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.

Snow White and her ferocious red dragon

I am biased, she is gorgeous!

Carson was checking out her makeup.

Isn't that a ferocious looking dragon? That is exactly what he wanted to be ~ a scary red dragon. I thought it would help him with his fear of things dressed up, not so much!!!

I love this picture.

Oh the crazy candy sorting that happened when we got home!!!

Fall Fun Fest

Our church hosted a Fall Fun Fest. This is our first fall at the church and WOW ~ this event was much more elaborate than I thought it would be.

There was face painting ~ a fire truck putting out a fire for Car and a glittery dolphin for Laney

Laney rode a pony when she went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Shannon and Uncle Aaron, so she was totally an old pro at this!!

Laugh if you must, but this picture brings tears to my eyes! There was a cake walk game (a circle of numbers on the floor, you walk around them until the music stops, they pick a number from a hat and the person standing on that number wins). Carson played this game for over 10 minutes trying to have his number called. The ladies running the game offered him candy twice if he wanted to quit, but he was determined to win...I think this picture says so much ~ the hands, the face ~ I felt so bad for him, yet I admired his "stick with it" attitude. He's such an example to me sometimes!!!

And, of course, before we could leave, there had to be a football toss!! Look at that arm :-)