Christmas Snow!

We had plenty of snow this Christmas.
(The snow on our patio table)


Today the kids had a chance to get out in it. Not for too long, though.. with wind chill it was only 16 degrees. Under all their clothes, you'd never know it.. I had them very bundled up! Although their little hands got cold fast so we rolled some snowballs and went down the slide a few times and came in for a warm bath, hot lunches and relaxation under Mommy's heated blanket. Enjoy the videos!



Like how Evan falls off the slide at the top? LOL

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve!
Today the kids and I had a festive day at home. We started the day off with a lovely breakfast from McDonald's! (Mommy's favorite! And the kids love their hotcakes and sausage, too!)
Joe got off work early in the afternoon and helped us make a Christmas Village.
We used coconut for the snow, sugar cones covered in green icing for the trees.. every type of candy you could think of and colored marshmallows for the decorations.. and we made another gingerbread house. We even made a pond with blue tinted icing and put goldfish crackers in it for the snow man cookie to fish for!
The kids decorated cookies for Santa as well.






We all opened our gifts to each other.. Mommy got a nice heated blanket, (I'm always cold!) Daddy got a portable cd player from Mommy and warm cozy slippers from Evie and Evan. Evie got her very first scooter! She loved it and learned how to use it very quickly! She was all over the house tonight!


Daddy got some awesome video!



And Evan got his first drum-set! You'd think he had been playing for years the way he picked up those sticks and hit each indivdual drum with such rhythm!


Daddy got some rockin' video!



Both kids are in bed for the night awaiting Santa's visit! Happy Holidays!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 2009

Christmas is on it's way!

Hello friends and family!
With Christmas coming, I thought I'd share some pictures of Evie's holiday party from school. She's oficially out for two weeks!




And some of her closest friends!



And here she is with Evan in the "Christmas Train" that we made and they decorated from boxes. What sweetie pies!

My cutie!

Just a couple of cute pics of my boy.
This is Evan reading in his crib... (his favorite pasttime is looking at books!)
He LOVES letters, numbers, colors and shapes!




And here he is playing with buddy, Nathan! How sweet!

Gingerbread House in the making!

The kids and I did our annual gingerbread house and it turned out cute!! This year Evan participated and did a wonderful job! Keep in mind.. they were eating stuff off of the house before I took that picture.. the front was way prettier!

Evie: "Don't let Evan help! He'll just throw stuff on there!"

Here's What Evan's side looked like almost before Evie even got started with her side.. very well planned out and he wasted no time.. this was done entirely by a 2 year old.. I was impressed!


Turns out Evie was impressed, too. She scurried as fast as she could once she saw him decorating to get all of the good stuff for her side! LOL

Her side of the house


It was great to see them working together on this project and for Evan to actually get it was amazing!




Happy Holidays Everyone!

Let's Luau!

It's cold and rainy outside!!
What do you expect for the end of November?! The kids and I were bored so we had a "dance party luau!" Although Evie chose all michael Jackson music. LOL
Here they are sportin' their leis!

Evie broke a toe!

Poor Evie!
She was doing some taeqwondo moves in the kitchen last night and was just a little too close to the refrigerator. She broke and dislocated her left pinky toe. We debated on whether to take her to the E.R. or wait until the morning thinking that the swelling might go down and it might be fine the next day. The way her toe was hanging to the side, I knew it was broken.. so I took her in right away.


They took xrays and confirmed that it was broken and dislocated. They tried to numb her toes with a super long needle and Evie kicked and screamed for her life. The stabbed her several times but were unsuccessful at getting the medicine into the foot to numb her. So they tried to re set the toe anyway. Complete agony for Evie. She describes the feeling as being, "killed" and being afraid that she might never see us again. They said that she'd haveto see an orthopedic surgeon within 48 hours to possibly have surgery complete with a pin. I called this morning to have that done and the surgeon didn't have any appointments for 2 weeks... Hmmmm.. I'm thinking... "48 hours versus 2 weeks" That wasn't gonna work for us.
I pleaded with the hospital to find me someone and they came through! They sent us to a wonderful podiatrist in Champaign. The man is a genius! He basically had to do the same thing that they did in the E.R. but he got the needle in right the first time and pumped her full of meds this time on the top AND bottom of her toes... Yes, she still screamed bloody murder but it was faster and she was certainly numb this time! Then she was able to sit up and watch what he was doing to her toe.. which was morbid but it didn't hurt! Last night, they did all that crap while she felt it! I feel so bad for her!
Here's the after pic.. you can see that she is plenty bruised but the toe is back in line.


We have to tape the two last toes together daily and she has to wear a boot to all the time unless bathing or sleeping. She says she's ready to go back to school tomorrow so I'm gonna let her try it!

We'll see how sore she is tomorrow!

The Spaceman himself!

So we had the chance to see KISS again last weekend...which was amazing... but we were very fortunate to get to see ACE FREHLEY at our local club here in Champiagn!
It was quite the spectacle for Joe and I since we have both idolized the man since childhood. Never in my life could I have imagined seeing him up close and personal on a small stage without KISS...


Ace's signature song, in my opinion..
SHOCK ME!


And Ace's closing number..COLD GIN! Another classic!


Still in awe.....

You Wanted The Best, You Got the Best!

The HOTTEST Band in the WORLD.... KISS!

Hey all! November 6th was the KISS concert in Chicago. Joe and I went along with Stephen and Catherine and we had a blast! Buckcherry was the opening act.. fantastic! And KISS never fails to amaze me with their spectacular show! Be sure to read through this entry and pics to see the videos that I took! (If you have high speed)

We stayed at the Fairmount Chicago and it was sooooo nice! Our view from the 12th floor was astounding! We were in the middle of the city but could also see Lake Michigan wonderfully!
Here are pics of us checking into the hotel and our walk through the city to eat.
Thanks Katie for the pics!






Here we are waiting for the show to begin..





Here's a pic of the stage taken by my camera phone and a picture of Paul Stanley from the little stage close to us..




And here are a couple of awesome viseos that I took..
the first is the opening.. NOT TO BE MISSED!


And this is of course "Rock and Roll All Night Party Every Day". This video is complete with confetti and a good span of the crowd so that you can see how sold out it was!

Happy Halloween! 2009

Happy Halloween all! I'm writing this on Halloween night.. after trick or treating and the kids have gone to bed. I'm actually quite amazed that Evan went to bed as well as he did at 7:45 tonight. He and Joe stayed at home to pass out candy to our trick or treaters while Evie and I went out with Jess, her kids and family. Evie and I had a great time and she got plenty of candy... it was VERY cold but she never complained. Tonight, we was a "Night Fairy"... (notice the black wings) Evan was Count Dracula.... and could not have been cuter. When Evie and I got home, Evan was twirling in the living room with a sucker ni his mouth and with his eyes sqeezed shut tightly so that his tummy would tickle. Joe said he had been twirling like that for at least a half hour. Yeah... he was on a sugar high. He kept stealing suckers out of the bucket when Daddy would go to the door to hand out candy. Sneaky little guy! Here are the kids with our Jack-o'-lanterns. Evie carved the first and fourth ones while I carved the other two. They looked great the first two days.. but the japanese beetles swarmed to them.. and flies!!! This year, we have had a multitude of creepy bugs!!! Then it rained... and rained... and rained for days and nights on end. The pumpkins were filled with water and looked disgusting by tonight, so we didn't light them. That was a bummer.

And another... they just looked so proud and had too much fun that I had to snap another picture! Here's what they looked like lit up! Ooohhh.. spoooky!
A few nights ago, our mall had their Trick or treating. Stores stand at their doors with candy throughout, however many stores didn't participate this year. No big deal.. the kids still had a blast playing games and getting whatever candy they did get.. and it was a madhouse of people, as usual. Did I mention that Evan loves suckers?
Evie and Brooklyn were brave enough to go into the haunted house with Jess and I.. and vowed to NEVER go into another haunted house again. That didn't go so well..
She shoots, she scores!!!! Evie actually made a basket on this throw!!!! The lady in yellow back there to the right took a bunch of pictures of Evie playing games.. wonder if we'll see Evie in a newspaper or the Champaign Park District's "Funformation guide" next year.
Downing a clown.. she was quite good at the games this year.
Yesterday, Evie had her school parade and Halloween Party. These two are Evie's teachers... I thought they were too hilarious not to post.
Here I am assisting Evie and her group in making a mummy.. He tore it all off seconds later...
Evie was Sacajewea for her storybook parade. (And for the mall event) No.. she is not Pocahantas... no.. she's not a little Indian Girl... she's Sacajewea. Thank You. And while Evie was at school yesterday, Evan's friend, Nathan came over for the morning to play. Here they are having breakfast and cracking each other up. I love it!

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween Holiday! On to the next one.....