Christmas Break Update

We've finally recovered from the ickiness that had a hold of this house.  
We have since done the following:
Josh and Hudson played with their new remote control Jeeps on the icy road. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa B. for the great gifts!!



Our church had a drive through nativity story. They gave you a CD at the beginning of the drive and you listened to the Christmas Story while driving. Yes, that is a real camel. I felt bad for the actors and animals.  It was really quite cold.  It was almost too cold to roll down the window to snap a few pictures.  Aren't you glad that I froze the children in the back of the van to get a picture of the real camel?



We drove through Rochester to see the whole town covered in lights. This was the fanciest Subway I've ever seen.



Audrey sprinkled her Reindeer/Santa dust in the backyard to lead Santa right to our chimney. Don't tell my Mom that Audrey didn't wear her coat.




The kids wrote letters to Santa along with making him & the neighbors cookies. Santa wrote them back after eating the cookies!



Hudson received a new DS game from Santa. This was pretty much sums up his whole day.



The kids opened games from family in OK. We loved them. We then went over to my Aunt's for dinner. My cousin made butter molds. It was the fanciest butter I've ever seen. Far fancier than the Subway with lights!



We then went to a house in Royal Oak that had the MOST LIGHTS I've ever seen. You would think that I would find this house very fancy, but I did not. It was very bright and busy...not so fancy.



We are staying home for New Years.  It should be nice and quiet.  
Have a Happy New Year!

Have a Merry Christmas!!

In the past I have attempted to take pictures of the kids by the Christmas tree for our Christmas cards.  Every year this whole process leaves me sweaty and Josh very agitated.  Last year I thought I found the best alternative...pictures with Santa at the mall.  Until this year.  Marshall had a complete melt down!  I ended up having to use the picture I took of the kids right before Marshall thought he was placed in Satan's hands.


So let us stroll down memory lane to see what pictures did NOT end up on the Christmas cards.

Hudson, 2002



I have no idea what I did in 2003!  I can't find any Christmas pictures of that year.


Audrey and Hudson, 2004, not bad, but both kids look scared.  Thank you major retail store that also takes pictures!

Audrey and Hudson, 2004 (I had to share this one because it is so sweet)


Audrey and Hudson, 2005

Audrey, 2006

Audrey and Hudson, 2006 (really blurry, but notice Audrey's eyes)


Audrey and Hudson, 2007 (so goofy)
Hudson and Audrey, 2008 ("tilt your chins up a little," I probably said.)

Hudson, Marshall, and Audrey, 2009 (not really that bad)

Audrey, Hudson, and Marshall, 2010 (Marshall Meltdown)


I want to leave on a happy note/picture with no tears.  Have a very Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends that visit my little blog! I hope you have a great New Year!!

Back in the Saddle Again

Alright, I'm getting you all up to date with our Christmas activities.


So...the second weekend in December we went to Kalamazoo to visit my Dad, Stepmom, Jeremy, Nicole, Jack and Owen. We had a great time, but we always do when we are together.  Isn't my brother's family ADORABLE??



Back at home we are doing an advent calendar. You might remember this one we did last year. This year I made it a little more kid friendly. The kids decorated girl or boy gingerbread paper people. They wrote the numbers on each belly and we hung them up in the kitchen. In the morning (or whenever the kids reminded me) I would write the special activity that we do together that day on the ginger person's back.  I love #13 with his white undershirt and heart boxers.  Hudson colored the boys and Audrey decorated the girls.



In November and most of December I was busy sewing. Josh would come home to a house that looked like a disaster.  


He would ask, "Ummm...so what did you do today?" 
He meant to say, "Did you ONLY watch TV and eat bonbons all day...again?" 


I then have to show all of my sewing glory I finished that day while Marshall napped. Here is just a little preview of what I made. These are small zippered bags and clutches. They were for the teachers/helpers in the kid's classes.  Josh didn't believe that I actually made the bags, so I had to use my mad photoshopping skills to make a tag.  The teachers LOVED the gifts.  Of course, they may have been gushing about the Target gift card attached to the bag.  Either way they liked their Christmas gifts.


We did go to Coleman last weekend for Christmas with Josh's family.  I was feeling pretty lousy so I didn't even get my camera out.  You'll have to use your imagination for pictures of more family gathering around food and Christmas trees.  


I think that brings us back to this week.  The kids are home this week and next.  I wish it were a little warmer so I could kick them outside.  Hopefully, tomorrow.  


I still have some more sewing to do, but am only getting cookies baked and presents wrapped.  Wish me luck getting my "to do" list done with my rambunctious kids.

Hello...is anyone out there?

Hi.  I'm sorry friends and family for being absent so long.  I want to give you an update of what we've been up to.  This will be a pictorial review...you are welcome.

Right now we (three out of five) are SICK!  Cough, runny nose, and general yuckiness.  No pictures of that...again...you are welcome.

Thanksgiving we went to Kalamazoo for a few days.  We met up with Michelle, Rick, and Willow.  We had a great dinner!  We learned about Peppa Pig.  Very cute and can be found on You Tube.


We came home to put up our tree and decorations:



We took the kids to see Santa at Somerset Mall. Marshall hated the guy!!! Those pics will be on a different post.  When I tell Marshall to say cheese he closes his eyes.  He is going to be my clown.


The following weekend we went to Coldwater for my Mom's Christmas. We went out to see all of the holiday lights around town. Coldwater has a few homes that really like to shell out the big bucks for their energy bills.



I've got two more weekends of Christmas to share with you all. The posts should be happening more frequently because all of the out of town travel is over.

Furry Friend Friday!

Here is to a great Friday!
A great furry Friday!!
A great furry Friday filled with friends that hopefully aren't too furry!!
Have a great weekend everyone.

Random Stuff

Josh took the kids up to the "Dead Stream Swamp" where the Haller men go deer hunting every year.  They have to wade across the river to get to the camp site.  Hudson and Audrey were able to experience the walk in and the camp for a few hours (before opening day).



Josh and the kids also visited the new Coleman Veterans Memorial.  It is not quite done yet.



On a different note Hudson found a chore that he really likes!


On another different note we had the neighbor girls over to play and we busted out the puppet set Josh's Aunt made for Audrey. The girls had a great time with it!!




We have a slow weekend coming up then we will be ramping up for our December of Christmas extravaganzas.

Have a good one!

Friday Pictures

I had wanted to start putting one picture on here every Friday that sums up our week.  I realized that I hadn't put any pictures out here for a whole week.  Marshall hasn't been feeling well so I've been carrying, reading, and being his personal slave this week.  


I took these pictures on one of the beautiful days we've recently had here.  The boys created a BMX track in the backyard.  They really want bigger hills.  I'm glad we didn't have any more dirt for them to create the gigantic jump they want!






Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday

Inspired by SouleMama, this is something new I am starting to do on Fridays.  I am taking the liberty to add more than one photo and words if I want.  

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.



We are full of creativity right now and am working on lots of projects. Hope you have a GREAT weekend!!

Halloween and House Guest

We had a house guest that Josh and Audrey found in the garage.  Audrey named "her" Flower.  She lived in the plastic bug house on our kitchen table for 1 day.  Even though Josh and Audrey showered her with yummy treats like live spiders and slugs, Flower just didn't want to eat her treats.


After a long conversation about how Flower wanted to go free to find her own food, Audrey thought it was best to let her go.  So, through a lot of tears Audrey set Flower free in the bark chips in front of our house.  She loved Flower so much.


Our Halloween was a lot of fun! The kids had their Halloween parties at school, we went to "Trunk or Treating" at a local church, and then trick or treating!!

At Trunk or Treating they had a haunted maze AND haunted house.  Hudson felt as though he HAD to go to both. There was a rule that if the child is under 9 then a parent must go with them.  I had to follow my 8 year old son through the maze and house. Here is a sample of our dialogue:

"Hudson, we can turn back around if you want," I encouraged.
"No. This is cool," Hudson said.
"Are you sure?  We can totally turn around!"  I whimpered said.

I should mention at these points during our conversation I'm either sweating buckets or am imagining myself in my "happy place".  I hate being scared, I hate small spaces, and I hate strangers jumping out at me.  I did a lot of deep breathing to get through the maze and haunted house.   I was proud of myself for not screaming and deafening Hudson for life.

 You are welcome Hudson!


Trick or Treating (not so scary):




Hope you had a great Halloween: