I cry the day that I take the tree down!

I love that song! Its how I feel after Christmas. I love the holidays and I love all the beautiful decorations! It always makes me sad when its time to put them away. (That, and its a LOT of work). Think I am nuts if you like... but I have about fourteen totes of just Christmas decorations. And that's not counting my boxes of Christmas trees. Sheesh, I am nuts.

The kids have started attacking my "fancy' tree, so I guess its time to take everything down. But I am going to play Christmas music all day and burn my holiday candles to prolong the feeling. Enjoy the rest of your holiday!!!!

Christmas at our house

We had a wonderful Christmas! The kids(and dad) played all day with their gifts. Madi got a sewing machine and all the goodies that goes with. After learning how to use it she sat right down and made a pillow. Brooke got an art kit and spent the rest of the day painting and sketching. Madi had made her a cardboard horse to paint and it was Brooke's favorite gift.

Ben's was a chemistry set. Brett and Ben had a ball all day. A few things were set on fire and one or two explosions... they had a great time. Connor spent the day playing with his "new" train set. (recycled from Ben). It was a great day and all the hard work on gifts paid off.

The Reason for the Season

This last week my kids were sick. It had been a long week! There was lots of whining for Mom, cleaning up throw up, holding feverish snugglers, not much sleep, running up and down for juice and blankies, and lots of laundry. I had been on schedule with Christmas preparations until the untimely "plague."

I needed a break! I needed to do something that would stay DONE (not dishes, laundry or such). And I needed to do something that would help me get back into the Christmas season. I disappeared into the garage and this is what came out with me two hours later. It's in my front yard.

Merry Christmas! May we all remember the reason for the season!

Hacked

My husband laughs at my friends and my blogging habits. But I have noticed that he likes to read our family blog to see what crazy thing I've posted... and more often then not he gets a good laugh about it.

When I got on to try to post something this morning I notice that my blog had been hacked. My sweet husband must have got on last night to switch out all our old family photos for the new ones. Ha! he got caught blogging. (It'll take a while to live that down). but thanks Honey.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

I love the Christmas season as much as any child. I still believe, and I still jump up and down when its time to pull out the sparkly ornaments and lights. I love sending and getting Christmas cards... I am just a little late this year. So, with the hopes of still getting some out, I wanted to send you all a little Christmas cheer from our family via the internet.

We found a wonderful friend to take some family pictures. This one was my favorite! We are loving life with our four children (and one on the way).

We hope you all enjoy the season and have a fantastic Christmas!

Where have YOU been?

Does anyone get tired of checking blogs when there are never new posts? Well, I have the most amazing excuse ever! I was in Europe with my husband for three weeks. Woo-Hoo!Brett had a business trip to Wales and I got to tag along. We spent two weeks in Wales while he lectured, ran over to England on the weekend and then took another week to see what we could see in Holland and France. So here is a flying look at a little bit of what we saw and did. Everything is out of order, oh well).
Palace of Versailles anyone? This place was HUGE beyond imagining! We were so tired of walking at the end of the day. The king would have needed his own zip code... the grounds went on and on and....

I'd hate to wash the windows!

Ironically the most expensive restaurant we ate in the whole trip was a converted barn at Versailles. Seriously... it still looked like a barn.

King Louis the XVI bed. Sheesh

Hall of mirrors. Wow, so much history happened here!

The Louvre was... wow! I had a hard time focusing on the art because the whole building was a work of art.

This guy just couldn't take the Louvre seriously.

Oh gosh! I was inside the Louvre!!!!!

A canal trip in Amsterdam with friends.

We took a ferry from England to Holland. It was like a small cruise ship. The closest I've come to a cruise.

While Brett was working I went to as many museums as I wanted. I LOVE history and Brett would rather take a nap than walk through a museum. I went to one that was an outdoor museum made up of Welsh buildings from all different eras.... from a castle to Celtic huts.

I loved the Welsh gardens! I could have just wandered in the gardens for hours.

I was in heaven! It was like stepping back in time. I visited to anyone who would talk to me. My tours were way better than anyone else because I was visiting with all the curators.

Cardiff castle was unbelievable! So much history crammed into one area! The last Marquis to live in it made the walls a public bomb shelter during WWII. (I got to walk through them right after Veterans day. That was emotional!)

Oh man, that's me on top of a castle!

One Sunday we took a drive to the tiny market town where my man's family came from. This church was built in the mid1200's.

I have no idea why this is sideways... but who cares! I took that picture... which means that I was standing right in front of Big Ben. "squeal" (My son Ben thought that was the coolest name for a clock).
We walked by these two churches every day to Brett's office. They were so beautiful.
Sorry about the picture... I thought this was so funny. He's on his cell phone. Hee hee. That was only 1/4 of the pictures, but you get the idea. We had a great time but were so glad to get back to our kiddos. (That was hard to be gone so long). It was an adventure of a life time!

Helloooooo out there!

Hey everyone! I have missed blogging and all your comments! Things have been CrAzY around here. BUT... I just finished all the fam's Halloween get-ups and I can't wait to show you! What are we this year? Well here's a hint: It's a little Scooby and a little Doo... Trouble is there are only four of the cartoon gang and there are five of MY gang. So what the heck am I going to be?

Pictures coming soon! Have a happy day!