Here's Lily last night having dinner with Elizabeth. She didn't put her down all day! As you can tell, we all stayed in our p.j.'s all day--it was so nice. Especially considering how crazy this next week is going to be. We are headed out in a couple of hours to Kentucky. We'll have Christmas at my parents' tonight, Jeff's mom's tomorrow night, my birthday the next day, leave for New York the day after that--when we come back from there--we have Christmas with Jeff's dad on Sunday--and then we will head back home. Man---the never ending holiday. The kids love that!
This'll be my last post for a week. I'm sure I'll have lots of pics to post when I get back!
Hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

CHRISTMAS DAY

Lily opening her Littlest Pet Shop Playground.
Lily with Elizabeth. She was SO excited!
Wyatt with his new bat--Santa got him a REALLY nice one.
The haul.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Well, the kids were up at 7:00 and were pretty much finished unwrapping by 7:30! They were very happy with what Santa brought them. Wyatt was thrilled to get a Game Cube that he wasn't expecting--he hasn't moved from it all morning! Lily was very excited about her American Girl doll Elizabeth. Santa circled "yes" on the note of course.
I think I got the best gift of all, though! Jeff is taking me to New York City on the 29th!! We are staying in a really cool hotel on Madison Avenue(www.morganshotel.com) and going to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall!!!!!(www.radiocity.com) He knows what I like! I would rather travel than anything in the whole world! And I really love New York!!!
We have a lot to do today before we leave for Kentucky tomorrow. We are flying out from there and the kids will stay with my parents. So I have to pack and all that stuff! I can't wait!!! What a way to spend my 40th birthday!!!(Well, technically I will be in Kentucky on my birthday--my parents wanted to spend it with me--so we are leaving the day after)
The kids only request is that we get pictures of the animals from Madagascar at the Central Park zoo! I told them that the zoo is not top on my priority list to do while there! They insist that there are real animals there with those names--I'm not sure about that--they may be right, though. They usually know more about that stuff than I do.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Here are the kids leaving Santa's cookies and milk for him and getting ready to go to bed. Lily left that note for Santa. She wrote it earlier today--I thought it was funny.

CHRISTMAS EVE

We went ot the 5:00 service at church tonight and then out to eat with our friends the Allen's. You wouldn't believe how busy Logan's was--we had to wait 30 minutes--of course we did have a party of 9. Here is a picture Wyatt and Lily with their friends Trevor, Emma and Savannah. It just happened that they all color coordinated so of course I had to get a picture! We were also invited to my friend Charlene's house, but by the time we got finished eating we figured we should get on home and get the kids ready for bed. It's so nice to have friends to spend Christmas Eve with since we don't have family here.
The kids have their jammies on now and are just waiting for the cookies to cool that they baked for Santa so we can set his plate out--I'll take a picture of the note Lily left him after they go to bed--it's so cute.

Carolling in the library at school.
Lily being silly at her classroom party.
Wyatt carolling.
All the kids in the library singing Christmas songs-I couldn't get them all in the picture--it was a ton of kids!
Wyatt at his classroom party.

Yesterday was a big day! The kids had their classroom parties at school. Before the parties, the whole school goes into the library to sing Christmas carols. They had a good time. I was supposed to be in Wyatt's party this time, but there were so many parent helpers that I was able to go back and forth between his and Lily's.It was Wyatt teacher's last day--she has been filling in all year for his real teacher that had a baby during the summer--she will be back after break. The other excitement we had was a little girl in Lily's class broke her arm at the party--I felt so sorry for her--she broke it while playing a game and broke it above the elbow--
OUCH!! She was in so much pain--poor thing. Lily called to check on her last night and she was feeling better.

I can't believe it's actually Christmas Eve! With the kids going to school until yesterday--it just really snuck up on me! Still have lots to wrap and the house to get cleaned up. Hopefully I can get the kids motivated to help---we told them Santa won't visit a messy house--that oughta do it!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Oh, my gosh---we have a full fledged crush on our hands!!! This is Lily and Reid--the little boy from her class that she is so infatuated with --and has been all year! Apparently all the other girls in class are too and there is quite a competition for his attention! Wait a minute--is this 1st grade--or 8th?!?!? Anytime he sees me at school--he begs to come over and play(he lives in our neighborhood). So today he came over. It cracks me up how giggly Lily gets when he is around--it's so cute. The funny thing is--according to his Grandmother--the infatuation goes both ways. Look how they are holding hands in this picture! Man--what am I in for when she is older?!?!

Lily saying her line. "Whatever will we do?"
Lily and her friend Anna.
Lily and her friend Emma.

Lily had her school Christmas program last night. It was really cute. It was Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade and the 3rd and 4th graders do a spring program so Wyatt wasn't in this one. She had one line to say and did a great job. She was happy to have her cast off for it--she said she could do all the motions better. Now we just have classroom parties tomorrow-and then it's Christmas eve. WOW--it's really sneaking up on me this year with them going to school until the 23rd. I still have wrapping to do.

Oh, I forgot to say--Lily got her cast off this morning--Jeff took her because I had to babysit at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). The doctor said she was braver than the 10 year olds that come in there---it can be a little scary when they come at you with that saw---but it didn't bother her at all! She is pretty tough I guess. She's really happy to have it off.

Lily's artwork

2 kids back to back at the mailbox--I love this one. The one reaching into the mailbox has a red hooded snowsuit on.
An angel blowing a horn--this was done in pastels--it's really hard learning how to blend.
A quick reindeer they did with extra time.

Here are Lily's latest works from her art class. She is loving it so much and I feel like she is learning a lot. I can definitely see improvement. She gets her cast off this morning--she's happy about that--although I don't really think it's bothered her much at all.

Lily's ballet class getting ready to show us what they can do at the bar.(You can't miss her in the middle with the pink cast!)
Lily and her teacher Ms. Michele.
Lily had a parent night at dance class tonight. They do it every couple of months so the parents can go in and watch what they have been working on. This older class she is in really does some complicated moves. I feel like she is learning a lot. It's really night and day from the last class she was in--the kids are so much more serious and don't goof around at all. Someone new has started the class and has a brother Wyatt's age--it makes it so much nicer. He loves going now and has made fast friends with this boy---I'm sure it's their mutual obsession with Gameboy!

Lily and her cousin Haley.
Wyatt being silly.
Wyatt and Lily and their cousins Haley and Hannah.
Lily conked out on the ride home clutching her new Barbie.

We went to Lexington(actually Versailles, KY) for Jeff's mom's side of the family's Christmas get together this weekend. The kids enjoyed seeing their cousins. They were worn out, though. We didn't get to my mom's house until about 9:00 Saturday night and of course the kids had to stay up and visit. They got to bed probably at 11:30 and got up to go to church the next morning. They did fine, though. It's gonna be a busy week!!!!!

Today Lily got to go to an Art Clinic put on by the National Art Honor Society. Her art teacher at school was allowed to pick 2 kids from each grade level to go--and Lily was one of the first graders! She absolutely loved it! They made several things, got to have pizza and got a t-shirt. Wyatt and I went and did our last bit of Christmas shopping and had lunch while she was there. It was nice to have some mother/son time together--we don't get it very often. I can officially say I am FINISHED with my Christmas shopping now!! Now I just have to get busy baking and wrapping! We are headed to Kentucky this afternoon for Jeff's mom's side of the family's Christmas dinner on Sunday. We haven't been to it in a while and thought we'd better this year. His great uncle is 95 years old so you never know! I still have to pack a few things, wrap gifts to take and clean the house---what am I doing on here?!?! Gotta go!
Oh, Wyatt got his ISTEP test results back yesterday---it's the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress---standardized tests that took over a week to complete!! Anyway--it's a pretty big deal at our school(3rd grade is the first year they take them) and he did really well. He got 99%'s on almost everything and ended up in the Pass Plus category on both Language Arts and Math with very high scores!!! I was SO proud of him! Now if I could just get him to tie his shoes, flush the toilet, and hang up his backpack!!(I'd settle for any one of those actually---I think all 3 may be asking too much!!)

I bought this gingerbread house kit a while back and the kids have been begging to make it. I finally let them on Sunday. It was really easy and turned out cute. Maybe we'll attempt one from scratch next year. It looks so cute now that I won't let them eat it because it's a cute decoration on our table! It just sits in the middle of the table teasing them all of the time! What a mean Mom I am!! I'll let them dig in soon--I just want to look at it a while longer first!

Wyatt and Lily's "store".
Wyatt singing in the church program. He's in the center back.

Lily singing in the Saturday church Christmas program.

Well, we had 2 church Christmas programs this weekend. Lily was in the one on Saturday. It was put on by the youth and she thought she was big stuff singing with "the high school kids" as she puts it. She really loves to sing and the choir director at church told me that she is a really good singer. The program this morning was with all of the kids and Wyatt and Lily were both in it. They both really enjoyed doing it and did a great job.

When I got home from the store today, Wyatt and Lily had set up a "store" of their own. It was really cute---they had all kinds of stuff (a tin of mints with one mint left in it, a partially eaten Spongebob sucker, peppermints from my centerpiece, Halloween monster teeth and various other "valuable" items). They had them all out on a table with price tags for each one and a sign on the chair that says "Closed--Sorry" for when they close up. I just love it when they play so imaginatively.

SNOW DAY

7 inches of snow!
Lily sledding down the hill in our back yard.
Lily and Rachel all bundled up.
Wyatt all bundled up.
Decorating cookies.

Well, the kids had a great day off of school today. They played in the snow and decorated cookies. Plus had lots of time to just play-Lily and Rachel(the little girl I babysit) sang me Christmas carols while I folded laundry. It was too cute! It doesn't look like the snow is going anywhere for a while. I had to get out for a while earlier and the roads are not in the greatest shape. It doesn't seem like they have plowed as well as usual. I saw people sliding all over the place!

Lily is supposed to sing in a church Christmas program tomorrow and she and Wyatt both sing in one on Sunday. Plus Lily has a birthday party tomorrow evening. Looks to be a busy weekend!

Update:
We ended up with 7 inches of snow just like they predicted. The kids didn't have school. Lily was dissapointed but Wyatt was thrilled! I'm sure they'll be out in it later--I'll try to post some more pics!!

FIRST BIG SNOW

This is what's happening here right now. It started snowing about 2:30 and we now have about 4-5 inches. They are predicting up to 7 inches. Of course the kids are all hoping for no school tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. The kids played out in it for about an hour--I don't know how they stand it. Maybe it has something to do with being ALMOST 40 but I really don't like the cold at all anymore!! I think I'll be ready to move somewhere warm one of these days like all of the other old people(HAHA!)

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

OK---Here's the finished tree. The previous post wouldn't let me add any more pictures-so had to do a separate one. I think the kids did a great job on it!

CHRISTMAS TREE DAY

The hayride to get our tree.
Lily finding JUST the right spot for her ornament.
At Mannix tree farm.
Wyatt cutting down the tree.
We did it---the perfect tree!

Well, today was our big Christmas tree day. Our yearly tradition is to cut our own Christmas tree. The farm we had been going to didn't have a great selection last year, so we tried a new place this year--Mannix tree farm. It actually ended up being closer to our house than the other one and had lots more trees to choose from. They had a hayride, bonfire and cookies and hot cider. It always takes us forever to pick one. The kids were dead set on one particular one (which wasn't my favorite) but I figured---who is this tree really for? Them! So they got their way and it actually looked great in the house when we got it home. Guess they knew what they were doing! Wyatt loved sawing the tree down and Lily was more into decorating it. Wyatt helped with the lights and some of the ornaments, but Lily put most of the ornaments on. And put them on she did! She actually did a pretty good job--just not EXACTLY how I would have done it--but once again--have to learn to let go of some of that control! I think perfect trees are boring anyway! We also got a really cute real wreath which I haven't had in a while. Now they are itching to put their little trees up in their rooms. I think we'll have to continue the decorating tomorrow! We still need to do the outside lights and some other stuff inside. I'm ready to call it quits for today!

JESSICA AND BRITNEY WATCH OUT!

Here's Lily and her friend Anna singing their hearts out to a Hillary Duff CD (in their pj's). You can't see it very well, but Lily has a headset microphone on. They had all the moves. It was very cute.

The wishbone from the Thanksgiving turkey. Lily got the big side.
Christmas pictures we had made.
Lily with the pumpkin turkey.
We always visit Santa at the mall the day after Thanksgiving. It's so nice not to have to wait in line!!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We left Thursday morning to go to my parents' house in Lexington. My mom cooked everything and it was SO good!! We went shopping the day after and visited Santa. Jeff had to go back to work on Friday, so the kids and I stayed and my parents drove us back on Saturday. We shopped all day again at the outlet malls on the way back--I think I'm a little shopped out for a while! Boy, was it crowded everywhere! Got a little bit of Christmas shopping done, but I still have a lot to do.

Lily's arm seems to be doing fine. You would never even know she has a cast on. She still gets herself dressed and doesn't complain about it at all. Well, the only complaint she had was that it smelled funny! 3 more weeks to go before she gets it off!