didn't take her to long to figure it out!!

GIFTS!! and she got lots of them. Toys, clothes, and more toys!!

AND...her first piece of Tupperware!! The kids cake holder and spatula!! Actually I think that Valerie was more excited about that and it was bringing a tear to her eye!! LOL Mainly cuz Valerie has a zillion pieces of Tupperware and Jason is like Oh Great!! LOL

Ew.....whats in this BIG package???

A shopping cart with tons of play food, cardboard boxes in it. We all know what will happen with those cardboard boxes don't we?? LOL

All in all , it was a great party and everyone had fun. Happy Birthday Bailey!!