ALVIN…

Eli’s favorite movie is Alvin and the Chipmunks, so when the new movie came out, we had to go see it.  It was Audrey’s first movie and she did pretty good.  The movie was also cute. 

I couldn’t resist taking their picture with the Chipmunks!

Santa brought the kids an early present!

Santa came early to our house this year.  We got home one evening and there was a kennel in our living room with a little black lab puppy.  She is 9 months old and the kids named her Bella.  It has been quite an adjustment for Ebony with a much younger dog in the house.  She is slowly letting Bella know that she is the boss!  She has adjusted pretty well and is a very trainable dog.  She is learning her new commands pretty fast.

 

 

 

She tries to play with the kids while they are on the trampoline!

Our weekend without the kids

Brian got Chiefs tickets from his work and we decided to see if the grandparents wanted to keep the kids all weekend.  So I met my mom on Friday afternoon.  The kids were so excited that up in Iowa they had a TON of snow to play in.  THey spent Friday night with my mom and then Saturday night with Brian’s parents.  Brian and I were able to finish Christmas shopping,  went to a movie (the Blind Side- GREAT movie !), some more shopping and then to the Chiefs game on Sunday.  IT was still a good game even if they didn’t win!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week.  We spent several days up in Iowa with family and friends.  It was so nice to see everyone and not feel rushed while we were there.   We spent the first few days with Brian’s parents.  We took the kids to the new Bass Pro Shop and we all had fun.  Very cool place to visit and see!  We spent time with Mark, Deb, and Valerie (Deb’s mom).  We were also able to see Brian’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins kids.  The kids had fun with all the other kids and it was fun for us to visit.

We then went to my sisters to see my mom and nephew.  Jami and Rexy were gone on a cruise!  Nice warm way to spend Thanksgiving 🙂 .  Brian woke up to find some of those black friday deals.  He was at walmart at 5am and he really did get some great deals!  I spent Friday evening with my best friend Emily!  We have been friends since 7th grade and even though we don’t see each other near as often as we would like to, we stay in touch every moment we can!  We had some good conversation and good drinks!  Remembering things from the past and laughing, laughing, and laughing!  Thanks Emily for the fun evening!!

Saturday, I woke up and went to get my Grandma.  I took her to my other grandparents for a little Thanksgiving feast!  We saw my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins kids!  We had a fun time catching up with everyone.  I don’t see my cousins very often with me being in KC.  I always say that we should all get together more often! 

Jami and Rexy got home Saturday, so we were able to see them for a little before heading back home. 

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Ryer tackling Eli! 

This is such a cute picture! 

 

And then he went to get Audrey!

 

 He was determined to tackle Eli!

 Audrey playing with Cameron.  Cameron is my cousin Jenny’s son!  He is so cute!

 Audrey, Eli, my grandma, Jocelyn and Ryder.

This one was cute, but Grandma wasn’t looking.

 So we took another!

 

 My grandparents with the 4 of the kids.  They have several great grandchildren now!  These are just 4 of the many!

Here are few pictures from Bass Pro Shop

(They are sideways…I am not sure how to get them rotated since they aren’t my pictures)

 Audrey climbed on this 4 wheeler and it was just her size!

 I sat with Eli while he wrote a letter to Santa!

 Jocelyn at the NORTH POLE!

 Look at that bear…oh and the kids too!

Shooting range…we had a lot of fun here.  Even I did!

 

 

Hit it DJ

A few entries back, I wrote about Audrey saying “Hit it DJ” and I had no idea where she got it from.  Here is the story…

I attend a group called Building Better Moms at an area church and Audrey goes with me.  She gets to go to  preschool type setting while I am there.  The kids have been practicing their little Christmas program for us for since the end of October.  The kids sang to us at the beginning of December.  The kids all lined up and were ready to sing when one of the teachers said ” Okay ready…” and the kids said “HIT IT DJ” to one of the teachers by the sound system!  I turned to smile at my friend Kelly and we both started laughing!  I am so glad I know where she got that one!! 

 

Cheer competition

Jocelyn had a cheer competition for her recreational cheer squad that she is on.  They only have one competition per year and it was a few weeks ago.  Their cheer squad has been practicing for weeks on a dance and a chant.  The day of the competition came and Jocelyn was so excited!  She did great and her squad got 2nd place for their chant and 1st place in dance.  Their team got trophies and the girls each recieved a medal. 

Doing their chant.

Now getting ready to start their dance.

Jocelyn is in the back row, 3rd from the left.

The end of the dance.

Jocelyn is the base of the middle build.

She did an awesome job!

Jocelyn and her friend Laiken after the competition.

They have 3 medals.  The 2 purple ones are for the chant and dance.  The white one is for their SPIRIT award during tournaments the weekend before.

With the trophies!

She had a smile on her face the entire day and when we got in the car she said

“That was so fun, I can’t wait until next year!”

We are so proud of you Jocelyn!