Twas the Day (and Night) Before...

Twas TWO nights before Christmas and Katie woke with a fright - I mean a FEVER. A high one. AGH!! She had just finished antibiotics for strep exactly a week earlier, so the Dr. figured it didn't kill it all and just called in a RX for us. SO, Christmas Eve was a totally relaxing day by all...including Hershey.

We did stick with our tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve. No one felt too sick for that!! We decided this year to let them open their "big" gifts. That for one made it easier for us to get them put together/going before the big morning. Here is Kyle opening his...

An iPod Nano!! How fun!! He has wanted an iPod "with a screen" forever - and never dreamed it would be his gift this year. He loves it!!

And next comes Katie...Her gift was actually the "big" gift under the tree. She was so excited about the size. I did have to remind Kyle (but only once) that when you're 10, big things come in small packages.

A three story barbie house! Can't get much better than that when you're 7!!!

We had a lot of fun setting everything up on the Eve of Christmas.

I'll post more later of our big day today. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Katie's Prayer

So, I'm kinda new to this blogging - and so far, I haven't been very faithful. I have a ton of pictures from December to blog on. We'll see if that happens. I did want to post this one, though. Katie left this prayer out on the counter. I guess it's kind of like a letter to Santa, only this is a prayer to God. The thing is, it happened. We had some ice and snow and NO SCHOOL today. Just like she wanted. Now, what do we do the next time she decides to write a prayer about something she wants. Like a car....

Silver Dollar City

A couple of weeks ago, Kyle, Katie and I met my mom and her husband, Dale, and my cousin, John, and his family down in Branson. We had a great evening at Silver Dollar City, spent the night in a motel, and spent the next day back at Silver Dollar City. We then went back to John and Axi's and spent the night and headed home on Sunday. We had a wonderful time!!



I just had to slip this picture in. Kyle seemed so big to me this weekend. And here he is walking around with his gloves hanging out of his pockets. How cute is he! Aiden, Kyle and Katie at the big clubhouse climbing thing. It was cold - but they didn't seem to mind!

Katie and her cinnamon roll at the motel. Eating on the bed - such a treat!!

King of the bed!! Kyle and his cinnamon roll - all the way IN the bed and eating - does life get any better?!?!

Poppy Time!

When we were in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago, the kids got to spend time with their Poppy (Chris' dad)as well as their cousins. They all had a great time. Poppy is such fun - and a great sport. Here are all the kids ganging up on him with the leaves.

Chris was trying to get some pictures of Kyle and Katie with Poppy. I don't know who is more ornery - Poppy or the kids. But they were having a great time! They were all cracking up!! It's fun to see your kids laughing!
And finally a bit more serious and a cute picture. Here is Kyle, Katie, and Poppy Ron.

Bonfire

Every year my dad hosts a family bonfire. We went last weekend and had a great time! This was a rare year when we were missing only 3 people - my sister's husband, Ron and his son, Zach, and my brother-in-law's son, Andrew. Here are a few pictures showing a great time was had by all! This first one is of the grandkids eating there roasted hotdogs. Yum!

Below - cute family! John, Leslie and baby Marley.

Dad and Anita - the "hosts" of the event.

Introducing Ty Jacob!!!

Meet Ty Jacob - my newest nephew. Isn't he the CUTEST?!?! This past weekend we were able to travel to Arkansas to meet Ty in person - just 2 days after he was born! So Sweet!! We had a great time meeting Ty and visiting Kinley, Kaden and Jackson - oh yea, Becky and Gordon too.

This (above) is the first family picture with the new addition. What a crew! Cousins. Now, talk about a group! Whew! But they are all so sweet and so much fun!

Kyle enjoyed getting to hold Ty.

Katie was in her element holding her newest baby cousin. This is the smallest (and youngest) baby she has ever held.

Happy Halloween!!

We are never real creative when it comes to Halloween, and this year was not the exception. It is usually a few days before and I'll say, "Hey - what do you want to be?", and they'll answer something easy that we already have the stuff for. Kyle has always been either a football player or a hunter. This year KATIE was the football player. She was a cute football player!

Last week we happened to be at Deals and Kyle picked up this mask, put it on, and started doing the disco. I was cracking up! So, of course, I bought the mask. The hard part was deciding what to call it - so we decided to say he was a "funny old man". Hhhmmm...

Here is the cute couple! (and Hershey's tail sticking up in the middle) Edwardsville has the 3rd largest Halloween parade in the nation. Yes, you heard me right - our little Edwardsville. It is a "known" around here that everyone trick-or-treats on the 30th and goes to the parade on the 31st. The Little Tiger football players and cheerleaders are in the parade each year. It is a lot of fun. Parents get to walk with the kids and throw out the candy. That was fun!

TOUCHDOWN PASS!!!!

Kyle made his first touchdown pass today as quarterback. It was awesome!! Of course, I was yelling and jumping, so I didn't get pictures of the pass - but I got some of right after.

Fun game!!!

Riley (#6) is congratulating Kyle (#7). He was just hugging him. So cute!! But I was too slow to capture that! It's so sweet to see them excited for each other.

Dad congratulating Kyle and sending him out for kickoff return.

Kyle getting a pat of the back from Coach Kromer. These small gestures mean a lot to the kids!

Kyle is so proud! We are too! :)

Katie and the cheerleaders do such a great job cheering!

Katie and Kyle with their friends, Brandon and Taylor.

Brandon and Kyle.
Only one more game to go for this season. It has been so much fun!

Perfect Fall Day!!

We had one of the best fall days today!! Started out with Kyle's football game this morning. He kicked his first onside kick - and it was perfect! They recovered the ball!

Kyle also plays back up quarterback. (which means he doesn't get to play it a whole lot) But I got some good pictures of him as quarterback today.

I also got some pictures of Katie cheering - can't leave her out!!

We then came home and sat outside by the fire - s'mores and all!

Sorry - but I tried several times to get that picture turned and I can't! AGH!

So, here we are....

Here we are - part of the world of blogging. This is new to me. I decided to join this world after enjoying keeping up with friends through their blogs. This may not last long - we may not be interesting enough! But I'm giving it a try! We have had an exciting week. Kyle turned 10 years old yesterday! We had a fun party on Sunday - took 8 boys to play laser tag. I'll post some photos as I learn how. :)

Here is a picture of the group at Kyle's party Sunday. What a group!! As you can tell, it was a wild night, but we had a great time!

And here we are - Katie, me and Kyle - enjoying the party. If I remember correctly, this is taken just after I DOMINATED the first game!!