Excuses, excuses!

Ok, long time no blog! I do have some worthy and unworthy excuses. Unworthy excuses are those such as ebay, facebook and just plain laziness! Here are my much more worthy excuses: Stomach flu nastiness, new January activities, and daily parenting/child issues!! You know, life happens and blogs suffer. What can you do? So I promise to get back to it soon. I actually had great intentions today for a cute post but my little man Paxton had other ideas of how I should spend my time (i.e. disciplining, etc.). So alas, I will start back again soon, promise. In the meantime you can enjoy these two cute blog posts about two special things that have happened to two of my great friends. The FIRST BLOG is about my friend Christie, but the blog is Ashely's. The next blog is my friend Emily's. Enjoy!

One New Year's Resolution Down . . .

. . . and many more to go! Actually we don't really make New Year's Resolutions in our family. Sure we like to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the year to come but in terms of actual resolutions, not so much. Anyway, so what's this post about then? Well on New Year's Day, Paxton's Aunt Jessica asked him what his New Year's Resolution was and he said in his four year old silliness "To go to the Cheesecake Factory!" (As if we actually go there more than once a year!) He has asked about it a couple of times and so last night on a cold yucky night we trekked down to the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy meal. I mean hey, you don't have to ask me twice to go there!! We really had a lot of fun and we figured anytime was a great time to fill our skinny kids up with some fattening cheesecake!

So back to the whole New Year's Resolution topic. I think while it is good to make resolutions, they are just so hard to stick to! I prefer, actually Josh and I prefer, to work on ourselves each and every day. Making one or two big resolutions or promises to yourself seems to be like tying a big boulder around your ankle and dragging it around until you have done that resolution! And seriously, to ask my dear sweet little Paxton to make a resolution for the year is another shot in the foot. I mean the kid was worried all through December about January because there are no big holidays this month! So, you could see where we wouldn't want to add any stress to a child who already holds us till our death to keep any promises or words we might have said!

Around here we just work on one day at a time-trying to make it better than the day before. And besides, when we make all these promises to ourselves about what we are or are not going to do, it makes it difficult to let God lead our lives and help us make daily choices according to His good and perfect will! And I must be honest in saying that I am a planner and a perfectionist and maybe adding one more "thing" to my list would send me over the top! So, not to bash any of you who made resolutions this year, they are in fact a good way to get going on the right track! But I think for this busy mom, taking it one day at a time is all I can hang on to right now!

All dressed up and ready to go out! How cute are they!??

Josh made endless fun of me for taking this picture! He said I looked like a big hillbilly from the mountains that didn't get out much! Man, the ridicule I suffer for my blog readers!

Oh heaven, oh bliss . . .

YUMMY!!!

Boys on one side, Girls on the other! We ALWAYS sit like this whenever we go out!

My Little Gymnast!

Ok, so we're not like an Olympic gymnast or anything but hey we like to have fun! Lorelei has been taking gymnastics for the past 6 months and she loves it! We go every week to a Mommy and me class. It has really helped Lorelei with some of her physical skills that she has been behind it. It's really an extension of her physical therapy. Anyway, I finally took my camera today for it to die halfway through the class. So you will get to see the pictures from the first half of class only. I will try to take it back sometime for the last part of class too.

We begin each week with stretching and songs. I think this is Lorelei's favorite part. She likes to "direct" the teacher and others as well during this time. The teacher told me one time that if she was ever sick, would Lorelei teach the class for her? Hmmm. . . I just don't know where she gets it from! Honestly, though Lorelei loves it and all her little friends in there too. They are all mostly younger than she is but skill wise and size wise, she fits well into the class.

After songs, we get on the tumble trek, which is like a very long trampoline. The kids jump down the trek into the pit. Ok, well Lorelei doesn't exactly jump, more like runs down it (we are still working on that part!) Then we move over to the preschool equipment. The kids do stuff like the balance beam, forward and backward rolls, hanging from the bars and mini trampoline jumps. Lorelei enjoys the activities where she is on the floor (hanging upside down and somersaults are not her thing) and that she can control.

At the end of class we do some parachute activities and then the kids get stamps. At the end, Lorelei goes around and hugs the teacher but also each parent too. What a hoot! She is just too cute with her lovin'! So here are the pictures. I am not too good at action shots, which of course most of gymnastics is, but here are some that I got before the good ole camera battery died. The video is of one the songs- I think she gets her shaking dance moves from her daddy!

Running around the parachute, smiling at everyone as she goes!

Doing the "candlestick"
Dancing to the music
Wagging her little doggie tale
Doing "Jack in the Box"
Running, oh, I mean jumping down the tumble trek
Chillin' in the pit!
Here I come through the obstacle course!

A Medieval New Years

On New Year's Eve we got to go to Medieval Times! What a blast! We have been wanting to go for a while now but just have never made it over there. So this year we decided, since they were having a great deal, we would take the kids and go. Josh got there early to get us some good seats and the kids and I joined him later. There was so much to do even before the actual show began. First, we got Paxton "knighted". They have this knighting ceremony and the person kneels before the king and wears a robe and they knight him. Oh man did he eat that up! He was way cute too! We also got to see a bird demonstration and other medieval festivities. Lorelei got a princess crown and of course Paxton got a yellow flag to cheer for our knight.

The show itself was very good as well as the food (if you don't mind eating with your fingers!). It was really great for our kids because they were entertained, they could eat and they could cheer and be as loud as they wanted! They did great for the whole two hour show. Paxton of course got really into it and loved all the jousting and sword fights. Lorelei enjoyed the princess in the show and the dancing horses. It really was a great time and well worth it! We think this might become our new tradition on New Year's Eve. We were home by 8:00 and the kids were in bed by 8:15- perfect New Year's! They have a show there for the late night partiers on New Year's Eve too, I think it lasts till like 2:00 in the morning-not something we're up for yet!

I wish I had more space on my camera to take more pictures but here are the cute ones we got!

The picture that he got from Medieval Times and below is the certificate. (Please excuse my poor scanning skills!)

Our Little Prince and Princess!

Paxton standing with the guard of the dungeon. You could pay extra to go down to the dungeon but when Paxton asked what a dungeon was, we figured what he doesn't know won't hurt him!

We ran into our good friends at Medieval Times. Here is Lorelei and Knight Wade!

Not a great inside picture of the show but you get the point.

Some Leftovers

I can't believe it is the last day of December, much less, the last day of the year! I figured that I better post any last pictures from the holidays that I still have hanging around on the camera. A few days before Christmas we went to a Christmas festival that we have attended every year. Much to Lorelei's delight they had a Snow Princess there! She was most excited to see her and wanted to follow her around the whole evening. Unfortunately, we were too exhausted to stay around until the end to see the Snow Princess fly into the air and make it snow! Sounds really cool but 9:30 is just a little late for us sometimes. Anyway, we got to ride the Christmas carolling train, see a cute Christmas show (the kids loved this one because they both got pulled from the audience to participate!), and we got to watch a parade. I was surprised to see my good friend Ashely there with her family and adorable little Noah. Since Ashley lives out of state, it was so neat to run into her there. So here are the leftovers from our Christmas season.

Hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season and have a safe and happy New Years! We plan on having a little New Year's Eve and New Year's Day fun ourselves (more on that to come!)

Daddy helping Paxton and Lorelei decorate cookies at the Snow Princess' tent.

Yummy! Nothing like giving your kids a cookies with a ton of icing and sprinkles right before dinner!

The Snow Princess. As I examine this picture I see that Lorelei has a good grip on the Princess' wand! She may fight you for that one!

Standing like a soldier- my big man Pax!

At night, they had tons of lights on every spec of the place. The kids loved it! Lorelei kept saying "Look, it's Christmas!"

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Ok, I know Christmas was a couple of days ago but I am just now catching up! We had a wonderful Christmas day with our kids. Of course Paxton pretty much gets it and Lorelei understands some of it. They woke up bright and early on Christmas and turned on the lights to see if Santa had eaten the cookies we made. (They couldn't really tell from upstairs but they were still excited!) Paxton and Lorelei dragged us out of bed and we went downstairs to see what Santa had brought! Paxton got Power Rangers, a scooter, Lego's, a fireball race track, Monsters Inc. DVD and some other toys. Lorelei got a Princess tricycle (yes, she is young but her therapist recommended this for strengthening), Playdoh activity table, a Princess changing set, two DVDs and some other toys as well. Lorelei loves her tricycle and Paxton is learning how to do his scooter (it is a Razor so it takes some practice for balancing).


After Christmas morning at our house we headed up my parents house for some gift exchanging. We handed out all the presents and it was so hard for the little ones to wait their turn as we went around the circle of people. The kids of course got some more fun things! Paxton got a Spider Man-web shooter, a cash register, a globe, books, clothes and some other neat things. Lorelei got a Belle tea party set, a huge doll set (where you can change their clothes, etc.), a Dora TV phone, books, clothes and more neat things. Later in the day my brother and sister in law came with the boys. Paxton and Luke had such fun playing outside together. It was unseasonably warm but it was so nice for the boys to run off some energy.


Mom cooked an awesome lunch and we just had a super time visiting and being with the whole family! The kids enjoyed it all but by the end of the day they were wiped out and so were this mommy and daddy! Since Christmas, Paxton and Lorelei love playing with their new toys. Get this, this morning we got to stay in bed until 8:45!!! Unheard of in this household!! The kids got up early and came in to our room every so often but they were so enthralled with their new toys that they didn't notice us still in bed! AHHH, so very very nice! I know it won't last so we are eating it up while we can!

Waiting at the top of the steps for the "go ahead!"

Paxton checking out his new stuff!

Lorelei's digging her new bike!

All smiles on this Christmas morning: Grandmama, Paxton and Grandaddy

Lorelei's checking out her new Dora TV phone

Look Out!! It's Spiderman . . .

and his web shooter!

Paxton in his new helmet (which by the way is still too small! Santa brought him this new one for ages 5-8! What in the world?!! ) and new Razor scooter!

Lorelei loves her new Princess tricycle. Mama loves it too! It has a seat belt and a handle in the back so I can help her steer!

Lala and Granny. Granny is finally home from the hospital and rehab place. We were so thankful to have her with us to celebrate Christmas!

Josh and our nephew Micah! We got some good baby loving on Micah on Christmas day!

The cousin pics again! They are all holding their stockings that hang at my parents house.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!