Cookies

Isabella's post about the Girl Scout Cookies made me want a cookie. After dinner this evening (burritos) we gave the kids their baths, the little ones, not Lexi. Then we loaded everyone up and took a drive to Fuddruckers. John ran in and bought us each a cookie.

Colby had a sugar cookie, I think. It was plain white, so I'm assuming. Chloe, Sam and John all had the chocolate chip. Me and Lexi chose the best ones, the oatmeal raisin. They make the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had. I love them!

It was a nice little after dinner treat (yes, I know, most would call that dessert). One that I would have no problem repeating in the near future!

What do you have for your after dinner treats?

More of Christmas

I'll start with the Christmas Eve jammies. They weren't Christmas themed this year. I had a hard time finding pj's for the kids. Lexi's were probably too skimpy (especially for winter time) and Chloe's will probably fit her better next Christmas. Colby loved his though. We call them his man jammies.

So, here's the kids in the hallway waiting to come out to see what Santa left for them. Notice Colby on the ground crying. He perked right out of it when he saw his car.

The aftermath of it all. It didn't take long for Lexi to lay on the ground. Next thing you know Sammy was laying under the table. Colby was still happy in his car. I'm not sure where Chloe was. I even looked through the pictures and didn't see her in any. I know she was there, all of her gifts were opened :)

Here's a closer shot of Chloe's cute baby doll. It's blurry, darn camera ~ couldn't be the photographer, has to be the camera!

Santa came to our house!

Guess my kiddos were on the nice list this year. We have these elves that I've bought over the years. They are the cutest elves ever made & yes, I'm happy to say that I am the proud owner of four of them. We have a little story about Santa and the elves.

When Santa arrives at our house, he sprinkles some magic dust. The magic dust makes the elves come to life while Santa is there. They tell him whether or not the kids made it on the nice list and they let Santa know what the kids want him to leave them. They will know if the elves come to life or not. In the morning when they wake up, if the elves talked to Santa, then they always are in a different spot.

This year, when the kids woke up, the elves were sitting on the couch, each holding one of the kids stockings. Their stockings were filled with the normal goodies: candy, little toys, toothbrushes and of course makeup for Lexi. The kids all went through their stockings before wanting to open their presents. The kids all received a stuffed puppy alongside their stockings. I'm pretty sure Santa got a super good deal on them from the Hallmark store, probably only paying $1.50 each :)

Santa left each of them an unwrapped gift also. They each were happy to see what he brought. Lexi got a camera and a scarf, Sammy the bike and helmet he had asked for, Chloe the cutest baby doll in a crib with a highchair and Colby a Little Tykes car.

Tomorrow I'll fill you on their reactions and post some pictures of the kids. But, for now, I'm off to try to win some more prizes online!

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Let's play catch

Catch up that is!

School is out for all of the kids.
Sam graduated from tot time.
Lexi is now a Sophomore (and very proud of that fact).
Colby has had another set of ear infections that didn't quite clear up with the first medicine prescribed, so, I got to take him back into the doctors for something different. They are now cleared up and he has just a few doses left to take. Have I ever mentioned that our copays are $50? Well, they are. His ears are costing us just about the same as all of his diapers probably have!
John and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We went to Reno and stayed at the Peppermill. Our suite had a very nice soaking tub, which was used quite a few times. I would . . . or I will should I say, stay there again!

We've had lots of spiders, some even in the toilets. Good thing the lids are never down, other wise, those big floating spideys would've been big crawling spideys! I did find Colby trying to catch a big spider that was trying to run away from him on a couch pillow that was on the floor. Yuck! That's all I need, him to eat one of those.

No pictures to post just yet. Bummer, huh!

Out with the old, In with the new

2008 is over! Woohoo! Before we look ahead, let's look back at this past year . . . accomplishment wise.



I gave birth to Colby, not an easy birth experience for either of us, but the job was done, that's the main thing. Recovering from a c-section was unpleasant. Since I wasn't expecting to have one, I really wasn't prepared for the pain afterward.


Chloe finally became potty trained . . . all the way. She is even pooping in the potty, something that we didn't expect her to master in 2008.


Sammy started preschool, he loves it! There was only one day of slight whining/crying where he didn't want me to leave.



Lexi started High School. A teenage girl in high school. I feel like I can claim part of this one as an accomplishment also, after all, I have a boy crazed, drama-queen, teen girl and I am still sane . . . maybe barely hanging on, but still sane.



As for me, sometimes I think my big accomplishments are just making it through each day.


What does this upcoming year have in store for us? I'm pretty sure a few things will happen. Colby will start walking, talking, running and making our days even more enjoyable.
Chloe will start preschool in Sams class.
Sam will start Kindergarten.
Lexi will most likely stay a boy crazy, drama filled teenage girl.


I want to learn PhotoshopElements (John bought it for me for my bday), I want to learn to use my camera in manual mode, I want to scrap more pages, and of course there's that darn weight issue (I don't even want to mention that one, yet it keeps coming up every year).

Hopefully, John will work more this year so we can get a savings established. Sure would be nice to have a rainy day fund . . . or a family vacation fund . . . or a Christmas fund . . . all in advance before we need them!

frames by Misty Cato - Happy Birthday Baby Boy kit

Family pic from Disneyland

Just thought I'd share a family picture from our Disneyland trip. Look at how happy our Mr. Incredible is! Colby wore Chloe's hand me down Piglet costume. Most people associate Piglet with girls because he is pink, but really, Piglet is a boy. Although, when Chloe wore the costume, Piglet fell into the "he should've been a girl, not a boy" category.

What a difference a year makes

For the past few Fathers Days, I've been taking a picture of the kids with John. Here's the last three Fathers Day shots.

Over the river and through the woods . . .

to the Grandparents house we go. We did go over the river and through the woods complete with the white and drifted snow. However, the song failed to mention that we might want to make sure we gave our kids Dramamine since the roads are so windy through the mountains.
Yep, we bought the Dramamine and gave it to the kids AFTER Chloe had thrown up all over herself and her carseat. The poor little thing. I thought I was being such a nice mom by loading the kids up on candy and cookies, making sure they stayed happy while in the car. That plan got tossed out . . . literally. Chloe threw up, John cleaned her up (thank goodness), Sammy complained that she was stinky and Lexi was worried about sitting in front of her. I just wanted to get there!

Lexi was very excited to see the snow and wanted to get out to feel it. John pulled over, not at the best place to pull over. There was enough room to pull out. It had bigger rocks lining the edge, but that was it, then it dropped off. Lexi jumps out of the car, in her flip flops and prances out towards the edge. We both yelled for her to stop. I pictured her sliding in her flip flops and tripping right over the edge. I panicked, so much so that I almost said a REALLY bad word! Yep, the mother of all bad words, almost slipped out as I yelled at her.

We had a good weekend once we got there. The kids love being around Grandma, Grandpa and cousin Caleb. Caleb was a good sport and even played “Ring around the Rosie “ with the kids.
Johns parents bought us a jogging stroller (double wide with a music speaker) for a baby gift for us. It’s so nice. Looks like John and I will both be able to start using it! It was very nice of them. After that, it was lunch, some shopping and off to Circus Circus. The kids had fun. The little ones each walked away with a prize. Sammy was happy with his pink bear and didn’t want to trade Chloe her grey dog.

We left for home on Monday, made sure the kids had their Dramamine, and headed back up the windy mountain. John pulled over and let Lexi get out (this time in a much safer area). The little ones didn’t want to get out, so John and Lexi threw snow balls at each other while the kids watched from their seats. They had a good time.

When we were about an hour away from home, Sam had to go potty. Sure am glad he’s a boy and can go anywhere. He hosed off the rocks and ants. He’s one that uses his pee as art, never just shooting in one place. I always said he’s our arts and crafts boy!

It was a good weekend. I have never slept in such a comfortable bed, but as always, it’s nice to be home.

Let's meet the family!

Here we are in the hospital. Our first family snapshot together.

John

John is the daddy of our family.

Rachel

Obviously, I'm the mama of the family.

Lexi

Lexi is our oldest. She'll be turning 14 soon & will be entering high school next year. She's a good student and a boy-crazed teenager. We can always find Lexi either on her computer, in her room texting a boy, talking on the phone or watching tv. Lexi is a good big sister and a big help to me (whether she likes it or not).

Sammy

Sammy turned four this year. He's a funny one. He loves to play with his cars (especially the ones from the Cars Movie), play the gameboy and loves to play outside. His favorite person to play with is his cousin, Quino. Sammy is our arts and crafts boy. He can play with playdough for hours at a time.

Sammy loves to hold Wookie and will kiss him numerous times a day. Sammy will lay by him on the floor or sit next to him while he is in the bouncy seat and just talk to him. It's really cute. Sammy also plays with Chloe really well. He's a good big brother to both of them.

Chloe

Chloe turned two this year. She's our sweet little fiesty girlie. She likes to copy people. She will repeat the last two words that someone says. She's so cute, she will ride Sammys scooter around in the house, with her little butt sticking out (I'll have to take a picture of it, it's funny). She loves to play with her babies and her doll house. She enjoys teasing the boys (Sam and Quino) while they play their cars. She'll take their cars or mess them up and then run away. She likes to play with her cousin Isabella. She is one that also likes to hold Colby and give him kisses.

Colby

Colby is the baby brother. He is such a good baby.He's a sweet little guy. He's loved more than any other baby that I know of.

credits: frames from Acid Rain by Janel Kretschman