Last Days of '08

Uncle Jason and Aunt Heidi are here!!! YAY!!! The kids got to open their present from Granny and Papa on Sunday night. The girls now have their very own cleaning cart with a vac, broom, mop, pail, dust pan. Emily has been busy cleaning the house. Too bad that vac doesn't really pick up everything! Aiden received a box of Duplo Lego blocks, which he has been enjoying, as well. Aiden and Emily have been building lots of towers with them! Aiden thinks that he is Spider-man. I'm sure Uncle James will be impressed.

Daddy's friends from his days at Maize High School were in town for the holiday, so we were so happy to see them!! Amber Dungey(on the left) lives in Olathe, KS and is engaged. Ashley Fisher teaches English at a University in Cancun, Mexico(she has a rough life!). Needless to say, we don't get to see them much. We have a picture similar to this of Ashley holding Emily, sitting on the couch with Amber at Emily's first Christmas. Amber was in town over the summer, so she was able to go out to dinner with the four of us. The last time we saw Amber, though, was at Justin's 10 year reunion in September, during all of the flooding. She and HER Justin didn't get to see the kids then. I don't think Ashley had gotten to meet Aiden yet, so this was a first for her. Of course they noticed that Aiden looked a tad bit like his dad. :) Emily was fascinated with the "pretty ladies" and had a grand time sitting on the couch with them. I think we were in the middle of telling Emily to keep her hands to herself when I took this picture(she kept playing with Amber's necklace and was getting a little crazy with the hands!). I finally gave Emily her own bracelet and ring to wear from my jewelry box. She would look at one girl and say, "Say hello!" One would say "hellooooo", sounding a little British, she'd giggle and turn to the other one to have her do the same. She kept saying, "Look! I'm a pretty lady!" and showing everyone her jewels. It was hilarious.

Christmas 2008

About to open her Heffalump movie. Santa found her The Heffalump Movie and Cinderella DVD for Christmas. It was a Christmas Miracle! :)

Aiden tearing up the paper. He would take little bits off at a time.

The new inflatable bouncer.

Justin's night off...a rare occassion. Emily told him, "Daddy, I need you. You have to come lay with me." They hung out on her little fold out Dora couch for half an hour, just snuggling under her little blanket. It was so cute.

Hard at work! We were making Christmas trees. Aiden's were very colorful. He would make a mark and then switch colors. This is quite scattered....sorry!

~It didn't seem like today was actually Christmas. For the last 5 years we have had Christmas at Justin's parents house on Christmas day. This year we are waiting until Jason and Heidi make it to town. Our date to celebrate is Jan. 2nd. This year we celebrated Christmas Day with my family. My parents and sisters came over to our house and made use of the new, longer table. It was so great breaking it in! The kids got to play with their older cousins and on their new inflatable bouncer. I asked Emily who it was from and she said, "AUNT NATALIE!" I of course called "Aunt Natalie" in Germany and told her they said thanks!! :) She just laughed. ~Natalie's husband, Frank, just got home from Iraq, I think on the 24th. He was wrapped in a box and Kaitlynn, their 3 yr old, tore off the paper and found him. Natalie had her video of it on Facebook. It was so nice to hear Natalie's excited voice on the video, as well!~ The kids(both mine and my sister's) were all so good and surprisingly calm this year. Aiden actually ripped paper off of boxes and pulled tissue paper out of bags...whether it was his or not is another story. He did really well, though. Last year Emily could have cared less about unwrapping things. She unwrapped her gifts this year to find a pink guitar from Aunt Mary Anne(to go along w the instruments she found her for her birthday...thanks for that!). We bought her a small keyboard, so now she has a ton of instruments to start her band! Emily and I sat up late on the 23rd(Justin was driving limos that night) and talked about stuff. I told her it was almost Jesus's birthday. She said, "oh, I am going to see Jesus in 3 days!" Hopefully she doesn't see him tomorrow! On Christmas Eve, Emily helped daddy make a big peanut butter cookie for Santa. Daddy had never made peanut butter cookies, so he pressed the cookie too thin. It was thin and hard after it baked. :) Santa ate it anyway! Emily was very excited that Santa liked her cookie. The family went with Granny and Papa this year to their church for Christmas Eve service. Emily saw the baby Jesus statue and said, "Oh, baby Jesus! He's so cute!" After church, we went to his parents and did our stockings. I received a wonderful Chinese wall calendar...as a joke. They had eaten at a Chinese buffet that was giving them out to guests, so I was the lucky one to get it in their stocking. Wonderful. It's on my wall in my kitchen now. HA! Justin and I will be enjoying our gift cards from my family for dinner soon, and I have already had the pleasure of watching my DVD from him... P.S. I LOVE YOU. I hinted bad for it! He's at work til 3 a.m. now, so I had some time to myself. He told me that since his new desk didn't have any new pictures on it, I had to get him some new ones with frames....or I was going to get divorce papers! So drastic, I know! :) I made him a poster collage with the pics from our Christmas shoot and put them in an 11x14 frame. He loved it. However, he didn't take it to work with him tonight. He might be hearing from my lawyer in the morning. :) ha ha. Well, it just wouldn't be Christmas without some huge news or happening....my "little" sister(she's 5 inches taller and 3 years younger) Carrie told us that she and Lyle are expecting a baby in August. Aiden will have a cousin close to his age now!

8 Days Til Christmas

For Emily's birthday, my mom gave her a box of Nilla Wafers, can of frosting and her own sprinkles so she could decorate her own cookies. Last night we got to frost her cookies. I held them, while she put her frosting on them. She loved it! More snow at our house! We got 3 inches here, while my parents, an hour away got 5 inches.

My little green monster. Aiden found a green Crayola marker and made a huge mess! Just because they say "washable" doesn't mean they wash off right away!

The one time of the day when I don't have to tell either one of them to keep their hands to themselves, leave my pens alone or stop screaming! :) They LOVE Caillou and to sit on my table.

Dancing with Daddy...Emily was standing on daddy's feet dancing to the music, so Aiden had to do it, too. :)

Emily's 3rd Birthday Party, pt. 3

Aiden loves to say "CHEESE!", but he always accompanies that with his squinty eyes. Today Emily's friend, Emma, came over to celebrate Emily's birthday and to play(Isabella didn't make it over). We made individual pizzas for lunch, played dress-up, and decorated birthday cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles. The girls had lots of fun together. It's been a few years since I've been in a classroom and heard little kids interacting, so Justin and I were laughing most of the afternoon. Kids say the funniest things! Aiden had a blast running around and playing with the girls in Emily's room. The girls were saying cheese for pictures while Aiden was in his room for nap...I could hear him from his room saying "CHEESE!" Emily helped Mommy make sugar cookies on Saturday night. She's my little cook.

Emily's 3rd Birthday Party pt. 2

Well, I lied. I couldn't wait til Sunday to post her b-day pics, so here they are! Anyone who has really wanted to hear Emily talk, check out the videos at the bottom of the blog.*** We went to my parents for Emily's birthday, since Justin took off work for the day. She loves to visit...she sees lots of farm animals on the way there, so that is always a highlight of the trip. At Thanksgiving, Uncle Josh said something to Emily about being born in a barn or living in a barn, something only an adult would understand, and she got all excited at the thought of living with all of the animals that she always wants to see at the zoo. She even mentioned seeing the horses and how they "stank". At my mom's house, Emily runs to the piano and Aiden runs to Pop(he runs to his Papa here, too). Jack has the chair on wheels, so Aiden always wants to go for a ride. It's my birthday and I will do what I want to. She always fights with me when I want her to smile, so I just took a picture of what she was doing. I'm sure she will pay the consequences when she's older. :) ha ha.

Gra made Emily's birthday cake. I use to get a doll cake when I was a little girl, too, so it was nice to see my mom get to make one again. My mom used a new Barbie, so she had to take the legs off it! That was a task and a half to get them back on! The Barbie is a ballerina girl...Emily calls it the "birthday girl" doll.

Spoiling the grandson. Honestly, the kid didn't need HIS cake, let alone HERS!

Enjoying her yummy princess cake.

Cinderella dress from her mommy and daddy. We are going to see Santa tomorrow and she keeps telling me that she wants Santa to bring Cinderella and The Heffalump Movie DVD's...I've already bought them, of course. Months of begging...please no more!

Emily's new dishes...my mom found some nilla wafers, frosting and sprinkles for Emily to take home and make her own cookies. She helps my mom decorate cookies and cupcakes when we go to her house.

Pots and pans...she and her brother already know how to bang the lids together. Wonderful.

So much for waiting til we got home to open it...thanks mom!

Thanks Pop!!

Playing and singing "Happy Birthday" with Aiden. She's sung it so much, that he now knows the words...only he thinks it's hapy birthday "MIMI" all of the time, so we'll have to fix that.

Two of the videos are of the kids with their new toys that were sent to them from Germany. Aunt Natalie always sends the best packages filled with yummy treats and goodies for the kids. I let them open one each(at 10p.m., no less) when daddy came home on Tuesday night. They both went to bed with their toys. Aiden fell asleep with his in his lap. He got a little Fisher-Price radio and she got a Dora player that plays whatever is in the machine and comes with glorious headphones. I love them.

Happy Birthday, EMILY!!!

We celebrated Emily's birthday today at my mom's house in Canton, KS. I will post pics after her last birthday celebration on Sunday with her two friends from church/school, Emma and Isabella. I have sung happy birthday about 10 times today, and listened to her sing it about 15 times today. She is finally 3. Which means I'm getting closer to my specialty ages 4 & 5!!! YES!!! I know how to deal with those ages! :) Seven years of teaching Pre-K is finally going to pay off! Now I just have to get through one more year....SIGH.

Ghost of Christmas Past

Okay, so he's not a ghost, but it sure feels like it!! My friend Adrian was in town from Minnesota this past weekend and came over for a visit. We have been friends since 2000, one of the many people that I have met through my brother, and use to hang out A LOT. His brother Gabe is also here(well, in the States) from Bolivia, so he is going to make a trip to see him, his wife Kari and their 3 kids(Gabe and Kari are out in Oregon, where she is from, waiting for their baby boy to be born this spring before heading back to Bolivia). Thankfully, Adrian's Uncle Beto lives in town, or I'd probably never get to see him. He just got done with a 3 month tour to Afghanistan(he's Air National Guard), so he was on vacation. I'm not sure if Aiden was born the last time he came over. Emily was in the beginning of her anti-male stage then, so she was more interested in his girlfriend. :) That was about 2 years ago, so she didn't really remember him, just that I had a penguin music player displayed for Christmas from him. It was nice to see her interact with him, though. There are very few people she will even talk to...male wise. She thought we said that Uncle Andrew was at the house, so she was excited(there you go, Andrew!!). Boy was she upset when it was ADRIAN! :) Aiden took a bit to warm up to. He had no idea who was in the house! He hid behind the counter for a little while. Pretty soon, they were going crazy, laughing, screaming and showing off for him. Playing blocks...

and squealing!

First Snow

As of 2 p.m. this is how much snow we have received so far. Hope my friends and family in warmer areas are enjoying their weather!! It's stinkin' frigid here! Justin had class bright and early today and said it was sooooo cold. Well, guess it's a potato soup WEEK! Aiden saying "cheese".

Playing with her food...literally. She loves to play with her food from Granny and Papa(her bday present). Tomorrow is Emily's actual birthday, so we will see what kind of goodies she gets from Gra and Pop..weather permitting a trip to Canton, that is.

Aiden is very much into reading. Like all little kids his age, he is fascinated by animals. He enjoys looking at all of the old Sesame Street magazines from my days of teaching preschool.

More Family Pictures

Emily would run to me from across the huge yard and I would throw her up in the air and give her a kiss.

See, we love each other! :)

The grandparents and great grandma.

We were marching around the yard with our sticks singing a song from "The Piglet Movie".

Papa always says, "Oh, baby!" when the kids give him a kiss. They love it!

This is Justin's favorite picture.

Aiden's face cracks me up on this one!

She looks so sweet! :)

What a cute boy he is!

I love Aiden's little blue eyes and runny nose!