Christmas Day

Finally, pictures from Christmas Day.

When the kids woke up (they actually didn't wake up early) we let them open up their stockings while we worked on breakfast. Ken made a yummy quiche, sorry no pictures. We sat down and ate breakfast together and then went into the living room to open presents. The way we open presents is we started with Caden, who got to pick a present out, which happened to be for Kailyn. Kailyn opens her present and then goes and picks a present for someone else, and so on until all the presents under the tree are open. Then one by one the kids find a piece of paper on the tree with their name on it. They then go on a treasure hunt to find their 'main' present. The kids all had a lot of fun hunting for their present. Caden was funny when he got to the final clue. He was suppose to find the Hi-Ho Cheerio game (as his clue), which had a big present sitting next to it. Caden got all excited and we thought he had found his present and then he said he had found Hi-Ho Cheerio. He had totally over looked the present.

It was a wonderful day. We spent most the day just relaxing and being together (which never happens). That night for our special Christmas dinner we had Salmon, baguettes, salad, mashed potatoes, and salad. It was all so good and didn't take much work to prepare.

It was a wonderful Christmas and it was so nice actually being able to celebrate on Christmas Day with Ken.

Kailyn showing Jordan the gift she got her and Jordan hugging Kailyn to say 'Thank you.'

Caden giving Jordan a kiss to say thank you for the present she got him.

Caden opening a present.
Jordan excited about her new purse from Grandma and Grandpa Bassett.
Dad opening his present from the kids.
I don't know. Do you think Jordan was excited about the baby stroller Grandma and Grandpa Jones sent? In fact, she has so much fun with it and has been so excited about it that Kailyn decided the other day that she wanted one too.
Caden was so excited about his new train from Grandma and Grandpa Jones that he couldn't even stand up. Here he is trying to stand up just before he fell on our trash bag full of wrapping paper.
The mess after everything was open.

Kailyn trying out her new roller skates that she and Jordan got from Santa on their treasure hunt.

Kailyn trying out a finger trap from Grandma and Grandpa Bassett. After getting her finger stuck a few times she decided she wasn't a fan (Ken and I thought they were quite funny).

Dinner time. The kids pointing to their favorite dish.

Ok so I don't know how to take good pictures of food. Although not the best picture, the food really was excellent.

Christmas Eve

The best present I got this year...Ken actually got Christmas Day off! We were so excited. Not only that, but Christmas Eve he was supposed to be getting off of a 30-hour shift, but due to some scheduling changes he worked it the day before and only had to go in for half the day on Christmas Eve. I was so glad to have him around (and so were the kids)!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve fun.

We started the day out at a doctor's appointment for me. Baby's heartbeat was great and he is moving around just fine, but he seems to get the hiccups a lot (which makes me nervous 'cuz Jordan got hiccups a lot, and she was a colicy baby).

Here is a picture of the kids coloring while we waited for the doctor.
That night we went to the Children's Winter Wonderland as a family. There were lots of light displays to see. The kids loved the talking tree. The tree actually interacted with the kids--asking them questions, answering their questions, and even singing a song or two with them. They also got to ride the train, which made Caden ecstatic, and they got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Talking tree.

Kailyn, Jordan and Caden sitting on Santa and Mrs. Claus's lap.

Getting ready to ride the train. (The kids actually got an extra long ride since there was no line of kids waiting to ride.)

Getting ready to go.
Here comes the train.

Scenery on the train ride.

One of the displays.

Picture with Frosty. (Kailyn said "It's not Frosty. It's really a person. I see his face.")

After the Winter Wonderland, we came home, ate dinner, and then made cookies for Santa. We also made sure to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn for Santa's reindeer. We sang some Christmas carols (which required dressing up and dancing by the kids) and then we watched a movie about the birth of Jesus. Then it was off to bed so Santa could come.

Cute Jordan and her love of sprinkles.

Caden enjoying a cookie.

Cookies, milk, and a note for Santa.

I didn't even know Kailyn had written notes for Santa until she pulled them out.

Spreading food on the lawn for the reindeer.
Message Kailyn wrote on her present to Ken, all by herself ('Dear Dad it is a gift from the kids Kailyn, Jordan, Caden')
The tree after Santa's visit.

Art Museum

A few weeks ago I took Jordan and Caden to the family center at the Toledo Art Museum. They came home with some neat crafts and stories about all the fun they had painting and playing in the imagination area. Kailyn was quite distraught when she heard of all the fun she had missed. I promised her that we would go again during her Christmas vacation. We went this last Tuesday, and the kids all had fun painting and making mobiles and pine cone trees. Even though we were there for a few hours and even ate lunch there, it wasn't long enough, and they all wanted to go again next week. I love this free activity, and the kids obviously love it too.

The Weekend

Thursday night we had a big ice storm. These things really are a new experience if you have never seen them. It is raining but so cold that anything the rain lands on it just freezes to. Although, it looks really quite amazing on the trees it also makes for very treacherous roads and cars that are quite hard to get into. I personally spent half an hour trying to get all the ice and snow off my window the next day (OK so it didn't help I couldn't find my scraper and was using a credit card to help break up the ice). School was canceled for the day and warnings to only go out if necessary. Here are some pictures taken of some iced over trees.

Sunday proved to be unfavorable weather too. Winds at 40mph and temps hoovering around 0 degrees (the combination making it feel like it was -23 degrees). Burr, it was cold!

We spent the day down in Findly with family. Ken's cousin Elise got married in Columbus on Saturday (we couldn't go cause of Ken's work, etc) so Ken's grandma and grandpa and Aunt Susan and Aunt Bev were in town. We met up with everyone at church, where we were greeted by extremely chilly weather and a building without electricity. With no electricity they decided to only have sacrament meeting. Jordan was quite sad that she didn't get to nursery cause last time she was there she got to have "animal crackers with frosting, and they were really good." Although, Jordan was disappointed it turned out nice for us cause it meant more time we got to spend with Ken's family. As you can tell the kids love their great grandma and great grandpa.

Aunt Susan recently had surgery and was using crutches to get around. The kids had fun playing with them.
Here is Kailyn.

Jordan trying to use the crutches.

Playing 'Ants in the Pants.' Caden was sitting on my lap. He was ecstatic when he actually got one in (with a little help from dad).
Pictured left to right: Aunt Sandy, Great Grandpa, Kailyn, Me (the back of my head), Aunt Bev, Aunt Susan

Great Grandpa taking a nap.

Jordan pretending to take a nap with Aunt Sandy (if you look closely you can see a smirk on Jordan's face as she tries not to smile)

A few minutes later, Jordan decided she was tired of pretending to sleep.

Kailyn talking with Great Grandpa.

Jordan having fun with Great Grandpa.

Jordan reading a book with Great Grandma.

Caden getting a horsey ride from Great Grandma.

All of the kids getting a ride from Great Grandma. I get tired just trying to give one kid a ride...this woman is amazing.

Looks like the horsey ride got a little crazy. (this picture looks crazy but no one got hurt, they were all laughing the whole time)

Few things

Kailyn had a choir concert on Thursday. They had the concert at the Erie Street Market. Kailyn of course was very cute. I now know why Kailyn talks about her choir teacher so much. He is a very energetic, bubbly person.

Jordan, Caden, and Kailyn after the concert.

Kailyn 1st girl far left.

Always ready with a smile.

The kids just love babies. They all seem quite fascinated by them. Here they are entertaining Avery Marks. They were having fun making her smile. Luckily, she is a very smiley baby (as can be seen in the second picture) so their job wasn't too hard.

Caden on the phone..."OK, talk to you later, bye bye." (He was very cute but refused to look at me so I could take his picture.)