Merry Christmas!

It's been busy...on Sunday, my "baby" turned 2! It was great fun! Grandma and Grandpa came down and enjoyed a weekend with us. We celebrated on Saturday with some Papa Murphy's Pizza, presents, and cupcakes. Kamden really liked his new stuff and especially liked being sung to!

Sunday brought McDonald's for lunch, seeing Grandma and Grandpa off, and getting more company in the evening. Chris, Nicole, and Morgan stopped in on their way to Virginia for a family Christmas. It was nice to visit. The boys really like Morgan and had a lot of fun with the visit! Below is a slideshow of the festivities!

Then brings us to Christmas. We really have had a nice time. For Christmas Eve we hung around the house and while Kamden napped Adam and Kal went to see The Tale of Despereaux. They enjoyed the afternoon out. We went to a very nice Christmas Eve service at church then came home, had some dinner, and we let the boys open one gift. It was tough to get them to bed as they were enjoying their new stuff. Kal got a super spy kit and Kamden got a race track. BOYS. They loved it! Then, off to bed. The boys got up around 7 and had some breakfast informing me that they wanted to play with the racetrack first thing. Adam and I smiled as they seemed to have forgotten that there would be more presents this morning.

We established a Christmas tradition when we got married to read the Christmas story (usually from Luke) before we open gifts. So, after breakfast Adam had the boys go to the couch to read the story...then they saw it...they remembered...and they did very good listening to the story before digging in!

So, tomorrow, we head up to Brown County State Park to stay in the Lodge with my family and do our gift exchange. It will be nice. Will update on that later!

Thankful

Wow, what a day!

Kamden came down with a fever last night and today it spiked at 103.7! Poor thing. When that child it sick you can see it. He was pathetic! He woke up this morning only for a few minutes then fell back to sleep on the couch the rest of the morning! Adam was off today and for that I am very thankful!

You see, he layed with the sick "baby" all morning while I worked. He got Kal around for school. I finished making snowman ornaments with candy canes attached to them (which were quite cute by the way) for Kal's classmates' goodie bags. Adam got lunch for Kal and I took him off to school just in time for a small conference with his teacher and to pick up Adam's check. So, then it was off to the bank for me and to the new Pediatrician to get the paperwork filled out and records from Georgia released here. While I was there filling out paperwork and scheduling appointments for the boys, Adam called and informed me that Kamden needed to see the doctor, so, while I was there I tried to get Kamden in, but his doctor was off for the rest of the day and all doctors were at lunch...so, Kamden went back to bed with some Advil. Adam said at that point he sweat for 45 minutes! (Hooray!)

Meanwhile, I ran to the school for Kal's party (only 5 minutes late) and enjoy my time there. He did the cutest little dance to the "12 Days of Christmas". He is precious. During the party though, Adam called saying that another doctor could see him. He did a series of tests and it came up tonsilitis with a sinus infection. YUCK. So, a prescription for amoxicillin later they are out of there...

Meanwhile, Kal and I had gotten home from the party and I was starting to work. Then, I needed to go out to return a few things and do some more shopping so Adam got home with Kamden and I went out to fill the prescription and shop. I went to Kohl's and returned a bunch of stuff (maybe we should have gotten a babysitter so we could both shop together...) and headed to Target..arguably my favorite place to unwind. I finished some shopping and came home to a very happy Kamden playing ball with Kal in the playroom. Whew, that is a relief! While this was going on, Adam was making dinner! Woo-Hoo!

Finally, I sat down to finish my work and the day is finally come to an end. Maybe I will wrap some presents, I don't know.

Bottom line, I AM THANKFUL for my husband without whom I never would have made it. Thanks sweetheart!

FUN

So yesterday (in the FREEZING COLD) we went tree shopping...30 years of life and never an artificial tree...hmmmm maybe next year! Anyway, we found a very nice tree or should I say trees. The house we just moved into is an older home and it has a built in brick planter right by the front door. It is okay, nothing I am going to rip out right away but I did have to clear it from the sea shells and articial bouquet shortly after we moved in. We found a very small, maybe 2 foot tall, real tree. We strapped the bigger tree to the top of the minivan and put the smaller one in back and headed home. We brought it in and after a couple of hours of deciding where to put it, we set it up and got the lights on. Now, in the past, Kal has never been too excited about the tree, he had always liked to play with the ornaments and stuff but never really cared much. Well, this year, I he became a very good decorator. Kamden enjoyed helping too...he is very talented, he managed to get 3 candy canes at the end of one little branch and they stayed there. With the exception of having to move a couple of candy canes I did not have to de-decorate or re-arrange after the boys went to bed. It was nice!

Today, I branched out of my comfort zone and went to a cookie swap. Now, let me clarify, cookie swapping is not scary...its the not knowing anybody because we just moved here scary that I am talking about. I met this lady from church a couple of weeks ago and she had invited me. I went, I mingled, I met a couple more girls from the church that I had not met who had small children (woo-hoo!) and I met the whole staff from a local dentist office --cookie swap is kind-of a funny place to meet them! I had a lot of fun and I even learned how to make home made thin mints!!!!!!

On top of all of that fun, there were a few small snow flurries today!

Birthdays, Bowling, and Bathrooms

On Sunday, Kal went to a birthday party for one of his new friends at school...Parker. It was a bolwing party and all of his friends from school were there. I, personally, was a bit nervous as he had never bowled before (except on the Wii) and I did not know how he would do as he was convinced that he would be able to bowl a strike every time. Well, as it turned out he had a great time and he did actually win from his team with a score of 76 with the bumpers (of course).

Nick, Kal, and Parker

Kal watching the ball roll slowly....slowly...

On another note. Last night while I was on the phone with Adam as he was trying to find some medicine at Walgreen's (and the clerk was not being very helpful) I noticed Kamden had been in the bathroom for a long time. So, I went in and this is what I found:

The look on his face was "get me out of this shirt...it's soaked!" He had gone in to brush his hair (hense the water and the hairbrush). When I walked in he had just put some handsoap on his hands (lukliy it was only in his hands and not in his hair!) He wanted his shirt off soooo bad but I just had to get a picture. Isn't he just toooo cute!?!

SORRY!

So, I know, it has been a LONG TIME since I have posted. There has really been a lot of stuff going on. We'll start with the move. On November 11, we loaded up and drove to Indiana...this time to stay. Adam drove the moving van pulling his car and I drove up with the boys in the van. The trip was uneventful. We pulled in to a house full of people and a stocked refridgerator and candy filling the spice pantry and very fun posters plastered all over the walls. We also had a nice hot dinner brought to us and it only took about an hour to get unloaded! A few ladies did come in and clean before we got here, they touched every surface so the house was CLEAN! The boys were in heaven...tons of attention and lots of fun new space to run around.

Later that evening, Lisa and Andy came to help unpack some. Lisa helped me with the kitchen. It was a quick visit but nice...and helpful! As they were leaving our first overnight guest arrived. Brandon happened to be in the area and so he came by and stayed. He went the next morning with Adam to the office to get unpacked.

Adam was welcomed that morning in the office with all of the staff members in there waiting for him. They began his ministry there with prayer! Cool!

It did not take us very long to get unpacked but since the previous owner of our home was a smoker...and was quite advanced in years...it smelled like...well...stale smoke and old folk. So, we have been busy painting and painting and painting. Now, I will say that I am very thankful to those who came to clean...I cannot imagine what it smelled like before. But, thanks also to KILZ we have a home that is quite nice. We have painted nearly every wall, we just have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a hallway left. That is quite an accomplishment! We are settling in and making it home.

We are adjusting to the colder climate here. I actually had to go out and buy the boys winter coats...Adam is stocked in his hats to keep his head warm...and we have lots of HOT CHOCOLATE!

We have lots of space for the boys to play. They have a fabulous (flat) back yard with a full privacy fence, a sunroom, a play room, all in addition to the rest of the house. Adam has a library that he has to share with my office. It is nice.

So for our Thanksgiving holiday, Janet (Ganjee) came up for a while to visit and went up to my parents for our family gathering. It was nice to have her around. The trip to my parents was nice. It was good to see everybody. I got to see Anne, Adam, and Jackson...it was nice to see them; Andy and Lisa where around too (along with baby "peanut")!!! Mom and Dad were happy to see the kids and have their own kids all under one roof. I think they enjoyed having Janet there too! We then went out to Uncle Mike and Aunt Jodi's for dinner. ABSOLUTELY everybody made it this year. Kal and I counted 28! It was nice. We got to relax while we were there...aaaaahhhhh.

We came back home on Saturday morning...it only took about 5 hours! WOW! We enjoyed a little more time with Janet, showing her around town and such. Then, Monday, back to the routine.

Speaking of routine, Kal started school only 2 days after we got here. I was going to wait until the following week but he was READY. He started and he loves it and has not looked back! The boys really like their new church too. I am very relieved. They handled everything...all of the new...very, very well!

So, now we are in the process of decorating for Christmas. It is fun but challenging to decorate a new space for Christmas when it is not even decorated yet period. But it is still a very nice time. Kamden has found a favorite decoration. He's soooo cute!

Well, there is the last month in a nutshell. Please forgive me if I have left anything out...but I think I got it all. I will do better keeping this updated (for those of you...and there is more than one...who have been anxious for an update).

I would like everyone to check out Adam's new blog at http://www.firstmancolter.blogspot.com/ !