Brave Girl

I'd been debating for a long time now.......well, Santa made the decision for me. He brought Ella a certificate to get her ears pierced!! And boy was she excited!! The timing wasn't very good on our part, because there was only going to be one person working when we went to have it done. Which meant she had to get pierced two times......knowing how much the second time was going to hurt!! (had there have been 2 girls working, they would have done the piercing together) But we know how tough Ella is, so we had faith that she would do great!! There were lots of tears, but no real crying. And of course we had chips and salsa at Bandito's right after, so that made it all better!! She's so proud of her earrings.......such a big girl. :}

Friday Fun

The kids take such pride in their school work, they feel the need to photograph it hanging on the fridge!! They really enjoy using their camera.....and they use it often!! :}

All these pictures were taken by either Evan or Ella......not too shabby!! :}

Photo Booth Fun!!

I may have created a monster......I showed the kids the photo booth on the computer a few weeks ago. Needless to say, they ask every night if we can take our pictures on the computer!! It is pretty fun though!!

Swimming with the fishes

Double Vision
Awe
no words.....

Christmas #2

Here we are at Joe's mom and dad for Christmas......once again we got a lot of great gifts as did the kids!! Lots of presents.....

Quite a crew! Patiently awaiting the gift opening ceremony!! lol
Getting closer......
Attacking Old Man!!
Go time!! :}
Evan with more Lego's......we've almost got ALL the cars Lego's at this point!
Mason trying to steal my snuggie........don't ask why I got a snuggie......complements of the brother-in-law!! :} I must admit though, it is quite nice.

Christmas Morning

Santa sure did treat the kids good this year......despite some naughty moments!! :}

These next few are from my mamma's Christmas.

~ Merry Christmas ~

Reflecting back on the year we've had, and I count my blessings!! Joe was able to take a new truck driving job with an incredible company. He was home every weekend and doing a job he completely loves!! I am still with the same Architect in Van Wert, which I love as well. It's close to home and the people I work for and with are such great people. Evan is in his second year at pre-school and is excelling at everything his teacher asks of him!! She said he will truly be missed next year when he goes to Kindergarden!! And Ella is in her first year at pre-school. She loves school (which was a blessing to Joe and I) and actually gets very upset if she's sick and cannot attend!! We were worried about her not liking school......that fear has gone!! :}

And just when the kids and I were 'hitting our groove' with Joe gone during the week and home on the weekends.......Joe got sick and was informed by DOT that he wouldn't be allowed to return to work for a minimum of 60 days from his first symptom free day......he'd already been off work 2 weeks at that point!! And of course this happened right at the beginning of Nov......so with Christmas looming, I was a little worried. Thank goodness for our Christmas Club! It's been an adjustment getting used to Joe being around again......but we're both very grateful that he's been around for the holidays. You're probably thinking I must be crazy for not being completely excited that Joe was going to be home for over 2 months......while I was excited, it was hard (for both of us) to get used to being around each other 24/7 again. But I'm always glad he's home and I know the kids LOVE having him here!!

And as we get ready for our last Christmas party today, I'm so grateful for my family. The kids are playing and enjoying all the new toys they got from Santa and from exchanges!! And I cherish the memories we're making!

Merry Christmas Everyone! And may your New Year be Blessed!!

A tradition of ours is to give the kids new pajama's on Christmas Eve before we head to Midnight Mass

They each got 4 new pairs.....we've been in need of new pj's for a while ;}
Getting way too big!!

Christmas #1

Christmas Eve we were up early to make it out the door for brunch at my mom and dads house.....and presents of course!! The kids got a lot of really great gifts, as did Joe and I. They are so excited to be home now opening everything and playing with all their new toys!! I must say, I really enjoyed the brunch foods that we had......something different from the norm, and I thought it was awesome!! Perhaps a new tradition....

And it's not Christmas without my moms homemade, best ever, coffeecake!! And yes folks, it's as good as it looks........

watch out......you're drooling!! lol
My mom and dads tree. For as long as I can remember my dad has brought a tree home from Pennsylvania when he goes there for hunting following Thanksgiving. Well this year, they were still in harvest, so no PA trip. So my mom got to experience the whole searching for a live tree thing.....needless to say, I think she's on the look for an artificial tree!! haha
Gift opening time......aka chaos!!
Ella and Ashlyn playing....
Ella and her bff......Autumn!! She couldn't hardly wait to see Autumn today!