And lastly, Christmas #3

Santa paid us a visit on christmas morning, and the kids got way too much, as usual! I think everyone was happy with their presents though. Grace got lots of dolls, barbies, movies, and clothes. Ben got some DS games, pj's, a robe, a microscope, and some Wii accessories. Matt got a new coat, jersey, moccasin slippers like Grandpa Jim's , some PSP games, and accessories. Tyler got his combined christmas and birthday gift, a new laptop (that I secretly covet and play with when he's not looking :) ). We had a great christmas, and realize how very lucky we all are. We delivered some toys for the local Toys For Tots campaign, so the kids would know just how great they really do have it. It's easy for them to lose perspective sometimes.

Matt also got a Snuggie for Christmas.....after seeing the informercial many times, we all decided it would be the perfect gift for him. Every morning Matt brings his bed comforter downstairs and wraps up in it all morning, dragging it with him all through the house. Perfect solution...the Snuggie! Ben got a robe and loves wearing it all day too.

Christmas numero dos

Grandma and the kids!

We got back from Illinois around 4 on the 24th, and went over to mom & don's for the next round of yuletide fun. The kids were revved up on sugar and ready to rip into the loot. Noah didn't appreciate the one at a time rule, so we decided to let the kids go for it and open their stuff. Thanks Grandma Cathy and Don for all of the great stuff. We didn't get to spend much time with Joel & Heidi and the boys this visit, darn it, I miss those boys to pieces!

Here are some highlights of 12/24:

Eli could not be any more hilarious with his faces. He makes the craziest faces when you tell him to smile, it's so funny. A few examples:

Of course Grace is equally as silly in most of the pictures, too.

And then, there's Noah. Now, Noah has always held a special little place in my heart. He's like my surrogate child LOL....I was with him and Heidi a lot when he was a baby, and I've always pretty much adored him. He can do no wrong in Aunt Jennifer's eyes. So after saying that....this kid is crazy-nutso :)!! He doesn't stop moving from morning to night. He's sweet as he can be though. Here is a small montage of Noah telling us he needs his poopy diaper changed. Of course he had a captive audience laughing hysterically at him, which hammed him up a bit!

Grace got her coveted American Girl doll Kit Kittredge. She has been attached to it since she got it, she absolutely loves it. And now wants the bed ($80), the treehouse ($250) and various other overpriced accessories.

Christmas numero uno

Rich wearing the beautiful cornucopia on his head

The three special girl cousins.

Our first christmas was at Phyllis and Dick's house over in Galesburg. The weather was not good on the way there, and was even worse on the way home. Rich's sister Kelley and her family weren't able to make it from Bloomington, the freezing rain had made the roads awful. We really missed them all!! We were happy to see Tabitha though, and Randy, Ana, Melissa (back from LA), Jim and John. We don't get to all see each other very much any more...the kids are growing up so fast! Anyhow, it was a quick christmas celebration, but a fun one! We had pizza and then the kids got to go to town on their gifts. Grace was thrilled with her barbie & dvd...all the cousins now have Barbie's special song burned in their brains :). The boys loved all of their things as well. Phyllis got me a *beautiful* (if you can say that about a kitchen appliance LOL!) Kitchen Aid mixer that I love...it will stay out on the counter where I can gaze at it from time to time :).

Kids, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Grace: I want to be a doctor so I can give other people shots. And I am NOT having a baby, it hurts your tummy too much. I might adopt ONE. And whoever I marry can be the cook and make food.

Ben: I want to be a substitute math teacher, then I only have to work once in awhile. Oh, and I also want to study North Dakota. You and dad can live with me too.

Tyler: Although paleontologist is still in the running from when he was 5, he now wants to be whatever he can be at the University of Iowa. He knows what college, he just isn't sure of the major. I told him he'd be a good vet. He said "no mom, then I'd have to go to Iowa State, and that would NEVER happen!".

Matt: I want to be a sports analyist on ESPN, that is if the NBA career falls through.

Here is Ben meditating before bed the other day. He saw this on Avatar, a show on Nickelodeon.

He says he does it to stay calm and not let his anger get out of hand. Good plan Benny!

Ben's final birthday party...whew!

We had Ben's 'friend' party at a local place called Recess...kind of like Chuck-E-Cheese only smaller. There were 7 kids there all together, counting Matt and Grace. The kids had a great time....Ben's head was completely wet and sweaty at the end, they played hard! They ate pizza, cake, and ice cream, got goody bags & tokens for the games, and ran all over the jumpy things.

She definitely won't be a performer

Every year each elementary school has their own Spirit Night at a high school basketball game, and 2 kids from every class are picked to shoot baskets on the court at half time. Last night was our school's Spirit Night, and Grace got picked from Mr. Smith's class to shoot. She was all excited to go, dressed in her Ankeny shirt & looking all cute, chit chatted with her friends once we got there, and then had a total meltdown when she realized what she was going to have to do. "Mom, I'm scared! I don't want all those people looking at me!". Bawling, pulling on my shirt, begging me to leave. So we hung out at the game for about 1/2 an hour, then left before the shooting even began. We did see Tyler sitting with his Sophomore teammates in the bleachers watching the varsity game. He didn't know I was there spying on him with my telephoto lens :).

Happy Birthday Benny boy!

I am the worst mother ever. I forgot to blog yesterday that my 3rd child is now 9! His birthday was yesterday, and of course I forgot to write about it. His party was today though, so that counts, right?

Yesterday he hurried right home from school to open his presents from us before Dad left for work. He got some Star Wars toys, some new Funkeys, and a couple DVD's. Today was his party at Grandma Cathy's....it was a Wall-E party. My mom made the cake in a cute Wall-E cake pan, and I decorated the top with icing. I hesitate to put a pic here because I don't want anyone turning the pic into Cake Wrecks :). She also made him a small cake just for Ben to eat. Ben had a great time...he got a Nintendo DS, games, the Wall-E DVD, some books, and some cool cash. Then the kids hit on the Wall-E pinata that Ben and Aunt Linda made. Here are a few pics from yesterday and today.

Monday afternoon he has invited 5 of his friends to a party at Recess (kind of like Chuck-E-Cheese). So more partyin' to come!

EWWWW!!!

I went to put up my outside christmas lights this afternoon, and found a surprise when I opened the (new) box. My Made In China icicle lights had a little used dried up packet of some sort of chinese sauce stuck to the package. I guess some person in China was eating their lunch while packing my icicle lights, and accidentally dropped the used packet in my box. DISGUSTING! Matt thinks we should sue, but I said we probably wouldn't get much for a little plastic sauce packet....a finger or rat or something, maybe :).

Cool!

Did anyone see the Moon, Jupiter and Venus last night? It was so neat...we all went in the backyard to see it, it was a clear night and you could see it perfectly! The moon is on the left (HA..obviously), Jupiter is to the right, and Venus is at the bottom. You won't be able to see them all this clearly and this close together again until 2050-something. I'll be 83 :).

MATT

MATT. IM BACK

Snow!!

We got about 3 inches of snow today! It was pretty mild outside, and great packing snow, so the kids went out to make snowmen this morning. They ended up making about 6 of them in Grandma & Don's front yard. Everyone was wet and cold by the time they came in...they must have been out there for a good hour or two!

Thanks Aunt Carol!

Aunt Carol sent Lucy a fleece sweatshirt, which came in handy today in the snow!! She looks so cute in it, and actually kept it on!

Indians and Pilgrims

The kindergarten classes had a Thanksgiving Feast today at school. The kids made indian and pilgrim costumes to wear to the feast, which was summer sausage, corn muffins, popcorn, carrots, crackers, apples and cheese. Grace was an indian, and Ava was a pilgrim. I went in early to help set up, and got to slice what seemed to be about 387 apples. It was cute though, they mixed all the pilgrims and indians up so they were sitting amongst each other in peace and harmony :).

Cute

When I walked in the house after picking the boys up from basketball, I noticed that Grace hung up signs all over the house with people's names on them. I asked her what it was about and she said "Just in case someone comes over, they'll know who we are with the signs up". Okaaay. I got a kick out of this particular one:Just in case someone coming to our house needs to know her cousin's name, she sounded it out, and did a pretty good job! (It's Eli Peterson)

Go Hawks!

Joel, my Hawkeye brother living in Golden Gopher country, sent this to me today. Great win for the Hawks on Saturday!

It's Toughskins from here on out!

Forget the cute Gymboree clothes! This girl ruins pants on purpose, I swear. This is how she came home from school today:

What in the world?? Princesses don't have dirty knees and rips in their cute pants! These have only been worn a couple of times, now they are headed for the trash bin. She will get Sears Toughskins from now on....indestructible! (Ok, probably not, as I cannot resist cute clothes, but I am so irritated!)

On a side note, when I Googled Toughskins to see how to spell it, I came across this hilarious article appropriately titled "Sears Toughskins-the jeans from Hell"...too funny!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/37856/sears_toughskins_jeans_from_hell.html?cat=7

Sears' Toughskins - Jeans from Hell
Ugly, Uncomfortable Jeans Were the Scourge of a Generation - and They're Back!
By Jared Keller, published Jun 16, 2006
In the 1970s, Sears Roebuck & Co took a look at their massive product offering, and decided that there was but one retail area left for them to conquer: that of the nuke-proof childrens' clothing market. Toughskins were the regrettable result.
In the 1970s, Sears Roebuck & Co took a look at their massive product offering - spanning items for home, auto, fashion, leisure, and countless other categories - and decided that there was but one retail area left for them to conquer: that of the nuke-proof childrens' clothing market.Specifically, Sears market researchers interviewed countless suburban moms, who decreed that the single greatest challenge faced by the nation was that of kids' jeans that wore out too darned fast. Their solution? Create a line of jeans so ridiculously overbuilt that they could guarantee that kids would grow out of the cursed things long before they'd wear out. Enter a sinister group of chemists, colorblind fashion school dropouts, and disgruntled Carter-era defense contractors - all hidden inside a hollowed-out volcano somewhere off the coast of Indonesia - and the world was forever changed. The Toughskin™ jean had been unleashed upon millions of unsuspecting elementary school kids, who were henceforth doomed to a life of freakishly colored jean-substitutes with razor sharp, potentially lethal creases down the center of legs that didn't bend at the knee, shattered in cold weather, gave off sparks upon striking asphalt, and featured a mock-leather "TOUGHSKINS" tag that inevitably cracked - leaving shards of unnaturally sharp plastic to jab at the wearer's waist upon making any attempt to tie his/her shoes. And we won't even broach the horror of the "husky" Toughskin wearer... This monstrous creation - made of a nearly indestructible blend of Dacron Type 59 polyester, DuPont 429 Nylon, Kevlar, titanium fiber, and approximately three strands of cotton (for softness!) - was the centerpiece of Sears' childrens' clothing line for nearly 15 years, and eventually spread to a line of men's workclothes, until scores of emergency room visits by steelworkers who had inadvertently welded themselves to I-beams forced Sears to drop the line.

Awww....

you mean they can actually be within a foot of each other and not fight??!!

Fun packed Saturday!

Grace and Grandpa Kinney

Jim in his All State Choir robes

Oh Johnny...you had to know I'd put this picture on the blog :)!!

Ben and his Jordan sweatshirt

Putting the ornaments on the tree

We had a fun Saturday! I started my morning taking Tyler to basketball pictures at 7:30 am. Then home to put up the christmas tree! Ben, Grace and I put all the decorations up...guess my 2 big boys are getting too big to help :(. Then I ran Tyler and his friends around, getting home just in time to take Matt to his basketball game at 1:00. Got there and the game didn't start until 2:00....oops. Matt's team won by 2 points, it was a good game and Matt played really well. Got home and Rich's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and nephews were there. They stopped by for a fun visit and some pizza before nephew Jim sang up in Ames in the All State Choir. They also brought over Ben's birthday presents, so he was super duper excited to open those. He got some cool spiderman pj's, a Michael Jordan sweatsuit, a new Wii game, and a ball toy. Pretty cool! Now the big boys are watching the Iowa game, and the little kids are spending the night with Grandma Cathy. Oh, and we got our first snow of the year today...pretty exciting!