Anabelle is Writing and Spelling her Name!

Anabelle is now writing and spelling her name like a little pro! We are so proud of her. I can't believe that our baby will already be going to kindergarten this year!! She will be the smartest kid in the class! I'm also thinking that she will be a Spelling Bee star just like her mommy was! :)

Candy Cane Cookies

So, we got our Girl Scout Cookies yesterday from Stacy and Kyra. We got a box of Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Thin Mints, and Caramel Delights. The kids had some after dinner last night. Brady had a bite of a Thin Mint and said, "Mommy, these are Candy Cane Cookies." How sweet is that!?!? He is so funny!

New Year's Eve

Like years in the past, for New Year's Eve we went to Danny and Jenny's house. They also had three other couples there besides us and all of their kids. The kids had their little party in the basement, and the mommy and daddy party was on the main floor. We had a lot of fun playing board games, eating really good food, and playing on the Wii. We got home at 2am, which is the latest that we have stayed out in a long time!! It was a really good time, and I hope they have another party this year!

One of the funniest things of the night was when we were playing the game, Taboo. The girls were against the guys. It was my turn to describe the words, and Jenny, Jennifer, Kim, and Kristen had to guess what word I was trying to describe. I came to the word "Six Pack" and tried to think of a way to describe it without using the words that were listed, so I said, "What can be on a guys stomach." As soon as I said that, ALL of the girls shouted, "HAIR!" We all bursted into laughter and couldn't stop. They eventually guessed the word, but it was freakin HILARIOUS!

We were so into playing the games that by the time we checked to see what time it was, it was already 12:05. We missed the turning of the New Year, but boy did we have fun doing it! :) However, we did watch the dropping of the ball in New York when it turned midnight there, so I guess we always have that!

Here are some pics...

Getting ready to party! :-)

Kristen's turn at describing the words. She is so fun to be around!

Playing some more Taboo

The kids in the basement having their own little party

Anabelle, Jessica, and Brady

Watching a movie

Kim playing the Wii

Spending Time with the Fam

While my mom and stepdad were home for the holidays, they came down to my brother's house for a visit one night, so we went there to see everyone. The kids had a ball playing with each other, and the kids loved seeing their Grandma and Papa again.

Some pics...

My niece, Ally, and my baby boy...I can remember when Allybug was a just a sweet little baby girl...my how time flies!

Grandmother/Grandaughter bonding time

Awww....baby Drake, he just has loads of energy! Cutie too!

Anabelle and Drake just love running after each other. Drake's laugh is sooooooooooooo funny when Anabelle is running after him!

Watch out...cousins at play!

Brady riding Drake's tricycle that he got from Santa....Drake will be a little mad man on it this summer

A Day in the City

Every year, my mom and stepdad like to take a trip downtown to look at all the decorated store windows, see the big Christmas tree, and to stop by the yummy popcorn store. The kids and I went along this year and so did Sharon and the girls. We had a fun time, and boy am I glad that the popcorn is gone because it is so addictingly good!!!!

Here's some pics from our fun filled day...

The tree at Macy's

My niece, Ally, with Brady and Anabelle

Anabelle with her Grandma...always glued to her hip! :)

Taking a break! :)

Getting ready to leave...what a fun day!

Brady sleeping with his Horton that Grandma bought him that day...aww

Anabelle sleeping with her Horton that Grandma bought her that day...wore out from our big day...so cute

Christmas Day

We woke up about 7:30 Christmas morning, and the kids started opening their boat load of gifts and stockings. Anabelle finished way before Brady, so she thought that she didn't get as much as Brady did. She did, but each time Brady opened a gift he wanted to take each one out of the packaging and play with it. We had to keep telling him to just keep opening his presents. After they finished opening all of their gifts, we took EVERYTHING out of its packaging...boy did we have A LOT of garbage!!

Here some pics of them with just some of their gifts....















Later that day, we went to my brother Brian's house to celebrate Christmas. Each year, my brother's and I take turns having Christmas at our houses, so since I had Christmas in 2007, it was Brian's turn in 2008, and it will be Danny's turn this year. It was nice that it wasn't our turn this year because we just got back from vacation the week of Christmas.

We got to Brian's house about 3:30 pm and had a really good time. It was so nice to see everyone and to catch up. Anabelle and Brady were sooooo excited to see their Grandma and Papa, as they only get to see them a few times a year. Each of the kids also had some good bonding time with their Aunt Heather and Uncle Brian.

There were a lot of people there, including my step-siblings, Kelly, Stefanie, and Chris along with their families, my brothers, Danny and Brian along with their families, us, and my mom and stepdad. Ronnie and his family couldn't make it this year as he had to leave for Mississippi to pick up Nathan and Justice.

Here's a slideshow of our Christmas together....(and what a wonderful one it was! :))

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Eve

Making sure that there is enough room for Santa

Four chocolate chip nut cookies (fresh from the oven) and a glass a milk for Santa

All ready for Santa

Our First Family Vacation

It has almost been two weeks now that we have been home from vacation. We took our first family vacation to Sanibel Island, Florida. We stayed at Casa Ybel, which was a really nice resort. We had an excellent time and wonderful weather. It was sunny and 80 everyday. I even got a tan! When we came home on the 21st, we were greeted with an ice storm that had just taken place a couple of days prior, and the day we got home it was 30 below zero with the windchill....talk about a HUGE difference!

We got to see and do a lot of different things. We saw a couple get married on the beach at our resort, and then the next day we saw a couple get engaged with a plane flying overhead that read "Claudia, Will You Marry Me?" at our resort. We collected lots of nice shells, saw beautiful sunsets, hung out at the pool, took a lot of walks on the different beaches, made sandcastles, visited the Shell Museum, took a tram tour at the Darling Wildlife Refuge, went to some really nice places to eat...my favorite was the Mucky Duck, had excellent shakes from "Cheeburger Cheeburger", saw an alligator at our resort, shopped the souveneir shops...It was a week of no work, no cooking, no laundry, no worries...one that we will NEVER forget!

The kids were ecstatic to get back home to all of their toys. I think they played with every single one of them when we got home. Brady was so excited that he shouted "I am so happy"! It was funny. We all had such a wonderful time on vacation...I am already looking to plan our next one!

Make a Smilebox slideshow