Love notes

Things are heating up in the 1st grade!!

My little Romeo came home with this cute little note from a girl at school.  

Birthday Congrats!

Congrats to my Dad and Granny Re, who made it to celebrate another year older.

Ok..there is a story behind the candle!  Years ago, we were at my parents house to celebrate a birthday, and this huge "Congrats" candle was all my mom could find in her drawer..we thought it was kinda funny, and thus the tradition began...so now this crazy candle adorns the sweet goodness at all our birthday celebrations!

Emerson is making the transformation (whaaa whaaa!) from sweet-curled-up-in-a-ball infant to being comfortable stretched out...doesn't she look so BIG with Daddy holding her in a standing position!?

Basketball Star

Ry guy had his 2nd basketball game today, and his adoring fans showed up in droves to cheer him on!

All the excitement wore sweet baby sister out!

We celebrated Ryan's 1st basket scored with a lunch out at Wang Gang!

Playdate

Thanks to Holly for hosting a superfun playdate today (and feeding everyone lunch!).
Julia, Gavin, Jackson, Tyler, Lucas, Andrew, Jude and Audrey all had a BLAST.

Fun in the Kitchen

Two excited little bakers...

Armed with sprinkles galore...
Rolled it, patted it...

Mark it with a "b!"

= a fun night!

Emerson

Emerson and her life-size baby doll. =)

My Snugglebugs

LOVE THEM!!!

Fun Gifts

My sweet friend Sara showed up at my door this afternoon with some fun surprises for the kids,  (And me too, since I'm in LOVE with these cute plates!!), "D" batteries for Emerson's swing (seriously..isn't she soooo thoughtful!!?) and some pacifiers! It's so amazing to me when we have friends "spoil" us so much. I'm so thankful. And in awe. But if Sara shows up on my doorstep with anything else (really..this is NOT the first time she's done something totally over the top kind...and it's not like she's just hanging out..she's got a full time job + 3 kiddos of her own, including twins who are always on the move), I might have to check her sanity!!

We spent the afternoon at Tyler and Delaney's birthday swim party...I'm not sure if we got pics in the chaos, but I'll upload later if so!

Julia-ism

Don't be fooled by this sweet (albeit messy!) face!  Here is a convo we had today...

Me (as we are exiting the car): Julia, please carry in your coat.
Julia (seriously put out): WHAT?! WHY??!
Me: What do you mean, WHY? Because I asked you to!
Julia: AGGG. But MOM, you are ALWAYS making me do YOUR work!
Me: And exactly what is my work?
Julia: Cleaning up!!!

Happy 2012!

It was a fun evening celebrating 2012!
We got to have an adult dinner out with friends, and shared a babysitter
 with the McKey kids, ensuring the kiddos all had a blast too!  

Best Babydoll Ever!

I told Julia she's the luckiest girl ever, because she has the BEST babydoll in the world!  So realistic, isn't she? =)  Poor Emerson is a great trooper, and mostly just adores all the attention she's been getting these days!

Great Grandma/pa Schuette stopped by for a visit this afternoon (yes, still in PJs in the afternoon...yea for Christmas break!).

Happy 7th Birthday, Ryan!!

Ryan wanted to have his birthday party this year at ChuckeCheese Pizza.

This face was sorta how I initially felt about that.
Thankfully, I was wrong, and it was a GREAT night!

Aunt Stacy and Emerson

Aunt Krista and Tyler, who now says he will be having his next birthday here!

Ryan's friend Ali from school and his mom.

Apparently Ry saw a commercial for this place on TV, and this machine they let you go in and grab tickets is the primary reason he wanted his party here. I don't think he was disappointed!!

My sweet munchkins!

Em really wants some pizza, but it's milk for now! =)

Ryan in all his glory!

Happy Birthday, brother!  From your look-alike 3 month old sister!

Let It Snow!

We were excited to wake up this morning and see snow on the ground!  The kids immediately threw on some warm gear and headed outside.  In the name of a photo, I allowed Emerson's life to be risked, and Ryan was allowed to hold her for a bit.

Just enough snow for a snowman!

Our neighbor friends, Nicolas and Lexi walked down to get in on the action!  Because of the mild temps (YEA!!) the snow was melting fast, but the kiddos were still able to get some snowmencreatures built.

Christmas Day 2011

The whole gang!!

In full disclosure, the kiddos were NOT happy about having to stop playing to take these pics!..and Aunt Amy was a champ and got an unusually large amount of spit-up all over her.

And after all the photo effort, many of them turned out like this..a few heads cut off, and some crazy eyes/smiles...but it is what it is, right?! Real life!!!

Em takes her first pony ride amidst all the chaos!

And as soon as I find out who gave Julia the glitter powder, we're gonna have a talk!!  Geesch, this stuff is everywhere..I have a feeling Glammie is the culprit!..she and Juls have a thing for all things that sparkle!

Jesus Was Born On Christmas Morn!

I am sooo excited to report that this pic wasn't taken until the 10 o'clock hour!  When I sat on Santa's lap earlier this year, I told him all I wanted for Christmas was a good night sleep.  Jeff had to go in and check to make sure Juls was still breathing because I was getting nervous when the late hour rolled around and the princess was still asleep!!  The rest of us woke about 9am (and Em's up and down all night!), and I realized I'd forgotten to put the Christmas roast in...oops! Thank goodness I was able to improvise and speed up the cooking time by putting the meat in the oven! I'm totally blaming Krista for this because about a week ago she asked what would be on fire in the kitchen when she arrived this year..seems like every year it's something.  Makes for some fun memories. So, this year I told her I decided to serve the food up raw so we wouldn't have any chance of fire alarms and opening the windows/turning fans on. =)

Ry-guy literally dancing up and down when he sees his new Lego train.

Don't you just want to kiss those sweet cheeks?!!!

Merry Christmas 2011!

Julia proudly tells Daddy about each of the artwork pages she has made as part of our Christmas gift.