Yesterday my mom called me and asked if we would like to go spend a girls day with her, my sister and her baby. I said sure that sounds like fun and so they came by to pick me up. On the way to the store my mom's husband called and asked if Cody could go ice fishing with him and of course Cody jumped at the chance to go fishing instead of shopping with a bunch of girls. He was so excited to go hang out with some guys. We ran back to my house and got all his cold weather clothes and then dropped him off telling him many times don't get close to the edge of the hole. Tom called to check in many times while we were out and they kept up updated with how the fishing was going. Here is the first picture they texted us, it is of Cody and a friend of Tom's boy. Cody has his pole in the water, the other boy is just drinking hot chocolate. Tom said they would fish a little then run off and go sledding then drink hot chocolate then start all over and fish again. Cody was the only one to get a fish and he was pretty proud of that little guy. He wanted to bring it home so the cats could eat it and he could get Emily to touch it (I'm pretty sure it was more to torment his sister then for the cats to eat) but I talked him into leaving it at grandma's. This is him and his fish. But now that he knows you can fish in winter and summer I might have a little more of a problem, the its to cold for fish it be out excuse wont work anymore.
This year for Christmas we followed our traditions we have had the last few years. On Christmas Eve we went over to my Dad's house. We all went over to Dads house about 4 and sat around visiting, eating, and oh yeah eating some more. After a little bit we did the presents and of course that's the best part for the kids, Cody however didn't want to put down his cookie to open up the presents. It is hard when your seven knowing which is more important. After we finished up at Dad's the kids and I went looking around at Christmas lights on the way home. This house if you listen really carefully had it's lights in sync with the song Jingle Bells or Santa Clause is coming to town. While we were out we saw Santa fly over Billings and Emily goes "Its Santa, I'm so excited I'm going to cry" then she cried tears of joy. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen, it meant alot to her sense she has been trying to figure out if Santa is real after a little boy told her he isn't. After that it was time to head home and both kids went right to sleep, I'm pretty sure the fact they knew Santa was in town and that they spent a bunch of time that afternoon in the snow helped alot. While the kids were sleep Santa came to put up the stockings. This year I decided to use a TV Santa gave me when I was about 13 or so and get Cody a DVD player, Emily got a CD player that also has spots for jewelry. However it took awhile to put the DVD player toghter, this one has a surge protector on it and it is under the power cord. So when I plugged it in I couldn't get it to turn on and I was starting to get worried when I happen to turn it over and see the switch. Emily tried to get up at 1:37 AM but after about a hour I got her to go back to sleep, Cody then woke up about 4:30 and we just got up at that point. They where both so excited to see what Santa got them. They both got Zue Zue pet hamsters in the stockings so they kids were playing with them then moved on to something else, those things are so real we lost one. Cody's hamster got behind the stove, who would have guessed a toy hamster would be so hard to keep track of. After they checked out the Santa stuff it was time to open our gifts. The kids had so much fun on that part and got lots of cool stuff. Cody loved the blanket that came in a backpack and his K'Nex Lego's. Emily was so excited about her Lou Lou cat, her baby tiger and of course her makeup. Cody got me a jet spa you put your feet in cuz he said my feet hurt alot so it will help (which I thought was very sweet of him) and Emily got me a lava lamp because its pretty and rainbow. After that we got the living room cleaned up and headed over to my Moms house for brunch and dinner. We got there and did presents and then moved on to breakfast. After a little while my brother headed home and my sister and I sat down for a good came of Mario Carts for the Wii (one of the best games I have played on the Wii by the way, if you don't have it and are looking for a game you should check that one out). Once it was dinner time my cousin, his girlfriend and my aunt joined us and we sat down for a prime rib dinner. It was truly one of the best Christmas I have had in a long time, but I am glad it is over and things are back to normal. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas. Here is a collection of the pictures I took over the two days.
Today the kids had a Christmas concert at daycare. They were suppose to do something totally different but they had problems with the music so it was all done with just the kids singing. I think they did an amazing job all by them self. Sorry for the bad quality, my hands were shaking and I was trying to stand on a chair so I could see them. The school isn't doing one so I wont be able to show those at all. Then tonight my sister, her boyfriend, my brother and all the kids came over for a early Christmas. My sisters oldest daughter goes to her dads every other year so we do a early one where they exchange gifts to each other. It was so much fun and all the kids got along so well. Its hard to believe how fast they are growing up. Cody got some Bakugan stuff, Emily got a teapot and a puzzle, Bayleigh got the High School Musical movie, Eli got Lego's and Lexi got a cute little outfit. The kids were all very polite and waited for the other kids to finish before they went, all though Emily had a hard time understanding the difference between youngest to oldest and shortest to tallest. When we said youngest first she got excited until she had to wait till almost the end. I surprised Sandy and Jacob with little photo books I made with different pictures from over the years. After that we had some pizza and just hung out while the kids were busy playing in the bed rooms. It was great to hang out with them all and just let the kids play, cant wait till next time when all of the kids will be older and Lexi can join in the fun. Now to just wait till the real Christmas.
I got myself a Christmas present this year, a new car. I'm so excited it has power locks, windows and a button to pop the trunk. It also has tons of safety features, four doors and in very good condition. I got an amazing deal on it and now I wish summer would hurry up so we could go for a really long drive. It is a 2002 Alero, white with very soft grey seats. Here is what it looks like. Check out all this room for my kids and for me
Today I told the kids after karate we would go see Santa so Emily wanted to wright him a letter. She did it all by herself and I thought it was so cute. Her letter says "Dear Santa I have been very goog this year ask my mom p.s. Santa would you get me the lulu cat pleas!" I just wanted to share before we took it to Santa, she even did all the spelling and sentence her self. After we did some running and took Cody to karate it was off to see Santa and his elf.
On Saturday Cody tested for his orange belt in karate. He was nervous but he did a really good job. The class warmed up first then broke up into groups, his group was the orange and white belts. They did some basic kicks and blocks then went into the combos. He got a little mixed up on hands but ended up doing a wonderful job and did his best. I'm so proud of him, not just for getting his belt but for getting up in front of all the people and doing his best. After he tested the other belts went and it was very neat to see how the higher belts did things. The orange plus belts all fight each other and he says he cant wait to learn to fight, we might have just opened a can of warms with that one. Here is a collection of all the photos I took during the test and as you can see there is a wide collection of people, from the old to the young. Almost makes me want to join the class to, but I think I will just stick to kickboxing. Sorry for a repeat of a song, but it seems like a perfect song for karate stuff. After the test we had a birthday party to go to. It was out at the zoo and when its about 10 degrees outside it doesn't leave much to look at. So we went into the indoor part and looked at all the bugs and snakes, Cody loved it all while Emily really only wanted to look at the monkey looking things, the cute little mice and the store. After the zookeeper told about the snakes and mice they went and got a giant bunny. I forgot her name but she weighs in at 15 pounds, I have never seen a bunny that big. The kids then finished up the party then we went home so they could get ready to have a fun time with the babysitter. It was a very eventful day, but very fun. Now if we could only get one more day in the weekend it would be perfect.
Tonight we went on a hay ride the kids school puts on. Now it has been nice and warm, lows in the 30's day time highs in the 50's however on December 1st winter hit so tonight it is 16 and when your riding on the back of a flatbed you got windchill. I was going to forget about it, but the school sent home the reminder with Emily, and lucky for us she can read and tell time so we where able to make it. The kids got all bundled up before we left with heavy jackets, snow boots, heavy gloves and hats, the one thing about winter is it takes awhile to get ready. We got all nice and warm and headed over for our ride, they are only 15 minute rides so not to long and we sang all kinds of songs on it. There are some really cool houses along the way that you can see so that is alot of fun. After we finished we went inside were we got hot chocolate and cookies to warm up with. On the way out the kids wanted to go one more time so we headed back for one more lap around the block before heading home. It is a very neat thing the school does and adds a little something to the Christmas season but I think next time I will bring a cup of hot chocolate to hold on to.
Cody has been in kirate now for three months and is really enjoying it. He has been doing so well and really growing from it. During his parent teacher confence they told me last year he was a imature first grader, this year he is a mature frist greader and I really put alot of that creidt toward the kirate class. He will be testing for his orange belt on Saturday so he has been practiceing very hard for it. Here is a little video I took from class last night.
This year I have alot to be thankfull for. I have two amazeing kids who everyday seem to grow a bigger heart along with bodys. I have an amazeing family who would do anything for me in a blink of a eye without questions. I have a great job that now adays just haveing a job is something to be thankfull no matter if you like it or not. I have the best friends I could ask for, the only thing I would do to change anything about my life is to bring a few of them closer to me. This turkey day we started it out by watching the New York Macy's Day Parade for the first time and the kids told me we have to go see that those bolloons are so big. After that we chilled around the house then went off to my Moms house for the day. My sister and brother and there kids joined us and it was the frist time all five kids got toghter. They all played and had a great time with very little agureing or fighting. When it was time to eat we had so much food, everything you could think of was on our table. It truely was the perfect Thanksgiveing. Here is just a collection of different photos I took from the day. On black friday we went to a few stores, but I learned if you dont get there early its not worth it. So next year if anyone wants to spend the night and babysit... I mean enjoy a night away from your own house... just let me know. We put our tree up on friday and got all the Christmas stuff out to start the Christmas season. I think the kids did a really good job putting them up.
We had breakfest with an aunt and uncle of mine that were passing though town on the way home Satuerday morning and it was so great to see them. We acutally were able to get some talking in even with the five kids at the table. After breakfest Sandy and I spent the day just goofing off and haveing fun. It was so much fun and we ended the day with a vist to Chuck E Cheese, so the kids were all super excited about that. On Sunday we went and finshed some shopeing and ran into my mom. She was nice enough to take my kids for a bit so I could go get there shoping down and then we put up all her lights on her house. Its not very often you can do that in Montana and not have a ton of ice and snow on the ground, but this time it was so nice out. Cody and Emily rode there bikes and cleaned the leaves for Mom while we got the lights up. It was a really amazeing weekend and one I wish could have gone on a few more days.
Cody has his pole in the water, the other boy is just drinking hot chocolate. Tom said they would fish a little then run off and go sledding then drink hot chocolate then start all over and fish again. Cody was the only one to get a fish and he was pretty proud of that little guy.
He wanted to bring it home so the cats could eat it and he could get Emily to touch it (I'm pretty sure it was more to torment his sister then for the cats to eat) but I talked him into leaving it at grandma's.
This is him and his fish. But now that he knows you can fish in winter and summer I might have a little more of a problem, the its to cold for fish it be out excuse wont work anymore.
