My growing boys!

Today I had the boys 4 and 6 year old checkups.  I know a little late since their birthdays were in December but that was the soonest I could get in.  That's what I get for making their appointments in Nov.!
I brought Joey in first since I knew he would have to have shots.  He did great getting measured and his hearing and vision checked.  But when we got in the room and they told him to take his clothes off, he was not a happy camper.  But he did better when Dr. Dorfman came in.  And of course she has lots of sympathy for my kids as she allowed Joey to determine where he would sit for the checkup.  He did good the rest of the checkup.  Joey measured 44" tall and 44 lbs which is off the charts for height and weight.  She said he is a VERY tall boy (surprise, surprise) and we need to start watching his weight.  He is proportional now but if he continues on this curve he could be overweight when he gets older.  Then came the shots and Joey was NOT happy about it!  He screamed and kicked at the nurses and told them he was never coming back again!  He had to have 5 shots :( and it took him most of the day to get over it!  But he is fine now and I have my tall, healthy boy back!
Now it was onto Andrew's turn.  He did much better except when it came to his vision test.  He wants glasses so bad (not sure why) so he kept trying to fail the test.  Well I had warned the nurse of this so she was able to test him even though he was making it a little difficult.  By the way his hearing and vision is perfect!  Next was onto the room.  Unlike his brother, he was fine running around in his underwear.  He did great when the doctor checked him all out.  He measured 48" tall and 46" (only 2 lbs heavier than Joey).  Dr. D said he is off the charts for his height and is very tall and he is in the 75% for his weight.  She said he is doing great.  We talked a lot about how Andrew is doing since he is having the hardest time with Chris' death.  She suggested to give him some melatonin to help him sleep and it is all natural so no worries about it.  We also talked about Andrew's extra energy and we are just going to watch him for possible ADD.
I have very happy to report both boys are very healthy!  She told me when I was ready I should get them into their own beds.  She said the best way for me to do this is have them sleep in their own beds and for me to sleep on their floor for awhile until they get used to sleeping in their own beds.  I guess its a good thing they share their room as I would hate to go through this twice!  She also gave me a huge hug and told me I'm doing a great job with them, which is something I really needed to hear!  I love this doctor so much!

1st snow of the winter!

 We finally got our first snow fall of the season in late December.  Wasn't very much snow and didn't last but a couple of hours, but the kids still managed to have a great time playing in it.

Joey was the first one awake and out the door before breakfast!

 Then Andrew made it out excited to try out the new snow board we got!

 I think he did more falling than staying up but he sure had fun trying!

 My camera battery died before I got to take any pictures of Adriana playing out in the snow.  But I did get LOTS of pictures of our new little puppy Snickers playing in it!  She loved it and was so cute playing in it!

The kids had a great early morning playing in the snow and were bummed it was all melted by lunch time.  I promised them this wouldn't be the last snowfall (so let's pray that it snows again before spring, hehehe).

Christmas at MeMaw and PePaw's house!

 On Christmas day we went to Chris' parents house.  This was another very difficult time for me.  We ended up coming late and I was really not wanting to go at all.  But I knew that would not be fair to the kids or the rest of the family so once again I put on my big girl panties and dealt with it. 

Unfortunately I didn't get but two pictures while we were there.

Here is a picture of all the cousins.......all 8 of them ages 8 and under!

Here is Adriana showing Angeline and Mikey her new tablet!

 Since that was all the pictures I had taken there, I decided to add in a few pictures of Snickers.  They only stay this small and cute for a little while then they grow up big!  So here is our "little" baby girl!

 Even got her sticking her tongue out.......or maybe she was thinking of jumping up on the counter to grab those Christmas cookies!

 Snickers and one of her toys!

 And posing with her new hip sweater on!

Well we made it through the hardest holiday so far.  I know I didn't do as well as I should have for the kids, but I managed to get up, get out of bed, and at least help put some smiles on their faces!

Daddy's grave!

After church on Christmas morning, we made a stop by daddy's grave to wish him a Merry Christmas and to say some special prayers for daddy.  I think the kids liked this and it was a way to keep him here with us on Christmas.

Christmas morning!

 Christmas morning was by far my hardest of the holiday.  It just wasn't the same waking up without Chris there.  But I felt him there with us in spirit which made it a little more bearable.  Also, the night before when I was getting ready for Christmas I know I saw him.  I was walking in the family room and was startled by someone in the family room.  When I turned back thinking it was one of the kids, he was gone.  I know it was Chris in the room with me helping me get ready!

The kids didn't seem as upset that morning and were very excited to open their gifts!

Andrew finally got his skateboard (along with a helmet, knee pads, and wrist guards).  This was his number one gift he asked santa for this year!

Adriana finally got her 2011 American Girl doll she had been wanting.  This was her number one gift she wanted from santa too!  Santa was doing good this year!

 And Joey scored his monster truck he asked santa for too!

 And the boys scored a monster truck battle.

I was having a hard time so I didn't get a lot of pictures but I got enough to show their excitement!

Christmas at MawMaw and PawPaw's house!

 Is it Christmas yet?!?

Our first stop for Christmas was to MawMaw and PawPaw's house on Christmas Eve.  I think this has been the hardest part since Chris passed away.  I spend a little bit of time at the cemetary while my parents watched the kids for me.  That was probably the best thing I could have done as it made it a lot easier to get through the rest of the night.

When I got back, it was time to start opening presents!
Adriana got a new tablet!  I'm not used to all this technology stuff and still can't figure out how to use it, but it didn't take Adriana long to figure it all out!

 Joey got a new workbench!  He spent most of his time playing with this gift!

 Joey and my nephew Jacob!

 Andrew opening up his gifts!

 Joey taking a break from his bench to open more gifts!

 Adriana liking another one of her gifts!

 Andrew wearing his "wolfie" hat!  Wolves are Andrew's favorite animals and he has a little wolfie stuffed animal he sleeps with most nights!

 Joey got a polar bear hat.  Polar bears are Joey's favorite next to "bear bears" (panda bears)

 And a picture of all the kids minus my little brother's kids.  They were unable to make it up because of the twins being born earlier in the month.

 Andrew sleeping with wolfie and a worn out Snickers.

We made it through one day and next will be onto the toughest day!

Beauty and the Beast!

 This year we knew was going to be very difficult at Christmas time.  So when a friend asked if we would like to join them at the Fox to see Beauty and the Beast on Christmas Eve, we were very excited.  I really didn't want to sit at home and spend the day upset so it was a great way to use up most of the day before going to MawMaw and PawPaw's house.

I didn't get any pictures from the Fox, but I did get a few pictures before we headed out.

Look at this Beauty and the Beasts, I mean the cute kids ;)

Not too sure whats going on with the kid at the end.......

 But yes, Snickers had to join in the picture taking too.  Maybe a little force as Adriana has her hands wrapped around the poor dogs throat!

The kids had a great time and I'm so glad we were able to go.  It was a great break for the day!

Baking cookies!

 We decided to spend the kids first day of Christmas break baking cookies for santa.  The kids had a great time picking out their shapes and adding icing and sprinkles to them.  I think I will be cleaning up the mess for most of break, but they sure had a great time decorating!

Of course I forgot to get a picture of the finished products but I promise they were cute :)

Preparing for ratings!

 Adriana is preparing for ratings for Pony Club which is in two weeks.  Each week when she rides she has to groom her horse and saddle it up by herself and be prepared to ride on time.

Here she is getting Irish ready!

Next she has to bring Irish out to the arena and warm her up before riding her.

 Finally time to ride!

 Getting some instructions from her instructor, Darla!

 Here she is dismouting the horse.  I thought it was a funny picture getting her in the middle of jumping off her horse :)

 Finally she removes all her gear from the horse and gets her ready to release back to the pasture.

She had a great lesson and should be ready to get rated in two weeks.  Now she just has to work on her bookwork!

Andrew's hockey practice!

 Andrew is still loving hockey and is in his third session of hockey for St. Peters Spirit at the Rec Plex.  He has improved so much and puts so much effort into each practice he goes to.

Here is a few pictures from his last practice of this session.

 Then santa came onto the ice and made a surprise visit!  Andrew said he was so excited he almost screamed!  All the kids were so excited and shocked seeing santa on the ice with them!  What a fun way to end the season!

 After practice santa sat with all the kids and asked each one what they wanted for Christmas.  He also gave each one a special sucker that was decorated like a gingerbread house.

 Andrew's team!

 They also allowed all the siblings out onto the ice to meet with santa.  Joey had to show santa his "daddy bear" which he insists on taking everywhere with him.

The kids all had a great time and thought this was the best day ever!