Vacation

Sorry it has been so long! With the holidays and then getting ready for vacation it has been a whirlwind start of 2010. To catch up on my life. The kids turned 4 on Christmas, we survived Christmas, and the new year. We had a new years get together with a few friends and lot of kids. Then we started getting ready for vacation. We had a great time. 9 days was a long time for kids to be away from their toys. We had great plane rides. Everything was on time! Miraculous. The kids did great Emily watched TV and slept while Zach even caught a short nap with Poppo. Once we arrived in the Happiest Place on Earth the fun began. Our cabin which we stayed in was great! I would highly recommend staying on one at Disney it had a full kitchen plenty of area outside for the kids to run and ride bikes and everything was within walking distance or they had a great transportation to anywhere with Disney. The kids loved the pool area. Even went down the BIG water slide. The parks were loads of fun. We did not even venture to Hollywood studios since there was not alot to do for the little ones. Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom were perfect. I will have to do another Blog on the Pirate League and Bibbity Bobbity Boutique oh my that was fun. Zach was not as adventurous as Em. Overall the Breakfast with Mickey was a hit and the fireworks and light parade were awesome, Seeing their faces light up when they saw Cinderella castle was wonderful and knowing that in 3 or 4 years when we return it will be a completely different experience. We had a great time! Here are just a few of the 1500 pics Dave took. Yes we have the most well documented vacation ever!

weekend update

Wow you can tell Christmas is coming! This weekend was full! Saturday we went and saw the Princess and the Frog. Cute. I'm sure we will be bombarded with Princess and the Frog while at Disney in January. Oh did I forget to tell you we are going to Disney. Yeah I'm a little excited to say the least. Honestly think I am more excited for Disney than Christmas this year! We also had the annual Church Christmas program. Yes we came away from the event with no funniest home video material. Thank you Jesus! Then it was a two hour play time outside in the snow with Daddy while mommy frantically cleaned. Then the big man himself paid a visit. I mean Santa of course. It was awesome. We invited our friends Kyle, Lisa and their two girls over to have dinner and incredibly Santa came to visit. The wonder on the kids face was amazing. I almost cried. I said almost! Zach was just adorable. As soon as he realized it was Santa he was right up there talking to him and showing him where to sit and was the first on his lap, but when the big moment came and he was asked what he wanted for Christmas you could hear the birds chirping. (that is if we were not in Michigan and it was cold outside and the all the birds have flown south for the winter) Zach was starstruck and could not answer. Needless to say that is what moms are for with a little reminder Zach asked for Buzz and Woody! Mission accomplished. Emily on the other hand was not as fond of Santa. She refused to sit on his lap and would only approach the man in the red suit with mom by her side. she would not answer Santa's questions so I had to fill in the what do you want for Christmas statement with a Princess radio. I must admit. This is a highlight of the holiday season for me. As a child Santa visited my house every year and we held court with the man in the red suit each year for 20 mins. It is honestly the one memory in my head when I think of the holidays. I only hope my kids cherish it as much as I do! Happy Holidays and let the countdown begin!

Snow , Snow and COLD

Ok we knew it was coming, the calendar said winter should be here, they have been forecasting it for a week but somewhere deep down I thought oh maybe we might avoid snow this year. Yeah right! We live in Michigan! As I was cooking dinner the other night complaining about the snow, the cold and the idiots who can not drive. ( Me not being one of course) Dave reminded me that we live in Michigan. My response was not by my choice! YOU brought me here. He then reminded me I could have ran 12 years ago. Oh well I must really love him. Along with the snow came the kids first snow day from school. It is tough to explain to an almost 4 year old why they dont have school when it snows. All day Zach or Emily was asking why dont we have school today. This was after the night before the threat of if you dont go to sleep you cant go to school. HMM there is a tough one for a parent to explain. There goes that threat out the window. So we baked cookies and played inside. I am hoping for a little warmer than 15 degrees one of these days so the kids can go outside and play in the snow for real! Until then make a cup of cocoa and enjoy the cold days and nights! January 20 can't come soon enough watch out Mickey here we come!

weekend update

Well Christmas time is upon us. That means lots of things going on. Lucky for us I really mean me I have finished the shopping, and decking the halls. Now it is just the wrapping ( which I hate to do) I just received an email today about a group that will wrap you gifts for a donation to the women's shelter I may become desperate! We will see. I'm almost done with cards so that will be another item off the list! We finally did get pictures taken see previous post. It was still a chore but done! We went with someone local and I will be doing that again. When we have the ones we like I will let you know. Lets see what else. The kids attended their first classmate birthday party. It was the little boy who we carpool with and it was at McDonald's. Just 5 kids so perfectly manageable. Of course I am now prepared for colds since they played on the germ invested playland. We went to another Christmas Parade over the weekend. It was different since the town celebrates with a Victorian Christmas. All the floats are pulled by horses and the highlight is the HUGE I mean HUGE at least three story Christmas Tree that is pulled by a team of horses and then lit at the end of the parade. Unique and very cool. They also had warm apple cider and roasted chestnuts. It helped that it was about 26 degrees and lightly snowing ahh just what you need to get in the spirit of things.
They are participating in the Church program this Sunday at church. OH boy I am praying for no funniest home videos starring my two kids. I think we are going to go see the Princess and the Frog with some friends this weekend and Santa may make an appearance at our house. Check back next week for pics. I mentioned that I called Santa to see if he could stop by. Emily said that was not necessary. She is kind of afraid of Santa this year. We will see how things go. Enjoy the Holidays!

Pictures.... I don't think so

Ok so last night we head to the big city to have the kids 4 year pictures taken. They did have school pictures done this year but I like to have a picture of them together around their birthday for the stairway to the upstairs. Well Obviously the picture studio where we went had other idea. I made the appointment thinking Monday night around dinner who would have their pics taken then. Well was I wrong. We were stuck waiting for 35 mins. Yes luckily I had snacks and coloring books. ( Pat myself on the back for the think ahead mom I am Ha- Ha this is a joke) ! So we waited and waited. Finally we were called back. The kids were uncooperative from the get go! Did not listen extremely whiney .... So the last straw was when the obviously inexperienced photographer tried to position the kids hands and heads realized that she did not have room on her digital camera card and left for what seemed like 5 mins. when she came back it was game over! I finally said forget it and stormed out. I honestly now looking back don't know if I was made at the kids (Yes) or the studio for making us wait so long (Yes) or the photographer for being so unhelpful (Yes) Needless to say I came to work today googled local photographers and have and appt with a local photographer on December 5th. Sometimes the extra money ways out the hassle and high blood pressure!

Time

Where has it gone? I ask my self that everyday. I realized today with the dawn of the holidays that time is marching on well not marching more like sprinting. I look at blogs almost everyday but have some how missed updating my own so here it goes. I have jumped feet first into facebook it has been great to catch up with some people from past. The kids have both been sick. I am not sure if it was the dreaded H1N1 or just a cold. They have both recovered and I am awaiting the next round of illness. I am sure it is coming. Zach has taken to making up words that he then calls you in a way that you think is derogatory. Kind of disturbing to be called a Kooki butt by an almost four year old. Emily is preparing for her first debut as a ballerina. Granted it is just a studio show but she is excited! To Emily all the world is a stage. Dave survived the season. We are into the quiet time. I can hear the crickets. Oh wait it is only 50 degrees no crickets here. Otherwise we are busy busy busy. Christmas shopping, Birthday shopping, school, dance, meetings, church, the list is neverending. I hope that over the holiday I will have the chance to stop and feel as though time is standing still for just a few minutes and enjoy the time spent with family.
Oh and a few pics to see Emily and Zach since I know you all love to check them out! :)

Time? Where has it gone?

Well I guess we have been busy! By looking at the dates I am way behind on updating. So what have the Crazy Life bunch been up to the last few weeks. Let's see the kids have both been sick, we saw a movie ( I took both kiddos by myself WHOO!) , visited the pumpkin patch, dog sat, ballet, school, swim class, taught Sunday school, shopped. Weee that is alot! The kids have both been fighting colds and that just makes everyone cranky! After this last round of sickness I think I am sold on the flu vaccines. I dont want to really have to deal with anything more than a cold or sore throat this year. We are hoping to get out and enjoy the fall colors this weekend and then it is on to sewing the costume to get it done before Halloween! I tell you the stress of being a mom! Take time to enjoy the beautiful fall weather that is forcasted this weekend!