Christmas - Part 1

We had a wonderful Christmas! Santa and family brought plenty of deer hunting games, baby dolls, and toys for the kids, and we ate, drank and were merry. Sunday was filled with playing and football, and now we are looking forward to doing it all over again. Thanks to our family members for making this the best Christmas yet!

Our 2010 Christmas Tree - this is the first year that we cut down our own tree.

Waiting patiently at the top of the stairs.

Just one picture before you rip and tear!

The best gift of all ~ a child, real or fake.

The Kiddie Table

Master Buck Hunter

Handy Mandy (as she refers to her beloved problem solver)

Little Mama!

Happy New Year to all!

Happy Snappy Christmas

My husband loves Christmas. He loves getting a tree. He loves spending way too much on gifts for the kids. He loves eating dinners and cookies and fudge and homemade salsa. He does not love that I force our children to pose for pictures that I can use for our cards and pass out as holiday gifts. It drives him crazy when I reach for the camera and attempt to get them to smile, a nice normal smile, not a "cheese" smile. Maybe next year we will go see a professional. Until then, enjoy some snaps that will not be coming to a mailbox near you.

Yes, his hand is down his pants. I don't know why. Probably because he thought it was funny. Kyle thought this should be the one in the frame. Why are boys so weird??

Thankful

Of course I'm extremely thankful for my beautiful children, my wonderful husband, my great family and friends, my cozy safe home, and my health, but there are some other little things that I'm feeling thankful for this year.

1. The Chiefs are in 1st place in the AFC West. (what? Yeah, that's right.)
2. The Eagles are in 1st place in the NFC East. (can anyone say "home playoff games!")
3. The efficiency in which HACC operates on all levels. Applying, registering for classes, evaluating transcripts, getting a photo ID, meeting with an advisor, parking; all cake. So much different from the crap I dealt with at CCP.
4. The fact that I am almost done Christmas shopping already and I just started. Scaling back to mainly focus on your children is a wonderful idea.
5. Friends letting us crash at their places so we can take a little trip to NYC without breaking the bank.
6. Keira going to karate with Kyle and giving Liam and I quiet Monday evenings together.
7. Little surprises in the mail for Liam from a special someone.
8. Having venison in my freezer for my cooking pleasure.
9. The first two seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on DVD. "Rock, Flag, and Eagle!"
10. And today, Kids Korner, because it is gonna rain but I need to get these kids out of the house!

Antlered Redemption

Hours and hours of sitting in the woods, the one that got away, and finally, the payoff!! Congratulations Kyle on your first buck!! Can you tell how excited Liam was??

Halloween Redemption

So, we're not really big Halloween people. We dress up the kids, usually something homemade that I concoct, carve a few pumpkins and go trick-or-treating. We don't dress up ourselves (since the drunken college party days), or put webs and lights all around the house. What was soooo nice about Halloween this year is that it came and went without much fanfare and now it's over and my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is on the horizon. Last year's Halloween was the worst ever! A very sick me the week before equalled some very sick kids during the holiday. School parties were skipped, the ER was visited, trick-or-treating was very short and pictures show that my kids could have gone as zombies without much costuming. This year I am thankful for healthy little monsters!!

(2010 - The hunter and the lamb)

All About the Birthday Girl

I know I just did a post about Keira but she has to be the headliner of this entry because she just turned the amazing, wonderful, beautiful and gosh-darn awesome age of two! Stats as follows: height 34 inches, weight 25.5 pounds, shots injected, tears cried, blood drawn, no tears, all labs normal, now speaking in full sentences, and all out hilarious.

We had lunch at Hoss's on her birthday with Nannie, Great-Grandma, and Aunt Jackie. She loved it! We also went to the York Fair so they could enjoy some rides. On Sunday she celebrated again with the rest of the family and, of course, the Eagles. I can't believe she is not a baby anymore. As you can see below, she is growing into quite the little princess!

Birthday Suit

When I was pregnant with Keira and we were trying to come up with a girl's name, Kyle shot down many of my suggestions for sounding too much like "stripper names". Not Bambi or Buffy or Britney or even Kendra. We're talking nice names like Julia, Laila, Sophie and Sloane. I think any name he could picture on a hot girl was out. It took months and a few sleepless nights on my part, to finally agree on a name we both loved. Because, I didn't care what he thought, I wasn't naming my daughter Madison, no way, no how.

We now know that names do not matter. The desire to "take it all off" is something you're born with, it's in your blood. Keira will strip any chance she gets and proceed to dance around declaring, "I naaaaked! I naaaked!" She also likes to sing the Eagles Fight Song while disrobed. I don't even want to picture her at future Philly tailgates. Kyle is in for a long 20+ years.

*Please do not be offended if your name is Bambi, Buffy, Britney, Kendra, or even Madison. They are lovely names. I'm sure many people do not like our names. We are okay with that.

Summer Wrap-Up

We decided to stop being lazy and end this summer with a bang! The kids hung in there like trooper for Eagles games, amusements parks, a zoo and of course more swimming.

Goodbye, summer of 2010! It was a blast and we can't wait to see what good times the fall will bring!

We're Still Here

This summer has been unlike many we have experienced in the past. We did the unthinkable and managed to schedule next to nothing after our beach trip. Which means a lot of weekends at home, playing and swimming and being together, unstressed and happy.

There was a Dave concert I sneaked (snuck?, whatever) away for on a Friday night with my girlies, A laid back cook out with some great friends on a sultry Saturday night,

And a need for speed on a beautiful Sunday with the fam,

but there were also weekends that we went nowhere but Blockbuster or Target for some dive rings. It's Kyle's dream summer. We will be going to the Eagles first preseason game next Friday and then hanging in Philly with the Diskins on Saturday so I promise there will be more pictures of the kids coming soon! Enjoy the beautiful weather and your families today!