Santa comes to Sweetser!

For those of you that do not know...Santa comes to Sweetser on a firetruck on Christmas Eve. It is fantastic. The kids absolutely love it. We loaded them up and went to Pepaw and Nana's house. We get all bundled up when we hear the sirens and head outside. It is a parade. The volunteer fire department brings out all of their vehicles, sirens blazing, and throws candy canes.

It is definitely a ton of fun!!

Aiden didn't really seem to care all that much.

BUT, he sure liked the lights!

Mommy & Aiden waiting for Santa!

Sorry about the shot! No time to edit :)

Daddy & Alexis waiting for Santa.

Fun times at the mall

Aiden loving the mall.

Alexis loves climbling on the turtle and tiger.
She was posing and asking me to take her picture!!!
So stinking cute, I don't know what to do.

Santa and the Mall

Seeing Santa was an adventure for us. We have debated and prayed about what to tell our kids regarding Santa. Some things are still undecided on what we are going to stick with, however we are going to have the Santa experience, while not overshadowing the true meaning of Christmas. Upon arriving at the mall, the lights were out in the hallways. There had been a water pipe bust and water was everywhere. We noticed that Santa was still there seeing kids if they wanted. There were "no camera" signs posted several times and I could not believe the cost of the photos. Really, $14 for 1 picture, are you kidding? Anyways, with the lights being out, they allowed me to use my own camera. We were able to take our time and allow Alexis the time to talk to him and decide that she really did want to sit on his lap. (We were not going to force our child to sit with a stranger!) It worked out incredibly for us and for the kids. It was their first experience and a great one at that!

Lego building

Well, as a kid I was an avid lego fan. Love them!!!! However, I cannot take credit for this masterpiece. This was all daddy. She watched and loved it! She enjoyed the dump truck knocking it over more than anything.

But "Roo needed powder"

Well, as you all know we have been extremely sick off and on since Nov. 10. During this hilarious episode we were dealing with severe diaper rash from the "BIG D".

Alexis came popping out of Aiden's room with powder all over her carrying her Roo animal (also covered in powder). I asked her what happened and she said, "diaper change, need powder. ouch!" It took Matt like 35 minutes to sweep all the powder up with the shop vac. :) Oh the memories!

DON'T MISS IT!!!!!

I am going to probably wear you out by posting this all in one day, but life gets crazy! This past week we have had the flu. It has been YUK to say the least. There are a lot of pictures posted so enjoy my family. Take your time and come back and visit again if you do not get finished. You will want to see ALL the photos!

Princess Party!

She was soooo excited to be going to Emile Grace and

Georgia's princess party. My party pix are not too great

(I get busy and forget...sorry.) However, enjoy our beauty!!!

She loves to dress up. She was twirling her dress around.

Musical...I hope!

Alexis playing piano. She wants everyone to listen

and no one to play along. CUTE!!!!

Misc Pictures

At least it looks like they love each other today!













Aiden enjoying bathtime. I think it is almost time to move to the big tub...what do you think?












Who knows!?!?!?!

More Pictures

Dylan and Alexis shooting us! Dylan was definitely winning!










Alexis and her gingerbread house! She always uses the 2 fingers and is so dainty! (If that is even how you spell dainty!)









Alexis combing Bradley's hair. This is my oldest nephew. He is 20 and a sophomore at Evansville University. He is going to have a internship with the Cubs minor league team in Daytona, Florida this summer. You Go Boy!!!








Bradley playing Alexis and Aiden. He stayed a night with us and went with us to take Alexis to her first movie. She loved it. Toward the end she was becoming a little restless, but overall it was a success! They love him and sure miss him while he is gone!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving...

Do you ever find it hard to be thankful during the holidays? Sometimes, the running from here to there makes me crazy. This year it was not so bad. Thanksgiving Day the kids and I went to my sister Lara’s. Matt was able to get off work early enough to show up before we ate at 2:00. Needless to say, I was thrilled. The food was incredible. Uncle Mikey made a turkey that was to die for. It was by far the best turkey I have ever eaten. Too bad it was not done until a couple hours after we ate…oops! Luckily, Lara planned for an army and had some backup!

Then we head to the in-laws for what is usually a great time of fellowship! This year…they were sick and did not feel like cooking, so we postponed the dinner until the following Sunday and just spent some time with them. My sister brought them turkey plates so they were able to still have a thanksgiving meal.

Saturday, we spent at my moms, where we had turkey salad and ham and some regular thanksgiving food. It was the best visit we have had in a long time. We were not overtaken by video games in every room. We were able to talk and catch up, and I truly enjoyed myself. It was nice to have almost everyone home! There are some pictures posted that I am sure you will enjoy.

The following Sunday, we watched as Dylan and Alexis decided to shoot everyone in the room with their toy guns. Aunt Misty helped Alexis and Dylan make gingerbread houses! They are so cute. Our STEAK dinners were great as well. The funny part is now we know Alexis and Dylan need their own steaks. We thought we could share, but they are like their daddy’s. And guess what...I got Grandma Humes (my mother-in-law's mom) recipe for corn pudding which is GREEEEAT!

Overall, it was a fabulous Thanksgiving. We really do have so much to be thankful for. Our families are great, most of the time :), our kids are beautiful and healthy, we have a place to live and food to eat, but most of all we have JESUS! I think He becomes even more real after you have children. You realize how much you truly have to depend on Him in every area of your life. How grateful I am that He loves a sinner such as me! We all should be more thankful.

Thanksgiving Pictures

Isn't she just precious!












Alexis and Uncle Phil playing the piano at Memaw's house. They were a pair. Singing and playing. She loved to sit on Uncle Phil's lap and let him read books to her as well.

My nieces Heather (left-who is a freshman in college) and Arielle (right-sophomore in high school).

They spent the day going to a movie they had already seen and eating taco bell, while we all had thanksgiving dinner...teenagers!

Funny Pix

These are some funny pictures of Aiden. Alexis keeps putting her dress hats on him (sad part is he seems to like it!)

Not really sure what she is doing here :)

Aiden standing tall with daddy at Aunt Lara and Uncle Mike's house Thanksgiving Day!

TV TIME

Alexis decided that Elmo and Monkey needed to watch Bambi. This particular day we had already seen Bambi three times. They are now watching it on daddy's laptop!