2nd Annual "making it simple and fun" Christmas Eve!
(sit back, relax...this is a doooosie)

Did dinner and a movie again for Christmas Eve! It was so great! The kids loved it, and so did us big kids! We went to see Bolt. In 3d! It was such a cute show! Laughed out loud. Got my new word from this movie....Ridonculous!! Love it! So glad Aunt Nettie and M could join us. Missed Joe though and Nat and Aurora and Dad and Denise and Tim and Sarah and Timmy...miss anybody? Good times still....looking forward to next year!!


So stylin in our 3d glasses!!
Not a bad lookin couple if I do say so myself!!


Me want some pie!!! After the movie we went to The Pie for some pizza. Bek and Gav kept saying to BB we were going to the Pie to eat, and he kept saying, but I dont like pie. He was getting kinda mad too! Hilarious!!
Missed you Nat and Nettie!!
Waiting for the pizzas!!! The GINORMOUS pizzas! It was ridonculous how big they were!!!
Me and G! He is so cool! We really love him! Way to go Stef!!!
We got these books for Christmas this year, so we decided to read them as a family before the kiddies went to bed. It was fun! Gotta read Twas The Night Before Christmas....
The reading of the book. You always end up, all of you on Mom and Dads bed...Good times!! Actually, anybody who knows me, knows that I am screaming in my head cause we are sitting on a made bed....MY made bed!! Its ok...there are exceptions right....right?
Me and almost all my girls....Ah...there we go! E's out from behind the camera!!

My Boys!! Live long and prosper...
Of course...have to all sleep in the same room. Took them FOREVER to go to sleep!!! Ah...to be a child!Just wanted to say a special, BIG thank you to Stef and Garrick. They arranged the movie, paid for all the kids tickets AND....paid for dinner for all of us! So very generous of you! Thank you so much!! You 2 are the best!!! Love you!!!

School Christmas Concert!!!!

I love my ES! That is her little boy BFF next to her. They are so cute together. My battery died a few minutes after I started filming her. I was so sad I didnt get it all....so was ES:(AJ is behind E to the left.

Im so glad I wore my pretty dress...

Time for R's first Christmas dance recital!! She was so excited. They were measured and fitted for their cute little dresses. R couldnt wait to wear hers. I had been really sick the 2 days before this and still was, but its all about your kids right....? They are sooo worth it!!

Getting ready for the recital. It was a family event. All the kids were there giving R moral support while she was getting ready. E was the photographer.

Few last curls...
Now for the makeup. She loved this part. She said, "Mama, you have to make me look pretty." Oh ....I did!
All done...so pretty!
Waiting to go on stage. R and her little cousin, who she calls her girlfriend! They told me to make her makeup darker after we got there, so I did. Gave her garage doors is what I did. Hilarious!!
R with her teacher and her cute little class! Her teacher had just had knee surgery, so wasnt able to dance with them. The tall girl to the left did.
R with her little cousin after their performance!! They were so excited!!! They did so great! Too adorable!
After the lower group was done, Santa came! So exciting!!

Waiting to go on....This pic is out of order. Oh well! A sat down by Stef and G and says to them...'This is so not my thing.' Later he said he felt sorry for the boys who were dancing. Had to tell him, some boys like it and thats ok. Funny Boy!!R's little Christmas dance. You cant see her very well though. I should have zoomed in more. She is the 2nd from the left.

Im Thankful I got the smallest piece of meat loaf......

Our Thanksgiving Day!! Look at that feast! We had T-day at my house this year. It was very low key, and we loved that!! Just mine and Beks families, Natalie and the in laws. It was Great!! Missed Stef and G big time!!


Me want pie!!! Yum, Yum. So we started making pies at 10pm the night before, and were watching The Office at the same time. We were tired, distracted and laughing so hard, Im surprised the pies turned out as good as they did.
Just getting things going....
We are missing the "special one." Love ya Stef!!!

Uh....not quite sure what we were doing or thinking in this picture! But it sure looks like we're concentrating hard...whatever it is?
Just chillin! Have it backwards though...this was before dinner....
When did she get so big!!!? Shes beautiful!!
Love my ES!!!
Kids table rules!!! 8 and under!!They loved the glasses! All during dinner they were toasting. We would here...'heres to familyship, heres to Kirkship, Thanksgivingship.' I think they said friendship first, then put ship on the end of everything. It was funny!
You know we had good time that night!!! Good thing no one was driving home...haha! We drank all but 3. The kids love that stuff!!! Had to put a limit on the drinks!!!
Oh how I love that Hubby of mine!!!
This gril was Natalie's little shadow all weekend. They would put makeup on together...adorable!!
Shes actually looking and sort of smiling AT the camera!!! Love, love, love her!!!
Had Kirks parents over. This is the year of rest for Kirks mom. She sooo deserves it!!!

Nerd Alert!!

Kirk and I have found a past time we can both enjoy. Being RSL Soccer fans!!! Saturday for our date night, we had tickets to the first playoff game for RSL!! It was such an awesome, intense game, and RSL won!!! YIPEE!!! They scored the only goal of the game in the 90th minute....are you kidding me!!! Exactly what they did in the previous game. We were dying!! Kirk had yelled so much, he was hoarse by the end of the game. RSL dominated the whole game!!! When Kirk was on his way to Illinois back in Sept, he ran into the team at the airport and got their autographs. So cool!!! This is our attire for all the games!!! We love RSL!!!!

All Hallows Eve....

The day started early with getting the kids up and in costumes and off to school. Thank goodness Kirk got the day off and was there to help me. That was so nice!!! The kids were excited to wear their costumes to school. They are all playing their parts well! Bek and I started a new tradition this year for Halloween. We get bored sitting at home alone passing out candy, so we decided we would trades houses every year for Halloween. This year we had it at my house. Bek brought over all her stuff, the kids got ready at my house, Bek and I made a yummy 2 soup dinner(we always felt bad grabbing fast food) fed everyone, sent them out the door with the hubbies, and passed out candy together. It was a great idea and a lot of fun! It is for sure crazy, but that is half the fun right!!? Didnt take to long for everyone to figure out where Gav and Beks family was. All in all, it was a great night! The weather could not have been better, and the kids, of course, made a haul!!
Blurry...I hate blurry. Finally get R to actually look and smile at the camera at the same time, and its blurry....ahhhh...
Front
Back...he loved this contraption!
A and IB.
AJ was death. Death was bored waiting to go.
The 4 year olds ready to hit the streets!!Thats BB in the green Power Ranger costume. The whole time Gav was getting him dressed, this kid was humming his own theme music. He was in the zone too. It was hilarious!!!
Gav and JC...diggin the shoes with the fatigues(sp?) JC!!! Gav in his Ghostbuster costume, minus the pack. Hes pretty easy to spot in the dark!

Oh Mr. Jack-o-lantern....

Time to do some carving! Actually had E and A draw and carve their own pumpkins this year. They loved it and did a great job! I am the official guts scooper outer. Im pretty anal about how well they are cleaned out...gotta get it all out man!! I love doing things as a family! Our kids are just so pleasant!!!


Yes everyone....that is Kirk in the pic. He was actually home when we carved pumpkins. We could not remember the last time he was home when we have carved. It was so great!!!! I wasnt exhausted when we were all done. Forgot what it is like to have help, and it was nice just having him there. Heres to next year and Kirk being there.....fingers crossed!!!
The final product the next day. R's was leaking something that was pretty gross. With how warm it was, the pumpkins barely held on. By Halloween night, the insides were just a pool of mushy goo.....that I had to stick my hand in.....yak!!!