Natalie is SEVEN!

It's official - I have a big kid now! Natalie turned seven and suddenly seems so much older to me. Maybe it's because she is in 1st grade, or the fact that she is now in Senior Primary (yikes! how can that happen??), or how she is so independent. And while I miss that she will never be little again I am also enjoying watching her grow into a beautiful young lady.

That being said... she is still our goose!

Seven!!!!
Opening her birthday gifts from us - a new necklace/bracelet set, jeans, and a Sweet Shoppe bath spa set (the theme of her upcoming party)!

The great thing about Natalie's birthday being 2 days after Christmas is that usually everyone is on holiday from work and school so we can go and do something fun together as a family. This year we went to....

Six Flags!

The birthday girl is ready to go!

Excited for the rides!!!
We got season passes to Six Flags in the fall and they came with tickets to go to their special Holiday in the Park during the Christmas break. So we invited our friends to go with us!

The little ones watching their older siblings/parents go on the Boomerang!

We love that there are rides for all sizes and ages!

Here we go!

The park was lit up so beautiful once it got dark, but it also got really COLD so I was ready to go!

It was a really fun day and we played so hard! The kids crashed once we got in the car so we ended up changing our plans of going to dinner and just hit a drive-thru. Fortunately, Natalie did not mind! We were all tired and happy to go home.

And that ended the first of several celebrations we had for Natalie this year for her birthday. Check back soon... there is more to come!

Christmas Day 2010

It looks like Santa came...



I was worried that the kids would wake up before Dan got home from work, but he actually came home before we woke up! Natalie and Nathan were so eager to open their stockings and it was all they could manage to wait for Tyler (who was a little slower to wake up). Here they are with their stockings:

At the last minute this year I decided that the kids were too old to keep using their baby stockings so we bought some cheap ones and I let the kids decorate them.

Santa is all about the Target dollar section!

Then it was on to the Christmas tree...
Santa's gifts are the unwrapped ones - it's a tradition of ours.

Let the mayhem begin!!!

Natalie truly loved every gift she recieved, and all she asked for was the cat in the last pic - she might be hard to buy for but she doesn't ask for much!

Nathan also loved his gifts, but I think he loved opening them more than anything else.

I also got a little something...

A new hairbrush! I really needed one. It actually came with the professional hairdryer Dan got for me - I must say it's the best hairdryer I've ever used! Definitely worth the $$ to keep my hair healthy. You did good babe!

Just look at those happy faces!

Tyler took his time opening each gift and playing with it. He knew how to make Christmas last all day!

The kids got Dan a couple gifts:

Nathan & Tyler gave Dan glass wipes for his truck (since they always goober up his windows when they ride in it), and Natalie picked out air freshener for him (and I'm not going to say why!) He appreciated their thoughtfulness :)

Here's some before/after shots:

Look at how skeptical Dan is about the Italian seasoning! But he loved the Longhorn key (he's been trying to steal mine ever since our landlord gave me a longhorn key to our new house).

Can you tell that it's later in the day?

Natalie & Nathan finally convinced Tyler to finish opening up his gifts - it was killing them that they were just sitting under the tree unopened!

(the bath toys were by far the most popular!!)

Natalie got right to work coloring with her new paints

After the initial rush of Christmas morning, Dan went to bed and we just relaxed and enjoyed the day together. The kids just wanted to play with all their new things which I was happy to let them do. Once Dan woke up my parents came over to have Christmas with us. As you can see, the kids were still in their pj's (isn't that how Christmas is supposed to be??)-

"We're ready to open!"

(sidenote: check out Natalie's zhu zhu pets - she loves them!)

Natalie's absolute favorite game to play - MarioKart Wii

Thank you so much Mom & Dad!!! Natalie was so sad when ours broke!

Can you tell how happy Nathan is that he got what he asked for?!

While you can't tell, Tyler is actually quite excited here because he got a new Buzz Lightyear (another toy of ours that suddenly quit working). And Nathan was happy too since that was something he had asked for as well.

Happy Girl!

The kids were so excited and happy to play!

Mom and Dad, you completely spoiled them and we can't thank you enough for helping make this Christmas so wonderful!!!

Here we are sportin' our gifts and enjoying the finger foods!

We truly had such a blessed and enjoyable Christmas. It was so nice being able to just stay home as a family and not go anywhere. It definitely felt less rushed and chaotic which was really nice. And I know our kids loved getting to spend some good quality time with each set of grandparents. Thank you to all of our family who were so thoughtful and generous! We love you all and hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Eve 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve at home this year. It was so nice to not have to go anywhere and just spend time together as a family. Especially since Dan had to work the nights during the Christmas holiday - we had a limited amount of time to see him and were glad for every minute that we had with him!

So here is what we did on Christmas Eve - I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Hangin' out at home

Making Puppy Chow (thanks Karin!)

Tyler doing his usual fun things

Then it was party time with the Bischoffs!

Enjoying our yummy fondue dinner

(don't ask me why Nathan & Tyler decided to get into costume)

And now for opening the gifts...

Oh the excitement!!!

Every year Grandma Carla and Grandpa Richard give the kids new PJ's on Christmas Eve, but this year they went above and beyond with new pillow cases for the kids that Carla made. Each one was personalized with the kids' names by Great Grandma Betty and absolutely amazing! The kids love their new pillow cases so much - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

(sorry no pic of Tyler's but it's Buzz Lightyear - cute!!)

The adults had fun opening gifts too :)

At some point Tyler decided that being Buzz was a bit hot so he went naked after that - be glad he's got on the diaper! And he quickly commandeered the marshmallow shooter and went to work having Grandpa reload it for him. Fun times! And just so you know exactly how redneck a family we are, not only did Tyler not wear his clothes the rest of the night but he also ate the marshmallows off the floor. That is the ones that he could get to before Hank ate them. :)

And the best gift of all was the handmade puppet show that Carla gave to the kids with the most precious hand puppets. What a thoughtful gift! We are so lucky to have such a talented Grandma!! Natalie put on a puppet show right away with the puppets playing "I spy." Absolutely adorable!!


It was such a fun and memorable evening and we were so happy to be able to spend it with Dan's parents. Dan had to leave for work so it ended a little earlier than usual, which was good for me since I had to get the kids to bed and start getting everything ready for the next day. The kids were the most eager to go to sleep because they knew who was coming that night....

Santa Claus was coming to town!

Family Birthday Party

We had Nathan's family birthday dinner the following Sunday after church - that's why everyone looks so festive!

It was our first dinner to host in the new house. Did I mention we moved the first week of December? That's another post for another time.
Birthday Cupcakes, Yummy!!

Enjoyed by all :)

Nathan was so happy to finally get some Lego's - he's been wanting them for a long time!


What fun - we partied til we (Tyler) dropped!

Goodnight!

Nathan is FIVE!

My little man is 5 years old! Nathan was so excited for his birthday to come this year - we were counting down a few weeks in advance! And he was so happy to turn five because he knows that's when you are officially school-aged. I love Nathan so much at 5 - he is such a funny and cute kid! But I will miss him being 4 and telling everyone that he's a CTR 4 when they asked how old he was. Just cute!!



To kick off Nathan's b-day we had him open his present from Grandma Karen & Grandaddy at breakfast. Dan worked the night before and brought home "birthday donuts" for a special breakfast. Can you tell how excited Nathan is?!!

The pic in the middle is Nathan saying "Whoa!" when he saw what he got - the Batman Cave!

And the day got even better when we got to go with Natalie's class to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm for a field trip. We had been there last year when it was a pumpkin patch but had never gone when they set up the Christmas Tree activities. It was a bit cold out but we had so much fun - we will definitely return next year!

There's an assortment of farm animals - can you tell Nathan didn't like the smell? haha!

And you see those 2 geese looking so innocent right where the boys are watching them?

Well they decided it was bath time!

Yep, Tyler and Nathan got splashed by the geese! Definitely a highlight of the field trip :)

The kids got to go on a hayride out to where all the Christmas trees are growing. The class even got to pick out a tree and cut it down to take back to their classroom! There was also a playground for them to play at with picnic tables. It is the most kid-friendly place!

Natalie & Nathan loved playing tether ball together. They crack me up!


Don't forget about all the hay!
They loved running through the hay bale maze. Can't say it enough, We loved this place!!!


And the celebrating wasn't over yet...
we still had to go to Nathan's favorite place for dinner and games-
Chuck E. Cheese!!!!


Tyler was all about the "rides" - check out those funny faces!
Love Tyler's bedhead (he fell asleep in the car on the drive back from Elgin)

And Nathan was all about the games...

Pizza, tokens, games, tickets, prizes, & candy - just a few of Nathan's favorite things!

Me and the birthday boy :)

Natalie is getting really good at the games - she won the most tickets of all!

Dan had to leave for work from Chuck E. Cheese and we forgot to bring the birthday cake

so we waited until the next day to eat it

Spider Man Cake!

(thanks to Sam's for rigging this one up for us last minute!)

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!!

Now a letter to Nathan from me:

Nathan,

I know lots of your favorite things (you tell me frequently), and you are one of my favorite things so I want to tell you some of my favorite things about you:

1. I love how you always start every sentence with, "Mom, I need to tell you something..."

2. I love that you love to play with your brother and sister. You let Natalie boss you around and swing you around! And you are always willing to hunt for "bad guys" with Tyler.

3. I love that you are still so sweet. Maybe it's from all the candy that you love to eat but I think you are really just a sweet little guy.

4. I love how you are almost obsessed with counting and numbers, especially when it comes to your money! Maybe you'll grow up to be an accountant (that sure would make your grandaddy proud!)

5. I love that you are still interested in hanging out with me and helping me. I haven't lost the "cool" factor yet and I plan to cherish as much time as I get with you while you still like to snuggle.

I love you, Nathan!!! You will always be my sweet, sweet boy.

Love,

Mom