Party Central

Last weekend was full of Christmas parties. Drew and I started Friday night with my school's Christmas party. Grammy & Papa came to stay with Kate and Ben.

Saturday morning Kate and I went to our neighborhood's Christmas tea. It was fun to attend my first mother/daughter event with Kate. She was too cute. We had to leave a little early to make it to the Maurer Christmas on time. As we said our goodbyes and started to leave, Kate called back to the ladies, "We have to take off now, nice to meet you!" I just never know what is going to come out of that little mouth.

Next on our agenda was the Maurer Christmas at my Aunt Jan & Uncle Mark's house. Kate made out like a bandit on gifts. She got her first Barbie (along with her very own dress to match her Barbie) and a My Little Pony. But, the gift she seemed most impressed with was a box of Barbie fruit snacks. She opened them up, gasped loudly, and ran to Aunt Jan. She gave her a big hug and said "I love you SO much!". The girl knows how to make your day!





Our last party of the night was with my friends from high school. By the time we got there I was tired and maybe just a tad bit cranky. We all were. Kate decided she was going to wear her new Barbie dress over her outfit. I didn't have the energy to fight it. Nor did I have the energy to take anymore pictures.

Sunday was (finally) a relaxing day at home. After church and lunch at Panera we enjoyed just being home.


Merry Christmas!

And so it begins...

We have started our annual Christmas adventure! By the time Christmas is over we will have traveled from one end of Illinois to the other, across, and back again!

Last Saturday we kicked-off our Christmas festivities with the Goebel Family Christmas in Lincoln. Drew's grandmother is in a home there so we gathered at a hotel. Sadly, Grandmother wasn't feeling well and wasn't able to attend. But, it was still nice to catch up with Drew's aunt and cousins. We only get to see them about twice a year.

We spent the afternoon at the hotel pool. The kiddos wore the dads out in the water while the ladies relaxed poolside with tables full of goodies.


Then we basically took over the hotel lobby for the evening with our gift exchange, dinner and lots of rough-housing. I think we drove the hotel clerk half crazy! It was so fun to watch the little ones giggle and play together.


After breakfast on Sunday we packed up and headed to Gridley to celebrate Jenny's birthday. Happy Birthday Jenn!

Whoa! I'm tired - and we just started!

Meeting Santa

Last weekend Santa was at "Daddy's school". Kate dressed in her princess Christmas dress that Grammy made her(every dress is a princess dress and she uses "made" interchangeably with "bought")and she was ready to go! She sat on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a bouncy ball for Christmas. Nothing else. Her only request was that it was pink and went "boing, boing". Hmmm, that would have been information nice to know about a day earlier since Drew and I finished up our Christmas shopping the night before. It would have been a whole lot easier (and less expensive) had we known a pink bouncy ball was all the girl really wanted.

There were lots of fun things to do after visiting Santa. Kate's first stop was the cupcake walk. She won a cupcake the first go round. One cupcake and a visit with Santa was all she needed and we were ready to go home!


The kiddos looked so cute in their Christmas outfits from Grammy I had to try to get a couple pictures in front of our tree.

Thankful

I love Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure it is my favorite holiday. I love the idea of gathering together with family to celebrate the idea of thankfulness. That and food, how could a holiday get any better?!

This year the Goebel Family Thanksgiving was at our house. That means I made my first turkey! It was a success. I was pretty impressed with myself and how yummy my turkey was. At least until the day after Thanksgiving when we had feast #2 at my Grandma LeSage's house...her turkey was way (WAY) better than mine. Oh well, she has 50-some more years of experience than me, right?

Shopping!

It seems to me that time is flying by! It is hard to believe that a week has past since our annual girls Christmas shopping trip to Woodfield Mall. My mom, sister, grandma and I have been making this trip for more years that we can remember. We have so much fun together. Lots and lots of laughing. (This one is for you, Grandma...)

This year Ben broke the girls only rule. He was a super trouper! He was so content spending hour after hour at the mall. There was lots to look at and lots of attention. After all, all his biggest fans were there! I hope you enjoyed yourself, Ben. Next year you'll be home with Daddy and Kate!

Ben turned 7 months on the 13th! Just two days shy of 7 months (and on Mommy's birthday!) he cut his first tooth. The next one came just a few days later. Ben has been eating "real" food. So far he likes sweet potatoes and peas the best. The other night while feeding him I was telling Katie that her favorite foods used to be sweet potatoes and peas too. After thinking a bit she said, "Now my favorite food pork chops!" She always keeps me laughing.

Happy Halloween!

Introducing Ben the Zebra and Kate the "Princess Witch"....


Tonight we did a little trick or treating. The cold weather kept us from staying out very long. But, Kate inherited her mama's sweet tooth and she wasn't about to let a little cold weather keep her from filling her pumpkin with candy. She is going through an anti-picture stage so it was a little difficult to get a picture of her in that way-too-cute witch's costume.

Earlier in the week we carved pumpkins...well, all but one. That one was Kate's special pumpkin that she picked out and no one could "cut" it. She still does not like to be dirty and refused to help get the guts out of the pumpkins. Daddy even tried bribing her with (up to 3) popsicles. She stuck to her guns. She said, "No, I keep my hands fresh and clean. I NOT touch punkin!"

Later she had fun helping Daddy cut the eyes and nose out of the pumpkins. But best of all was turning out the lights and admiring the finished product.

Happy Halloween!!

Kate Goes to the Movies

Last Saturday we took Kate to see a movie (or "moobee"). Her attention span is pretty short so we weren't sure if she would be able to sit through the entire thing. But, the weather was cold and rainy and "Up" was at the dollar theater so we gave it a try. She was so excited to get there. She kept saying "I go to the show!" There were a couple parts that I think lost her attention but all in all she enjoyed it. I think it helped that balloons, one of Kate's great loves, were a main part of the movie.