I think this is great!

The kids had a blast with the doors to enter the hospital. They laughed and laughed. I just had to take some pictures of it. It reminds me of the escalator experience last year. Kids are so good at pointing out the simple things in life.

I didn't even really realize that today was New Year's Eve. I was just having a great time being with family. I fell asleep even before midnight. I must be getting old...

What a cutie!

Jarom Nichols

I was totally digging this new baby. As you can see, Aislinn was too.

We all crammed ourselves into the hospital room, so we HAD to take a picture of it. :)

We went to church this morning in Columbus and then headed off to the hospital to meet Jarom. We arrived in Columbus last night around 10, but I was too tired to to go to the hospital.

What a blessing of a healthy mom and baby!

Off to Ft. Benning

We loaded up the van this afternoon and headed to see the newest addition! We are excited to meet Jarom Dane Nichols who entered this world around 5:25 a.m. today at 9 lbs. 1 oz.
Congratulations Holly and Dane.

Work, then party

I worked in the office this afternoon thanks to Melissa for babysitting for me. After the workday, Chris and I headed over to the Garrett's for a little get together. We had a good time. What made it even better was that right before 10, Holly called to say that her water had broken and that she was on her way to the hospital. Exciting...

Michelle and CJ

Michelle and CJ playing with us outside.

We were trying to convince CJ to have his picture taken. He did not want ANYTHING to do with it.

Mich and CJ came over for a visit today. We had fun playing and getting to visit. I can't wait to see her again!

How many people do you have as one of your best friends since you were nine years old? Not many, for me anyway, and I do treasure my relationship with her.

Bye Mam :(

Kenney's mom died today surrounded by her children. She had a great Christmas day with her 4 children and her grandchildren and then passed away today after a nap. Mam, as she was called by her grandchildren, was a great lady with a beautiful spirit. I can't wait to see her again.

Christmas galore

Yoo-Ma and Papa and the kids. Our kids think that they hung the moon!

Here is Chris opening his presents. He got some more work clothes. If he only know how many trips I made to the closet to make sure I was getting the right shirts. I pondered and pondered over the pants that I was getting and the hardest decision was the socks! Hard to believe, but true. Chris is PICKY about his socks.
Love you honey!

More Christmas

My Christmas present from Chris. I got a 46 inch LCD HDTV. Are you jealous?

This is our old television that is now in our room with a new stand that Chris also got for me. Nice, huh?

It looks as though I might survive.

This has been a fun day. The kids are happy, we have enough food for several days, and we have been able to enjoy each other. Merry Christmas, family and friends!

Merry Christmas!

The picture after Santa came.

Beginning to open presents. We got to sleep in until 7:30! Can you believe it? That makes a HAPPY mama!

Tickled!

Hard at work making the Christmas day feast. Or something like that...

A hard day at play, makes a sleepy Aislinn.

The kids have had a blast. I am going to have to do another post so I can show you my Christmas present. Also, make sure to look to Wednesday, December 20 to see Greyson in his Christmas play.

Mom and Dad are here!

Mom and Dad in front of our tree.

The girls.

Kerstyn and Yoo-Ma

Mom and her one daughter.

The boys completing one of my Christmas presents.

We had such a great visit with my parents tonight. Come back Mom and Dad, as fast as you can!

Christmas Eve

My parents are on their way. I am looking forward to some time with them.

Chris is on his way home from shopping. I have NO idea what he has done. I hope he has been "good".

This morning I took all of the kids to Target with me and we saw quite a few people that we knew. The Garret's, Julie Haught, Kristi Hopkins, Linda Fleming, Addie Donovan and her kids and probably more that I'm not recalling right now. It was not too bad of a visit since I didn't have too much to buy there and it was nice to see familiar smiling faces.

We stopped by Debbie's to give her a little gift because:
First and most importantly, she is my friend, and
Second, I am her visiting teacher.
Debbie, I hope that you don't have to throw it away. It is very hard to buy for you because you don't like junk food. Good for you, bad for me...
Then we were off to Tricia Desourdy's for the same reason. She wasn't there, so I hope that she finds her gift on her door step.

Hiding out

Last night I just needed a little time "off". So, I went into my room and locked the door. I got all of my supplies out and sat on the closet floor. Are you wondering what I was doing on the floor in my closet? Well, one of the things that I was doing was wrapping Christmas presents. I did it for about an hour and a half and came out with a better attitude. It's amazing what a little alone time and some service can do for you!

Comany is coming

Ryck and Alyssa are on their way to stay the day and spend the night tonight. We just can't wait!

I went to Target this morning to finish with the stocking stuffers and some other items I just couldn't live without!

Now, I need to get back in that kitchen and resume cooking and baking.

Mom and Dad are coming Christmas Eve. Hopefully Ryan will be with them too.

Work Christmas Party

I worked this morning at the office and then we closed it at noon to have the annual Office Christmas party. Chris, Nancy and I finally left around 1:15 and stopped by the post office before we headed to Mary's. The food was great and the company even better!

It was nice to get together as an office socially and enjoy each other's company.

The office will not open again until Wednesday, December 26. I am looking forward to having Chris home with us. It is truly a blessing.

Greyson in his Christmas play

Aislinn has to pose with her 'star' brother after the performance.

What a cutie!

Greyson was in his annual Christmas play at St. Edward's Pre-School. He was a shepherd this year and had a line he and a few other boys had to say. It was a great play and he looked adorable!

Watch out!

I have been baking and have plans to do more baking and cooking. Something MUST be wrong.

Today Kerstyn and I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. It is a Pampered Chef recipe and it is really tasty. I also made some brownies, just ones out of the box, but I made them!

Tomorrow, after my dreaded dentist appointment, I hope to make some more goodies. Maybe a couple of Chess Pies and some Spinach Artichoke Dip. I know that they don't sound good together, but you don't eat them together, so never fear!

As long as I can read a recipe, and follow it, they turn out great.

The chess pie tradition comes from my maternal grandmother. I am not sure how far before that, but I am at least sure of her. There was never a Thanksgiving or Christmas without them. I think that it is a 'southern thing'. The pie is mainly sugar with a few eggs, evaporated milk, a tad of cornmeal, and maybe something else but tastes great with Cool Whip. Did I peak your interest?

Watch out Martha Stewart!

I just like this time of year (usually).

Here is the decorated tree. The kids did a great job helping me get the ornaments on.

It's quiet time. So, Greyson is in his room 'doing his thing'.

The front doors.

I just love being able to enjoy the Christmas season. I have to admit though, that I am just probably today, starting to really enjoy it. I have been worried/stressed about gifts, etc. But, I am done, I think, and now I can just really enjoy this wonderful season.
Things I like about Christmas time: (in no particular order)
I feel friendlier and try to serve others more.
I get to see Christmas lights and feel the excitement with the kids.
We get to focus on Christ's birth and share that message a little easier with others.
It's okay to gain a few pounds, even slightly expected!
The kids are home and we hopefully don't have to rush around as much.
We visit and focus on family.
Need I say more?

Cold front

This is the kiddie pool area where you can see that the ground has caved in and the dirt washing away.

This is/was the deep end of the pool. We just this morning could see the drains again since it was holding about a foot of water.

See the nice water ways on the way down to the deep end? They aren't supposed to be there!

Hot tub caving in.

WHAT A MESS!

I was very glad to hear the rain all night. However, when we woke up this morning, this is what we found!
On a nice note, I am glad to have the colder weather! It just doesn't seem right to be sweating profusely while hanging up Christmas lights. There won't be any sweating around here at least for the next few days.

Christmas Party and preparation

Our Christmas tree without any of the ornaments. You should see it now, with all of the great stuff Chris, Lauklan and Greyson got for it!

Chris and I went to Mike and Tricia's Christmas Party tonight. We had a really nice time there visiting with friends and eating GREAT food.

Earlier in the day, Chris played horseshoes with several of the men in the neighborhood. They have formed this horseshoe group and they get together once a month to play. Chris says that he is no good, but I just hope he has a good time and can forget about work for a little while.

While Chris was off playing horseshoes, I was busy putting the LED icicle lights on the roof around the front door. Why, you ask, am I just putting them on the eaves around the front door? Because, they are 17 bucks a string and we needed 4 strings just to do the front door area! So, I will buy more and more as we go, but since the 'regular' icicle lights are just around 7 or 8 bucks for a box, you can see that they are much more affordable. However, when Chris, aka. Tim Allen, saw the LED lights, we HAD to have them, the others just simply wouldn't do!

Funny note about the lights. Chris put them up earlier in the morning while I was out doing returns at the stores and Kerstyn was at a birthday party. I knew that he was working on the lights, and I was glad. However, when I got home, they weren't up. They were just laying on the ground near the entry. Odd? So, I asked him what was going on and he said that he put them up but when he attached the extension cord, they all came down! You know how they come down so easy, just a little pull and they all just came right down. So, I was perplexed. I hung them last year, and they didn't do that! I just told him not to worry, thanks for trying. But, I just couldn't help myself. I hung them again and got them to stay up. He didn't take some of the weight off the extension cord by hanging it on the eaves too. He just attached it, but the weight pulled them right down. :)

I did it, AGAIN!

I locked the keys in the van, again.
You can also see my other post about this happening the first time.
But... Aislinn was strapped in her car seat this time! It was a little more urgent to get into the van, since she was in there, and even though it is December, it was around 83 degrees outside. No telling what it was in the van.

I had washed my van and was vacuuming it out. While I was vacuuming, Aislinn was walking all around inside it. When I was finished, I put her in her seat and shut the door. Well, the doors were locked! I guess that she had pushed the button to lock the doors while I was vacuuming ever so feverishly and I didn't notice that she had done it.

So, I ran over to the car wash employees and pleaded for help. They came to the rescue!

They had my doors open in record time, around 2 minutes! Thank you Superwash Express employees for bailing out ditso mom!