Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Again

Phil's mom, Mary, was able to escape from the all of the snow where she lives to come celebrate Christmas with us.





Santa Coming to Town

Santa brought the kids...

Jewelry box

Dallas Cowboy jersey

Remote control monster truck

Musical stage

Saturday, December 26, 2009

A Marathon of Christmas's

With the weather being so crazy during the week of Christmas, it seemed that we did everything kind of backwards. We started off with Christmas at the house a couple of days early so the kids could play with their new stuff before we headed on the road.
The all week, we kept our eye on the weather. Snow was in the forecast so we changed our plans a couple of times. We ended up going to Ottumwa a day earlier to avoid the snow that the state was suppose to get. The SE part of the state received only a few inches of snow, which was where we were. The western part had a complete blizzard making our travels to Omaha to be postponed. We'll try getting to the Omaha area another weekend to celebrate Christmas with Raye and Dan. Phil's mom will try to come up on her days off, IF the roads allow her to travel.


A and O with their new I-Pod Shuffles.


Baby R has her own puetter now. (That's how C. says computer.)


Let the Fun begin!!!


C. wanted a real camera, so this one is suppose to be kid proof. We'll see.


Love'n the taste of paper.


A. LOVES to put Lego kits together.

Off to Grandma Ann's House on Christmas Eve

Baby R. is eating her first saltine cracker. She'll be eating more of these soon now that her tooth broke through the surface.


The grandkids together with Grandma Ann.


I have a feeling we'll be playing lots of board games this winter.


A new dance bag from Aunt Sara.


Still liking the taste of paper.


C. wanted walkie talkies SO bad. Actually she wanted 3 of them. That way her older brother and sister could have one too. Grandma was able to find a set of 4. This was a HIT!!! All of the kids loved playing with them.

What's in the bag, R? A new outfit from the Cullinan's.


C. also wanted a horse on a stick. She was so excited to get this.


Grandma's favorite gift, a personalized calendar.

Christmas at the Farm



Here are my grandparents with 8 of their 11 great grandchildren.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

6 Months

Six months already?? Really?? Just a year ago, people were just learning of Phil and I having another baby. Now look, Baby RM is 6 months. As you can tell from the photo, she is sitting up really well now. I can just plop her down anywhere and she plays with her toys sitting up. We have noticed lately that she is taking in less formula and is preferring her baby food. She loves to play in the bath tub with her toys, grabs at anything near her, and chews on her thumb. For the past six months she has been healthy, however this past week, she had her first ear infection.



Thursday, December 17, 2009

Here Comes Santa Claus

C. has been waiting to see Santa to tell him what she would like for Christmas. I wanted to go during the week, so the mall wouldn't be crowded. We got right in, no waiting.


R. not liking the whole Santa thing.


What a SMILE!!!! You can tell she is excited for Santa.
O. is writing some gift ideas C. is wanting from Santa. She wants 5 cars, a horse on a stick, toys for Baby R., 9 ponytails, and walkie talkies. She start her list in November. One day she brought me a piece of paper and asked me how to spell 'Santa.' I told her, then she had me write down a few things she wanted. At the end, C. wrote her name. It is so cute, that I must keep the list for a keepsake. I had to convince C. to have O. rewrite her list for Santa, so I could keep her original.

A. wants a Wii and a Tony Romo Cowboy jersey.

Off to the North Pole the letters go. C. even drew herself with Santa to give to him.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Basketball Season Begins

On Saturday mornings, A. will have his basketball games.
This is A. before his 2nd game. This is A.'s first time going out for the sport. So far he is loving it.


#6 is A.


Baby R. will need to get use to going to her siblings sport events. I'm just glad that the games are inside where it is warm and dry. During soccer season, R. would go to my brother and sister-in-law's house instead of going out in the cold, fall temperatures.
*Notice the Duplo block robot that C. made. She is taking this picture and wanted it in the photo too.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Snow Day

Here in the midwest we were dumped with a ton of snow, 14 inches. One great thing about being a teacher, we also get to stay home on these cold, snowy days.

Blowing out the driveway.



The snow isn't packed down yet, but A. decided to use our steps on the deck as his sled hill.

Watching Christmas Dora on TV.

Just playing and having fun.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Happy Half Birthday-6 months

Little R. is 6 months already. She is such a big girl-20 pounds worth. Over the past few weeks, she has taken to baby food and LOVES it. With her diet changing, she is definitely filling out and starting to get pudgy.

Doing leg lifts in her high chair.


Sitting in front of the Christmas tree