Go State!

Well, Iowa State's bowl game tonight didn't turn out as we had hoped.  But a true Cyclone fan supports their team no matter what.  This afternoon we went to Andy's Grandparents house for a little "Cyclone Party."  We snacked on yummy food, ate pizza, and cheered for our team.  Although the outcome wasn't the best we still had a fun time getting together again.  The kids love it there and were full of giggles and smiles all night.

Great Grandma and Ava...Ava colored a My Little Pony picture for Grandma and was reading to her what she wrote.  We're so happy to have her back home again, healthy and happy.

Isaiah...yes in pajamas again.  The kids have this thing where they want to bring pajamas with them whenever we go to a relatives house.  They play for a while in clothes and then within an hour are in their pajamas.  Isaiah was showing Grandpa Richardson "Alfie" his talking robot that works on various learning activities.

Great Grandpa Richardson showing Ava a trick with a rubber band

Cousin Kirstin was helping Ava with a 100 piece Fancy Nancy puzzle.  Ava loved working on it with her and on the way home said, "Can I bring that puzzle next time so Kirstin can help me again?" 

Isaiah worked on a Tonka Truck puzzle and a Cars puzzle.  They both have been really into puzzles lately.

Uncle Darrell relaxed and enjoying the game.

Andy and Isaiah eating pizza and cheering on the Cyclones!

Grandma and Ava cuddling in a chair.  They brought the kids these really cute Cyclone shirts.  They say, "Cy is my BFF."  They also got a new Barbie and Captain America figure with a motorcycle...just for fun. 

Isaiah won $5.00 at the end of the 4th quarter.  We draw numbers and add up the score at the end of each quarter.  The last digit represents the winner.  Isaiah was very happy and said, "I'm going to by a Buzz Light Year rocket."  I asked him where he might find that.  He said, "I think at Target."

Andy won too...but gave his money to Ava. 

Uncle Tim came up from Bettendorf to join us

The kids were playing "Tickle Bug" with Uncle Tim and were trying to capture him.

Tim became trapped in the closet behind Ava...the kids were guarding the area to make sure he didnt' come out.  They love this game!

Tim told Ava and Isaiah about how his own kids, Leita and Brad, would ride "the spaceship" with him when they were little.  Of course they said, "I want to do that."

Away they flew!

Isaiah doing the wheelbarrow...this guy is strong!

This little lady is too!  They both love anything involving physical activity.  Ava often makes the comment, "This is good exercise."

I haven't blogged for a while because we've been so busy.  We've been doing lots of shopping and basically just playing around the house.  Have I gotten anything accomplished this week?  Nope...not really.  I guess I did throw away three trash bags full of "junk" that we don't need anymore and boxed up some things for our garage sale next summer.  The kid's rooms are now completely organized..everything and I mean everything has a place.  It's so nice to walk into a clean room with nothing under the bed and an organized closet...wish I could say the same about the other rooms in our house.  In time...right?

My Three Happy's:
1) Playing, playing, playing...I can't tell you how much playing we've done.  Going to the park because the weather is 50 degrees, riding bikes, doing winter crafts, Legos, puzzles, coloring, it could go on and on.  We've also cuddled up the past few nights and have watched a few movies.  We've watched The Smurfs, Mulan, The Lion King, and we just got Rio in the mail from Netflix.  We're so busy during the day it's nice to unwind at night with a warm blanket and popcorn.  The kids LOVE movie night.

2) The weather has been insane.  On a sad note there was no snow at Christmas, but you really can't complain about 50 degree weather.  I haven't even been wearing a coat.  I hope we have a mild winter....how great would that be!
3) Jody, Andy's sister is in Florida right now!  She's been at Disney World for the past 5 days...so jealous.  We've sent about 120 texts back and forth to each other since she's been there.  I love feeling like I'm right there with them.  They're having a blast and it just excites me even more for our upcoming trip in May!

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can...You Can't Catch Me I'm the Gingerbread Man

These picture are OLD, OLD, OLD...like three weeks old...but are still fun and something that I wanted to post but kind of forgot about.  We always make gingerbread houses at home each year.  In the past we've made the big fancy kind that comes in a kit, we've made the typical graham cracker kind, and in the future we hope to bake our own gingerbread pieces to create a house from scratch.  This year we opted for the graham cracker version.  They turned out cute and the kids always look forward to this!

We found this cute gingerbread family complete with a dad, mom, boy, and girl...perfect for our family.  The kids ate lots of these little cookies but also used them to decorate their houses.

A pretty clean table...organized and ready to go...in the end frosting and crumbs covered the table along with little candy pieces scattered everywhere.  It's so worth the smile on Ava and Isaiah's face as they are creating their own houses.

We used a variety of hard candy, peppermints, candy canes, etc.

Isaiah frosting a "wall" of his house

No milk cartons here...we build from scratch!

Isaiah wanted to build a peppermint sidewalk.

Ava and Daddy working together

Ava working hard with Daddy to put the walls up

After lots of frosting...it's finally in place.

A quick picture of Isaiah's house as he continued to add more candy.

Not finished yet...

Someone likes detail...Daddy told  her to use this kabob stick to make the frosting look like dangling icicles...she was all about that!

It's so funny how different the kid's styles are.  Ava's candy was more symmetrical and color coordinated...while Isaiah's was just random pieces of candy put where ever he was thinking at the time.  I love how their little creative minds think.

This was Isaiah's house.  Our friends Lindsey and Donald gave us some Christmas goodies along with their card and Isaiah insisted on using the chocolate covered pretzels as a fence.  We ran out and had to use some of our own.  You can also see a sugar cookie tree on the right that he thought was needed on the side of the house (another Lindsey and Donald treat). 

Another view of Isaiah's house.  After constructing the walls and roof of the house that kid did all the decorating by himself.  He was so proud!

Ava's house...she wasn't interested in the fence idea but instead created a colorful sidewalk of Fruit Loops.

Each year it's so fun to see how much better the kids become at making their houses.  This is such a fun little project we can do together.  Unfortunately these houses didn't last for long.  We put them on the stove to "dry" so they would stay together.  Typically we put them on top of the refrigerator as a decoration.  When we got home the next day, we were greeted by one empty plate and a partially eaten house.  Jackson was apparently craving sweets that day and managed to get himself high enough to reach these houses on the stove.  Ava's house was completely gone...candy and all...and Isaiah's roof was eaten off.  Jackson never got sick...he must have a strong stomach.  The kids were okay with it.  I guess we've learned from this experience to put the houses up high the moment they are done. 

 My Three Happy's:

1) Making a trip to Target and Hobby Lobby today to catch a few good deals.  The kids spent some of their Christmas money at Target and picked out a few new toys.  I found some Christmas ribbon for three trees in our house for next year, lots of wrapping paper, Mickey Mouse Christmas glasses, and a few random decorations for our "formal" tree to use next year.  At Hobby Lobby I bought a bunch of new peppermint and gingerbread decorations to add to our gingerbread/candy themed tree. 

2) Having an AMAZING day with the kids.  No one was grumpy,  irritable, or argumentative.  They got along so well, listened, and were smiling all day! 

3) Eating dinner at Hickory Park..enough said!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

How could Christmas have come and gone so fast!  The past few days have been so busy...but so fun!  I think Christmas gets more exciting each year with the kids and they get cuter and cuter in their Christmas outfits.  On Christmas Eve we went to church with my family and then went to Andy's parents house for dinner and to open gifts.  Christmas Day was spent at our house in the morning so Ava and Isaiah could enjoy all the presents from Santa and Mommy and Daddy.  We spent the afternoon and part of the evening at my parents house celebrating with my family, my sister's family, and my Uncle Dave.  Here are a few pictures...but all of them are included in yet another slide show that you can find on the post below. 

This guy has such a silly smile!  How adorable does he look in his vest and tie!  Isaiah was leaving carrots out for the reindeer.  We left 10 carrots for the reindeer...you probably know that there are only nine reindeer.  If you've ever watched the Disney animated Christmas movie "Prep and Landing" you'd know that Thrasher is another massive/tough reindeer that lives at the North Pole.  The kids didn't want to forget him.  We were hoping that Santa would take that extra carrot back to feed Thrasher!

The kids decorated two sugar cookies just for Santa.  We put them on our Polar Express plate.  Ava and Isaiah decided that Santa needed chocolate milk this year and that we also needed a bowl of water for the reindeer.

Our family after church service on Christmas Eve

These two melt my heart!  We went to Andy's parents house to celebrate after church.  This was a quick picture in front of their tree.

I'm getting much better at remembering to take pictures of Andy and myself.  Now I just need to remember to take more pictures of the four of us!

Ava and Grandpa

Once dinner was over the dress clothes came off and the pajamas went on.  These two live for pajamas.  I think they collected 5 new pairs each this Christmas!

Aunt Jody and good old Harley

Grandma and Isaiah hiding behind his new ISU pillow pet.  The kids each got one...and when I say kids...I mean, Ava, Isaiah, and Andy each got their own.  They are soooo comfortable!

Christmas morning the kids woke up to find the milk, cookies, carrots, and water gone.  The stockings were stuffed and Santa left a special note along with the presents.

Santa brought Ava American Girl Doll Bitty Baby Twins.  She's always wanted these two.  It's also her first boy doll.  She was so excited!

Jackson opens gifts like a person...just put it in front of him and away he goes.

After opening Santa's gifts we headed downstairs by our family tree to open all the presents from Andy and myself.  Isaiah was helping to pass out the presents.  He was really into it all this year!

Next we headed over to my parents house for brunch and an early dinner.

Ava got a new doll to add to her collection...a girl can never have enough dolls...right?

Yeah...a family picture.  Isaiah was waking up from taking a nap in the car and looked a little grumpy.  The sight of presents soon cheered him up!

Julie, Kevin, and Isabelle got Isaiah Pumba as part of his present.  He already has three Simbas on his bed and Pumba was the next character he needed.

My Dad was showing us some swords that belonged to his Dad and while he was looking around he found this picture.  This is my Dad as Jefferson J-Hawk football player.  There are so many neat stories that I've heard from both sides of our families...start journaling everyone so I can remember them all!

Miss Isabelle opening up presents with her Mommy and Daddy

Grandma and Isaiah taking a "sled ride" down the stairs

The three cousins playing PBS Kids on the laptop

Ava enjoying a peppermint with Grandpa

What a great Christmas!  Thanks to everyone for the company, food, and thoughful gifts. 

Merry Christmas!

My Three Happy's:

1) ...the obvious one...Christmas Day!  I asked the kids last night, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" Isaiah was busy eating Chex Mix in the car and didn't respond...Ava said, "Because it's Jesus's birthday." 

2) Seeing both sides of our family...another reason to mention why we're so lucky that we live close to both of our parents.

3) The kids both fell asleep in the car on the way home and were in bed by 7:15.  That could be due to the fact that Ava was up at 1:00am and told me she was ready to get up.  I finally persuaded her to go back to sleep when I told her that we didn't know for sure if Santa had been here or not...it was still the middle of the night.  She then woke up for good at 5:30...Isaiah was up at 6:15.  It seems like we drag these kids out of bed during the school week, but once the weekend or a break rolls in...the get up at the crack of dawn.  Some days I really do love getting up early with them and starting the day...other times I think about how at some point I'm going to have to drag them out of bed at noon.  That may not be so bad for a while!