christmas. best holiday. ever.

christmas was fantabulous!

famly fun

kids' smiles

being thankful with the spirit of giving all around

mmmm... i want to do it again.

christmas eve self timer shot

we were baking machines christmas eve

no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies

nestle toll house chocolate chip cookies

rice krispie treats

we made ours with strawberry mallows... so yummy!

blurry, but way to cute not to post

me and my little man

me and my princess

me and this goofball a.k.a. matty

abby wanted to take a picture of us by the christmas tree and this is what we got

(my mother-in-law always has the most beautiful tree)

got us in this shot but no tree ;)

abby set out the plates... while sammy was trackng santa via norad santa tracker

and what do ya know

they got to open up a present!

then back at home our tradition of daddy reading Twas the Night Before Christmas

and setting out milk, cookies, and a note for the big jolly guy

the next morning sammy woke up at 4:30 AM

thank god for the phineas and ferb marathon on the disney channel...

he lasted until 6:30, then i let him wake everyone up to open the gifts that santa brought

they both ended up being on santa's nice list...

blessed little kids i tell ya!

more rambling from yours truly

i don't know what's up with me lately? pictures just haven't been something i've been in the mood to take lately :( i'm trying to keep a log in my brain of all the funny/cute/annoying things sammy and abby have been doing lately...with little success. i need to start writing things down and taking more pictures. time goes by way to fast. (can you believe it's october?). i sometimes wish i was all into scrapbooking, and making picture books all cute and stuff. well, i'm not gonna make an excuse like "i'm way to busy" just because if i really really wanted to do it, i would make the time. my patience is taken up by a 6 and 4 year old :)
so you'll just have to deal with my rambling posts of how cool my family is. (we are. we really are.) i have been soaking up every minute, and when i'm old and gray it would be cool to relive some of these moments. like last night when we were playing a good ol' game of Wii bowling and sammy & abby's cheers for one another filled the room when they got a spare or a strike. or letting them jump on bed just so i can hear them laugh their best belly laughs. or when i video them wrestling each other because i think it's really cute. or when i get corrected by my first grader, on a daily basis because let's face it, he's a genius. or when abby puts her hands on her hips when she is "serious" as she would say.
my kids are angels. seriously. i'm not trying to be biased but my kids are pretty damn cool.
i guess what i'm trying to say through all this nonsense is...expect more rambling...and stories...and cell phone shots. not because "i don't have time" but because that's what i'm into right now :)

enjoy these few shots...and a little tid bit of a story with each one.

our dear mickey. we had him "fixed" last week and he is rocking the "cone of shame" proudly. try explaining to your kids why he needed to have his goods chopped off. i did the best i could without revealing too much. hopefully that birds & bees talk won't happen again until they are older. like 20 would be good ;) i know. i know. it's gonna have to happen way before that but i can wish right? this is how the convo went between my advanced son and I...

"why did he need to get fixed if he wasn't broken?"

"well sammy, we had to have him fixed so he couldn't make babies" (oh no! i thought did i just say that out loud...breathe & think...breathe & think)

"only girls can have babies"

"well it takes a boy and a girl to make a baby" (oh no again! don't ask how, don't ask how)

"ok, that's good because we don't need a lot of puppies when we buy a girl dog huh?"

"nope we don't need a lot of puppies"

i dodged it. by a hair. whew.

has the silly band craze hit your house? well it's in full effect over here. sammy proudly displays them on his bed...i think he has a total of 40 now? he knows exactly how many. to bad he's at school right now or i'd ask him. 

and my cool kids. can you tell abby wasn't into taking the picture? love that she still has her baby round face. sammy lost that round face last year. hoping hers stays a little longer, just because it is so darn adorable. like sammy's hair? thinking he looks pretty handsome huh? he got a haircut just before school pictures. and loves it.

Silly Abby :)

Last night was a great family night. Laughing, smiling, hugging and kissing. It's what life is all about. Well, Sammy was singing his new song he learned at school...all about money and what presidents are on each coin. He did a fantastic job! After he was all done we hear from Abby "Roosevelt is a really cute name, right Mommy?" Priceless. So, if she grows up and names one of her children Roosevelt, we won't be surprised ;)

Princess in Training

Around last week at the dinner table Sam and I were talking to the kids about what they want to be when they grow up. Sammy told us he wants to go to school to be a doctor, my little achiever. And Abby proceeds us she wants to be a princess, nothing wrong with wanting to be waited on for the rest of your life right ;) Well, since Sammy has started kindergarten I have been doing preschool lessons with Abby. She was complaining one day that she didn't want to do any "homework," I told her she needs to study for school. She looks at me raises her hands up in the air and says "BUT MOMMY, I AM GOING TO BE A PRINCESS! I don't need to go to school." Yes, my 3 year daughter really believes she was born to a royal family and will some day inherit a crown and throne!

Aunt Katrina let Abby borrow Beauty and the Beast while she is sitting on a white sand beach in Hawaii somewhere :) The first time she watched it she had to be in a Belle dress, and have her Belle piggy bank right next to her (because God forbid anyone steal her royal treasure). I had to snap some pictures, because she is just to darn adorable!

Getting Princess tips from Belle

Lesson Learned: Snub the arrogant, conceited jerk for a warm loving Beast ;)

The Picture to the Story

Here is the picture that Aunt Shawna caught on camera of his BIG birthday wish :) To read the story click here

Sammy is Toothless...

......well at least missing 1 tooth. Yes, his first tooth fell out last night August 23rd, 2009! I can't believe he is starting to loose teeth! He brushed his teeth last night and then asked me to pull it out (it was hanging by a thread). I pulled for about 1 second and "pop" it came out. He was SO thrilled, the look on his little face was like he had just won the lottery.

So excited!

There's the space :)

Putting his tooth in the Toothfairy Box.

The toothfairy brought him $2 in exchange for his tooth :)

Clean Your Room

Daddy had told Little Miss Abbigail Lucille to clean her room, what a GREAT job she did right?
Scroll Down....

She had dumped all of her toys into her brother's across the hall!

Cool Kid Style

Sammy got to pick out his very own new school clothes for Kindergarten. As I was showing him the cool vintage superhero t-shirts his response was "no, i don't like that one" until he saw this Run DMC t-shirt! How could I resist letting him get it!? The kids has his own style!

New Luggage!

Sammy and Abby's Mammo and Papa bought them new suitcases that came along with an overnight bag and a toiletries bag. They were so excited that they both had to pack for their one night stay! So very carefully they put their jammies and clean clothes into the suitcases. And, of course had to pack their tooth brushes and toothpaste in their toiletries bags! They just LOVE their new travel accessories!

New Earrings!

After one of her stud earrings fell out the other night I let Abby pick out which earrings she wanted in next. It took some convincing for her to let me put the earrings in, but she did great this time! She is very proud of her new earrings and shows them off to about everyone she sees.

Doesn't want her picture taken....

Abby's "big girl" earrings

"I'll Try..."

I was tucking Sammy into bed and hugging him tightly. I gave him a kiss on the forehead and said "Don't get any bigger! You need to stay my little baby boy forever!" He looked up at me and said "I'll try." Little kids and their way of thinking :) LOVE IT!

"I'm almost a Dad...."

I have to blog about this really funny story about my little man.

He came up to me happy as can be a said while pointing to his leg, "Look Mommy I'm almost a Dad..." I responded with a smile and said "Why's that bub?" And he looked at me with the biggest smile and told me "Because I'm starting to get hair on my legs!"

Now, it is times like this one that I am amazed that I created these little people. It truly is a miracle!

I just love short films....

Short Film #1: Sammy and Abby's rendition of the classic "Clean Up" song.

Short Film #2: Sammy playing the harmonica with none other than Lee Koch!

Story Behind the Header

Best Friends

Sam and I know how blessed we are that our kids get along so well! Of course there is the brother, sister fights that happen but all in all Sammy and Abby do get along really great, and you can see the love they have for one another when they play. One afternoon we caught Sammy reading a book to Abby on the couch! How precious :)

My Little Man has a Heart of Gold!

After a long, busy, fun week, we were putting Sammy and Abby to bed. Our routine entails me putting Abby to bed and Sam putting Sammy to bed. Sam and Sammy were talking about what a great birthday and party he had. Sammy then proceeds to say "Daddy you want to know what I wished for when I blew out my candles?" and Sam of course answered "What?" Sammy then blew our minds once again and said "For all the little boys in the world that don't have all the cool things that I have that they would get them." He truly is an angel from heaven!! And we thank God every day for our little man!

It amazes me at 5 years old that he can comprehend that he is a blessed little boy!

Snake for Dinner!

Homemade Mac 'n Cheese was on the menu for dinner and Sam wanted sausage along with it. Well, when he unwrapped it from the package to BBQ it Sammy looked at it and said "Wow Daddy! What is that?!" Sam answered "It's snake bub, I killed it on my way home from work." Sammy was amazed at the entire story. The real amazing part is that my picky little eater actually tried it! I got him on video trying the snake that Daddy brought home. :)

Pretty Pretty Princess

One of our favorite games to play together is Pretty Pretty Princess. I remember playing this game when I was a little girl and to be able to play it with Sammy and Abby is really fun! I told Sam that this is my blackmail picture of Sammy when he brings his first date home ;)

A Talk With My Little Girl

Last night Abby had trouble falling asleep due to her 2 hour late nap. I went in her to room to talk to her and let her know she needed to go to sleep. We ended up talking about her turning 3 in a few weeks and how she is going to get to start dance classes. I let her know that she is going to make lots of new friends, she is going to be able to wear tutus that twirl, and she will learn so much doing dance. I could tell she was deep in thought through the whole conversation ;) She then laid her head on my chest and said "After I do dance I do soccer ball mommy?" I had to smile because growing up that was my sport, and I have NEVER even mentioned soccer to her! I guess God really did give Sam and I little clones.

I think that hurt Jesus!

I was playing football with the little man inside. We were throwing the ball back and forth, back and forth. Well I threw the ball to him and it hit him in the chest. He looked at me and said "Mommy I think you hurt Jesus when you threw the ball at me." How precious little minds work!