Calling all Royalty

The Lego castle is open and we love it! We have made it there twice now. The first time we went with Aunt Cara, cousins Seth and Luke, and Grammy. The last time we were able to take Daddy and Aunt Shannon. The area is, of course, full of lego areas where you can build, but I chose to highlight the other activities available. A very cool (all Lego) queen and king "picture"
A magnetic castle with magnetic royalty, dragons, etc... The kids were having a great time creating a story with their "people"

A very cool reading area with some fun chairs....fit for a princess or ready to give a rotten prince a dragon hug!!

A computer where you build your own castle wall and then see if the (also computerized) rock that you shoot at it will break it. This requires a lot of analyzing. Unfortunately is it also very popular, so the line was very long and Matt and Carson were not able to properly analyze the structure and the choices they made, so their wall crumbled. You can imagine that one of these boys was more upset about this outcome than another :-)

The disappointment couldn't last long when you are sitting upon your own throne (also a hot spot in the area which required a fast picture taker so as to not get someone else's child in with yours!!)

Date night at the Dillard house

Matt had a GREAT idea to take Delaney on a date. She has been acting like a typical 13 year old girl trapped inside a 4 year olds body lately, so he thought a little daddy-daughter bonding might be good for their relationship. Delaney and I spent the afternoon getting her ready (notice the nails).

When he came home from work they went to Pizzeria Uno. Her hilarious moment from the night was this observation/question, "If baby chickens are called chicks are baby roosters called roosts?"

Then we met up with them at Ritters for some frozen custard - we couldn't miss out on all the fun!

May I have this dance?

Delaney has been begging to take dance again. We took her out because she showed very little interest in it. Then we had her in gymnastics only to have to take her out because my coaching schedule was too hectic to get her there every week. The child dances her way around the house singing and making up moves and songs, so we decided to give it another whirl, only we were MUCH smarter this time. We enrolled her in a 7 week class at the YMCA. It is very inexpensive and she absolutely loves it!

Mike Sold Me.....

well, not yet. But we are praying that the red Mike Sold Me sign will appear soon!

We're on the lookout for a great young couple who'd like to buy our precious home. It has served us well for the 8 years we've spent in it, but we're ready to find someplace different to call home....somewhere with a play room and some running space (for the kids and, maybe, a puppy!!)

Pray with us for the right buyer and for a wonderful new house for our family (other than my parents upstairs). But, especially, pray for patience as we wait for both of these things to happen :-)

Go BIG Blue!

For those of you who don't know, I coach cheerleading at Greenwood Christian Academy where I used to teach and where the kids do/will go to school. I love coaching and I love the girls that I have this year. They are from one of my favorite first grade classes!! Last Friday we had the chance to play and cheer at Conseco (where the Pacers play). It was a wonderful opportunity and tons of fun. I was so proud of the girls....they did a great job and represented GCA wonderfully!!

The hilariousness of life!

Okay, my stories have nothing to do with my pictures, but I couldn't pass up these pictures and I couldn't pass up the stories.

Carson is a big boy and Delaney is a tiny girl, but I always refer to Car as my puppy b/c he has HUGE feet and hands and I say that someday he'll grow into them like puppies grow into their big clumsy paws. Well, Delaney is a true techie like her daddy, so a few weeks ago she was exploring their computer, which used to be our old one, and she found pictures of Car when he was first born. He was sitting with her at the computer and it totally cracked me up to hear her explaining to him, "This is in the hospital, that's mommy, that's you, and those are your dog legs." Puppy feet, dog legs...she had the right idea!!!

Looking at the pictures a few days later I heard her yelling at them trying to get people's attention....they're pictures babe!!

Carson loves to get up early in the morning and snuggle. I used to get away with watching the news, but lately Car protests and I can't say that I blame him...there's lots of yucky stuff on there that I don't so much want him to see anyway. So, now, we usually watch cool kid shows like Monkey George (Curious George) or Sid the Science Kid. Well, one day my sister called and told me to turn on the news to see someone she went to high school with. When I turned it on, Car said, "Is this the stinky news or the smell good news?"

It's cold out there....

I don't so much care for the cold weather. Matt and I ask ourselves every winter why we still live in Indiana. Then we remind each other of our house, jobs, family, church, school, and friends...seems kind of odd to start all of that over just for the weather....and to have to convince all of our family to come with us and start their lives over too :-)

One stinkin' cold day we decided to take a trip to the children's museum. We dug up dinosaurs....
We did some excavation.....

Delaney admired the most awesome town of miniatures....

She drew pictures of cartoons characters....

Carson told some GREAT stories....

And they worked together on a puzzle without any screaming or fighting...it was totally worth enduring the cold to get inside!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

One of the GREATEST treasures on earth is our family, both immediate and extended. We were blessed to have a birthday party for Jesus with some of my mom's side of the family. Nancy made a cake for the kids to decorate....so much fun!!

Laney taking her turn with the sprinkles....there were very few left for the rest of the kids by the time she finished.
Carson finally getting a turn...

And then on to the littlest ones ~ Ava and Seth getting their hands messy!!!

And....the finished product. I'm not sure if any of the adults had a piece, but I can guarantee that the kids enjoyed it!

Wasn't That a Mighty Day?

Delaney's first school program was December 12th. The K4 and halfday K5 class sang two songs ~ Wasn't That a Mighty Day and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Here she is before the program with 2 of her friends, Abby and Maggie.

She was in the shadows of a very poorly lit stage....huge bummer for her first program!!

We had gone to Target to buy her black dress shoes that morning. She told me they fit great in the store, but she couldn't leave them alone that night. She shuffled across the stage bending over to fix them multiple times before making it to her place and by the time she got into the hall she had already taken them off!!!

Kevin (grandpa Bub) had planned to come help Matt with a project on Saturday, so when Matt told him about her program he came up Friday evening to go see her sing. I love the picture below!! Matt had been reading the Wizard of Oz to the kids at bedtime, so they cuddled up on grandpa for that night's chapter.

* sidenote: We finished the Wizard of Oz on December 30th, so for New Years Eve we watched the movie...very fun!! The kids weren't scared at all. We had a GREAT discussion at breakfast this morning about all of the differences between the book and the movie. I am looking for our next reading/movie adventure...if you have any suggestions please make a comment!!!!

You know those really cute cards....

well, the process wasn't quite as cute!! Enjoy your trip through our morning photo shoot....I can enjoy it now that it's over. The progression is HILARIOUS!!!

O Christmas Tree

Something about putting up a tree creates a kind of thrill and excitement that is unexplainable. This year Matt and I sat back and let the kids do the honors. I promise I only moved 10 ornaments when it was all over :-)

Trying to stand still for a picture....they REALLY wanted to dance around the living room to the Christmas CDs we'd just turned on!!

starting 2009 by finishing 2008

Our annual tradition, which was started before children, is to go downtown the day after Thanksgiving for the Christmas Tree Lighting festivities. It used to be that Matt and I would fight the crowd to get WONDERFUL South Bend Chocolate Company hot chocolate, but after Delaney's first trip with us, we decided crowds were over-rated with children and we'd just go to Starbucks on the way home. This year we changed it up a bit and decided to just make hot chocolate when we got home....much more relaxing!

We started our evening at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Then we walked over to the circle where we snagged front row seats for Santa's arrival via the back of a Chevy truck...kinda funny!! The kids enjoyed the music and holiday craziness and we enjoyed the family time.