Sunday, January 09, 2011

How many more days 'till Grace and Hattie come?

Besides counting down the days to Christmas, the kids were almost excited counting the days until Grace and Hattie came. They didn't have to wait long, Michelle got here 2 days after Santa. Grace and Hattie brought their cool new scooters that Santa gave them. Of course it was the one thing my kids didn't get. After a day of fighting and crying I remembered Grandpa Don sent them some cash to spend. So off to the toy store we went (you have to be kidding me). Luckily we found a 3 wheel scooter for Kate too. Thanks Grandpa Don!






Grace and Hattie had been missing the snow since moving to toasty Albuquerque, so we ordered up a great storm the day after they arrived. Brrr.




Michelle and I seem to have had the same set of kids. Grace and Sean could not be better buds and love all the same stuff, and the same goes for Hattie and Kate. The little girls love everything pink.


Grace managed to show up with the same set of PJ's that Sean has. Too cute.


Taking a ride on Grandma Curley's chairs.

Light saber duel. I haven't bought Sean any weapons yet since he seems to turn everything into something dangerous, so this was new and exciting to have a toy you're supposed to hit someone with.


I've never seen anyone as excited to ring in the new year as Grace was. We had ourselves quite a nice party at Grandma's house. Kate managed to break things up with an award winning tantrum.


I think the best part of the whole trip was Aunt Shell taught my kids how to ride bikes. We have never been able to teach Sean how to pedal anything. He has a garage full of trikes and pedal toys, and not one he can ride. Michelle managed to teach him in about 3 minutes. The kids love riding bikes in the house so much now. I'm going to have to paint all the floor boards and refinish the floors, but whatever keeps them entertained is fine by me.

posted by Barnhisel Blog @ 3:04 PM   1 comments

Christmas 2010

Well, the day was finally here. The kids were super excited to go to bed on Christmas eve.

I think it's safe to say Santa found our house this year. I think he was sick of delivering presents and just dumped the rest of his sleigh in our living room.

It was a Toy Story Christmas. I think we got every last character. I've never heard so many "oh my goshes" and "oh my goodness sakes, look moms" in my life. Super fun morning.




Sean's favorite present was his Buzz Lightyear wings. He is now officially a real space ranger.


Kate loved her Minnie Mouse bike. She learned to ride it before Sean could figure out his Buzz bike.



Sean quickly changed back to his favorite Toy Story jammies to make the look complete.


Kate decided it was time to try out her new swimming suite and start cleaning up a little.

We had a wonderful day at home. We didn't have to leave to go anywhere since all the grandmas were nice enough to come to our house. Now if we can just figure out where all of this new stuff is going to go...

posted by Barnhisel Blog @ 1:28 PM   1 comments

Monday, January 03, 2011

Count Down to Christmas

This year was the most exciting count down to Christmas yet. Every morning the kids ran down the stairs to look for Fisbee the elf, and move the ginger bread man to the next square. Sean had the Toys R Us catalog open every day to circle more presents he wanted Santa to bring. They are at such a cute age for everything magical.

Again, here is my pathetic attempt to get dressy Christmas pictures before Church. Although almost none of them are in focus, the cuteness still comes through. Kate had a baby with a matching dress that she was so proud of, and as usual, Sean was a very handsome devil.









Who says I'm not Suzie homemaker? I put my best foot forward for Christmas Eve dinner. I love my new Christmas dishes and after my mom gave me this cute apron, I was in full costume to host a feast. Somehow, wearing an apron makes me more in the mood to cook and clean. I think I'll wear it a lot this year.


Nothing brings more joy than a clean house, food ready, presents everywhere and time to spare for a few quick photos before the parties started.



We started the evening at Dave and Shanna's house. Grandpa Clark now holds the record for holding Kate the longest. I think it was like 3 minutes or something.


Some lovely ladies.

We headed back to our house for my family party. I must not have taken many pictures, but at least I got the Great-Grandmas sharing a bottle of wine...no wait that can't be right. Oh yeah, it was just sparkling apple juice. Phew!


Thanks Aunt Em for the ginormous pile of presents. You are too good to my kids.

To be continued...I think I hear Santa's sleigh!

posted by Barnhisel Blog @ 7:11 PM   3 comments