Christmas Pictures

Dear Santa...
Mailing Letter to Santa

Hospital at Santa's Village

Ornament Factory at Santa's Village

Xmas Eve

Pa and Hayden on Xmas Eve

Opening presents!

Xmas Morning

Hayden checking out what Santa brought!

Owen's Martian Maker

Hayden loved Owen's Hot Wheels Gloves

Hayden is the School Bus

School Bus Fun!

Merry Christmas!

Did everyone out there have a nice Christmas? We had an awesome Christmas! Despite the boys and I having strep throat just a couple days before xmas, we were still able to get everything ready and go ahead with all of our holiday plans.
My parents joined us on xmas eve. We enjoyed a bunch of appetizers, opened a few gifts, and lots of laughs together. I really wanted to go to xmas eve service at church, but Hayden was still sick. We didn't want to push it.
Christmas morning was a blast!! The boys went crazy over all that Santa brought them. That guy went a little nuts this year. Toys were, and still are, all over the place! They both played all day long. It was fun! In the afternoon, my Grandmother, Aunt Beverly, and Uncle John came over for xmas dinner. It was a very nice afternoon! My parents spent another night with us. On Friday the boys went their merry way while my mom and I hit Target, Kohl's, Pier One, and Party City for after xmas deals. We lunched at Pei Wei too...yum! It was a fun couple of days!
A big thanks to all of you out there that we received gifts, cards etc.. from this year. We are beyond spoiled!! Oh, and it's not even over. Rob's mom is coming in town on New Years Day and we plan to exchange gifts with her while she's here. Can't wait to see you Peggy!
Today I think we are off to Ikea to spend some xmas money. WooHoo! I love Ikea!

Xmas pics will be coming soon! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Extreme Makeover...more pics!

Despite the freezing cold weather on Monday, I spent about 8 1/2 hours out at the Extreme Makeover house. The high that day ended up being around 30 degrees and the wind chill was around 18. Even with that kind of weather it was totally worth it to be there! I was in the front row all day. It was so cool to see how the show comes together. All the designers and the crew were super nice too. When that bus moved around 3pm and that family saw the house it was an amazing sight! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Owen with me. He loves the show and move that bus is his favorite part. Unfortunately, it was just way too cold! I also would have loved to have been a volunteer. I tried to sign up, but they were already covered with plenty of volunteers. Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Blue Shirt Volunteers

John Littlefield

Eduardo Xol

Here comes Ty!

Ty again :-)


Furniture Crew

Let's Move in Some Furniture!!

Practicing Move That Bus

Getting ready for family

Family comes home!

Paul visiting with all the fans!

MOVE THAT BUS!!!

Family sees house

Hug the designers

It's Official

I have completely lost my mind! Not only did I brave the crowd and go back to Extreme Makeover house today, but Owen and I are going to go bright and early tomorrow morning as well. I AM NUTS!!! It was much busier today then yesterday. Saw lots of cool things going on, got a few more pics... so it was fun. My only wish was that the weather we had today (70's) could repeat tomorrow. No such luck...the high tomorrow is around 40 degrees! Pray that we don't freeze to death or get trampled by crazy Ty fans!!

Extreme Makeover Day!

We had an awesome day out where they are filming extreme makeover. It is maybe 10 minutes from our house, so of course we were going to go check it out. We got there at the perfect time. We were looking at the house with all the other spectators. Next thing we know, a production assistant tells the group that they are going to be doing some filming in the VIP tent and they'd love all of us to fill up that tent. Inside the tent they were setting up for an auction for the March of Dimes. They did a few of the auction items then the film crew came in to set up for an actual shoot for the show! Once they were ready, we were thrilled to see 2 of the designers, Paul DiMeo and Tracy Hutson, come through the door! They were literally 2 feet from us! They began filming thier scene and it took forever, but was super cool to watch! Luckily, Hayden fell asleep and Owen was patient. It's a good thing because once we were in the shot we couldn't leave. The shot had to stay the same. I got several pics of the 2 of them acting out the scene. Basically, Paul was pointing across the room for a lady to pass him a sandwich in the middle of bidding. He kept waving his arm for the sandwich but the auctioneers thought he was bidding. He was oblivious until the end when he had won the auction..I think it was $3200 for a bike. It was corny, but cute. After the filming was finally done ( we were in the tent for about an hour and a half), we got to get a pic of Rob and Tracy with sleepy Hayden in the back pack. I wanted to get a pic of Owen next to Paul, but Owen got shy and wouldn't cooperate.

We went back to spectator area and watched all the volunteers work on the house, which was coming along quite nicely. It was almost time to catch the bus back out of there, but before we left Eduardo Xol walked down the street to film a scene in the front yard of the home. I didn't get any great pics of him, but he's the one in the black sweater and white cap standing with a group of blue shirt folks. No sign of Ty or the 4th designer John Littlefield. Owen and I are going to go by there again tomorrow. Maybe we'll be lucky again :-)

Can We Build It?? Yes, We Can!!

Pictures!

Happy December!!

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We celebrated with all my family. It was chaotic, but lots of fun too! I am so excited that it's now December! We took a trip out to a tree farm yesterday. Owen helped us pick out our tree and he even helped Rob cut it down. It was a great family outing!! I had never been to a tree farm before I met Rob. He grew up going to them. I do have to say it is now one of my favorite holiday outings. It's fun to walk through the field of trees, pick one out, and chop it down ourselves. If you get a real tree, I encourage you to see if there is a farm in your area.
So, our tree is here and decorated, our outside lights are done, and I hope to get the rest of the house decorated over the next couple days. I am going to finish my xmas shopping by the end of next weekend. I have to!! Then it's on to wrapping, shipping, doing xmas cards, baking cookies, etc etc....! My "to do" list is endless, but I am super excited for the holiday!! I'll get pics posted soon!

Menu Monday

Here's our plan for the week-

Monday- Sesame ginger stir-fry with brown rice
Tuesday- Chicken burritos
Wednesday-Baked fish, veggies, and brown rice
Thursday- Brushetta chicken bake with salad
Friday- No cooking...attending a xmas party!
Saturday- Black bean chili

What's for dinner at your house??