Our Friend, "The Recycling Man"

Yes, I have a friend now at Recycling, he work's there!! It all started when he started to give me a bag of Coupon insert's, then I wanted to do something nice for all the guy's there (they are alway's so nice and helpful) For Chrismtas I gave them all Razor gift set's, you can't really bake for them...eating in a recycling center...YUCK! Anyway, as soon as I gave my "friend" his gift, he said, "now hold on a min, I have something for you too"...ok..(kinda wary) He hands me this little Christmas Tree pin that light's up, he say's, "You can wear it on your blouse when you get all dressed up to go out", "Oh THANK YOU" What a sweet Man, I thought, however thought it was odd. A few week's go by and he tell's the kid's one day that he has some Easter Bunnie's for them at home, he'll bring them next week. After this, my kid's won't forget these Easter Bunnie's till the following recycling day. We went back and our "friend" forgot them, the next week he wasn't there, then FINALLY I go in there and he say's, "Are you gonna be in on Saturday? I've got those Easter Bunnie's for those kid's". "Oh, Ok, sure I'll bring them in". Of course we walk in greeted by "The Recycling Man", who quickly walk's over to get the Easter Bunnie's, so he give's the kid's their bag with the Easter Bunnie's in it along with my bag of coupon's. After over a month of not knowing what these Easter Bunnie's were, here are the beloved Easter Bunnie's ;)

Proud Cousin's

Welcome Paige Annabelle

I'm an Auntie!!! Congrats to Jason & Julie, they welcomed their first daughter, Paige Annabelle on Sunday, Jan. 11 @ 7:44pm, weighing in at 7lbs, 5 oz, 19 1/2in. Let me tell you, she is the most adorable baby EVER...except for my own of course..lol We are all very excited she's FINALLY here...poor Bailey thought she would never get here.

A lil bit of what Bailey is all about

Going shopping with her Baby
Trying to wear these out to a playgroup...in the snow!!

She fixed her own hair

Just had to snap this one...lol

Performing a Ballerina Dance

The BEST Christmas EVER!!!

This Christmas was truly our BEST Christmas yet. Every year we all go out and buy or try to find gift's for everyone in our family, when in all actuality we really don't need anything. I admit it is fun shopping and trying to find those perfect gift's for everyone, however it does get very expensive and sometime's you really just end up grabbing a gift card or just anything because you can't find them anything. So really, how much thought was put into that gift??

This year my Mom and I thought we would try something different, homemade gifts! On Thanksgiving, we all drew names and kept them secret (although my Mom ended up knowing who everyone got...guess we all still need advice from Mom...lol) We had a month to figure out and make our gift's. I had drawn my brother Jake, Johnny had drawn my brother Jason, our kid's didn't draw names this year, we decided they would just get spoiled as it is and really wouldn't truly appreciate the homemade gift's yet. Christmas morning came, we were having everyone over for Christmas morning brunch, which was really nice to have our Christmas with the kid's, play with them for a bit, then fix breakfast together while listening to Christmas music :)

Present time....of course the kid's couldn't wait, I couldn't either because of the anticipation of seeing what everyone came up with as their gifts :) We alway's go youngest to oldest, so Haylee was first, my brother Jake got her and not being very creative he made up a little ryhym for her with $10 to get what she wanted...lol Then came Jake, I had made him a fleece tie blanket of his own, I guess he steals my Mom's all the time, so I got this idea from her..lol Then Julie got a scrapbooking kit from my Mom with some cute little cricut people, Jason got a handmade toolbox from Johnny, it was pretty cool :) I got from Jason (totally not expecting something so creative) 3 ornament's he had handmade from lightbulb's, 2 snowmen and a Santa...they were sooo cute and I was just blown away at his creativity...I loved them :) Then came Johnny's gift from my Dad, a framed sketched picture of our kid's...awwww, that one really blew me away and is sooo precious!!! My Dad is a very good artist, however hasn't really done much lately because he's always so busy, after seeing this I hope he does alot more...especially because Johnny has claimed the picture as his ( I know it was his gift) I wanted to hang it in the house, but he's taking it to his office :( My birthday is coming up in case you wanna give me a homemade gift Dad!!!! HINT, HINT Then it was my Mom's turn and Haylee had made her a new fleece tie blanket as well...very cute hot pink and green :) Then Dad got some homemade chocolate covered cherries from Julie...what a PERFECT gift for him. (every year Dad get's chocolate covered cherries..they are his favorite)

This is definitely a tradition worth carrying on from now on.

Christmas 2008

Santa...not EVERYONE loves him!!!

Sitting on Santa's lap is alway's an adventure for every child, especially if they don't like him very much!! Quaid was really excited to go see Santa this year and has really gotten into the magic of Santa. At school, they had 2 little elves in their classroom, everyday they were somewhere different. Quaid would come home from school telling me all about these sneaky elves. Here's his letter from school that he wrote to Santa:

As you can tell he is really into Santa this year, however I keep stressing the fact that he's MAGICAL...so that when they do find out he's not real, but he's just Magical.
Although Bailey is a totally different story, she doesn't like Santa ONE BIT!!! She didn't want any present's from him, just for her birthday she kept telling us. When it was time to go see Santa and sit on his lap, she had told us that she might sit on his lap, however didn't want to even go past a certain point to see him. We told her it was alright and Santa still gave her brother a candy cane to give to her :)
I only managed to get a picture of the 2 of them standing by a pole, not by Santa this year...lol Quaid did go see Santa though...he didn't sit on his lap though, guess he's getting too big :(

Jedi Master

That's right, we have our very own Jedi Master living in our house!!! Quaid has a book from Star Wars and apparantly think's he really is one day going to go off and leave us to be a Jedi Master...lol The other night he wore this hilarious outfit with his robe (that is way too small) and his hood from his winter coat to bed. I asked why he wore this, his reply was because he's getting ready to be a Jedi Master! Oh the imaginiation's of a child :)

A look into the day's of our live's

*On the way to storytime after a snowfall, I asked Bailey if the tree's were pretty with their fresh snow cover.

Her response "Mommy, when do they talk?"

Me: "Ummm, when does what talk?"

Her: "The tree's, when do they talk"

Me: "Sweetie, Tree's don't talk"

Her: "No, when will they be able to"

Me: "Tree's won't ever talk, they just get bigger"



*One day after breakfast she run's in to her room and get's some tight's on. I asked her why she put them on, she said, "Because they make me healthy"...lol I think she meant warm...lol



*On our way home from Awana one Sunday evening, we were talking about Santa and Bailey said she didn't want to sit on his lap, she didn't want any presents and she just doesn't like him. Quaid's response, "Bailey, Jesus doesn't like that, He wants us to love everyone"...lol



*When Bailey goes to bed at night, she usually ALWAY'S has to go potty one last time after I tuck her in, so she run's to the potty and I have to wait to shut the door until she get's in her bed, then she always says "Wait Mommy, I have to ask you a question", it's alway something totally bizarre, like "Can we go to the Zoo sometime" or "Mommy, Quaid forgot to go to school today", when it was Saturday...lol

*The kid's were getting ready to go out to play in the snow, Quaid is all dressed and waiting by the door as I got Bailey's mittens and hat on. Bailey say's to Quaid, "You know why I'm smiling at you", "WHY", "because I love you"...no they are not like this ALL the time, they do have their moments just like any other brother and sister, but how I do cherish those moment's when they actually act like they love each other...lol

*Quaid has been reading ALOT lately, he just finished his first Chapter book!!! I'm so proud of him :) He also comes home after school usually on Monday's they get their spelling words and homework (about 4/5 pages) that is due back on Friday (test day), Quaid get's his homework done right away (after playing in the snow and doing his chores) He is sooo eager to learn right now and it just warms my heart!! So the other day he was telling me a math problem (they have to make up a story to go with their addition or subtraction). I told him he did a great job, he say's, "I know and I learned it from nowhere"...lol

*Bailey is becoming very independant lately and loves to do things on her own. The other day she decided she was going to fix her hair, here she is putting a barrette in her hair, she really didn't do too bad, looked kinda cute :)

*Our house is CRAZY on the weekend's, especially now it's colder outside and the kid's can get out but for a little bit. It's ok sometime's though because they both have great imagination's. They will play doctor, school, games, house or superhero's (Quaid get's his choice in too) So here is Quaid dressed up like Indiana Jones, not sure about the sword, but I thought he was pretty cool, just had to snap this for when he's older...lol

Snow, Snow and more snow

As most of you know we had a VERY snowy winter last year with over 100 inches of snow!! This year it has started earlier and is looking like much of the same. The kid's however are LOVING it, when we get Quaid on the bus, we all bundle up and head out a little early so they can play in the snow together. Then when Quaid get's home from school, I don't see him for at least 30 min after he get's off the bus, he will play till it get's dark and sometimes later (of course it get's dark here between 4:30 and 5)

Here are some pic's of the kid's enjoying the snow!!!

Awana Program

We have such a great program at our church for kid's, Bailey is in Cubbies and Quaid is in Sparks. They have a book and read from it each week, then have to memorize and recite Bible verses to get patches for their vest's. This past week, our story for each night is a chapter in Quaid's Spark's book, then I quiz him on his verses. He memorized a total of 6 verses this week and earned his wing's and a green jewel for his vest, he also earned his red jewel however has to bring a friend to get it next week. I am sooo proud of him, he is so eager to learn more about God's word.

Christmas Baking Day

We had a GRAND day of baking on a snowy day this year. Let me tell you it was a looong day with ALOT of paitence! We managed to get sugar cookie's, candy cane cookie's and Buckeye's made. The kid's had so much fun helping me and decorating the cookie's. Bailey had a little too much fun with the icing, Daddy had noticed a little green around her mouth and asked if she was eating the icing, her response, "NO", then she finished piling on the 2in of icing she already had on her cookie, then I catch her out of the corner of my eye, sneaking down under the table and licking the knife (plastic knife...lol) So immediately she was DONE!!! So I set apart her 2 ginormously high icing cookie's then finished the rest with Quaid who was taking his time and decorating his cookie's. It was a fun day, I love cooking with the kid's, just takes alot of patience!!!

Christmas Tree Lighting

This is our annual tradition as well to go downtown for the Christmas Tree Lighting. In the community center they have different business' that have different craft's for the kid's set up, cookie's & hot chocolate and secret Santa set up upstair's, then Santa comes in on a Horse Drawn Carriage at 7 to light the Christmas Tree. This year was quite fun, as Bailey is able to do more, or so we thought. We sent them to do the Secret Santa, filled out their list of people to buy for and gave them money. Quaid has always done such a GREAT job at picking his gift's and staying within his budget (most items are $.50-5.00). He is really so thoughtful in picking out his gift's for everyone, this year he even took the time to write out all his gift tags. Bailey however was a TOTALLY different story. She came running out within 5 minutes and obviously without wrapping the gift's. She was soo excited and said, "Look what I got", meaning for HERSELF! She managed to get 2 whole gifts for herself and wanted to open them right away. She just didn't get it, that she was supposed to be shopping for everyone else and NOT herself. (I was telling my Mom about this and she was cracking up, she said I was the same way..lol Apparantly it took me forever to get this concept as well) I managed to talk Bailey into giving Quaid one of her gift's and then she could have the other one, only she had to wrap it up and open it on Christmas. It's so funny to see how their different personalities develop and see how different they are in so many things. Like they were also decorating cookie's with icing and sprinkles, Quaid quickly got the icing on then dumped a spoonful of sprinkle's on his cookie, then rubbed them in with the spoon. While he started eating his cookie, Bailey was still putting frosting on, then she took her spoonful of sprinkle's and put them on the plate, then she proceeded to individually pick them up one by one to put them on her cookie. Let's just say Quaid was finished eating his cookie when she finished decorating her's.


Santa arrived at 7, so we went outside to see him, even though Bailey doesn't like him at all!!! I managed to squeeze in behind the platform he was going to light the Christmas tree from, I was soo excited (like a kid...lol) Here he came down through the crowd of people, stands on the platform and turn's his back to us...ARGH, and he didn't turn around either, which was probably for the best because when Bailey saw him she started crying and just wanted to go home!!! After he lit the tree and headed inside, the girl with the microphone said to Bailey, "Do you want to say Merry Christmas", then she said it...sooo cute :)

Grand Prix Race

This was the first derby car race for the Horton boy's and they took it very seriously, well maybe not Quaid, but Johnny sure did. They worked on this car for an entire month!!! With a few minor setbacks they ended up getting it finished and on the track with hopes for 1st place. Quaid's Buckeye car ended up finishing 2nd place, so he got a trophy and was sooo excited!!!

Meanwhile Bailey and her little friend's made their own little car's out of boxes and watched the movie Cars while the race was going on...Bailey would NOT let me help her with her car, she's very particular about how she does things. It was a fun night for everyone!

Annual Christmas Parade

Every year we attend the Christmas Parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Last year we got there late and didn't get good seats, this year we found a great spot on the curb and set up our blanket to watch the parade. It wasn't too cold, but definitely should have brought an extra blanket, but when we were leaving Daddy said it wasn't too bad, it was like Spring..HAHAHA...well where we were going to watch the parade it was a little windy and a tad colder than at our house. We ended up watching most of the parade, even though it is probably the CHEESIEST parade EVER...lol Some of their costume's are so crazy, but the kid's could point them out and loved it, while we were in the background chuckling which one was the cheesiest :)

Bailey didn't like the LOUD firetrucks

See, told you they were cheezy...lol

This guy was pretty cool ;)

The cheeziest of all...lol

(Quaid and Bailey loved seeing Mickey and Minnie though, however they have NO CLUE that we're secretly taking a surprise vacation for my 30th Birthday in March to Disney to see the REAL Mickey and Minnie Mouse)