Happy New Year!

Well, for the first time in my 10 years of being a parent.....we made it to MIDNIGHT!!  Must be a sign that our kids are getting bigger.  We had a few families over and partied down until midnight.  The weather was pretty mild so the kids actually spent a fair amount of time outside, as did the men, playing kan jam.  Everyone was gone shortly after.  We weren't quite sure we would make it to midnight, so we celebrated and watched the 11:00 ball drop...and then we made it, so we did it all over again at midnight!

Here's to hoping for a happy and healthy 2017!

Christmas Break Sleepovers

Grandma Jeanne took each of the kids by themselves for a sleepover over Christmas break.  When it was Maddie's turn, I decided that would be a good night for the big kids to have friends over for a sleep over.  Jack had Jackson and Peyton had Addison.  As the girls were getting ready to bed, I heard them in the bathroom singing.....I poked in and took a picture, it was pretty funny!!  They all had a great time!!!

Ice Skating Party

One of Maddie's friends' brother had his birthday party at the Kirkwood Ice Rink.  The family had rented out the entire rink, so they invited Maddie's class too and included the siblings.....super nice of them and the kids had fun too!!!

Cold, anyone???

Clearly, I think Jack and Maddie were cold on this morning....looks like they should've went back upstairs and put some more clothes on......

Christmas 2016

What a great Christmas we had!  Mom, Dad, Grandman Jeanne, Mark, and Gigi all joined us nice and early Christmas morning for presents and brunch.  The kids unwrapped all their presents and then we ate breakfast and had some tasty Bloody Marys.  By around noon, everyone was gone and we played and unpackaged the rest of the kids' presents.  A couple years ago, we started staying home on Christmas day and it is WONDERFUL!!!  It's a day that we never get out of our pajamas and the kids get to play with their new stuff all.day.long!  Mike and I usually get Christmas stuff down and put away too....shhhhh.....I know we shouldn't do that so quickly, but it just feels SO good to get it out and put away!!

Peyton got a karaoke machine, skates, a foot spa, and lots of other stuff.
Jack got an xbox, skates, and some other things.
Maddie got a new bike and scooter, lots of make-up and fingernail polish, and another Alexa.

Then we all got a trip to Mexico in April.  Merry Christmas to us.....in the meantime, we will be looking forward to that during these long, dark, cold months ahead.

Maddie giving Gigi a little manicure......

 Kids helping Grandma Jeanne and Mark complete the crossword puzzle for their gift.

 Singing some tunes on her selfie, microphone :)

New camera from Mark and Grandma Jeanne!