Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas Adventures

If you hadn't heard, there was a massive blizzard in the Midwest....

The kids were excited by the snow, but we were stuck in the house for a while. Oh and did I mention, our hot water heater was on the fritz. So we were stuck at home in a blizzard, with no hot water for showers... but, I was counting my blessings that it wasn't the electricity, gas or the heater that was out. We can live a little stinky, but not freezing cold.

I got out of the house for the first time in a while when we went to mass on Christmas Eve. No, it wasn't Midnight Mass. It was at 5pm before we were really snowed in. We got to watch Krista's eyes light up as they placed Baby Jesus in the manger scene and sang all the wonderful Christmas hymns together. After mass, it was starting to snow at a good pace. Christmas morning there was a multitude of snow mounds drifted up in random areas. The front door could not be opened and the window sills were full of snow. The kids woke up in wonderment that Santa had come bearing gifts.

Gabriel got the cheese he asked for and Krista got her Space Barbie, which she promptly named, "Old." Along with her other new Barbies, "Sweetie" and "Cold," she was already in imagination land. The whole family got new bikes from Santa, with help from Nana, and we can't wait to use them this coming Spring and Summer.

We had the extended family Christmas on the day after and were able to travel the interstate. The hardest part of the trip was getting down our street to the main roads. We got stuck once and Josh had to dig us out of the snow. The best part of every stressful situation is the added commentary from the back seat. "Why did we stop?" "Let's go to Grandma's house!" "Can we go, NOW?" "What's happening?" The above picture is the snow drift by Grandma's house.

At Grandma's house, we finally got nice hot showers and baths! We also spent the night, to allow the street plows time to plow our neighborhood. We had a fun time wearing out recovering Grandma. We headed home to get back to some normalcy and our own bed. I think we've finally fully recovered. Our hot water is back on, Logan is sleeping from 8:30pm-7am, the new toys got put away and I'm getting over a cold I had. Now we just have to put the Christmas tree away, to Gabriel's disappointment. He talks about Christmas tree lights and stars in his sleep.

I've also updated our pictures on my photobucket account, which you can link to on the side bar. Take a look at all of our fun adventures.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Spirit of Christmas

Krista has really enjoyed getting ready for Christmas this year. She's wanted to be my little elfin helper in all things Christmas. She decorated the tree, or at least one branch. She helped make Christmas candies and cookies. She learned about telling Santa what she wanted and she wasn't shy about it this year! She asked for a Space Barbie and Gabriel asked for cheese... She learned that we celebrate Jesus' birthday on Christmas and is excited to see Baby Jesus in the nativity scene at church at the Christmas Mass. She even made up a story for me, which can be viewed by clicking on our YouTube link below. She's definitely ready and the rest of us are as well.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Hoodies

Gabriel really likes shirts with hoods. He will pick them out of his drawer and want to wear them. Not only does he want to wear the shirt, the hood MUST be up at ALL TIMES. I think it reminds him of his Halloween costume and the fun times he had as a bee. Many times, the shirt with the hood on it is not intended to be worn - I think that is the case for the picture below:


Although, maybe that look is a little less goofy than the "bucket head" look. I'll let you decide.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Headlock of Love

After asking Krista to pose with her brother, she thought she might "help" him stay in the picture by doing the following:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Cranky Parade

Last Tuesday, Krista and Gabriel received their H1N1 (Swine Flu) Vaccinations. Krista got the flu mist and Gabriel got the shot. We were also scheduled to come back in a month for their second doses and Gabriel's 2 year check up. Count three days after the vaccinations and Krista has a runny nose. The yuckiness continued to escalate in our house and both the bigger kids got continuous runny noses and coughs. Logan had a slight cough and EVERYONE was cranky.

I think we're on the downhill of it, though. Gabriel actually slept for his full nap time and didn't wake up crying because he couldn't breath yesterday. Krista is feeling better, too. Although, today she will be sad when she finds out that dance class is cancelled because of the snow day. And then do we have to go through this again with the second dose of vaccination? I hope it was a fluke and they just caught something else at the doctor's office... what a long week it was.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Krista's Hug Tally

Mommy 1
Gabriel 1
Logan 1

The Christmas Tree.... 3

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Velveteen Rabbit

As I paid my mortgage payment online this morning, Krista was rocking away in the chair. Gabriel came up to me with the book, The Velveteen Rabbit, and said, "Read this!" I asked if he was sure, since it is a longer book and it is harder for him to pay attention that long. He said, "Yeah, Yeah!" I began to read the story and Gabriel slyly watches as Krista gets down from the recliner and comes over to listen to the book. A second later, he is rocking away in the chair. I believe it was all a ploy so that he could rock in the recliner like a crazy man without his sister, what a sneaky boy...