On the TWENTY-SIXTH day of Christmas

we were blessed to hike around Pennypack Preserve with Uncle Travis. It was so much fun to walk along the railroad tracks and learn about all the adventures our daddy and his brother had as kids. Reece and Raine collected 5 different types of balls and a bunch of other junk they wanted to bring home. Daddy stopped and fished along our hike and caught three rainbow trout and two small mouth bass. As daddy fished Reece and Travis searched for treasures and found a snake. Travis decided it would be fun to play with it. When the garter snake was picked up, it released a very strong, bad odor which went all over his was hands and shirt. Luckily, he was wearing gloves and found some sort of tee tree oil hair product laying near the creek to clean off some of the stench. It was quite a sight to see. Raine and I laughed while watching Uncle Travy dance around like a crazy man with the snake coiled around his wrist. Seconds later, Raine had to use the bathroom so I taught her how to pee in the woods, she did pretty good. It was getting late so we ventured down the tracks to a super old bridge, crossed the creek and started to head back to the truck. We saw our favorite house which we would love to buy and even spoke with a neighbor about the woman selling it. Please Lord provide us with a way to buy this home, it is spectacular!

It was almost 1:00 and the Williams family was meeting us at Village Pretzel in Hatboro so we had to motor through the rest of the hike. We were cold and hungry anyway and ready for some delicious Philly style pretzels and hotdogs. First we made a pit stop at home so Uncle Travis could change his stinky shirt. He decided it would be fun to play with a snake. When the garter snake was picked up, it released a very strong, bad odor. which went all over his was hands and shirt. Luckily he was wearing gloves and found some sort of tee tree oil hair product laying near the creek to clean off some of the stench. It was quite a site to see as Raine and I watch Uncle Travy dance around like a crazy man with the snake coiled around his wrist.

We caught up with the Williams clan at the Village Pretzel and enjoyed the best soft pretzels around and then headed to safe street at a local park. The kiddos played hide and go seek for almost an hour, it was so nice to be out running around like kids should do. It was also so fun the the aunts and uncles ran and hid as well. The cousins had a blast and didn't want to leave but out was getting too dark and cold. We returned home for Christmas dinner leftovers. It was like Christmas dinner all over again. We are so blessed to be spending the holidays with our Pennsylvania family. Thank you Lord for answering my prayers!

On the TWENTY-FIFTH day of Christmas

pictures are worth a thousand words...

On the TWENTY-FOURTH day of Christmas

we celebrated Christmas Eve with our family in Hatboro, PA. It was a special morning for Raine and I because we were able to get a manicure together. It was the first time Raine had ever received a manicure at a salon. We do mani pedis at home all the time and she just loves it. She was very cute and asked if we could be twins with red polish and gold glitter. She waited very patiently for the polish to dry and then was amazed at how pretty our nails looked.

While we were at the salon, Reece, Daddy & Uncle Travy went into town to a local thrift store to purchase Thor comic books. It was a fun adventure for them because they scored some other cool books too.

After the hustle and bustle of showers and cleaning up for church we made it there with some time to relax and actually get a seat. The kiddos went into the second grade classroom with Aubrey while Mo and I waited for Doug & Amber. Unfortunately, they stayed out in the family cry room with baby Rory. The worship service was amazing, I was quite weepy and somber. Every Christmas I am reminded about the birth of our Savior, but Pastor Joe's teaching was something different. It's hard to explain all the details but even as the two punk teenagers distracted me from the teaching, (several times) I was still able to feel the Holy Spirit's presence.

We met up with the Willams family who were kind enough to grab our kiddos from class and then drove back to Noni & Pe Pere's for Christmas Eve dinner. A feast of pasta with your choice of clam sauce, shrimp sauce, a meat sauce and a plain marinara. Mo & I were able to help roll all the cheese and meat for the antipasto salad. It was neat to hear Mo say that he thought his mom bought the amazing tray of salad delights. Aubrey, Reece and Raine played while dinner was prepared and once Amber & Doug were back from their house we were able to enjoy a Christmas dinner like no other. It was a pretty wonderful sight in Noni's dinning room, peace and joy on the eve of Jesus' birth.

On the NINETEENTH day of Christmas

I am ready to fly to the East coast and visit the Hauguel side of the family. We are just about packed and ready to go. I am trying to figure out some way to make it more of an adventure for my kiddos but I can't think of anything creative right now. 6 am is going to come rather early and I'm not sure how chipper I will be. Can't wait to see what the kiddos will think of it all.

On the EIGHTEENTH day of Christmas

I was given three hours of the alone to pack our suitcases for our winter travels. We are just about ready to go east. Two bags are just gifts and two others are clothes. Mo has to pack his bag and then it will be just getting the little stuff organized and situated. Kids still don't know and I am bursting at the seems wanting to tell them but I know it will be more fun when the figure it out on the plane or as we travel. Mo and I are so excited to spend Christmas with extended family!

On the SEVENTEENTH day of Christmas

Mo and I were able to go on a long awaited date! After a long day of fun at their holiday parties; the kiddos and I picked up Shelby to babysit. Reece and Raine were wired from all the treats and excitement of the day so Shelby had her hands full. Superdad had a tasty dinner ready for the kids when we walked in the door and I ran to change my clothes. Mo and I were blessed with tickets to the Wranglers hockey game. We met Tina and Tori at TGI Fridays for some yummy bar food and fellowship, then it was off to the game. The hockey game was quite intense, the score kept going back and forth. The Wranglers ended up winning it in the last 15 seconds of the third period. It was pretty awesome. Mo and I thought about running over to the movie theater to catch the opening night of Sherlock Holmes but we were too tired. How lame are we?

On the FIFTEENTH day of Christmas

On the FOURTEENTH day of Christmas

my kiddos make me such a proud mama at parent teacher conferences. Our squirrely second grader made straight A's and our creative kindergartner is meeting and exceeding standards! We are extremely proud of them and love the comments the teachers gave about them; chatty, inquisitive, detailed and energetic. Daddy took the day off so he could be a parent of the conference and hang out with them all day. Did I mention how super he is at that? Well he is!

They headed to McDonald's for a celebratory breakfast and then all around town. When I called Mo to see how things were going, he said they skipped driving around and just came home to play. The kids were having a blast building, coloring and discovering long lost toys. I loved hearing that and went back to my work. I treasure the time my kiddos get at home with their daddy, it is such a blessing to all of them.

On the TWELFTH day of Christmas

We were able to get back into our book, The Adventures of Hugo Cabret. It is a very interesting read, one the kids love. Every time I tell them that it is time to go to bed, they beg me to read more. The book was the winner of the Caldecott Award which is for the illustrations within a book. This book however is more like a chapter book that just a picture book and we love the illustrations that are mixed within the pages of text. If you can get your hands on a copy, pick it up it is a great read!

On the ELEVENTH day of Christmas

We were able to get in some serious Wii time. The kiddos played Just Dance for Kids for about an hour, nonstop. Reece was very, very good at. Raine started to get the hang of it and then it became quite a competition. It was so fun to watch them laugh, giggle and dance. They also played the Wii sports and Mario Kart for awhile too.

On The TENTH day of Christmas

The kiddos and I went to 'Top Dollar Recycling Center' for a Cub Scout field trip today. It was quite interesting; Mo needs to bring the endless piles of steel he has laying around to Top Dollar for some CASH. He was very busy providing for his family by digging holes at a landscape job and was sad he missed the adventure. After the outting we stopped by 'Five Guys and Fries,' a delicious burger joint, for some lunch - keep digging Mo, you just paid for our lunch :-). While on our way home we drove by Star Nursery and Reece and Raine asked if we could stop in to make a craft. They made these cute, little, tree stump Christmas ornaments. At home we settled down for some good-ol' fashioned quiet time, Reece lasted all of 10 minutes and Raine slept soundly for 2 hours! Daddy came home and we were right where he left us snuggled up on the couch getting ready to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Another great and mellow adventurous day.

On The NINTH day of Christmas

I feel like a I've been run over by a truck, we are cuddling up on the couch tonight for some good ole favorite Christmas specials. Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, Yes Virgina and Elf on a Shelf. Raine only lasted through half of the original Frosty and Reece would have stayed up until midnight if we let him. It was a cozy, snuggly night and a perfect way to end the long work week. Now to get some cold meds in me and hit the hay.

On the EIGHTH day of Christmas

I feel as though I'm getting a cold. I couldn't get rid of my chill all day. I sit here now sniffling and drinking tea. Mo was super dad and fed the kiddos chicken nuggets and candy while I attended a class on IEP meetings. I was able to stroll around the mall and pick up a few more presents for family. It was very interesting shopping all by myself, to bad I was too tired to do more of it. Praying this cold goes away as quickly as it hit me.

On the SEVENTH day of December

my daughter was kicked off the pretend plane to Israel for talking to her neighbors. She was very sad when I went into Kindergarten to say hello to her. When I asked what was wrong, her gorgeous eyes filled with big crocodile tears and she solemnly said, “I was kicked off the plane.” It was very hard to contain my laughter because only Raine would get kicked off the plane for being too chatty.
She said she loves going to school lately because they get to visit a bunch of different countries and learn about their Santa Claus and how they spend Christmas break. Every morning I ask her where she is flying to today. Yesterday they were very busy in class and didn’t travel anywhere so she was very grumpy when I picked her up from class. Rainey Roo is quite a hoot; she brings a smile to my face more times than I can count and is certainly adding to my collection of laugh lines.

On the SEVENTH day of December

My daughter was kicked off the pretend plane to Israel for talking to her neighbors. She was very sad when I went into Kindergarten to say hello to her. When I asked what was wrong, her gorgeous eyes filled with big crocodile tears and she solemnly said, “I was kicked off the plane.” It was very hard to contain my laughter because only Raine would get kicked off the plane for being too chatty.
She said she loves going to school lately because they get to visit a bunch of different countries and learn about their Santa Claus and how they spend Christmas. Every morning I ask her where she is flying to today. Yesterday they were very busy in class and didn’t travel anywhere so she was very grumpy when I picked her up from class. Rainey Roo is quite a hoot; she brings a smile to my face more times than I can count and is certainly adding to my collection of laugh lines.

On the SIXTH day of December

I was able to enjoy a Michael Buble Christmas special while cuddling with my lil man. He loves to listen to music as much as I do and hates to miss these Christmas Specials on TV every night. He heard Justin Bieber was going to be singing and came running out of his bedroom begging to watch. How can a mama say no? I knew deep down Biebs wasn’t going to sing until the end so I made Reece snuggle up with me on the couch. It was a very fun time singing Christmas carols with my lil guy and laughing at how silly the show was.

On the FIFTH day of December

my true love bought for us a Mac book Pro! I can’t wait to get my hands on it! I am so excited! I want to leave the PC world and join the cool kids at Mac. My lil brother swears by them and my dear friend Tina only owns Apple products. I just need time to play with it.

On the FOURTH day of December:

my house feels a little bit more like Christmas! I wish my favorite photographer was in town the states to take some Christmas pics of my silly kiddos because just look at all that she captures on film. Love this pic!

On the THIRD day of December

we had an awesome day of building a Snowman napkin holder, shopping at the Bilbray Holiday Bizarre and a trip to the Fashion Show Mall. I brought the kiddos over to Home Depot to build and paint a super cute wood craft. They both did a very good job screwing the snowmen into the base, then gluing the hat onto the top. Then it was onto the painting station. Raine chose to paint her one side of her snowman purple and the other snowman yellow. Reece went for the traditional white with a black hat. I was very impressed with how neatly and carefully they painted and placed the stickers. It was a lot of fun!

Around 11 am we headed to Bilbray to check out the 45 craft tables at the holiday bizarre. I was very pleasently pleased with all of the neat homemade items. I found some awesome little stocking stuffers and a present or two for myself! It was also fun to watch the cute Bilbray kids sing, dance, tumble and cheer on stage. Raine was blessed with a beautiful butterfly face painting on her little face. It cost 5.00 and she had to beg and borrow a 1.50 to have it painted. I had to work on some report card comments and print out progress monitoring reports. My wonderful kiddos played on the computers, ran around on the playground and were mad when I finally brought them home.

Once at home we cleaned ourselves up a little bit and then headed down to the strip to shop at the Fashion Show Mall. Mo raised some $ at his fall festival and wanted to look at a macbook pro or ipad for his classroom. While we listen to Daniel explain all there is to know about Macs, the kiddos watched a fancy little Christmas song and dance with Santa and some Rockette type dancers, it even snowed on them. Back in the store, I found it quite interesting learning all about that amazing little piece of technology. I hope he heads back to the store sooner than later to purchase it. The kiddos had a great time playing on the IPad 2 which is something I want for Christmas, but know that it's not in our budget and I probably wouldn't ever get to play with it! The macbook pro would be so great because I could actually get my school work finished at home instead of staying late everyday! We enjoyed some burgers and fries at Johnny Rockets and crushed the kiddos at the classic game of complete a square. Reece was pretty intense, really looking for ways to beat me. Raine was a little less patient. Lastly, we headed to my favorite store Lucky Jeans! I scored three items for 14.99 each, yes a new outfit and an extra top. Mo was happy, all he has to do it wrap it and put it under the tree for me! On the way to out we stopped by Gymboree for a few half price items for my spoiled children. They will look so well dressed this holiday season. It was a great trip to the mall as a family. I was pleasently surprised how well the kids did and look forward to doing it again, soon!

On the SECOND day of December

an elf named Arnie joined us. He happily sat upon our shelf near the TV and watched over our kiddos. He will report back to Santa how they behave and if they have been naughty or nice. At first Raine was very hesitant to believe this little guy could fly all the way back to Santa but Reece reminded her that if she didn't believe in him, then she must not believe in Santa. Ahhh, thank you son for helping mama. I love the spirit of Santa and Christmas, now time to get the decorations up.

On the FIRST day of December

my little man lost his second tooth. He was so excited he hopped out of bed to show me his teeny tiny tooth. He said it came out when he was brushing his teeth and then they couldn't find where it went. Luckily, lil sis spotted it and Reece quickly placed it in it's safe green house for the night. He didn't want to place it under his pillow so he cleaned off a nice open spot for the tooth fairy near his alarm clock. Reece said she would have some light from the clock and lots of space to take the tooth and leave some money. He also left a little note for her telling her the story of how it fell out and that he would like more than 25 cents. She did have plenty of room to work and left him a two dollar bill. Reece came running into our room this morning shouting about the two dollar bill. It was a very exciting evening and morning for my lil man.