what to do the day after Christmas

when you've put away the Christmas decorations but don't feel like cleaning, folding laundry, or going to the grocery store? Bundle the kids up and take them to the park!

My aunt sent the kids these super cute hats, I just L-O-V-E them both!!!! Thanks Aunt Sandy!!!!

GOOOOO!

Snow and PopPop

I just couldn't take not posting pictures anymore. So, I got caught up tonight. If my computer crashes, well, let's hope there are some good after Christmas sales on computers! There are 5 more posts after this one. Liam's birthday and Christmas primarily.

We finally got some snow a couple weeks ago. It was barely enough to cover the grass and was gone by the afternoon, but it was a little snow. Kyra saw that morning and was thrilled. She said, "Mommy, there's no Cwismas like sno' Cwismas!" Where she heard that I have no idea, but it was cute! Now, she keeps asking where her sno's gone and telling me she wants James snow....I have no idea what James snow is. I know James is one of Thomas the Tank Engine's friends, but James snow??? Anyone have any ideas????


She went out in her coat, mittens, and hello kitty boots over her pj's.

He was unimpressed....

They sure do love playing with their PopPop!

Birthday Party Time!

Let's get this party started!

Getting loves from his great grandma

All day long Kyra told me how she wanted to put the sprinkles on her brother's cake. She did all right, she dumped the WHOLE jar in one big heap!!! She was so proud, it was cute! She liked her sprinkle mountain!

This is what it looked like after I spread a little of it around...

1st Birthday Cake

The before

Look at me, I'm putting my hands in it!

Pretty tasty!

Yeah, I think I like it!

a little randomness...

Sibling love!

Hokey love!
Poor boy has it so rough!

Eating some yummy Pasta Cottage spaghetti on the evening of his actual birthday. (Pasta Cottage is a local take-out/catering business in town that has delicious homemade pasta, italian sausage, meatballs, fried chicken....Mmmmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it)

My sister, and her two dogs, came down to celebrate Liam's bday and Christmas. The dogs see Liam as their personal vending machine! Can't really blame them 'cause he tends to throw whatever he doesn't want overboard!

Santa

The kids actually slept in Christmas morning (as in they weren't up 'til 8)~probably because they'd been up late two nights in a row ('til after 9, and bedtime for Liam is usually 8 and Kyra's is usually 8:30 or 9:00)~so, I got to take a few pics of what Santa brought before they got up!


Kyra got a Sit-n-Spin and a Mickey Mouse Camper. Liam got this ride-on toy that you can flip the seat over on and it becomes a wagon and a little driving thing that makes a bunch of noise :)

They also each got a book. Kyra got a magnetic Thomas book and Liam got "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." We had Brown Bear before and it seemingly got left somewhere because I've been unable to find it for months. So, it was a much needed replacement. In their stockings they also got new toothbrushes, balls, play-doh and a little toy.

Santa left each of them a letter thanking them for being such good kiddos this year.

Hokey got a new collar and leash and a couple new toys. Here's hoping he decides to play with the toys instead of the drip system in the backyard!

Christmas Morning

Playing with her Mickey Camper

Dog toys!!!!

My toys!

Mickey camper is pretty fun!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

Today is sweet Liam's 1st birthday. He is such a sweet and happy boy. He loves everyone and is quick to smile. He throws himself out of my arms for complete strangers to hold him. He just loves people. He is quite the little flirt too...apparently boys do learn young! :)

Today, he took his first few steps. Only a couple at a time, but he's done it a couple times. The first time was to grab the diaper cream out of my hand, the next to get to the remote, and the others to get from the chair to the door. It won't be long 'til he's a true mover and shaker!

Kyra-isms from this morning....

So, Kyra always has lots to say.....This morning though, was quite amusing....

She woke me up this morning saying:

Kyra: Mommy you have big 'kin (skin)! I have liddle 'kin, brudder has liddle 'kin!

Why she was thinking and talking about skin, I have no idea, but it was quite the pronouncement to wake up too!!!

After breakfast our conversation went like this:

Kyra: Mommy, where you come from?
Me: Where did I come from?
Kyra: From Mommo's tummy! (Mommo=my mom)
Me: That's right, where did you come from?
Kyra: Ummmm.....from yor tummy!
Me: That's right, where did your brother come from?
Kyra: From Hokey's tummy!!!! (Hokey=the dog)
Tooo funny!!!!

Mr. William turns one tomorrow and he is quite the chatterbox himself... A few of his words include:

Mama
ki-ycat (kitty cat, which is any non-human)
boon (balloon, this one has just emerged since his party last Friday)
tnkyou (thank you apparently, 'cause he says it whenever you give him something)
And, this morning he pointed to the snowman on his jammies and said 'no-mn'

no pics...

My computer is on life support. It is missing 6 keys, the battery will no longer charge when plugged in, it takes more than 5 minutes from the time I push the power button to it actually being "on," and there is a several second delay when I type a word before it shows up. Not to mention the whole thing is running slower than molasses in December.....So, all that to say, I'm afraid if I tried to upload pictures it just might crash completely on me. I'm hoping to borrow someone's computer soon so I can upload some recent pics (we had Liam's bday party last night-actual bday not 'til 12/23 though)....Until then though, I'll leave you with a few recent Kyra-isms

When asked what she wants Santa to bring her for Christmas, her standard answer is "candy canes." :)

Last night as we were driving home from the grocery store she was singing Yankee Doodle Dandy and it went something like this:
Yankee Doodle went to town, widing on a pony, stuck a feader in his CAT and called it macawoni.... (if we were looking to get a cat, I'd definitely be naming it "Macaroni")

For the bday party Kyra insisted we needed party hats. And, the girl loves to play with them (she stacks and un-stacks them all the time). Tonight though, she decided to poke her brother in the eye with the point of the stack.
Me: Kyra, do not poke your brother in the eye with the party hats!!!
Kyra: Why, Mommy?
Me: Because you might hurt his eye and then he wouldn't be able to see!
Kyra: Maybe he not like to see...

Say Cheeeese!

I finally got a couple teeth...

...so now I can eat fudge stripe cookies!

pics that didn't make it on the Christmas card

I haven't blogged in awhile. I have a really, really good excuse though. We have been the house of illness. The week before Thanksgiving Liam caught a cold at the beginning of the week and felt pretty rotten; Kyra caught it at the end of the week and was really sick (fever of 104+). We had scheduled to leave for Indiana for Thanksgiving that Saturday. I conferred with the doctor on Friday and he said the timing stunk, but that we could go. I should have listened to my gut and postponed a few days. It was a traveling experience that you hear about and cringe for the person going through it....We were scheduled to fly from of Colorado Springs to Denver at 9:15 Saturday morning and then from Denver to Indianapolis. There were delays because of fog in Denver, but I was reassured multiple times we'd make our connection in Denver. When we got to Denver, I walked up to the gate where our flight was departing and they closed the doors and refused to let us on. We were less than 3 minutes late. They refused to let us on. We made our way to customer service and were put on standby for a flight 8, yes 8, hours later. That meant I had to kill 8 hours at DIA with 2 sick kiddos. And, I was at the airline's mercy 'cause my car seats were checked and so was just about everything else. I couldn't leave. After I have no idea how many trips on the train and up and down the "elevator stairs" (escalator), we did end up on the flight. It was a miserable flight. I feel for those sitting near us. One or both kids screamed and cried for all but about 20 minutes. I kept reminding myself that if I started crying, it'd only make matters worse. We finally arrived at my mother-in-law's house around 2am. Kyra spent most of the week being whiney and clinging to me. I think that horrendous travel day set her back a few days in getting over the cold 'cause it wasn't 'til Thanksgiving that she started acting even a little like her normal self. Unfortunately, I have NO pics of our trip 'cause I was a bit consumed with my sick girl. But, trust me when I say we had a lovely time with our Indiana and Missouri family and I only hope next time, noone will be sick!!When it was time to come home, I opted to forego the plane tickets, keep the rental car, and drive. There was no way you were going to get me on a flight by myself with 2 little one's who were still congested!

We arrived home last Saturday afternoon. We were all pretty much over the cold by then, but we all caught a stomach bug the beginning of this past week. Let's just say, it's not pleasant to be awakened at 4:45am by a little girl throwing up all over your bed and herself! Thankfully, my dad was a gem and came over and helped us out a couple days.

So, those are my reasons for not blogging lately. I think they're pretty darn good excuses. But, here are a couple pics that didn't quite make it on to the Christmas card this year....


I love my brudder!!!

Spaghetti face

She doesn't like sauce, but if brudder has his shirt off, she wants hers off too!!!
Aunt Debbie made the necklace for her and it hasn't come off since she put it on!