One more for January...

I can't believe it's the last day of January. It seems crazy to think that Christmas was OVER a month ago!

This past weekend, my mom and I went on our annual retreat at St. Mary's Retreat House in Oxford, Michigan. We left Friday afternoon, stopped for dinner and then came back home Sunday afternoon. It was a great weekend...filled with thought-provoking conversation, prayer, restful times, more praying and just some time to get away!! The only thing missing was Snookie, my grandma! She was unable to attend this year.

This is my 8th time on retreat with my mom...she figured that this was her 28th year! I have tried getting others to come with us, because it's really a nice weekend...so if any of you reading would be interested in coming next year, please let me know! It's always the last weekend of January we go!

When I was packing to leave, Emma started crying, saying how she didn't want me to leave! So I believe we've started a new tradition where she has a notebook that she writes in while we're apart! I figured she would either forget about it, or totally write me a book! LOL She wrote a few things that she did each day, and I'm going to save it for her to do the same thing next year. It will be fun to see how her writing progresses over the years!

No pictures for this post...sorry! :) Instead, I tried posting a song, but it didn't work... :) This is probably my favorite song right now...it's called "Follow Me There" by Third Day...you may recognize it from the TLC show "Sarah Palin's Alaska"...the words are great and I listened to it over and over again this past weekend...you can listen to it HERE!!

Bowling!

On Friday afternoon, Tony and I decided we wanted to do something fun with the kids...just the 4 of us...that we hadn't done before, or at least in a long time! So, Tony made some calls, and we found a bowling alley close by that not only had open lanes, but had a "family night" deal, too! So, we loaded the kids up in the car, didn't tell them where we were going, and went bowling as a family! We had a BLAST...and here's the proof!!

Neither kid minded wearing the "special" shoes! Bradlee's size 7's were SO cute! :) He was more interested in his juice box, though!

At first, Emma would walk up to the lane, spread her legs apart and then swing the ball between her legs and down the alley. After trying that a few times, I suggested that she try to bowl like Daddy and I were, only instead of walking while throwing the ball, she just stand still and throw it....it worked MUCH better and she even managed to get a few spares!! Check out her form! :)

Bradlee's attention span lasted about 5 frames...then it was fortunate that we brought the diaper bag, complete with his coloring stuff! He colored pictures and Emma bowled for him! :) He also ate 2 pieces of pizza and finished a juice box and a a small Sprite! He had a few mishaps where he would try running down the lane...but fortunately, Tony either caught him before he got too far, or he would slip and fall, allowing Tony to catch up! :) He did have fun and LOVED using his pink bowling ball that we found! The first time he threw it, the ball went so slow that it actually STOPPED at the end of the alley! It started rolling backwards, then stopped. Dead. We had to call up to the desk for someone to retrieve it for us! It was quite entertaining! :)

We had a great night as a family, and need to do it more often. We seem to be on a roll, since we all went to see "Tangled" last weekend, too! :) Here's our final scores from the first game we bowled...we ended up getting through another 5 or 6 frames before our 2-hour time frame was up...not bad for our first time! :) Notice, though...I beat Tony! :) I made SURE to take a picture!!

Jammies Jammies Everywhere!

Well, it's been a busy few weeks...and I think that would be an understatement!

Back at the end of December, my friend, Lauren, visited on their way home from visiting her family in Grand Rapids. Her, Scott (her husband) and Will (the new baby!) brought the kids pajamas for Christmas!! Bradlee's are a flannel 2-piece jammie set with skiing moose on them...and I absolutely LOVE them!!! Emma's are from Old Navy-Canada, and have a peace sign, heart and a maple leaf on the shirt and all over the pants...super cute! :)

I also noticed that I have a lot of pictures of the kids in pajamas...and here's one of my favorite ones of the "kids" over Winter Break! :)

And yet another one of Bradlee in his "Buzz" jammies! I just love how these fit him...and when he wears them, he runs around the house yelling "iffity an ye-yond!" ("To Infinity and Beyond!") :):)

We were over at my parents house a few times in the past week, and we just get the biggest kick out of their cat, Arwen. She lets the kids pet her, pull her whiskers, scratch her tummy and, of course, feed her treats! She's the most laid back cat I've ever met...and one of the fluffiest! We had a game out and Arwen decided to make herself comfy in the lid of the game! :) The kids just LOVED this, too...

This past Saturday, Tony was announcing for both the women's and men's basketball games at Mott Community College, so I got to spend the entire afternoon with my babies...the last thing we did before Tony got home was pull out this stuff they got for Christmas called "Moon Dough". It's like Play-Doh, only it doesn't dry out...and in my opinion, much better! I don't mind Play-Doh, but if you get it on clothes or anything fabric it's a pain to get out. If it get on the table, it makes a mess. It's just a pain and the things you use with the Play-Doh, to play with it, don't clean very well, either! The problem with Moon Dough, though, is that it's flaky. I can't really describe it...so maybe a few pictures could demonstrate it better....make sure you check out the floor...

Nice, eh? I suppose it's okay, though, because I could just sweep it right up with a dust pan and broom!! The little barn actually makes 3-D animals for the barnyard, too! Super cute. We had a nice time playing with it! :)

Emma had one of her cavities filled back at the beginning of the month, and the other one done this afternoon. Apparently, the dentist is also watching two other teeth as well...the ones right next to the ones that were filled. It's not actually cavities IN the teeth that were filled, it's some decay on the outside/between the teeth...so we have to keep brushing and flossing really well to prevent any problems. Once her permanent teeth come in, I'm hoping she can have the pit and fissure sealant applied that I also had done, to prevent any problems with her permanent teeth...that's a ways down the road, though, so we'll have to see! :)

Well, that's all the news for now. Have a great week!

So Many Pictures...So Little Space!

I took over 800 pictures over the last 3 weeks! Yes, over 800! I didn't think my camera would hold that many!! :) So, due to lack of time and space, I've just pulled some of the good ones! :)

My favorite Christmas story is about Emma and Bradlee. As you know, Bradlee was a cow for Halloween. Well, we had asked Emma if she wanted to be an angel at the Children's Mass on Christmas Eve. Of course, she did! Bradlee kept saying, "Emma be an angel. I be a cow!" So the weekend before Christmas, Emma and I went to mass on Sunday night. After mass, she asked to talk to Fr. Tom. We went to see Fr. Tom and she said, "Fr. Tom, my baby brother wants to be a cow for church when I'm an angel because he was a cow for Halloween." Fr. Tom looked at her, paused, and said, "I like cows!" :) SO, for the first time EVER, we had a cow at the manger scene at the children's mass!! Fr. Tom just loved him, waved to him and even said, "Hi Cow!" when he was walking back down the aisle after mass! Then, my mom's friend, who went to the 10am mass Christmas morning, said Fr. Tom was even commenting on the cow during his homily! What a great experience for Bradlee! Plus, he was an AWESOME cow and so well-behaved! :) He was fascinated with Baby Jesus and stayed close to keep him warm! :) Emma was an excellent (and serious) angel, too!

After mass, we went over to Tony's parents' house for dinner (pizza!) and presents. It was a great time! Both kids were really into it this year (since Bradlee is older, now!) and we had so much fun watching them open presents, their expressions, and especially just spending time with everyone. Bradlee LOVED all the wrapping paper!

That night, we went home, got cookies and milk out for Santa, read "The Night Before Christmas" and went to bed! :)

Lucky for Tony and me, the kids slept until 10:30 Christmas morning!!! HOORAY!! :) We all got up, Tony went downstairs to "make sure Santa didn't fall asleep at our house", and we started Christmas!!

All Bradlee asked for was M&M's and suckers! He got 'em!!!!!

Emma and I went to see "Spookly the Square Pumpkin" when she was about 2 and a half at the theater...and Santa found it on DVD and left it for her for Christmas!

Once the gifts were opened, breakfast eaten, and we were showered and dressed, we headed over to my parents' house and celebrated Christmas some more! Emma had gotten an American Girl doll named Kit from Karyn for her birthday, so Karyn, Kathi and Emma all had their dolls there to celebrate, too! :)

We, of course, had a fabulous dinner and my grandparents and Tony's parents, and Paul all came to join us as well!

It's become a tradition the past several years for Emma to stay the night at my mom and dad's on Christmas night. This year was no exception, but with an additional sleeping buddy: Bradlee had his first sleepover with Aunt Kat, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Karyn!! :) They had a GREAT time, watching movies, playing with their new toys, making pancakes for breakfast!

New Year's Eve we spent at Tony's parents' house, playing the Wii, talking, and I even went through my coupon box and threw away all the expired (or expiring that night) ones! :) It was fun, and the kids even made it until midnight! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The kids were SO excited to get back to school, and I was glad to get them back, too! Unfortunately, out house still looks like Toys R Us with all the Christmas gifts!! Once we get the tree and decorations down, though, it will be better....then I'll get to organize and put things where they WILL go! :) Happy New Year!