Merry Christmas!!!

I know that Brenda likes to post blogs in the order that they happened, but I felt like I should sneak in a quick one here to say Merry Christmas.

We had a relaxing day, finishing up a few random things to get ready for the next few days. The rain has not turned to ice or snow yet, so we made it to the Christmas Eve Service late this afternoon. It was a very good service and Ally and Drew sat very well through it.

After a quick super, we got to open the Willis family presents. I think we hit a few home runs with the gifts.

The kids are all asleep now and Santa's presents are under the tree and the cookies and milk are gone. We'll see who gets up first in the morning.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas with your families.

And last, but most definitely not least...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I know that I changed my background to Christmas last night, but I think that Thanksgiving is good to have before the Christmas "givemes." I am so thankful for my husband and precious kiddos. Life would not be nearly the fun without them.

Our morning has started out by Jason taking a trip to Casey's to get the paper (for Friday!!!!) and some donuts. We are teaching our children young how to be organized about their Thursday looking. There is a spreadsheet out marking the great deals at each store so that we can plan our adventure tomorrow! By the way - anyone want to babysit three kids so that Jason can go with me - we had a lot of fun last year together - I was moving pretty slow with a watermelon in my tummy.

Tana is a moving machine. She did get under-feet this morning and got her fingers stepped on on her way to the dishwasher. She wasn't too happy with that, but did enjoy flying on the dishwasher before breakfast.

As we head to Grinnel to enjoy family today we remember all the things we are thankful for. Yes we can be thankful for all the things that God has given us here on Earth, but really I am most thankful for my Savior who brought me out of darkness. I am so excited to celebrate his birth in the coming month!

Hawkeye Game

This is completely out of the ordinary for Jason and has taken me several years to accomplish, but we finally went to a Hawkeye basketball game. We were watching Tricia Nesbit (a girl from our SS class in Ames - she was only 7 then - wow we are old!). We took the kids on a free night. Ally even got a t-shirt from the family in front of us. She was so excited.

Later the next week an electrician gave us some tickets to the men's game. Now those tickets are give-aways this year. They STINK! We were at half court in the third row. We had fun just being on a date and laughing at the doofusses behind us screaming at the refs - like that was going to help them win. Maybe they should screen correctly or put someone down in the paint. I might be a better coach.

I am sure there will be many more firsts for this Hawkeye family - (as I hear my husband growl...)

Daddy's Hat

I make everyone smile so much. My daddy doesn't think that he can handle any more of me, but I am so cute that it is hard to say NO!

Three Men in a Tub

This is a typical evening bath time for us. Tana LOVES being in the tub with them, but they don't like to share the room. For some reason the smallest takes up the most room and splashes the most. I think mom and dad get a bath too out of the ordeal, but we sure can run them through QUICK!

Rally Cap

Not sure who he was cheering for - probably the last couple Cards game - which were hopeless. I walked into my mom's kitchen to find him trying the rally cap - didn't work.

First Tooth Out

The first tooth at the Willis house has been lost, but it hasn't been lost by the oldest - but Drew. November 12th Drew and Ally came running up while I was changing after school yelling - it fell out! So here is my big boy with no tooth (and a messy face). He lost a 2nd a month later.

Wigs

After Halloween, we went out and got some costumes for our dress-up box. This lovely wig is HILLARIOUS especially when it is on Tana. Someday she might have some hair!

Drew's Concert

Last years Christmas program was a flop - Drew refused to sing and cried on stage. This year he did great. Notice that he is the tallest kid in the back row amoung the 17 boys and 3 girls?

The sad part was that Ally had a concert the same night and missed it due to strep. It was a bummer since she was so excited about it.

I wish we had some video of the concert, but the camera battery died just after 5 pictures. Arghhhh - lesson - bring extra batteries. The positive thing - we had heard the same concert the last 3 years in Amana so we knew all the songs and could have sang a long.

Plumber Butt

This just made me smile about her little behind. Her pants are a little big and just slide off when she is on the move!

Chuckie Cheese

We had a hard time with Drew's party. H1N1 was going through right at the same time as his birthday and we were just waiting for someone to come down with it. Luckily we made it through! Drew wanted to go to Chuckie Cheese for his party. He choose 3 friends to take. Two of them got sick the night we went so just Rolen went with us. Those boys had a blast. I have never seen them eat so much pizza either - I think each ate 3 pieces which is COMPLETELY unusually for Drew.

Now I almost have another kindergartener!

Halloween

My mom and sister stopped by before we headed out with the kids. They posed with Rachel. I think Rachel's costume is the scariest.

Tana was suppose to be a ladybug, but the costume (which was Ally's) didn't fit, so instead she was a lion (which was Drew's). She was so cute and didn't mind the hood!

Ally was Ariel (with a turtle neck on instead of shells. Drew was Bumblebee (a transformer).

Pumpkin Carving

Ally LOVES to carve pumpkins. My little princess is not at all afraid to stick her hand in and pull out the guts. She played with it and sorted tons of seeds. I had the intentions of making pumpkin seeds, but instead they are going to be planted next year in the lot next to us.

Drew on the other hand had to be forced to stick his hand into the pumpkin. He couldn't pick the face on the pumpkin unless he took 5 handfuls out. It was a long whiny process, but it got done.

Now I realized now that I never got any pictures of the final products, but I did get some good ones of my silly family.

Drew's FIFTH Birthday

Holy Cow, I can't believe 5 years ago we had a sweet shy little guy. Okay he isn't little by any means though - he weighed in 53# and was 48 inches short. He is still flyin' off the charts and a little sister that is following his steps. Drew still has the long eyelashes that any girl would die for.

Our little guy is changing so much. He loves pre-school. He is the star of his class. He writes his name so well and can count high. His teacher tells us that when she wants the class to do something - she tells them to watch how Drew is doing it. I am so proud of him!

He is also becoming a big boy and his interests are changing so much. He is into Bakugans, Transformers, Super Heros and many other stuff.

I wish I understood being a boy and loving dirt and jumping off things. I love my little snuggler!

Matt & Ashley's Wedding

We headed to Matt and Ashley's wedding in South Dakota. It was a long drive and a long weekend in a small hotel room, but a lot of fun with family that you don't get to see often.

Before the wedding the boys were watching the ISU v. Nebraska game. I can't remember who won? Do you know Amy?

Then during the reception we kept wandering into the bar to watch the Iowa game. I left the reception just as I thought Iowa had lost, but should have stayed for the rest - but instead had to watch the highlights on the news.

Somehow we managed to sit in a different row that our kids which meant that Aunt Amy was watching the big kids during the ceremony - which they were excellent. Tana was suppose to fall asleep soon after her bottle, but of coarse she waited until the last 5 minutes of the wedding. We did learn from the wedding ceremony that we should put on our underware of compassion.

After a quick breakfast at Aunt Lou's we headed on our 6 hour trip home. Thanks for a great weekend.

Great Grandpa John

Tana got to meet and sit with Grandpa John for a few minutes before we left South Dakota. It was hard to hold on to our wiggle worm - she gave him some sweet smiles and drool.

Rough Sleeper

First I have to post this precious picture of my drooler (not Jason) and her great socks. I just wish that she would keep them on!

Jason got Tana up from a nap and noticed a hand-print on her face - not just her fingers, but all the wrinkles and fingernails.

Pumpkins Glore

This year we didn't have a free weekend to head to a pumpkin farm to do the corn maze and all the other goodies, but we did head to Jason's parents who planted tons of pumpkins for the kids. Drew and Grandpa Jim were getting ready to cut one off the vine.

We tried to get a picture of the 4 kiddos, but Makenna wouldn't hold still. (My kids were angels for once - I am sure that will not be the case with Tana at Christmas.)

Grandma Janelle does a scavenger hunt with the kids' names pumpkins. Ally and Drew looked forward to this adventure. I was inside with Tana so don't know if hers were hid or not.

We also opened some presents for Makenna and Drew's birthdays. As a good aunt and uncle, Jason and I make sure that we get noisy toys. The kindness is typically repaid at other holidays and events. This year Makenna got a lovely guitar that plays annoying music. Fun by all I am sure. Makenna loves to dance so it is perfect for her (and her parents)! We are already looking for the perfect present for Christmas for her and her new little baby coming soon.

Ally is showing Makenna how to make beautiful music.

Nasty

This is the face of a very content little girl. We have ventured into the cookies, crackers, cherrios, etc food group. She has two bottom teeth.

But the disadvantage of this period of a young little girl is that she gets nasty and gross. Notice the chunks of goo in her hair, ears, eyes, nose and hands - GROSS!

Meet Me in St. Louie

Boy do we miss St. Louis! The first weekend of October we headed down to STL to visit some awesome friends, but also to catch the Cardinals final homestand for the '09 season. We left Friday morning and met up with the Scoggins at the Magic House.

Tana was really starting to want to play and loves the water. She was a happy clam sitting in this little chair splashing around. The other 4 were crazy and hard to keep an eye on. By the end of the day, there were 4 very tired parents!

They had a Curious George visiting exhibition.

While at Randy and Melody's we had breakfast for supper. Ally helped Uncle Randy make the waffles. We always have to much fun while there! Thank you guys for opening your doors to our crazies!

We have been really wanting to head to a game, but with three kids it is hard to get away. They also "like" the Cardinals too - probably by default but it counts. We really wanted to take the big kids to their first game too. Ally had been several times when she was younger, but her last game was at 6 months - Tana's current age. We vowed never to take her again because she wouldn't sit still. (Still can't)

Tickets were hard to come by but Randy managed to get us some GREAT tickets to Sunday's game. We had a blast and enjoyed the game. We left a little early since it looked like they were gonna get stomped. By the time we got to the van they had tied it up. I was very frustrated, but glad we left. We had a long drive home. I think the Brewers won over an hour later. It was a rough end to a good season - maybe next year.

We can't wait for our next visit to meet Scoggins third boy - Webb!

Fun Fair

We took the kids to their elementary fun fair which was INSANITY!!! Tons of kids, silly games and stupid prizes equals a great night to my two yahoos.

I am pretty sure that a couple of the prizes broke before we left the prize store. I have NEVER said - keep buying you still have money. They had so many tickets from their games. I would have been happy with out the junk that went straight to the trash when they went to bed - SHHHHHH.

Pants on My Head

Who put my pants on my head??? Daddy?!?!?

Her Boyfriend

Tana: Mom what is in there? Can he come out and play with me? I bet I could eat him.

We watched our friend's baby so they could go to the football game one Saturday. At first Tana just sat and looked at Jason, but then decided that he was boring. A few weeks later, she went to his house to play while his mommy watched her. She thought he was much cooler. Someday they might be able to date - we are still in negotiations with his parents.

Sunday Shower

Tana loves the water. We needed scrubbed down on Sunday morning so instead of getting her tub ready she jumped into the shower with one of us.

Football State

I have gotten a lot of crap from my sister about not updating this blog - yes I must admit that it has been awhile, but give us a break we have three kids and work full time! We do believe in feeding them at a reasonable hour. By the time they head to bed, I am usually crashed on the couch or trying to plan for the next crazy day at school, but enough of the excuses here I go - there will be plenty of posts but I will start from where I left off.

We enjoyed (well really didn't enjoy) the Iowa vs. ISU football game with the Lapointe's. Ally is a Hawkeye and Nick is a ISU grad - so she usually dresses half the kids in Iowa and the other half in ISU. Glo was the lucky?? winner to wear the Iowa attire. We put these lovely girlies together and got some great pictures.

These girls someday will be in a lot of trouble together, but for now they were happy to sit around with their parents.

The Hawkeye outfit must not be too important since it got left at our house and it is still sitting in our mud room ready to go to their house. I guess we should put it on Tana for one of the Iowa games!

Sandlot

Sometime during an arousing game of flashlight tag, Drew entertained us with some movie quotes.

Our kids have watched Sandlot - ONE TOO MANY TIMES!

Campfires

I love the fire pit - if I didn't get so many bugbites from being out their I would do it more. Jason and the big kids went to get some wood while Tana and I got the hot dogs and s'mores ready. It was a lot of fun just sitting by the fire and roasting marshmellows. Not much more you can want on a Saturday night!

Just chatting with her Pop about boys I am sure and all of her boyfriends.

We had a hard time containing Drew. He just wanted to run and play in the yard.

Just the boys...

Girlies...

Crazy Sister

On the weekends we let our kids get dressed by themselves. Many times it just looks like Jason picked out their outfits though. After church Ally took her skirt off so she could help Jason clean up the pool and put it away. She came out in this stylin' shorts/shirt combo.

Stripes and floral don't quite go - at least she matched the colors though.

Just because she is cute and holds still for the pictures. She has some crazy pants on too but her's match.

Moving Up.

Our big girl is moving up. We had to pull out the other carseats because Tana's feet and head were hanging over the edge of her pumpkin seat (carrier). Doesn't she look so big?!?!

Who is This?

We get lots of comments of who Tana looks like. Who do you think she takes after? I think it is clear.