Christmas Tradition!

Yet another year has flown by so quickly that I my head is spinning! I cannot believe that it is Christmas already and my "baby" is going to be six soon!

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to ride the Santa train each year with my parents, Jimmy's parents and our best friends The Hostetters! This started when JD was just about 2 months old. (Jackson was one and Isaac was almost 2 months old) and has continued. Although I don't have any pics (on my computer) of the kids when they were that little~I have captured some from this year........we have added a girl and two more boys since that first trip!

I am sure that Santa was telling them that they better not pout, better not cry.......


Parker ate all of Santa's cookies.........

(L to R) Riley, JD, Jackson, Isaac, Tyler and Parker.....

(L to R) Parker, Tyler, Riley, Jackson, Isaac, JD......

After the train ride it is usually lunch and a fun craft. This year we had lunch at our house followed by ornament making (or gift tags~I think Nicole had more fun than the kids....) and snowman finger puppets! After crafts Nicole and I actually got a little shopping done.......

I think this is a tradition that we make them continue until they are 18..............

Beyond our annual train ride, Riley and I were able to visit our first ballet and saw "The Nutcracker" this year. She was entranced by all the "sparkly" costumes and crowns. What fun we had!

We are now just anxiosuly awaiting the arrival of Santa and UNCLE RYAN! I am not sure which one the kids want home more.......they both bring gifts, but their Uncle actually sticks around and plays with and isn't gone in the wink of an eye!

Have a joyous holiday season!

God Bless!

Chrissy

Broken Glass!

So, the conversation starts out, "Mommy, I'm really sorry I broke the window".......Turns out we had just gotten home from a good baseball game and JD was "practicing" but "missed the wall" (no kidding...). Luckily, this is our first broken window (I'm hoping it is the last but not holding my breath), and the kind owners of our home before had some glass cut that was a perfect fit for this window! Jimmy is quite the handy man and was able to repair this in no time!

Okay so it has been awhile since I have posted, sorry!
In April we were blessed w/ some 85 degree weather so we decided to take the kids to the beach....extremely last minute decision! But what a blast we had a Bethany Beach, DE. It is our 2nd favorite (Corolla, NC is our 1st) beach! As you can see the kiddos actually enjoyed the sub-degree water.....I could hardly stand to get my feet wet it was that cold....oh to be a kid. I remember being a water bug from Memorial Day - Labor Day at the Nickel Mines Pool, from lunch until sundown....everyday.
JD

Riley....

Here's wishing everyone a sunny day!

This Snow's for You (Uncle Ryan)!

So the weathermen were finally right! We had our first big snow of the year~I am happy, now it can get on with being springtime!
I was outside for a short time w/ the kids and realized it was a really cold~I tried to lure them in with promises of hot chocolate and marshmallows~they wanted nothing of the sort! Thank heavens Jimmy arrived home!

This is a picture of the kids throwing a long-distance snowball to Uncle Ryan!!

Enjoy the snow!

Dad's Birthday

Riley and Dad went to lunch the other day and she asked my if "Paw-Paw knew it was his birthday?" I assured her that he did~but she asked anyway and then proceeded to ask how he was going to be. When Dad told her, he said that her eyes got as big as saucers as she was in disbelief that she actually knew someone that old. Tuesday evening we had Mom & Dad for dinner and the kids were giddy with excitement~they made cards for Paw-Paw and couldn't wait to eat the cake!

Call Us Crazy!

So we decided to go to the mountains with the Swarrs and Hostetters this past weekend!
We started our trip out Friday afternoon with the ladies, kids and Jimmy! (Poor Jimmy~I'm thinking he still doesn't know what he got himself into!). We had a pretty uneventful trip up and managed to get to the cabin and unload everything. We were glad for Jimmy because he could do all the "man" things required (like checking the woodstove, making sure electric was working, etc.). Kev & Shawn joined us later in the evening.
Saturday however proved to be a little more eventful. With NINE kids (ages 7, 6 (3 of them), 5, 4, 3 and two babies) itching to get outside~we suited them up and sent them out with the daddies! Shawn and Jimmy proceeded with cutting down a tree that was on the house while Kevin and Katrina tried to keep the kids rounded up~Riley comes running to inform us that they haven't seen Isaac and JD for a long while and that she spotted bear tracks. Well, Katrina was a little nervous but Jimmy found the boys (they went on an "expedition" without grownups) and all was well....for a short time! I began smelling some smoke and thought well, maybe it was because they had stoked the fire....not so, the filter of the woodstove caught fire....the men came running and all was well. Saturday evening we ate (which is what we did alot of), the kids watched a movie and the adults stayed up late chatting!
Sunday morning we arose to find that it had snowed overnight and was still snowing! Katrina voiced that we should get the Hostetters van out to the end of the lane but somehow her voice was lost in the din of 9 kids.....imagine! Anyway, we probably should have listened a little harder because Kev and Nicole were not able to get out the lane and had to detour thru the neighboring Amish farm. Needless to say~all went well and we arrived home safely after a very FUN weekend!

Oh, here was our brood on Sunday morning!

The Ultimate Cookie Sneak

So one of the many things that my brother taught the kids when he was home for the holidays was to "sneak" cookies...well, Ryan called from London on Friday evening and informed me that I needed to let some cookies on the counter so the kids could sneak them...I of course went along with the plan (I must have been in that "fun mom" mode because it was almost bedtime and snack time was LONG over....).



Cookie Bandit #1

with his sidekick...


THANK YOU UNCLE RYAN!!

Everyone should have a cookie!

MOUNTAIN GETAWAY!

We spent this past weekend in Mifflintown, Juaniata County with some friends of ours from church~the kids had a blast and I think would have preferred to stay and live in the mountains!


JD is a natural outdoorsman...

I know the picture is sideways but I can't figure out how to turn it around...that is Jimmy hauling Riley and I on the sled...

No, the boys did not throw the snow chunks at their sisters. JD has the gray hat and our Riley is in pink! Leyton is in the red coat and their Riley is in purple!

Me and the kiddos getting ready for a spin! I am a very cautious driver~this is why the kids preferred going with their dad~Riley LOVED going fast and over the bumps!

Well, we are home now and missing the serentity of the mountains! Hope everyone is well!

SNOW DAY!

Okay so this was just a dusting of snow and it was terribly icy, which made for dangerous sledding conditions, but we braved the cold and went out!
Here is Riley making snow angels!



And yes, I was out without a hat and snowpants~needless to say I only had one run down the hill before I realized snow is VERY cold when your pant legs are not tucked into your boots!

Enjoy the winter weather!

Princess Party (Part 1)!

For Riley's 5th b.day we decided to tackle a Princess PArty! We combined the party with the Stoltzfus family because their Riley turns 5 on the same day as our Riley....pretty amazing!
Here are the Riley's at the start of their big day...Riley Robinson is in blue.


Diane was our Nail Salon and the girls all got glittery sparkly nail polish!

Here the craft was making their own princess cups and mirrors...

Continued in the next post...

The Princess Party (Part 2)!

Here are some more photos of the PRINCESS day!

Nicole was our "hairdresser" for the day! Curling and putting glitter streaks in the hair of all our princess...(this was Carley)


Here is Riley blowing out her candle on the pink princess cupcakes!


A table fit for Royalty...we had Prince Charming Chicken, Belle's Bugles, Princess Wands (choc. covered pretzel sticks), Cinderella's Cheese (cut into heart and star shapes), Jasmine's Jelly Sandwiches...


Here is the Princess Court~we were playing pass the Princess Shoe (hot potato)...

Kiss the Frog Prince...

We had a great day and Riley LOVED her party!

Thanks to all who helped!