3 days off from school!

Well, we have had kids home for 3 days this week so far - I would think they would definitely go back tomorrow but we'll see. We had about a foot of snow but in between the snowfall, we got about 2 inches of ice so it's been a mess for the plows to try and clear the neighborhoods. Bradley has actually loved the snow this year - thank goodness! I took him sledding yesterday but no pictures of that since it was just the two of us. Morgan and her best friend, Chloe, have spent many hours out playing in it. Of course, the moms needed a break last night so I had some of the neighbors over for dessert and wine. I was supposed to be hosting a jewelry party but the consultant called to cancel since the roads were so bad and we couldn't waste a good dessert and a few bottles of wine, could we?

Laurie and Tina, myself and Jill

Bradley on the deck with his snowboat
Chloe(in green), Morgan and Bradley
the front of our house

New Year's Eve

We had a great time New Year's Eve. We went to our good friend/neighbor' house (our backyards back up to each other) so it was so nice to not have to worry about driving or who is out on the roads who shouldn't be driving. Ryan went to bed as soon as we got there so he slept through the New Year but all of the kids stayed up and played and had a great time while the adults hung out and had a great time too! Simple but fun, just like we like it!

The main characters!

Holiday Fest - The Beach Waterpark

We decided to meet Kirk's step-sister, husband, and her step-sister down at The Beach Waterpark in Cincinnati. We also took my mom, and our good friends(neighbors), The Humphreys went with us. We had enough people to get $5 tickets so it was well worth it, I would say. We got to paddleboat in the lazy river, ride sleds down a few of the steep water slides, feed a calf a bottle, see a great train display, ride ponies and carousels - what more could we ask for? And I got a hot cocoa with kahlua-3 more would have been nice! We had a great time!

Uncle Josh, Bradley, and Maddie
Amy, myself, Chloe and Morgan

Bradley mesmerized by the train display - he had a HARD time leaving!
Morgan feeding the calf
Ryan - snug and toasty
Mommy and Morgan sledding down the waterslide
daddy and Bradley on the paddleboats -no fair! They are not paddling!

Christmas Day

Finally here! Christmas day! Did Santa come?! Of course he does, even though they are warned continuously through December that he may not b/c of their arguing, not helping me out, etc, etc! So here are a few of our memories!

Grandpa Frank came over in the afternoon and was playing with Bradley

Nanny Cherry(still looks a little sleepy-eyed)-that applies to both of them! Morgan running around the corner to see what Santa brought- hence, the blurriness
Christmas morning loot, still undisturbed
Nanny having a break with her grandbabies!
too cute to not post!
also, too cute, Uncle Kevin being silly

Christmas Eve

For the past 5 years or so, we have been hosting my mom's family to Christmas Eve. I love having it at our house b/c the kids can go right to bed when everyone leaves. Morgan is always nervous that she won't get to bed in time and Santa won't stop but I always assure her he will wait until she's fast asleep. It's a nice tradition that I hope to keep for a long time!

Uncle Kevin and Morgan playing with Bradley's gift
Ryan in his cute little Christmas jammies
Ryan and his GREAT-grandma(my grandma!)

Zanesville Christmas

We went to Zanesville for Kirk's family Christmas gathering at his dad's house. We were joined by his step-brother and wife who just had twins about 7 weeks ago and they are adorable! They were preemies, Reese weighing in just under 3lbs at birth and Avery was around 5lbs. They are precious and still tiny and I loved holding them! Reese is still only around 5lbs being much smaller than any of mine were, even at birth. We are expecting another cousin in March because his step-sister and husband are having one so our kids will finally not be the ONLY children at our gatherings - yeah!

Ryan and Kirk
Reese(on left) and Avery(rt) -Reese looks bigger just because Avery is all balled up!
Me and a few of my "babies"
Reese
Avery

Ryan is mastering the bottle

Along with his other accomplishments, Ryan is starting to master the bottle which makes life a lot easier - he just doesn't understand that when he is more upright, he needs to tilt it so he is only good at it when he lays flat on the floor - little more practice and he can be feeding himself while we run errands!