Christmas 2013

Vern had another successful Christmas. I am using his new "gaming" mouse to write this blog.  He had to have this certain one and he loves it. He all ready said it helped him win a rare something in Mine Craft.  I am glad he is happy.

We opened presents on Christmas Eve this year since they were at their dad's for Christmas Day. We took an official secret vote and it was 3-2 in favor of December 24.  We picked the kids up in the morning and they were ready to tear into their gifts... Awe too bad they had to wait until AFTER dinner. AH the travesty of it all.

You see John was working until the afternoon and then shortly after he arrived home we headed out a full hour early for church. Yes the church fills up that much on Christmas Eve for services. We got the seats John and Ann wanted and the service was nice. It is the kind of service that just makes you smile.  The jist - if you have Thanksgiving in your heart you have Joy. So no matter how low you feel there is some Joy in there. I cried during the lighting of the candles and singing Silent Night. Lighting candles in a church setting always gets to me since December 10, 2010...

After we got home we had a quick dinner of soup that had been simmering in the crock-pot and the presents were soon opened after. It was a very fun day and it made me FULL OF JOY.

The kids headed back to their dad's around 11 and we went to bed happy and satisfied with the day.


What a teen!

His very pretty sister!!! Loved this photo.

Christmas holiday 2012

I always enjoy the time around Christmas/New Year from the perspective of sharing it with the kids. I take off time when they are off from school and we hang out. Sometimes we do things. Sometimes we are lazy. The point is spending quality time with them and enjoying being a family.  This year was no exception. The bonus this year was Superman also took time off so we had total family time.

Darn Blogger made it more difficult to upload photos so I do not have as many as I would like on here. We will just make do until I find an easier way to add photos to my blogs.

All right for some activities we did. Of course we had presents and Christmas. Here is a shot of Vern getting a Christmas ornament of the best player on his favorite pro team. His aunt scored on that one!!!

 

The pets L-O-V-E-D having us home for the holidays. They all vied for our attention. Here is a shot of Ann and Buddy. I thought this was and excellent photo and Ann took it herself! She is so good at so many things. 

 

 

Here is another one of our pets out playing in the snow. OK so it is not really our pet but we had a great time watching them play. I was surprised for African lions they stayed out in the cold. I would expect the temperatures to be to cold for them. Shows you what I know...not much! :-)

 



We also played Apples to Apples and UNO with the family.  The kids also got me to participate in the new Just Dance 4 Wii game. I beat them on the One Direction song and I think they were as shocked as I was. Ann usually wins all the rounds on that game.

We watched a couple movies (none were outstanding). We also did a bunch of cooking and decluttering of bedrooms. Vern's room looks a LOT better after taking loads of stuff out of his room. We also did our share of sleeping in. I was more relaxed than I had been in a heck of a long time.  I think the word I am going to choose this time off - contentment.

Now we are going back to our regularly scheduled hectic lives.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours! May you have a wonderful holiday and a fantastic 2013.

Vern is burying his sister in the snow!!! Yep, he is hoping we do not find her until spring thaw :-) 

Christmas time

There has been a lot going on in other areas of our life so Vern stories are short. It has been overshadowing almost everything else. This will hopefully be over soon and life can move forward. That aside, we have been preparing for Christmas. The kids were busy and put up two trees this year. We are hosting Christmas and the house will be full! We decided to put up two trees for the occasion. They look great. The kids did a wonderful job. It is not how I would decorate a tree but sometimes you just let things go and appreciate what the kids do for you. I still love it. Here is a picture of one of our trees.

 

Yesterday was package wrapping day. It took hubby and me ALL day to wrap. It was exhausting.  I am sure I could have gotten done an hour or so earlier but I kept having the four-legged children jump onto my lap and refuse to move.  Here is one photo taken by me. She is on my lap with a package partially wrapped on my knees. She would not leave. This went on all day.  The only way I could get her off me was to stand up. Yes, some packages were wrapped standing just to prevent the cling-on cat from depositing herself on me.

 

 

It was a good weekend and soon Santa will visit. I can't wait!!!!! I love Christmas.





Vern's Christmas

Yes Vern and I are here!!!!
Here are some photos from our Christmas. We had a good time with multiple celebrations. I just love family gatherings and enjoyed each one.
This photo is of the boys during our gathering with my parents. We have Superman, Vern, John, and Grandpa. I think Superman is plugged in from the looks of it. Maybe that is how he gets his "super" powers. HA HA.

Here we have Vern opening a gift from our immediate family present exchange. He was in charge of passing out our gifts this year. I think it was the first time ever. He enjoyed it.

You know I would have a story. So this next photo and the one above is how Vern opened most of his presents. He was happy but not jubilant. He liked his gifts but... it was not an X-box.

Que in Vern's sister and the rivalry begins! One of her presents was a tablet. She was SO excited to get this present as you can see below. You should have heard Vern. "WHAT? Why does she get a tablet?????" He frantically looks around for a box like that with his name on. Finding none, sad face appears.

Then to add insult to injury, John received a laptop for college. Vern was beside himself. Neither Santa, nor mom and dad loved him. How could such injustice occur!?!?!?!?!?!!?

Finally way back behind the tree, one of the last gifts for Vern to open, redemption occurred. Santa does love him. A TABLET.  The happiness is in the photo as you can see.

Next we have the dog. She has decided to start practicing her smiles for the camera.  Here she is practicing...

And here we have the full on smile. Look her teeth even show with her new outfit on! I just had to put this in for equality sake. That and her smiling is just the latest thing she does.

Finally we have Vern with all his gifts. I'm glad he ended up with the happy face on at the end. Yes, I spoil my kids at Christmas. They are worth it!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

to all the Vern fans out there!

We love you!

Is it here yet?

Christmas, a time to make children a wee bit wild and crazy. I tried to capture some of that with my phone tonight. I only got a little slice of the chaos. They have been like this for days. They are at top volume and it seems to us a constant sugar high. YIKES.

The only thing we can come up with is the Spirit of Christmas has gotten them.

Enjoy.

A good boy.

Vern had a good Christmas.  He was probably happiest with his DS.

Enjoy photos.

I GOT MY DSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Showing Grandma how to use DS.

With Abby

Vern made for me and Superman.

With the cousins

Vern's Christmas 2009

Vern's Christmas was exciting for him. He was very excited for all his gifts.  I thought I would describe it with some photos of his Christmas.

Happy with the Bakagons.

Some Wii games.

Hampster in a ball.

Some little guys.

His big gift - electric guitar.

Can you tell he likes it?

I guess he needs a helmet to play.

Pencil case his grandma made for him. :-)

Counting his money in Life game.

And here is his Kiss impersonation when he got a hold of my camera.

The Christmas Blizzard of 2009

WOW is all I can say. It is blizzarding right now. I was supposed to have the kids until 10:30 and then send them off to their dad's but the weather is so bad I had him come get the kids early. I guess it wasn't early enough as they still went in the ditch!!! Their dad has a big 4x4 truck and they didn't make it!

Someone took the kids home and their dad got the truck out. He is home I guess but just glad they are safe.

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my readers.