One Year Old!!!!!!

Yesterday our little guy turned ONE!!!! I took a cute picture of him on his little giraffe toy that he got from Papa and Grandma for Christmas when he got up in the morning. We headed out for the day and we went to Red Robin for his free birthday lunch. He got a yummy cheeseburger and fries. The waitresses and waiters came over and sang Happy Birthday to him and he got a birthday sundae, he didn't care much for it! We couldn't afford to throw him a big party but Grandma made him a yummy yummy cake....chocolate with strawberries! He opened his gifts then it was time for him to eat a piece of that yummy cake. He did not even hesitate when it got put on his tray, he picked it right up and started eating! He did really well and ate the whole thing and he really wasn't too messy until the end when he started rubbing his eyes. It was a nice night and maybe next year he can have a big party! (You can click on the collages to see the pictures bigger!)

A Day at Shawna's

Shawna is on a break from school and student teaching so we took the opportunity to spend some time together. The kids had been missing playing with each other too. Jamie brought her girls over and joined in the fun as well. The kids had fun helping make gingerbread men cookies and we made pumpkin bread and brownies as well! The kids got to exchange gifts with each other. Rayden got a cheer leading dress up outfit (not the outfit she has on) (and yes she is wearing a ducks cheer leading skirt :) )and pom poms and some new jammies and Parker got some fun keys and some new jammies too! Later Shawna ordered us all some Chinese food and we stayed until late talking and enjoying our time.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Here are the kids Christmas morning over at Papa and Grandma's house in their cute matching P.J's that they got on Christmas Eve. The whole gang met there for a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, gift opening and then a big dinner later. Rayden was so super excited to wake up and see all of the presents that Santa had left for everyone! Parker didn't know what was going on so he didn't care :) It was a great day spent with family. (We did finally got Christmas cards and I will be getting them in the mail soon!)

Stockings

As a kid I always thought stockings were one of the best parts of Christmas morning! There are so many fun little things that you can put in there. Rayden and Parker had a great time taking out all the fun things that Santa left them in their stockings. Rayden really liked her Bubble Tape gum and her Tooth Tunes toothbrush that sings HakunaMatata. Parker loves his little trucks and his ball.

Unwrapping

The wrapped presents around 4 kids did not last long at all!! Nico, Rayden and Jordan were very excited to open their gifts and excited about what was under the wrapping paper. By the end of the process, even cleaning up during, Papa's and Grandma's living room looked like a hurricane went through it. The kids had a great time and it was fun watching them. Nico was so funny and was yelling and jumping up and down, especially when he opened an electronic dartboard. Rayden was funny too when she opened her roller skates. One skate is packaged on the outside where you can see it and the other is on the inside, when she opened it she said "Oh yay rollerskates!! Oh, just one...." It was so cute! So the kids had fun and thank you everyone for everything!!

Turducken!

This year for Christmas dinner we tried something new: Turducken! Turducken is a de-boned turkey (except the legs and wings in the turkey still had their bones) stuffed with a de-boned duck and the duck is stuffed with a de-boned chicken; with stuffing in between each bird. Dad de-boned the three birds the night before and then the next day Dad and Jeff put it together. When they got to the closing up part, Ashleigh came over and sewed him up while the guys held it closed. The process did not take too long then into the oven the turducken went for about 5-6 hours. Most of us thought it was very yummy, Dad did not like the duck though! It was fun and nice to have something different.

Rayden's Toys

We do not have too many pictures of Rayden playing with her stuff yet, she has been too busy playing with Parker's stuff!! Rayden loves her V-Motion that Santa brought her, it is a little difficult for her still but Daddy helps. She also got a guitar like she wanted and has a blast pretending to be a rock star! The last picture is of her with this creepy looking Barbie head: she love to put pretend make-up on it and jewelry and brush the dolls hair. She had a wonderful time at Christmas this year and is enjoying everything that she received from Santa and family.

Parker's Toys

Here is Parker playing with a few of his new toys from Christmas. The first is his new piano from Santa, next is his Little People School Bus, then a lot of his little toys and last is his Alphabet Train from Papa and Grandma. He loves putting the letter blocks into the top of the train and watching them pop out the back. He loves them all, especially all the little things like the balls, rings and blocks. Toys are so much fun!

First Snow of Winter

They had been calling for this snow all weekend and Rayden had been looking forward to it, but it never came. Today when I got up and looked outside it was finally here! After Rayden got up I got the kids all bundled up to go out and play.

Rayden in the Snow

Rayden was super super excited when I showed her the snow this morning! She went out and made snow angels, dug with her shovel and ate lots of snow. She wanted to make a snowman but there wasn't enough snow out there for that, but more might be coming tonight so we will see. She would have played out there all day but she came in because she had to go potty, so we just stayed inside and warmed up by making and drinking some hot chocolate!

Parker in the Snow

Parker was not too bad when I first put him down in the snow, he was smiling at Rayden and doing okay. He put his hand down and it was cold and he started getting a little upset, then he kinda fell over to the side and got stuck there with his hand down...this made him even more upset, then he turned over and tried to crawl in it...nope not good either. So I think Parker just concluded that he didn't like the snow, plus he was really tired. We took him inside and got him all unbundled and in dry pants and put him down for a nap then Rayden went back outside to play again.