Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

Christmas cards are in the mail! Christmas lights are bright! Christmas tree is up and decorated! Christmas TV specials on every night! Austin's Birthday to celebrate on the 19th! Presents to wrap!
WE LOVE THE HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

Family pic at Mrs. O's 70th Birthday party!

Bought this cute lil' guy at the holiday store by where we cut down our tree.

AWWWWW!!! Hey, they didn't leave any room for Austin & me ;-)

Randy and I finally bit the bullet this year and bought all new Christmas lights - the new LED ones!!! Every year we have fought with the Christmas lights - blowing fuses, dealing with bad wiring, trying to make a bunch of mismatched stuff look good, etc... We simplified the design, added Mrs. Claus to compliment Santa, and the lights went up with not a single problem! YEA!!!!! The coolest part is all our Christmas lights are on a remote control; just one click and they are on or off from anywhere in the house. Plus, they use less energy than the old ones...good for the old electric bill ;-)

We had a delicious supper at Mr. & Mrs. O's house Sunday with the rest of the family. We were suppose to go on the Chritsmas Walk, but the rain put a kaboosh on that. We decided to go home and put up our tree instead. Pics below of the great time we had doing it:

Austin getting a lift from Daddy to put an ornament on the tree.

I always love how the kids know just which ornaments are theirs and they are the only person who can put them on the tree. The kids each have their own small tree in their bedrooms to decorate as well.

O' Christmas Tree - How lovely are your branches!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We celebrated my Dad's 59th birthday with dinner and cake. The kids helped him blow out the candles ;-)

Lexus, Kimberly, Dad, Austin, Halle, & and; Colin

 So...2 minutes before Randy is suppose to walk out of the woods to come home for my Uncle Paul's surprise b-day party...he shoots a 10 point buck! Needless to say Stan (1st Buck) will now have a friend on the wall next to him - Dan!

Thanksgiving was wonderful as always! Fabulous family, delicious food, wonderful memories...we are sooooo blessed to be part of 2 amazing families!

The traditional family pic I request every year before everything gets crazy!

 The girls had fun playing with all of Katie & and; Christy's old Barbie stuff, Lexus and Colin played Wii, and Austin and Eli switched back n' forth between Barbie and G.I. Joe.

Austin and Eli

 

 Just to give you a peek at how long the table is for the Ossege family...can you imagine when they all start bringing boyfriends/girlfriends around!

We got almost all of our Christmas shopping done on Black Friday and saw a great movie Saturday at the Levee...Arthur Christmas! A must see movie for anyone!

I find it interesting that each lined up next to the chipmunk that is most like them!

The kids had loads of fun making felt Christmas ornaments!

 We helped Randy's mom - Mrs. Ossege - celebrate her 70th birthday at the Green Derby. Below is the card I made for her:

 Christmas traditions are in full swing! Today we cut down our Christmas tree and visited our favorite little Christmas shop with Matt, Ann, Natalie & Nicole.

Family photo op in front of the tree.

Randy & Kimberly carrying tree to car.

Bella had fun running through the rows of trees.

Lexus, Kimberly, Nicole, & Natalie

Austin helped Dad get the car in position to load the tree on top.

Singing & Santa House

Two Fridays ago, Lexus sang in the Northern Kentucky Honor Choir, all the kids sang beautifully! After singing, we had to rush to get to her indoor soccer game. She only played 9 mins. but scored a goal...Go Lexus!

 That same weekend Kimberly sang for the Veterans at the Mess Hall with other 2nd graders from the district which included her cousin Nicole and best friend McKenna.

Kimberly and Nicole

Kimberly and McKenna

 Anyone from the area knows, the weekend before Thanksgiving is SANTA HOUSE! It is our one and only fundraiser for the school year and brings in approx. $40,000 for two days. It is one of our top ten holiday traditions. The kids get their pic with Santa and tell what they want for Christmas.

 They (well this year it's only Kimberly) make the tradition family portrait which hangs in the hallway at Santa House.

 Visit areas like the Adult Boutique, Bakery, Crafts Area, Children's Boutique (where they secretly shop for family members), etc...

Girls making their angel ornaments and crafts.

Austin showing off the sports pendant he made.

 My two favorite things we bought this year at Santa House in the Adult Boutique are pictured below. A new winter hat for Austin (a Mohawk in Bluebird colors) and a super cute snowman candy dish. He got to wear his new hat to the playoff game between Highlands and Cov Cath later that night.

We have been having lots of fun with Randy on vacation last week and this. We had a family sleepover on the living room floor and watched movies. Randy and I were both paying for the next day with sore backs, but worth it to see the smiles on their faces ;-)

Hockey, Babies, & Hunting

Last Saturday night, Kimbelry and I enjoyed a girls night out at the new Frisch's and Meijer, while Randy, Lexus and Austin went to the Cyclones game. They won a contest at the game and got to go in the Cyclone's locker room and see the Zamboni machine.

Kimberly and Fluffy at Frisch's

Randy, Lexus & Austin in Cyclone's locker room

My cousin Christy will soon be a mom for the first time and we attended her baby shower on Sunday. She received lots of wonderful things for baby Maylee! Below is the card I made for the shower.

Kimberly watching Christy open our gifts.

Poem Kimberly wrote at school!

We had Parent-Teacher Conferences for both girls this past week. They both went FABULOUS as always! Although I do miss seeing all the cute stuff in the hallway for Lexus, don't do that in middle school ;-(

Napping Buddies!

Randy is leaving for a quota hunt for 5 days. We surprised him with 2 early x-mas presents to use on his trip. (a new gun case and a new hunting jacket)

I heart nutcrackers!!! I fill my mantel with them very Christmas and wish so badly to have  nutcrackers like the ones below flank my front door. I found these at Meijer, don't they look so amazing! But I am not stupid!...who would pay $150.00 a piece for these. I can think of a million other useful things to spend my money on.

Lots of fun stuff going on this weekend...hope to post some pics soon!

WICKED

Strep Throat 2 days before I am suppose to go see WICKED, really!

Luckily I was able to get the strep shot on Wednesday night and feeling good in time for the show. Thanks to Matt and Ann (in-laws) for watching the kids for us! The kids had a FUN night playing with their cousins Natalie and Nicole and Lexus scored her first hat trick in soccer!!! The first 2 goals she scored in the first two minutes of the game! We are sooooo proud of her, but not just for a terrific soccer game. Lexus earned ribbons for Super Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, and No Demerits at school!!!

Emerald Elixir - YUMMY!!!

 My hubby got the absolute, perfect seats...dead center! The show was AMAZING, FABULOUS, WONDERFUL!!!! I loved all the costumes and the songs - I Know About Popular, Defying Gravity. The girl who played "Elphie" or "Elphaba - Wicked Witch of the West" had a truly beautiful voice. The show was a fun twist on the book, which I have read.

View from our seats!

 Thank again to my husband and kids for such an amazing birthday present! I LOVED IT!!!

Halloween 2011

We had quite a fun weekend, Kimberly invited her friend McKenna over for a playdate Friday, we watched the Bluebirds win again and lots of our favorite Halloween shows like (Casper, Hocus Pocus, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown).

McKenna & Kimberly at the football game.

I just heart the way my kids can play together!!!

Lexus went to the 6th grade Halloween Dance Saturday night dressed as Hermione from Harry Potter. She said it was really fun and she even got to wear her costume to school today!

 Lexus and her friends having a great time at the dance!

Bella got a new bed this weekend, not because she grew too big for it or chewed it to pieces. She got a new bed because I melted the bottom of her old bed in the dryer. Note to self: air dry her bed from here on out!

Austin and I got to help Kimberly's class celebrate Halloween at school. They made mummies, went pumpkin bowling, and ate delicious treats while watching "Spookley the Square Pumpkin".

Kimberly and Austin watching the movie.

Kimberly & McKenna showing off their mummies!

Austin giving it his best shot at Pumpkin Bowling.

Halloween 2011 was GREAT!!! All of the kids looked AMAZING in their costumes!

Our Spanish flamenco dancer - Kimberly.

My fav pic of them trick-or-treating!

 They walked in the door and immediately dumped out their bags to look at their spoils for the night. Luckily, they are nice enough to share some of the wealth with mom and dad.