Merry Christmas!!

I love gift bags... can you tell? ha ha! Soooo easy!


Ooooh Santa was good to mommy! Im loving that striped gift bag right there!! And then the kids got SPOILED! ha ha! It was just so much fun to be home as a family together! The nice thing was Ethan and Ella both slept in until almost 8! Sooo nice! Last year I think Ethan was up at 530! So that was another nice treat for us!

On to the Christmas Goodies! =) I found a recipe for Blueberry Crumble Coffee Cake and made that for Christmas morning. It was YUM! Ill post the recipe another day. Then Daddy made his famous french toast! That was great!!

I made some fruit kabobs for the kids. Im still amazed at how much they love these things and how excited they get about them!

Ethan and I made sugar cookies the night before for Santa and well us .. ha ha.. YUM they were one of my favorite goodies this year! Ethan decorated all of these.

Here is a plate for Santa and his Reindeer. I forgot to get carrots this year so just cookies for them! =)

Our nice cozy fireplace that Jason got going for us Christmas Morning.

Ethan opening the first present he picked out from underneath the tree.

LOL! Love his face... he was so excited.. It is a HUGE dinosaur book. He was having a hard time holding it up it is so heavy. He has looked at this thing a ton since getting it.

Ella with her first gift. She was so funny because each gift she would pick up and then shake by her ear as if to hear what it was! ha ha! Sooo cute!

Big Brother helping open the gifts.

Time to double up so we can get this thing done! ha ha!

She was so funny. She LOVED Christmas morning! She was VERY sad when it was over! ha ha!

Walmart had some CUTE gift bag. Ella loves mickey and then Ethan is right into these bakugan toys she he loved his bag too.

And the present that Im shocked that she has played with a ton. Her Cabbage Patch baby doll from Gree and Granka. She loves to play but hasnt really had any interest in baby dolls. Although she was cracking me up with this baby. She kept it with her all day and would say Oh no, babys crying and then would feed her bottle to her.

It was a wonderful day for us. Being all together and not having anything we HAD to do that day. Some Hilarious things that Ethan said this day.... When he got up and saw all the gifts he said, "Im so excited I think Im gonna faint!" ha ha. Then later that morning Lucas and Ethan were playing on the ground and Ethan yells, "Help, Lucas is chewing my flesh off!" ha ha So dramatic! Then Ethan got a Manning Jersery and a football. He was more excited than I would of thought about the football. He loved it. So he takes it and says, "Dad, when Peyton Manning dies Im gonna be the Colts Replacement Quarterback!" ha ha ha! This cracked me up because you know Peyton has to die first for him to replace him. ha ha! Then the kids went around the house singing We wish you a Merry Christmas pretty much all day. Well you know the part that says Good Tidings we bring to you and your KIN. Well Ethan sings it.. Good tidings we bring to you and your KIDS! ha ha ha! Sooo cute! Then the part that says Oh, bring us a figgy pudding, Oh bring us a figgy pudding. Well he sings it.. Oh brings us a thing of pudding, Oh bring us a thing of pudding! LOL! Sooo takes after his momma, I never get lyrics right! Its it fits then Im singing it! ha ha! Anyways... It was a really nice Christmas for us. We missed our family like crazy but had a wonderful time being all together in our own home!


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Johnson City, TN

Okay this is in Johnson City TN... A couple of weekends ago we got to go here as a family! It was sooooo much fun! It is just beautiful there in Johnson City! TN is really gorgeous! But just soooo funny the cultural differences between the North and the South. I mean we all know they are there but to experience them is something else. =) Just a couple of things... Like if a vehicle is broken down on the side of the road they put white shirt or whatever white thing they have in the drivers window. I was like what in the world I have never seen that before. Jason said it was a signal they use in the South. I looked on line and it seems like it is to signal help or to let people know that it has been temporarily abandoned to go get help. So thought that was interesting. I have never seen that in the North. Then another thing that was funny was Jason said before we went to Cracker Barrel one day to expect everyone and their brother to talk to us. I was like Okaaaay. ha ha! And he was sooo right! ha ha! I cant tell you the number of people that stopped by our table on their way out to talk to us and the kids. To ask the kids what they wanted for Christmas and all that. Just funny because I feel like people are friendly in the North but we dont stop and talk to people we dont know like that! ha ha! It was neat to experience the differences!

We had a beautiful room. A King Suite that had our separate area and then another living space with a "transformer" couch (that is what Ethan calls them! ha ha!) and another tv for the kids to have their own space. Then there was a balcony that looked out onto this just very country beautiful view. There was fields with cows roaming and then waayyy in the distance was hills with GORGEOUS homes on them. Very picturesque! The hotel was pretty neat. I wish I had gotten a pic of their lobby. It had a cafe place with tables and then some of the booths had their own tvs in the wall for you to watch while eating. They had a living room area with a fire place and really neat couches. They had computers you could use for free with a printer. Then they had this thing called a Go Board. It was this huge Flat Screen TV looking thing. But when you got close to it .. it had tons of info on it. Like the weather, news, maps, points of interest.. blah blah blah. And it was all touch screen. You could put in what kind of news you were looking for or find restaurants in the area and then print directions to it! Just very cool!! Technology is amazing!

Here are some more scenic pics of the area. Thought these mountains were pretty.

Okay and this was tooo priceless to not get a picture of! ha ha ha! We were cracking up... One stop shopping! Vacuums and Guns! =) Only in the South! We loved it! ha ha!

This was one of the Malls we went to. It was very nice. Okay and speaking of Southern Differences. It was neat to see... they aren't afraid to show their faith! that is for sure! There were Kiosks that had plaques and cups and picture frames that had Scripture verses on them. Then Jason was like Five bucks there is a store in this mall that JUST has Bibles in it. I was thinking okay sure! ha ha! Yep, just around the corner... HUGE sign that sign BIBLES! ha ha! He was right!!

This was the view from the second floor of the mall. Looking down on their jump thing. It was really neat! I had never seen one before so was fun watching people get on this thing. (Since this time I have been to the Greenwood Mall and they have one there too!)

So when we got downstairs Ethan wanted to try the Mall Jump. So he got to do it. He was a ball of so excited and so nervous. Ella wanted to do it too but since Mommy cant go in with her she decided it wasnt the best idea! ha ha! I was proud of how brave Ethan was... Im NOT a fan of heights and I think he has some of mommys reserve but he went and did it!!

Ethan getting hooked up!

Him high up in the air! He loved it!

So another "sign" that we were in the South. We went into a card store and they had this sign to purchase... SAVED! =) Loved it! Just wouldnt see that at home!

And then Ethans favorite pic of the day! A HUGE Christmas Dinosaur! What is better than that??? And I love this pic.. think it came out great!

My Ellie riding around the mall in her stroller for the day! So thankful for these things I NEVER remember to bring ours! Maybe someday Ill be on the ball! ha ha!

I was trying to get what this cool rock wall looked like.. not a great pic. But it was so neat they had tons of ice frozen on the wall. It rained like crazy pretty much the whole way back but still was pretty none the less!

Ethan all comfy travelin in the car!

Ellie .. out for the count!

Everyone having a great time travelin! Mostly it IS like this! ha ha! You know just every once in a while is the .. ELLA IS ON MY SIDE! comment! ha ha! I just laugh because me and my brother use to draw the invisible line that either one wasnt suppose to cross! ha ha! Passing it along thru the generations! ha ha

OKAY ... LOL... feet shots! Ethan wore his sneakers without socks and just thought the imprint they left on his feet was the neatest thing!!! ha ha! So we had to get a pic!! =)

Of course Ella had to have one too of her feet!

And then Home Sweet Home... Indiana! =) We had such a great time all being together. I love to travel. Im up for ANY road trip! So fun! I love to sit and just chat! Lots of fun! Thankful for the nice time we got to have and for the safety traveling on the roads! This trip we were about an hour from home and saw a horrific crash. So very thankful for God keeping up safe!!

So that is our Johnson City, TN trip, Then I need to post our Little Rock Arkansas trip and then our Christmas pics... Maybe today Since I dont have to work! Hmmmm dont know what Im gonna do with myself! THREE DAYS in a ROW off! Just crazy but soooooo thankful for them!

Officially Winter =)

So yesterday Ella woke up and went over to the sliding glass door and Yelled CHRISTMAS!!! ha ha! We had gotten some snow and she just thought that was the best thing ever! So all morning every time she saw the snow she would yell CHRISTMAS! It was pretty cute. The even funnier thing was that we got a nice dusting! Maybe an inch or two that is it! Dont know what she would do with her self if we were in Maine! =) And then Ethan got to make a snow angel so he was pretty happy too at our couple of inches!

So HAPPY WINTER everyone! Brrrr, Im cold.. time to go get a blanket to wrap up in! =)

My Fruit Kabobs! =)

Arent these soooo stinkin cute! Im so thrilled at how they turned out. So here is the story! ;) Ethan had a Christmas Party at his school. The room mom sent out an email a few weeks ago saying what we were doing for the Class Teacher, about the gift exchange and ideas for things to bring for food items for the party. Well Life has been a tad bit =) insane here lately so when I got around to opening the email back up from reading it the first time it was the 15th of December. Well they wanted the $$ and to tell them what we were bringing to the party by the 15th! Ooops! Hey what can I say... I work and have kids I should be exempt for deadlines! LOL!!! ha ha! So I emailed the Room Mom to let her know I would send the money the next day. Then well you know how you say... Hey what do you need me to bring to class for the party? And you really mean, Hey wouldnt a two liter of soda and a bag of chips be great to bring?! ha ha ha! Yeah, well I walked smack dab into that one! I was concerned they would have too much of one thing if I just picked something to bring off the list so I thought I would be nice and ask. She emails right back and says... I would love it if you could do fruit kabobs! .... LOL! Oooooh my word! ha ha! Well now I have asked I cant really say.. Ahhh No that doesnt sound good what is your next thing you need! bah ha ha! So Im all.. Oooh Fruit Kabobs sound great! Well because they do SOUND great! ha ha! Maybe they dont sound great making them when I have a gazillion things to do but they would be yummy! So Ill admit I grumbled to myself a bit about these! ha ha! Well, they ended up being a blast to do! And if I do say so myself... How cute are these?? ha ha! A great friend of mines husband was out of town visiting his family and she came over. We went shopping (which AMAZING sales btw! =) I got a beautiful wool dress coat that was normally 200 bucks for 57! and between the two of us the amount of $ would of normally been NINE hundred and it was only 350! Just amazing sales with amazing coupons!! We got soooooooooooooo much stuff for that money! Tons of outfits, comfy cute clothes, jammies, necklaces, coats, scarves... I mean on and on! Just insane deals!!! okay back to main topic! ha ha! ), then she came back to my house and we made these until the wee hrs of the morning! We had a blast! Chatting and laughing and sticking fruit with straws! ha ha! I dont know if you can tell from the pics but we also added Christmas marshmallows to them. Green Christmas Trees and Pink Stars. Ethan and Ella had these and LOVED them. Thinking about making some for Christmas Day for them.

Anyways... Had a AMAZING weekend. My husband is amazing! My kids are soo much fun to be with! We just had a great time together. Man, now I have two weekends of fun filled pics to post! Will do that soon!!! Hope everyones weekend was relaxing and great!

The pics of Mine and Ellies Gifts

Here is my necklace.. I just love it! Soo sweet!
Both of the gifts

Ella wearing her bracelet

Sweetest and Cutest Thing EVER! ha ha!

Okay tomorrow Ill post actual pics of these things... but just had to blog about this! So Ethan and Ella go to Awana at our church. (it is a kids program they have for ages 2-I dont know how old for the kids to participate in. They learn Bible Verses and gets awana bucks for bringing their book and their Bibles and wearing their uniform blah blah blah :D) Well each year they have a couple of big Awana Stores. One is geared more towards stuff for them to buy like food, junk food, or toys or whatever. Stuff for them to enjoy. Then they have a big one right before Christmas. The kids have been saving and saving their money for this one and they get to go shop in the store and spend their awana bucks. Well this one is geared toward the kids doing THEIR christmas shopping. Gifts for them to be able to buy for their moms and dads and siblings. yada yada yada. =) Well so Ethan bought mommy a gift and ella a gift tonight. We get to the car and he is Soooooooooooooooooooo excited about giving us our gifts. I was getting everything situated in the front when I hear gift wrap ripping! (they have wrappers up there to wrap their things for free so they can bring them home wrapped to their families .. so cute!) I turn around and say Ethan, arent we waiting until Christmas to open these. He was like Oh man, I just so badly want to give them to you guys now! Ahhhhhhhhhhh, okay maybe Im not a structured mom.. but WHO can not give in to that. It was sooo sweet and so filled with excitement at giving us the gifts HE had picked out and bought for us! So ETHAN opened both gifts.. the gift for mommy and the gift for Ella. Mommy got such a sweet Mom necklace with a heart as a pendant. Then Ella got a beaded COLTS bracelet for a girl! It was sooooooooooo sweet! What a good boy he is!!

Okay and before I forget to blog about this.. OH MY WORD, Im not sure what has taken place in my house this year but we have a FOOTBALL nut that now resides in our home. Jason and I both arent that into watching sports. Its more playoffs and championships we might watch (which I praise God for each and every day that he didnt have the perfect man for me to be a sports nut.. cuz I so am not! ha ha! I love going TO sporting activies but watch them on TV.. ick! ) We do follow the Colts pretty closely and watch the games but even then we dont watch ALL the game. Watch for a bit and then watch something else and check back and forth. Well Ethan LOVES football and the Colts. He can tell you when the next game is on and who they are playing. He HAS to watch the game. PTL for TWO tvs! ha ha! It just cracks me up how much he loves all this!! Well, I will say one nice thing about him watching the games now. He will yell out score changes so Jason and I can watch something else but still know what is going on! ha ha!

Okay well Im soooooooooo tired! Soooooooooooo much to do! Just think THURSDAY already!!!! (well you know pretty much.. just in an hr! =) )

Ella is THREE!!!

Well my kids think balloons are the greatest thing since pizza! ha ha! So each Bday I try to decorate the dining room for them with balloons. I was almost done.. probably had five more to blow up and Ella came down over the stairs! =) So Ethan and Ella helped me blow up the last five balloons for her party! They had a blast! I was thinking that I should of just waited for them to help me decorate! ha ha! Ella just looked around and didnt get it but then I said HAPPY BIRTHDAY and she got a BIG Smile on her face. It was pretty cute!
The decorated table, cake and gifts. I showed Ella pink and purple and asked what color she wanted to have her decorations... She said a decisive PINK!!!!!!! So pink it is!

Big Brother thinking the Cupcake Cake is looking pretty good!!

I LOVE these Cupcake Cakes. It is made up of 24 cupcakes and they frost them over to make them look like a cake. And then they do that lite frosting that is more whipped then butter cream... OMW! YUM! =) Oh and of course it had to be Dora!

They were great!! And yes this was at Breakfast! Gotta have fun on Bdays!

She was cracking me up ... barely ripping the paper and then handing me the little pieces she had ripped off!

This look is from me saying.. "Ella, Look at Mommy!" ha ha! Nut girl! =)

Ella and some of her gifts. And this was another Look at Mommy! ha ha ha!

Ellie playing with her Water Dora Doll. It can go in the tub too.

And this is what she has done EVER since her bday... Play with the Dora Kitchen that Gree got her.

I kept telling Jason I really shouldnt of bought her anything because this was hands down her absolute favorite gift! She loves this thing!

And again... Dora Kitchen! =)


So my Ellie is three! She is just a doll! I love hearing her laugh. I love seeing her and Ethan playing together.. tickling one another. So fun. I love how independent she is! She is so her own person. She is gonna be one of those people that just live their lives... they know who they are and what they believe and dont care or need anyones approval. Which Im thrilled she is more like her Dad then me! =) I was always so self conscious growing up and so worried what people thought. But Im so glad she has a tough little spirit! And she has the best sense of humor. Already the stuff she says we just laugh and laugh. The other day I said.. Ellie want some toast. She was all... Hoooooooow bout a Bagel? ha ha! I was all no we dont have bagels. She then says.. Okay soo Hooooooooow bout a bagel! ha ha! The whole time laughing with the glint in her eye! Just so cute. I know ALL parents say their kids are smart... but she blows me away with some of the stuff she knows already. Like we were watching Up today (which GREAT movie that I bawl and bawl at EVERY time I see it) and Ella yells Oh mom a waterfall. Just cracked me up because I feel like I didnt know what a waterfall was til I was 8 ha ha! Really who knows when I knew that but you get me! ha ha! Then we went out to run errands tonight and she says... Hey Mom, where is the moon (while searching the sky). I say I dont know Ellie and she was All... Maybe its hiding behind the clouds! I think I have said that once to her and it just amazes me that she retains this stuff! Anyways.... Im just very thankful that she is in our lives. That God gave her to us! She is a light in our home!