Rockin' New Years Eve

Brock and Cade were "rockin' out" to get in the mood for the New Year's Eve. I was in the kitchen getting some food ready for tonight and I just had to stop and video these two. This is something that should not be kept to one's self! ENJOY!

Christmas Pictures

Well, we had so many happy moments during the Christmas season and I tried to have my camera handy to capture them all. I thought I would try my adobe photoshop elements software to create a slideshow. It has taken me a long time to learn the ropes, but if it turns out, it will have been worth the effort. Hopefully, when you press the play button, you will see a slideshow of some of our favorite Christmas memories for 2008. (My fingers are crossed!)

I Have the BEST Husband Ever!!!

This past Sunday was our 12th wedding anniversary and Chuck and I had plans to go to Takaoka, our favorite restaurant. He told me that he had made reservations and called for a sitter and we were all set to go. I couldn't wait and kept going on and on about how excited I was to go to Takaoka. Well, on Friday night Chuck told me, "Chelle, I hate to break it to you, but we aren't going to Takaoka." I asked him what he was talking about and he said, "Well, I wanted to surprise you so I made reservations at the French Quarters in Perrysburg and just you and I are going there for the weekend." Once I stopped crying - I couldn't believe he had gone to so much trouble - I asked what we were going to do with the kids. He said he had made arrangements and that all I had to worry about was packing. I was ecstatic! Especially since I knew that there would be shopping involved and I had Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket! Well, to make a long story short, Chuck's entire family (who were going to be watching the kids) came down with some sort of flu and couldn't watch the kids. We had a brief moment of panic, but my mom and dad came to the rescue. Without even hesitating, they dropped all of their plans and took the kids so that Chuck and I could go on our trip. They are just AWESOME!!! I have to give special thanks to Mom because Dad was also sick (not puking), so she took on most of the task of kid watching. THANKS guys!!!! Anyway, you may have noticed that there aren't any pictures. In all of the excitement, I forgot to bring my camera. But, rest assured, we had a great time, the room was awesome, and my husband ROCKS!!!! Thanks Chuck, for a great anniversary!!

Visitors

We were lucky enough to get to babysit for our new little "nephew," Hoosier. He was a lot of fun and Brock and McKenzie loved him, but with lots of talk of getting a new puppy at our house, this was a good experience in learning all of the work that goes along with a new puppy. I think everyone will be content to visit Hoosier for awhile. You can see from the photo that we really tuckered the little guy out. He crashed on the couch for nearly 45 minutes. (It's amazing that the kids left him be for that long!)

One of Kenzie's (and our whole family's) best buddies, Alaina, came over to visit today. She wanted to meet Hoosier and play a little too. While the boys were outside roughing around playing football, the girls were inside playing mommy to Hoosier. I'm not sure how crazy he was about it, but he did allow it! The girls make quite a pair. We love them both!

Are You Ready For Some Football?!?!

I can't believe that anyone would want to be out in this cold weather, but sure enough Brock, Chuck, Cade and Gage couldn't wait for the snow and ice to melt so they could get out and have a football game. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures, as they were having so much fun. I guess it's always a good time to play football!

It's My Lucky Day!!

I am so lucky! We had a snow/ice storm last night and this morning my school cancelled and Brock and Kenzie's school didn't. Soooo...today was "parent day" at Brock's enrichment class and Chuck was all set to go since I couldn't, but with the cancellation I was able to go with him instead. It was such a nice treat for me because Chuck usually gets to do all those fun things since I am at school during the day. I really enjoyed getting to see Brock's enrichment class and the inventions that they had created. That was right up his alley! Below are some pictures from our fun day.
The teacher had a great activity for us to do with our children. She gave each of us a bag with the items that are displayed below and we had to create our own game using the items. This was a creative thinking activity and Brock was MUCH better at it than me. I like to have someone show me exactly what to do and then I can do it. He would much rather be in charge and do things his own way.

This was our creation. It was called "Marble Maze Madness" and we had a blast doing it together.

The kids had to make new inventions from objects that they had torn apart and examined. Here is Brock and Cade with their invention.

Thanks Brock for an AWESOME day! I am so proud of you and your accomplishments!

What a Blessing!

Cindy asked all of the grandkids if they would do a special with her at church. She had the idea to sing the song "Christmas" and have each grandchild sing a letter in the word "Christmas" and what it stood for. They had practiced together a few times and then performed during candle lighting at church on Sunday. It really was so neat to see them all up there working together to highlight the true meaning of Christmas. When Jared's turn came, they all signed the letter "m" and signed for "baby" and "manger" with Jared...it really was awesome to see. It was a great way to incorporate him into the piece. Bailey surprised everyone when she stayed up there and did her part without a hitch. She is growing up. I am just so proud of my nieces and nephew (and of course Brock and Kenzie). It just fills my heart to see them up there together. They are the BEST!! Below I just had to put in this picture of how Jared signed his own name in the register at church. It is kind of blurry because I really cropped in close so as not to include any other names. Can you believe that handwriting?!?! He is a smart little guy!

Kenzie had the letter "A." "A" is for all He stands for. Isn't she just the cutest thing?!?!? (I may be a little partial!)

Brock was the letter "S." "S" is for the star that shone so bright. I am so proud of this kid...I just can't tell you what joy he brings into our lives. He went shopping to buy a gift for his sister tonight with his own money and I was even more proud when he emptied his wallet and split the rest of his money between the Toys for Tots canister and the Salvation Army canister. He truly does know the meaning of Christmas!

Here is the whole bunch. We thought they made a good looking group. I think it is neat that all the kids, even the bigger girls, still want to do these kinds of things with their grandma.

Family Fun Night!!!

We had "Family Fun Night" with Chuck's family tonight. When Chuck and I were first married we always had so much fun going to his parent's house and playing games and cards and visiting. We always had a good time and laughed together, but as more and more babies arrived, there were less and less opportunities for all of us to sit down and play games and visit like we used to. Now that the kids are getting bigger and can entertain themselves more, we decided it was time to have a game night...and we really enjoyed ourselves. Cindy brought a game called "Loaded Questions" and we had a ball playing it! We laughed so hard...the picture above shows Cindy really laughing at one of Chuck's responses (you can just imagine what he might have wrote...).

This is a great picture of Brock and Jared playing the Wii. Everyone had a blast, but it was neat to see the two boys getting along so well.

Here is a picture of Grace and Kenzie. I tried to get Bailey to join the picture, but anyone who knows Bailey also knows that she doesn't do something if she doesn't want to do it! :0)

Isn't it cute to see that mother and son bonding?!?

I'd say that Family Fun Night was a success. I feel so blessed to be part of Chuck's family. It was great to spend time with the nieces and nephews. I can't wait til next time!!!

Spelling Bee!

I have to tell you that I am SO super proud of my niece, Maddie! She called us a few months ago to tell us that she made it into the spelling bee and we were so proud of her. Over the past few weeks she has put in lots of time and hard work preparing for the spelling bee. Tonight we all went to cheer her on and she made us so proud. I don't think Maddie realizes how special she is and how proud we all are. She is a fantastic girl and I love so many things about her, especially how she absolutely adores her animals. Here are some pictures of Maddie at her spelling bee. WAY TO GO, MADDIE!!! Aunt Chelle and Uncle Chuck sure are proud of you!!

Parent Night at Dance

Well, this is the first real attempt at blogging. Kenzie had parent night at dance and we got to go watch her do her jazz dances as well as her tap/ballet numbers. It is always so much fun to go and watch and it amazes us to see the progress she makes each year. She just loves to dance and we always see such joy on her face when she is dancing. We are thrilled that she has found her "thing!" I am going to try to post a few pics from this evening. Keep your fingers crossed....I hope it works!!! The picture quality isn't what I was hoping for, but I will get better at that...hopefully.