Christmas Fun

After a very busy, exciting, fun, and thankful Christmas, we are home!!! As much as we love visiting our family, it is always such a great feeling to pull back into our driveway and settle in back at home.

We began our journey Tuesday, December 23rd. We traveled through a snow storm heading north to visit my family in Gladwin. After a drive that took much longer than normal, we made it safely to my childhood home. I was so excited to see my mom and dad!!! My parents transformed their downstairs rec-room into a playroom. Russell and Sloane had an absolute ball playing with all the toys and running around in their new space at Grammy's and Papa's house! My parents also had 3 feet of snow with more coming down everyday so the kids enjoyed playing outside. Russell climbed the "mountains" outside built by the plow trucks while Sloane enjoyed being pulled around on the sled by Papa. Russell and Aron also had fun building a snowman. They used a carrot for the nose, crackers for the eyes, and grapes for the mouth. When I went out to snap pictures, Russell was eating the grapes faster than Aron could put them on the snowman. We spent Christmas day with the Wilcox family. The kids LOVED opening gifts and were especially excited to see that Santa filled their stockings! After Russell did not find a light saber in his stocking, he went over to the tree, bent down, and asked, "is there a light saber in there?" It cracked the entire family up!!! Russell originally had asked Santa for a Diego rescue pack, but the week leading up to Christmas he decided he wanted a light saber. Thankfully, Santa was well prepared!!! Sloane was under the weather on Christmas and ended up having the stomach flu, but she still enjoyed playing with her new doll house and baby dolls.

On December 26th we packed up the car (it was a tight squeeze) and headed to south west Michigan to visit Aron's family in St. Joseph. Thankfully we had perfect driving conditions. We enjoyed a BIG family gathering on Saturday which included family members from Wisconsin and Florida. Due to warm temperatures (60 degrees) and a thunderstorm, the snow melted entirely so we were pretty much trapped inside. We also lost power due to high winds, but luckily it came back on by 7:00 a.m. The kids had fun playing at Grammy Carlson's house as well as at Papa Carlson's and Bevie's house. They love to explore new spaces.

We made it home Monday and found that our snow in Royal Oak was also gone, but were happy to see we had power and no damage done by the strong winds. I was able to spend yesterday taking down Christmas decorations. Aron and I are looking forward to a quiet New Year's at home with the kids. We are grilling steaks and watching movies. Ahhhhhhh...HOME SWEET HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

SNOW DAY!!!

Yippee!!! Our first snow day and it's not even January!!! I woke up to the phone at 4:45 a.m. with our school system's voice recording letting me know not to report to school...YES!!! I was excited to go back to bed and enjoy the day with my family. Aron stayed home too so we began our day with bacon, toast, and clementines (peeled by Russell - he is becoming quite a good helper). By 10:00 Russell was ready to go outside into the beautiful snow. We decided to all venture out into the white stuff. Burr!!! It was fun and deep and STILL coming down heavily. We came in for lunch and then the kids were wiped out and ready for naps. I must admit I settled down on the couch for some quiet time too. I didn't catch a nap, but I was able to get some things ready for the upcoming holidays. I hope everyone has stayed warm and safe during this Michigan snow storm!!!

Russell had a blast shoveling, climbing,

and jumping through the snow!

Sloane was a bit timid. I can't blame her considering the depth of the snow and the wind whipping in your face.

Sloane livened up once Aron had a nice path shoveled to walk on.

We went next door to retrieve Mac from the neighbor's yard and then Russell and Antonio had to get some playtime in! They are quite the pair. Neither boy wanted to go inside. We had to pry them out of the snow!!!

After putting Sloane down for a nap, I began talking to Russell. After getting no response to my questions, I went looking for him. He was sound to sleep on the family room couch. It is amazing what a little fresh air can do to you!!!

A Fun Visit With Santa

Yesterday Aron and I took the kids to the Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa's Wonderland. It was a wonderful family outing. Russell was in Heaven seeing all the boats, fishing gear, hunting guns, quads, and animals!!! He was thrilled to talk with Santa. Upon arrival to Santa's Wonderland we were about 5th in line waiting to see Santa. Russell happily waved and shouted, "Hi Santa, Hi Santa!" When we told him that we had to wait our turn and he needed to think about what he was going to ask Santa for, he began rambling off a list of items. It was hilarious!!! When Russell's turn was up, he ran to Santa and announced, "I want a rescue pack, please!" Sloane on the other hand was having NO part of Santa. She watched and waited politely, but when we attempted to put her on Santa's lap she completely flipped out. We were so preoccupied with trying to calm her down that I forgot to snap a picture of the melt-down on Santa's lap. Luckily the store photographer snapped one that I can put in our photo album. Here are some pictures of Russell enjoying the outing. Sloane enjoyed it too (once Santa was out of sight), but she pretty much stayed in the stroller and just went along for the ride. The Bass Pro Shop is a man's sanctuary for sure!!!

"I want a rescue pack like Diego, please!"

Merry Christmas!

Riding a quad just like Uncle Keith's!

Remote control cars are always a hit with Russell!

Needless to say I was less than thrilled to see my 3-year-old learning how to hunt, but what can I say...it runs in the family :-)

This enormous creature (an elk, I think) had a sign under it stating that it was harvested by a man in Gladwin, Michigan.


Sloane enjoyed the sights.

Here she was watching the train sets going by.

Sloane was whipped by the time we left. She fell asleep before we were out of the parking lot. What a fun place to take the kids!!! (And MEN)!!!

Cozy Weekend At Home

This weekend we were all feeling a bit under the weather. It began with Sloane who had the stomach flu in the night on Tuesday. We thought it was only a 24 hour bug and sent her back to daycare only to have her get sick again Thursday night. Russell was next on Saturday. He is such a happy-go-lucky kid that it didn't keep him down. On Saturday night I began feeling ill and headed to bed early. Aron woke up Sunday feeling horrible. So...with a lot of help from the t.v. (thank you Wiggles and Cailou) Aron and I took turns getting off the couch only to deal with the major sibling rivalries and to feed them of course. Both kids seem to be past it (just tired and grouchy)! Thanks to the delicious fruit my Grandma Sleeper sent, I think we have all had extra vitamins this weekend to get us ready for another week. The oranges and apples are already gone (yummmm)! I have never been so ready to see Monday come! Despite the chaos this weekend, I was able to get Christmas cards addressed and presents wrapped. I also snapped a few pictures Saturday evening when the kids were dressed in Santa pj's and hanging out around the Christmas tree. They are going to be so much fun on Christmas morning!!!

Cudddling together.

After a few broken ornaments, I think they finally know how to be gentle with the tree.

"Are those presents under there for me???"

"What do you mean they're for Grammy and Papa???"