Tis

Lucy has been looking for Uncle "Tis" since he left. She has decided Grandpa's name is Papa Tis. She walks into a room and says "Hi Tis" or tells him "Ni Nite Tis" Yesterday while walking around Chicago she kept turning around and telling him "Hi Tis" Silly girl, she'll get it figured out!

Christmas Present Fun

Timmy in his fireman outfit with his new firetruck


Timmy and his Geotrax Grand Central Station-one of my personal favorites



Lucy in her cradle that Grandma painted for her
Lucy in her kitchen where she only cooks hot dogs

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve did not feel like Christmas Eve! Horrible ice coverage on our roads and parking lots led to church being canceled. This made for a very different nite for all of us! My parents arrived safely earlier in the day and we were thankful for smooth arrival for them--and to not have to do any more driving! Timmy and Lucy opened up their first present on Christmas Eve a new pair of pjs. Here's a cute picture of them in those!

Today may be the first time ever that I have experienced weather that is dangerous to be out in. We actually had negative temperatures with wind chills added making the temp feel like -25 and lower. WoW! I bundled the kids up for church, hats, gloves, scarves, hooded coats, boots, and a blanket for Lucy. Then I told Timmy that it was probably going to be the coldest he ever felt outside. We made it about 10 steps and Timmy was paralyzed. Between the cold and the 30 mph winds pushing against him, he couldn't move. Thank God my husband was already on the way to help and grabbed him and ran to church. I got there and my face and ears were burning and the elder had to remind me to take a deep breath (yes I think I was forgetting to breathe!) I love the cold, so while it may make me a complete lunatic I actually enjoyed this new experience, just as long as I get to stay in my warm house. Speaking of which, this house is tremendously insulated, whoever built it did an awesome job. Tomorrow we are off to check out cars and pick up Christopher from Indianapolis. We have a wonderful neighbor/member who is watching the kids so we don't have to drag them around looking. We are blessed!

Ice Storm

I experienced my first ice storm last night. You'd think with all my years in the midwest I would have been thru one already! The weirdest thing came when I was awakened to the sound of limbs snapping off trees. I finally had to move to the couch because I couldn't stand the sound! We came thru just fine, minimal branches down, and no extended power outage! Most of our neighborhood did alright also-the biggest mess was at our Principal's house-she's got a huge branch on her roof!

Ready for snow

We had another good snow yesterday. The kids were excited to go out and play. I dressed both of them in snow suits. Lucy was pretty funny because she could barely walk. The boots and the suit were just completely frustrating for her. The funniest moment came when she threw a tantrum (inside) and couldn't get herself back up because of the bulk. The shrieking kept me from feeling too bad for her!

Tag

I was tagged in a blog requesting I put up the 4th picture in my 4th folder of my picture program. So here it is: Timmy at 7 months old-his first Christmas!

December 10th Accident

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Yesterday I (Christine) was in an accident. I was traveling by myself to a dr. appt., needless to say I didn't make it. Despite how bad the car looks, I am doing fine. My body hurts all over, but a ton of x-rays confirmed nothing major wrong. Praise God the kids weren't with me.

Another Round

It seems like as soon as I get one kid feeling healthy the other one gets sick. It's been that way for about 6 weeks. Lucy came down with a stomach flu over the weekend. Timmy came down with it last night in the middle of the night. This is already the second round of stomach flu of the school year. I am taking the day off work because Ben had commitments and obviously we weren't sending the kids somewhere else!

A few misadventures of the last week

Thursday: Went to teach and had my kids in 1st-4th singing for the Ladies Aid Christmas Party. This was my first time ever organizing a group to sing (nothing like waiting 8 1/2 years to use that music specialization!). I had planned for them to sing Silent Night, Joy to the World, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Jingle Bells. Imagine my surprise when we go over to perform and I discover it's in the church literally, not in the church basement, in the church. So here I am with kids standing in front of the altar singing Jingle Bells-and shaking Jingle Bells. Not my favorite moment. Next time I'll clarify what a Christmas Party entails. I'm guessing I gave God a good chuckle.

Friday: I'm in the kitchen getting breakfast and hear a crash. Lucy screams.
Timmy starts yelling that the Christmas tree fell down. Thankfully it missed Lucy by about 6 inches. Nonetheless we had a lot of ornaments broken and it was a pain to put back up!

Monday: I am out driving with the kids and lose control of the van, tap the breaks and that makes it worse (I am trying to stop at a stop sign-and there are no other cars around). I think "Oh Great, there's something wrong with the van." Regain control and try to turn left and swerve all around. Look at the asphalt and realize it's coated. BLACK ICE. Good learning experience for Christine. I drive 20 mph for the rest of the road! It is going to be a long winter. I love the snow, think I'll pass on the freezing rain!

Christmas Musical Premiere

Timmy had his on stage premiere last night. He was quite excited about it and even told me I could take as many pictures as I wanted! He swayed back and forth the whole time, but looked like he was having a good time.

Heaven

Timmy wants to know if there will be snow in heaven. Anybody care to weigh in?

This picture is of Timmy and Josh...Timmy had to show him his monkey costume :). Timmy had a blast playing with him and Lucy turned on the charm...she even learned his name.

Turducken

We were given a Turducken. Yes you read correctly, a Turducken. It was a gift for performing a wedding. Since we had Josh with us to celebrate Thanksgiving, we decided to cook it up. Ben talked about it all week, I joked about it all week, it was a highly anticipated meal. In fact, Ben even worked it into his Thanksgiving sermon. The rest of our Thanksgiving meal was traditional the Turducken was definitely the odd part. The concensus was it was good, but not incredible. It has certainly given our members something to talk to us about!

The dance machine

One of our friends gave us this little boombox that plays music from the show Lazytown. Timmy and Lucy LOVE it. Lucy turns into a little dance machine whenever it comes on. There is something adorable about a toddler trying to kick her legs in the air!

Lucy & Yellow Hair Gram

Yellow Hair Gram (as Timmy calls her) is here for a visit. Because Timmy was asleep, Lucy was allowed to play with her last night. They enjoyed some popcorn together, I of course snapped away and got some very cute pictures!

The picky eater

Timmy's a picky eater. This comes as no surprise to those of you who have shared a meal with him. We've been working on it and occasionally he throws us a bone. Tonight he helped me make Pretzel Chicken Strips (Chicken strips crusted with pretzel). He dipped the chicken into the flour for me and I did the next two steps. Then he watched as I pan fried them (yes from a distance...no grease splatters for this kid). When we sat down to eat he ate 2 Chicken Strips, 2 servings of rice, about a cup of broccoli (but just he tree part-so funny!), and a roll. I was very proud of him! He then continued to help me put away dishes and round up dirty dishes from around the house. That's my little man! Tomorrow him and I are off to see Madagascar 2.

Halloween

Ben's favorite animal is a lion. My favorite animal is a monkey. With nothing intentional about it our children dressed up as a lion and monkey for Halloween. Both costumes were picked simply because they were cute! Timmy thoroughly enjoyed Trick or Treating and eating his Treats along the way.

Two cute kids being hams

I promised Lucy I'd buy her this outfit when it went on sale. I found it last week on sale, Ben doesn't believe she would have held me to my promise. Clearly he has a lot to learn about girls and their clothes!

Lucy the big girl!

Lucy is finally getting some length to her hair. I have been trying to play with it regularly so she doesn't scream quite as much when I have to put it up. She looks absolutely adorable with her teeny tiny pigtails! We also put her in a little two piece bathing suit the other nite. It was a hand me down that she hasn't worn yet, but her other suit was dirty so we pulled it out.