CAMERON'S HOLIDAY PARTY

Yesterday we had Cameron's class holiday party at our house. Since his party got cancelled at school because of the ice storm another mom and I decided to get the class together during break. We had the party at our house, but luckily the other mom who was originally in-charge of the party brought everything with her. We ended up having 12 kindergartners, a few sisters and brothers and a few moms.

The party had a penguin theme so they read a book about penguins.....

Played a penguin game and also musical chairs (we used little plates instead of chairs).....

And, there were some penguin dot-to-dots and coloring.....

It was a fun morning........and surprisingly there wasn't even too big of a mess to clean up afterwards! :)

CAMERON IS TOOTHLESS

Cameron lost his first tooth while we were on vacation at The Wilderness Resort. It's been loose for a long time and on Saturday morning it just fell out while he was eating his Cheerios! Luckily, the tooth fairy still found him even though he wasn't at home!

WILDERNESS TERRITORY

After our time at home during the holidays we decided to get out of the house and do something fun for a few days. We decided to take a road trip up to Wisconsin Dells, WI to an indoor waterpark. We stayed at The Wilderness Waterpark Resort -- "America's Largest Waterpark Resort".

It was a huge resort with 3 different waterparks. This area with the little toys and slide was Maleah and Rena's favorite area.......although they also really liked the indoor/outdoor hot tubs!

"The Great Wave" wave pool was Cameron's favorite part of the resort.

That's Cameron, Jeff and Rena out there jumping around!

We all had fun just being somewhere new and in a hotel. The kids thought it was fun to eat their cereal in the room in front of the t.v. in the morning....

.....and, of course, one of the things that I like best about going on vacation is eating out.........here's Maleah and I at the resort restaurant......

The 4 hour drive there and back wasn't too bad......the kids were great travelers and I had fun listening to them entertain themselves. They made up stories and games, watched a couple of movies and slept for a little while. Cameron swears he didn't sleep there or back, though, but I have the picture to prove him wrong.........

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It was a very different Christmas for us this year being without any family, but it was also a very good Christmas. We had a nice relaxing day and just really enjoyed being at home with the kids!

The day, of course, started early and with stockings! The kids were excited with how much of their cookies and carrots Santa and the reindeer ate!

After all of the stocking were emptied we moved on to the gifts that were under the tree.


And after everything was opened it was time to play.....

Cameron got this marble run from The McCullough's. I'm not sure who had more fun with it.......Cameron, Maleah or Jeff!

Rena got this new sparkly dancing dress from Santa. (The top really does have sparkles - they are just hard to see!)

Maleah got this new gymnastics outfit from The McCullough's.

Rena got this fun jewelry box from Grandma and Grandpa Keyes....it's one that she gets to decorate herself.

Rena also got this dog from Grandma and Grandpa Keyes. It came with a very fancy purple carrying case and dog accessories and she loves it!!

Maleah also loves her new trampoline....and we are hoping she can burn some energy during the day on the trampoline instead of on us!! :)

Maleah wasn't the only one who loved the trampoline......I think Cameron and Rena are also going to have many hours of fun on it!

THANK YOU for all of the great gifts that were sent. We missed everyone back home, but hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with our friends John, Robyn, Madeleine and Allison. We spent the evening at their house and enjoyed a delicious meal and great company!

Madeleine and Allison gave the girls new princess crowns and books for Christmas and Cameron a new Star Wars toy and a Star Wars book. Here's Maleah showing off her crown.....

As soon as we got home the kids got ready for the night - cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and water for the reindeer!

FUN GAME

It's a blog game! I got this from Jill's blog......The Wonder Spot......so I'm playing along!

Here's what you do to play:
Go to your Pictures folder on you computer. Open the 6th folder listed and then open the 6th photo within. Post and tell us all about it.

Here’s mine:

Obviously -- it's a minivan.....our minivan!! The year was 2005 and I was pregnant with Maleah -- our 3rd child in less than 3 years! It didn't take very many facts for me to be convinced that this was the most practical vehicle for our family -- it did however take me a while to get used to it! I always swore "I will never drive a minivan".......funny how life changes and with 3 babies and 3 big car seats to fit in the car I ended up driving a minivan (and actually still really like it)!!

A VISIT TO SANTA

We went to the mall tonight to visit Santa Claus and deliver the letters that the kids wrote to him. They were all 3 very excited, but all 3 a little shy once we got there. Each one gave him the letter that they wrote and talked to him for a minute, but no one wanted to sit on his lap!

Here are the letters the kids wrote to Santa:

Cameron decided that he would just tell Santa in person how good he has been this year, but he really wanted to be sure that Santa knew what he wanted........Star Wars Legos!

Rena wrote her letter by herself......backwards! No, I didn't scan it in backwards -- this is how Rena writes. Santa was great with the letter and Rena......he just turned it over and read it through the back of the paper! If you can't make it out it says "Dear Santa I want a dolly I have been good I want a sparkly dancing dress".

Maleah wasn't sure what to write so she decided she just wanted Santa to know that she had been good so that he would bring her something. She signed her name twice because she can only write the "M" by herself and she really wanted to write more than once.

AN ICE STORM

We spent the night last night listening to freezing rain hit the house and woke up this morning to very icy roads and no school!

Despite the cold temps the kids ventured outside.....and even had fun!

I don't think any birds are going to be using our bird bath today.....

Joey from across the street joined in on the fun with the kids.....

RENA'S HOLIDAY PARTY

Rena's preschool had a holiday party where they got to wear Rudolph t-shirts that they made (the face is her foot and the antlers are her hands), exchange gifts with one child in the class and receive a gift from their teachers. Rena got this cool set of paints from Drew in her class and she got the cute little stuffed snowman from her teachers. She named her snowman "Snow bundle" and really loves him!

THE NUTCRACKER

Yesterday afternoon Rena and I went with our friends, Robin and Madeleine, to a performance of The Nutcracker. It was held at the Peoria Civic Center and put on by the Peoria Ballet. Rena had a great time and really loved the show. I also enjoyed the show, but really had a great time spending the afternoon just with Rena.

This picture was after the show -- when Rena was tired and hungry.......and really did not want her picture taken!

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

We went out to a local tree farm on Saturday morning in search of our Christmas tree. Cameron was in-charge and in the lead.....

Maleah got a little tired (and mad that I wouldn't carry her any longer) so she took a rest while the rest of us searched for the perfect tree.....

We found it.....

Time to cut it down.....

And after a little bit of decorating, here it is.....

Our perfect tree!