four wheelin'

Sam got a motorized Jeep for Christmas in 2007 and of course it's one of his favorite toys! Last year he was pretty good at driving it, but he got stuck a lot and needed help with the steering. Wow, what difference does a year make... he is a pro at driving it now! And now that the snow is gone and the weather is warming up some he wants to drive it all the time. Yesterday we got home a little early after taking Ben to the doctor's and before I could unload the car Sam and even Ben had climbed in the Jeep and were off! Sam loves going up and down the small hills and Ben just loves riding around! I caught some pictures of them and a short video... I have a feeling there might be a worn in circle around the house before the summer is over with!

pictures... click here

jacob's 12th birthday

click here for a link to pictures of Jacob's 12th birthday on his blog!

all updated...

i have finally gotten the kid's blogs updated from before Christmas up until now! hopefully i will keep on top of them now and not get so far behind. now i just have to work on those photo books!

oh... you can get to the kid's blog by clicking on their names at the top of the page

grandparent's birthdays

Today we went to Toni and Dan's to celebrate my grandparents and fr. Don's birthdays and their anniversary. It was really nice to see everyone, especially since we missed Thanksgiving and Christmas due the kids being sick. The food was great and everyone had a really nice time. Here are some pictures (thanks Don for sending them!).

lily and sam

Matt, Kim and Lily have been visiting for Christmas for the past week. Sam and Lily are having a ball together! Sam can't wait to wake Lily up in the morning and they will play as long as you let them. And the best part... they play GREAT together! They love chasing each other or fixing things with their tools. They will play in Sam's room or living room or downstairs, doesn't matter, as long as they are together. Sam normally gets a bath every night (hey, he's a boy!) and one night Lily jumped in there with him and they played in there together for forever. I had to warm the water up twice! The night before they were leaving we let Sam stay up late and play with Lily a little extra. The next morning when Sam woke up Lily was already gone and he was sad. Every couple days he would ask where Lily was and why she wasn't there. I know that he can't wait to see Lily again!

Bath Pictures Here!

Cute Video Here!

christmas day!!!!

The kids actually slept in longer that I thought they would, which was a GREAT thing (since I did not get to bed until after 1:00am). Sam kinda woke up like it was a normal morning, but he was excited about something, I just don't think he really knew what. Andy reminded him it was Christmas morning and that we needed to go downstairs and see if Santa came. Then he got really excited! He made sure Jacob was awake and busted into Ben's room to wake him up. We made it downstairs and Lily was sleeping on the fold out couch in the living room, so Sam made sure she woke up too. Within minutes kids were ripping into presents and throwing wrapping paper all over! It took about an hour for everything to be opened (except for Ben's stuff - which some of it was not opened for days). The kids were very happy and were playing with all their new toys for the rest of the morning. It was a great morning and a lot of fun. Loud and full of energy... just like Christmas morning should be.

Later in the day Rob, Patti, Kelsey and Lucy come over and we had a nice dinner and opened even more presents!

I put more stories about each of the kids on their own blog pages - links are at the top of this page.)

Christmas morning pictures are here!

Christmas afternoon pictrues are here!

christmas eve with pam's family

Tonight we went over my sister Becky's home and celebrated Christmas with my family. We had a really nice evening and the boys got some awesome toys! Sam even got the same fire engine from Grandpa and Grandma that Santa was suppose to bring him that night! Sam just LOVED it! Jacob got some books, Legos and gift cards and was very happy! Ben got some of his own trucks that light up and make noise. Afterwards we took the kids back home and snuggled them into bed, before I headed back out with the midnight service with my parents and sisters. It was a nice relaxing evening and we had a really nice night!

You can see all the pictures here!

making christmas cookies

Sam is certainly at one of the perfect age's for Christmas time. And everything is revolving around making sure that Santa is coming and we have everything ready for him! This of course includes making cookies! Since I wanted it to be a fun experience for Sam I waited until Ben was taking a nap. Jacob would joined in the "fun" (don't know that he is really into this kind of stuff anymore) but him and Andy went to the movies and escaped. Sam and I just made simple sugar cookies. I had some leftover green food coloring (Sam's favorite color) so we made some of the frosting green and Sam heaped that on the cookies as best he could. He also made sure they had lots of sprinkles! We also made two snowman, one for Jake and one for Sam. Of course they were left out before he went to bed with some milk and carrots for the reindeer. Santa said that they just delightful...

more pictures here

ben's birthday

I have finally updated Ben's blog and added birthday pictures... check them out on his blog here!

just playing around

Just thought I would take a couple updated pictures of Sam and Ben playing around. At night they normally will play in Sam and Jacob's room for a little bit before taking a bath. Tonight Sam was "fixing" his bed and Ben was just happy to be naked! Enjoy some pictures here!