Christmas 2009 (mostly in pictures because I have a TON of them)

First stop.....Mom and Dad's in Kansas!
The g-parents and kids...ready to tear into the gifts
Auntie A and Jackson being silly
The LONG awaited Wii!! According to the boys, they were the only kids in Texas who didn't have one!
So happy!
Brooke got a bitty baby, but she just wanted to crawl into the box that it came in. So funny....
The boys in all their KU gear.
Uncle Ben with Brooke loving her bitty baby. Ben looks like a natural!
Second stop....Jason's parents in Leavenworth! The boys love the bunk beds that they sleep in there. G-pa reading them a story.
G-ma reading the boys a story the night before Christmas.
One morning, we opened the door and found a wall of snow! It was so cool...we made the boys stop and take pics. before plowing thru it.
1, 2, 3....run! They could barely get thru it because it was so thick!
G-ma and G-pa yard is the best for sledding.
Great grandparents from Idaho. We were so glad to see them. It was snowing so hard that we weren't sure if they could make the drive.
Here are some of the cousins with their grandparents.
Brooke loved the snow. She didn't seem to mind the cold.
Her first sled ride. She laughed and laughed and went down the hill probably 5 times!
Grandpa gave them a litte guidance on the sled or else Brooke would have ended up in the snow.
Almost every day, they have deer that come in their backyard. There were up to 7 of them at one time. Here is Drew helping to put down the corn after a snowfall.
After Christmas, Jackson got to go to a KU Basketball clinic. All the players were there and he got all their autographs and pictures with them.
He's pretty serious about basketball. Check out those skills!
We're back at home and decompressing after an awesome Christmas. We had such a great time with family and friends and the weather couldn't have been better. It was truly magical for the kids and that is so fun to see as a parent!

Gilley!!!!

Forgive this overexposed picture. I don't know what happened on that one. ANYWAYS, have you seen the SNL character, Gilley? She is this school girl who is always doing something mischeivious and then her teacher always calls her out on in and all she does is smile.
Well, we have a little "Gilley" here at our house. We just got home from KS yesterday and all of the sudden, Brooke wants to climb up and stand on the outside of the stairs. She is so proud of herself. The thing is, she will stand up there and hold on for like 20 minutes, but then is scared to get down. We all were standing around her and she just kept smiling and making funny faces.

On another note, check out Drew's eye! Before we left for Christmas, Drew was at a birthday party and got hit in the eye with a golf club. I ended up taking him to the ER because I was worried that the orbital bone might be fractured. It ended up being just fine and he got a lot of attention from all the nurses and doctors.
It is almost totally healed now and he has definitely learned his lesson.....step away from the golf clubs!!
I have lots of Christmas pictures to post, but am overwhlemed with laundry, unpacking, sorting, etc....stay tuned!

The big ONE!!!

I just cannot believe Brooke has turned one year old!! I'm just so proud that Jason and I made it thru the year as a family of 5! Look at this girl. She was so happy to see all the family that came to celebrate.....Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Jenifer, and cousin Kyle. And of course, her big brothers. Her cake was as big as her!
My mom made this same cake for me when I was one, so she did the same for Brooke. She worked a long time on it and it was so pretty. I'll have to keep the directions and make it for my grand-daughter :)
The proud parents!
She poked around at the cake for a while and then I pulled off a leg and gave it to her.

Now she has the idea! She ate the whole piece!

Nana and Papa gave her this little house that you crawl thru, ring the doorbell, play music....she is just delighted with it. She loves to open and close the door over and over again.

The boys were all over her and her new toys. Why is it that the older kids want to play with the baby toys?

The pink rocking horse was from G-ma and G-pa. It is so cute and the perfect size for her. She likes to get on it, but hasn't gotten the confidence yet to really make him go. I think she'll get the hang of it in no time!

Brooke has brought our family so much joy that I didn't even know we were missing! It's amazing how quickly time passes. She seems to be a smart and fiesty little girl...from what you can tell from a 1 year old. She is so happy and is a social butterfly. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl. We love you Brookie!

'Tis the BIRTHDAY Season!!!

From Dec. 5 to Jan. 10th, our family has 3 kids birthdays, Christmas, and New Year's.....do you know how CARZY that is? Well, we kicked off our party season with our sweet Drew turning 6! His birthday morning started off with his first basketball game at 8 a.m.!!!
Then, off to the Lego education center in Southlake to start the party! Garrett and Peyton were the first party guests...Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa were there too!
In the party roon, in front of a lego giraffe.
Drew was the King and he had to "knight" all his friends before they entered the party room.
Here he is "knighting" Jackson. I was just happy that he didn't knight his head with his sword. It would have been a great excuse :)
All the boys had to build lego weapons to slay the dragons. Here they are after they had captured them and build a trap for them.
Look at this cute king.
I had to get a picture of the cake. If you can't tell, they are 2 big legos. I made rectangular cakes and then cut cupcakes in half and put them on the top. I was pleased with how it turned out.
At the end of the party, the boys got to pick bricks from the lego wall. This took careful deliberation to pick just the right ones.
Finally, Drew gets to do his favorite thing.....build legos! He's building a big city right now. He will spend hours out there working and working. It's really the only time he is quiet!
Drew always keeps us laughing and has great thoughts and questions. He is always thinking of others and loves deeply. He wears his feelings on his sleeve and is the best cuddler. What a blessing he is to our family!

Giving Thanks in KC!

We started out our visit to the College Basketball Experience in downtown KC. It was awesome! The boys loved everything there and did just about everything they had to offer. Check out these shoe sizes of some pro basketball players....The biggest food was Shaq's and it is a size 23!!
The were having a mini dispute over who was going to get to be KU....Jackson won.
They had this ESPN sports desk that you can sit at and pretend that you are the sportscaster...Jason's dream come true! There are many options that you can choose to narrarate, so here they are checking them out.
The KU championship game is the one that they picked and look how enthusiastic Jason is! Did his sons even get a chance to speak? Yes, they both did many times and were just as excited as their dad :)
Another day, we went ice skating at this little outdoor rink. It was a beautiful day outside, so it was perfect! Dad and Brooke hanging rinkside....
My dad and I went out there with the boys and we were both sore the next day. Drew did really great for his first time and by the end, he could go a little on his own without holding on to the wall. So, Jackson has found another passion....ice skating! He was soaking wet from falling down in the puddles that were forming on the ice, but he would not quit! We all traded in our skates after an hour and sat on the side and watched him shuffle like an old man across the ice. It was hilarious.
Afterwards, we stopped in a toy shop and Dad buried Brooke in this chair surrounded by doll friends. It reminds me of ET when he's in the closet with all those stuffed animals.
Mom and Brooke hang on the side waving to all of us.
Check out "Miss Flashdance"...my sister joined Jackson for a lap around the rink.
At the end of the day, there's nothing like a shoulder ride on your big brother's shoulders.
I am thankful for our families and for all the times that we have together to make memories. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

SERIOUSLY?!?!?

Dancing Queen!

Random Weekend

This was the first weekend in a LONG time that we didn't have a sporting event to attend, so we took it easy. We woke up on Saturday morning to the boys who had built this "fort" in the middle of the family room. We were told to go in it and look at the menu that they had made and order food in it all day. I enjoyed goldfish and water at their "snackbar". Very nice.
Later in the day, we found Drew outside trying to sell an old scooter. He had made a sign and was selling it for $5. He sat on it for about 30 minutes and then gave up. Now, he wants to give it to a friend for their birthday. Don't worry everyone, you won't be getting an old, used scooter for your birthday.
We decided to get our Christmas decorations out now and have them up and ready for our big December. Brooke immediately crawled right over to the fireplace, crawled up on it, and is checking out the snowman.
I think she likes it! This is her new funny face that she's been making lately. She squints her eyes and scrunches up her nose....I don't know why. If you'll notice, she is getting all 4 top teeth! I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but how weird is that? She doesn't have any of her bottom teeth. Just those top ones. I guess she just has to do it diffently than her brothers.

Bottoms Up!

I look forward to my cup of coffee in the morning. It's comforting, warm, and I can drink a steaming cup of it on a 100 degree day. I don't know why, but I love it!
It looks as though my daughter may be a future coffee drinker! After the boys leave, I sit on the floor with her and finish my coffee while she plays. She's always interested in my cup when I set it down. Now she knows what to do with things when she gets a hold of them....when she gets a brush, she puts it up to her head, when she gets sunglasses, she attempts to put them on her face, and when she gets the mug, she drinks it! OK, there's never anything in the cup, but one day, one day.......

Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband! He requested his favorite meal of chicken and noodles (a grandma Sigrid dish) and Million Dollar Pie (chocolate chips, oatmeal....so good!)

Here is the little cheetah making her debut at our annual Halloween party! She didn't seem to mind her costume or her whiskers. She was so cute!
Now, here are the Mario Bros.!! Mario and Luigi!! The boys had this idea months ago, we found the costumes, and wa-la.....here they are!
The boys are just itching to get going....
Jason's parents were visiting this weekend and here is Grandma with Brooke. Grandma and I stayed back and answered the door while the boys went around the neighborhood.
Grandpa Maupin with all the kiddo by our ghost blow up. After about 3 weeks of having it in our yard, Brooke will finally let you take her close to it. She is cautiosly touching it. After this picture, Mario and Luigi were off.......Jason said they ran from house to house. They came home exhausted, sweaty, and happy!