Making Nate's Sandwiches for the week...
Making Caramel popcorn....
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Trip to Michigan
I didn't take too many photos while in Michigan this year so these are what we captured on our cell phone. Here is Nate's grandma with Sammy. We went over for a visit to his grandparents house and Sammy loved it.
This is a house in Nate's grandparents basement. The kids loved to play in it.
Nate, his dad, and Uncle Marv went to hang out one day. They love Uncle Marv!
Our little dude...
We love that Sammy is our only boy and he is 100% full boy. It is so interesting to see him do things that the girls would never do. For starters, he loves to hang out with other dudes. He is really drawn to older guys as you can see below. We went to a chili place for dinner one night and while we were waiting, he hopped up on the bar stool with some other guys to watch the cook make the food.
. Happy bday to Gpa V!
Here he is with another one of his favorite dudes, Uncle Marvin. This is Nate's brother. We saw them over Christmas break in Michigan.
Sammy loves to go to naptime with Nate reading his truck books.
He also has a love for cherry tomatoes, olives and celery!
We went to a Tebow party and there were a ton of college dudes there eating a lot of hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. Sammy loved just sitting by them and hanging out. We get a kick out of it seeing his personality develop so differently than the girls.
Post Office Museum
My favorite Smithsonian Museum is the United States Post Office Museum. So we went on a trip there during Christmas break also. The museum is never crowded and is not too big so it is manageable in a few hours. The kids really enjoyed it also and learned a little about zip codes and mail fraud!
Here is the kids in the mail wagon. They learned that mailing the packages meant for a crowded wagon ride across the US because they would continue to add more and more packages.
Here they are practicing the zip code sorting system....
This is a large video room that they enjoyed rolling all over.
This is all sorts of mailboxes through the years...
Baxter the Library Dog
Another adventure we did during Christmas break was that we took the kids to see Baxter the library dog. Apparently kids are more apt to read to dogs than adults so our library puts on this program with a trained dog to encourage kids to read aloud. It did the trick with my kids. Baxter even put his head on Grace's lap. They really enjoyed it! Ellen brushed the dog and Sam fed the dog treats (Cheerios).
Josie's Yogurt
There is a new yogurt shop in town that I took the kids during Christmas break. It is not probiotic yogurt but more like TCBY. It was a reward for a new system that we have come up. Everytime the kids do something kind, obedient or out of the ordinary, they receive a ticket. Then they can redeem their tickets for various things like 20 tickets for a trip to the ice cream store, 5 tickets for a tv show, and so forth. They can also lose tickets.
Nate's birthday night out...
For Nate's birthday gift, he asked for a guy's night out at Texas De Brazil. It is a (delicious) all you can eat meat steakhouse. He invited his friend Brett and Sammy. Sammy kept up really well with the activities.
"Meat comma"
"Meat comma"
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Christmas Part 2
On Christmas Eve, we ate our subs (last year of that tradition - Subway is so bad on Christmas Even), went to church, and came home to leave out the cookies.
This is the girls at 7 am Christmas morning. They couldn't get out of their room until Nana and Papa arrived at 7 am. They were so excited!
This was how we spent Christmas morning relaxing. It was so nice to just be together as a family and take our time. Christmas was very energy zapping for me this year!! The kids had 11 days off of school, I didn't get out much to get gifts, my favorite things were left undone and we left for Michigan on the 27th after hosting dinner for my family and brother's family. Despite all of that, it was wonderful to be with my family, parents, brother Brian and family, and Nate's family. That quality time was better than in the past. I loved being with Brian and Alayna at the indoor pool the day after Christmas (tradition!), spending Christmas Eve with Nate assembling the big gift, and spending time with Nate's siblings who came over a lot to visit us in Michigan. The kids didn't notice less gifts AT ALL and I gave Nate the gift of a debt-free, no bills in January Christmas - the best kind! I was able to really relax in Michigan and nap a lot... thanks to my in-laws... so we are ready for the New YEAR!
This was the best and biggest gift. We got Ellen a new pink kitchen set. There is a great story behind it. I found it on a deal website for $13. I think it was mismarked. They kept delaying the order over and over. Finally I called the company and reordered it for the full price and asked for a price adjustment. They ended up canceling my original order, adjusting the price of the new one from $200+ to $13, and it arrived the week before Christmas. So fun!
Ellen with Sam's loot behind the couch.
This is the girls at 7 am Christmas morning. They couldn't get out of their room until Nana and Papa arrived at 7 am. They were so excited!
This was how we spent Christmas morning relaxing. It was so nice to just be together as a family and take our time. Christmas was very energy zapping for me this year!! The kids had 11 days off of school, I didn't get out much to get gifts, my favorite things were left undone and we left for Michigan on the 27th after hosting dinner for my family and brother's family. Despite all of that, it was wonderful to be with my family, parents, brother Brian and family, and Nate's family. That quality time was better than in the past. I loved being with Brian and Alayna at the indoor pool the day after Christmas (tradition!), spending Christmas Eve with Nate assembling the big gift, and spending time with Nate's siblings who came over a lot to visit us in Michigan. The kids didn't notice less gifts AT ALL and I gave Nate the gift of a debt-free, no bills in January Christmas - the best kind! I was able to really relax in Michigan and nap a lot... thanks to my in-laws... so we are ready for the New YEAR! 
This was the best and biggest gift. We got Ellen a new pink kitchen set. There is a great story behind it. I found it on a deal website for $13. I think it was mismarked. They kept delaying the order over and over. Finally I called the company and reordered it for the full price and asked for a price adjustment. They ended up canceling my original order, adjusting the price of the new one from $200+ to $13, and it arrived the week before Christmas. So fun!
Ellen with Sam's loot behind the couch.
December Part One
Happy Birthday Ellen, Daddy and Nana!
This is Grace and Rita's Christmas Concert at School. All the children have to wear Christmas dresses and boys must be in ties. It is just precious. This is her teacher who is just fabulous. Grace and her are a match made in heaven.
This is Rita at the concert with her classmate Nathan.
This is the Christmas luncheon in Grace's class. We made angel ornaments out of coffee filters. They are adorable keepsakes.
Santa came to our house again this year. It was pretty uneventful as all the kids were outside playing and I was the only one inside except for Ellen - who freaked out. When Sam came inside and saw him, he jumped on his lap like Santa was his old friend. Santa also brought them one gift each.
This is Grace and Rita's Christmas Concert at School. All the children have to wear Christmas dresses and boys must be in ties. It is just precious. This is her teacher who is just fabulous. Grace and her are a match made in heaven.
This is Rita at the concert with her classmate Nathan.
This is the Christmas luncheon in Grace's class. We made angel ornaments out of coffee filters. They are adorable keepsakes.
Santa came to our house again this year. It was pretty uneventful as all the kids were outside playing and I was the only one inside except for Ellen - who freaked out. When Sam came inside and saw him, he jumped on his lap like Santa was his old friend. Santa also brought them one gift each.
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