My Christmas Gifts

Tom bought me a Nook Color for Christmas and I haven't been able to put it down!!! I am absolutely enjoying it. Of course, I have been sitting around doing too much reading, but hey, we all deserve a break, right?!?

I also got a pressure cooker for Christmas, a gift I got for myself!! I tried it out this weekend and I'm loving it! With moms help, I canned homemade chicken noodle soup, chili, and carrots yesterday. Today, I canned boneless, skinless chicken breasts all by myself, and so far it appears as everything has sealed!!! Ah, it's the little things that excite me!!

Christmas with the Arbaugh's

We celebrated with the Arbaugh's on Saturday, December 18th.  The kids had a great time playing together and Blake even spent the night at Gramma's house with the boys.  They got Zhu-Zhu pets from Gramma and Grampa and had fun playing together!

 The Grandkids!

 Florence's gift to us girls were "A few of her favorite things"....including dish soap, toothpaste, gardening gloves and boxed cinnamon roll mix!

Me & my boy

Blake's Pre-School Christmas Program

Blake's Christmas Program was held on December 8th at Peace Lutheran Church.  The kids sang some Christmas songs, put the letters of the alphabet on the Christmas tree, and then enjoyed cookies and punch with classmates and family afterwards!

 Love this one!! So innocent!

 Yes, I have him trained well!

 Blake's letter was "T"

 Blake and his bud Hunter Garza enjoying a cookie!

The whole clan!

Christmas with Mom

The "Eye Phone" that Tom created! (the kids had a blast playing with this old phone, played with it more than their new toys!)

The "bra purse" that I made!

Jody's Homemade "sandals"!

Robbie, Cora, Brianna, Kelsie & Blake


Blake & Kelsie

We celebrated Christmas with Mom a little early this year due to everyone's busy schedules. We had a Chinese dinner prepared my mom, on Saturday, December 10th. We did something different this year - a white elephant gift exchange! Some of the gifts included flip flops made out of feminine napkins, an "eye phone", and a homemade bra purse! We had a great time!!

Definite Success!

Well, I think it's safe to say that the potty training was definitely a success! Only one accident in the last seven days!!! She still wears a diaper overnight but often wakes up dry. I am so proud of her! Some milestones are bittersweet, especially with the last child, but this one is simply sweet! Her personality has blossomed so much in the last couple of months, that I am not going to miss the "baby" stage all that much. She is such a hoot these days, always surprising us with the words that come out of her mouth and with her actions.

Blake has been really testing us lately, it seems. He just seems to have a hard time slowing down and listening. I really hoping that improves over the next few months. Otherwise, I think he is as smart as a whip and impresses me with his knowledge almost daily.

Did I mention my little girl's obsession with apples lately?

Success

I believe the potty training was a success! Cora has gone two full days with no accidents!! We are so proud of her!!!

We enjoyed the Bad Axe Christmas parade last night. It was actually almost 60 degrees out!! The kids enjoyed the evening.

Day 3

So far so good! Cora didn't have any accidents today!!! She even told me a few times that she had to go, and even pooped twice!! If you have not gone through potty training, you have no idea the excitement that this brings!!! We dropped the kids off with grandpa and grandma Lynn so that we can have a night out, so hopefully the success continues!!

Avoided the stores and did my black Friday shopping online today. I got some awesome deals and am pretty much done. I just have to even things out a bit and get some stocking stuffers. Thankfully I have lots of time for that!!