Santa 2009

To start off this years visits to Santa we took the kids to a little Christmas party. Santa arrived and each of the kids got a gift and then the chance to sit on his lap. Taylor is right at home on Santa. She has never been scared in the least or cried at all. Tyson on the other hand is the complete opposite. He cried last year and this year was no different. I LOVE the way the picture turned out though and it will be a classic for years to come.

Tonight we took the kids to the park where they have a Santa land. They have blow up decorations, cookies, hot chocolate and little treat bags for when the kids are done sitting with Santa. Most of all they had a couple live reindeer on hand for everyone to see.

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Tyson stood around and watched as sissy rambled on to Santa the things she would like for Christmas this year. We could not coax him up there close enough to sit on his lap so this was the best we got. He looks like he's a little kid who was bad and didn't get to sit on Santa. He did manage to give him a five and knuckles a couple times without too many tears. It was a big improvement over the first picture posted.

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Enjoying some cookies

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He is a Cookie Monster!

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Watching the Reindeer

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Standing by the Reindeer

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Reindeer

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This is a little reminder of how much these two have grown over the last year. This was a picture taken when we went to visit Santa last year.

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This one was taken this year. Its quite a big difference in size. They have grown so much. I think I will continue to take a picture in front of this same thing each year as long as they have it. It makes for a good reference.

Visiting Dad

While there for my grandma's service we got to see my dads stone. This is the first time we had been back to the cemetary or seen his stone in person since his funeral February 2003. Me, my sister, brother, step brother, stepmom and nieces walked down and took a flower arrangement from grandma's service to place for him. At least we know he's with his mom and dad again and that our group of guardian angels is now greater by 1.

He Only Takes The Best

He Only Takes The Best

God saw you getting tired

And a cure was not to be.

So He put His arms around you

And whispered, "Come with Me."

With tear-filled eyes we watched

you, suffer and fade away.

Although we loved you deeply

We could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating.

Hard working hands put to rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us

He Only Takes the Best.

In Loving Memory

June 5, 1927-December 3, 2009

We will miss you Grandma. You will never be forgotten.

I LOVE YOU!

Fun and Leaves

An AMAZING Day

It didn't feel much like Novemeber at all today. We were out playing for the greater part of the sunshine and then came in for baths because well a day in the leaves makes for dirty kids. Matt used the blower and made Taylor a huge pile of leaves and she was extremely excited to jump in them repeatedly. Tyson liked jumping in the little piles, but the big pile was not his thing. He just couldn't stand up when in the big pile so it made him quite upset. Other than that it was just a good day running around the yard getting pictures of smiling kids. I tried to narrow it down and compared to the number of pics I snapped this is quite narrowed down, but still a very large selection of some of my favorites.

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Mom I'm so happy to play outside

Tyson was happy too
Laying in the Leaves
Watching sissy Lay in the leaves Tyson has mad soccer skills She wanted to pose and who am I to deny her Love those blue eyes and big smiles
Watching the ground
They were fascinated with the tree for a moment
Who would have thought he could run shirtless in November and still be sweating
He doesn't stand still for long
Almost burried
Eye See You Taylor
He couldn't stand up and it was making him MAD
Up to her neck in leaves
A boy and his rocks

Many Fun Times to Come!

Taylor's Bike Trials

On this fine day we took the opportunity to take Taylor's bike outside and let her practice. She did pretty good considering its been quite awhile since she's rode it. It's definitely a work in progress.

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Before the ride

All aboard

Watching her feet

Push it girlie

Away she goes!

Before long she will have to graduate to a bigger bike, but this one will definitely do for now.

A Boys Work Is Never Done

Tyson and the Mower

It wasn't running at all during these pics, but he was very interested in it so I got a series of pics that looked like he was really going to get to work.

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The walk thru to make sure it all looks good
Checking for Gas

Start it up right here Momma Push Away

Plus he looks cute walking around in jeans and no shirt!

Puppy Playtime

HUGGLY

He joined in the outdoor fun today with the kids

Random Stuff Around the Yard

As we were outside playing today I decided to take pictures of random things around the yard. They may not be very interesting, but they didn't turn out too bad.

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We have these locks on the gates of our fence to prevent child escape. They aren't actually locked and this one isn't even in place, but they do the job.

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Wheelbarrow upside down----------

Mr. Spider right before he became squished Mr. Spider
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This is the handle of the sandbox lid at two different angles

The adventures of Garfield and Odie (Halloween Night)

This year we opted not to go to the parade that was a complete disaster for the kids last year and hit some new to us trick or treat locations and let me just say THEY WERE AWESOME! The kids had a great time and did excellent both trick or treating and behavior. We will most definitely hit those locations again next year. Thanks to Brandi and Robert for bringing Shelbie, Shianne, Jillian and Abbi along with us. We had so much fun! I'll let the pre trick or treat pics do the rest of the talking.

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Tyson (pre-odie) posing for the camera. I never get tired of his sweet little grin.

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In Costume Taylor as Garfield and Tyson as Odie.

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Odie hanging out in the front yard before time to go. I have to say he didn't mind having the costume on at all and did fantastic both nights going out in it. I had to improvise and use his Cardinals hat so that we could keep odie's head from falling in his face, but it was totally worthwhile.

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Tyson and his sweet little Odie smiles ----------

Garfield takes over. All Taylor had to do was look down just a little and it looked like she was completely inside his head (which was not really possible it was just a hood). I laughed when I saw the results of this pic. ----------

Ta-Da Taylor really is in there! ----------

Again who could resist. Her costume comes full circle for me. I have always LOVED Garfield and when I saw the costumes I knew they would be perfect for us. Taylor loves him too and one day I will pass on my collection to her. ----------

My adorable 8 week old baby niece Abbi----------
All the Kids together. Brandi dressed all the girls up like the wizard of oz characters, but sadly Abbi's witch costume was too big. We had tons of compliments on the grouping of our costumes with Garfield and Odie and the Wizard of Oz.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Jillian (Cowardly Lion), Shianne (Dorothy), Abbi (bear), Shelbie (Scarecrow), Tyson (Odie) and Taylor (Garfield)----------

Could someone call the Fire Department we have a cat stuck in the tree! ----------

Last but not least...THE LOOT!!! This was two days of trick or treating and we have it divided into bowls for the following categories: Fruity Candy, Chocolates and then a bowl with things like pretzels, goldfish, cookies, teddy grahams and popcorn; which you get a lot of when you are pushing a little one around in a stroller. They will share this with many many people I am certain followed by a good teeth cleaning! ----------

2009 was a great halloween and we look forward to what next year will bring!