Happy Birthday Papa Ed

We celebrated Papa Ed's birthday a day early because he had to go back to work tonight. We had an early dinner at the Texas Road House and headed over to their house for dessert and presents.

The highlight of Papa's birthday is always the card he gets from Uncle Vic. Every year the card is loaded full of junk, but it is always a great laugh! The things in the card are always so random! However, this year someone opened the side of the envelope and stole my Dad's root beer money! So this year there was an expired calendar, a bread tie, a rubber band, a dirty adult joke, a police card of his son John in Montana, 11 cents (what was left of the root beer money), a wet wipe, a ticket for the train at the zoo, and an article from the 1999 newspaper. My Dad keeps every card and the envelops they come in. On a less interesting note Papa also got a couple of shirts and a table for some saw he has.

Libby was excited that Papa turned 4 like her and Maison enjoyed serenading Papa with his alien mask.

The Schmidt Family Christmas

We left Rolfe late Christmas Eve night and dropped the kids off at Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house, so Santa would know where to drop the gifts off. We got to their house a little after midnight and the kids woke up long enough to grab their i-dogs, get into the house, and into bed. Jason, Izzy, and I headed home to sleep in our own bed. (There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed)

We got the call early the next morning informing us that Santa had left presents all over the place. We didn't even have time to shower. We loaded up Izzy and headed over. Santa brought Maison and Libby each their own computer that hooks up to our computer, soaps, and thermos mugs for hot coco. Izzy got some bath soap and a cool rain forest mat to play on. Daddy got some almonds, 4lbs of Twizzlers and Cyclone season tickets to share with Mommy. Mommy got her family calendar, tarts from Yankee Candle, and chocolate sticks that the kids ate! (Those dirty rats ate my sticks last year too!)

We were going to take a break so everyone could get cleaned up, but the kids were much too excited! They got lots of great things! Maison got his K'nex, a cool mug that plays xmas music, some movies, a Wall-E ornament, lots of tape and some other things I can't remember right now! Libs got her Easy Bake oven, food, a decorator, movies, her fairy ornament, a cool dance outfit, dress-up clothes, a mug that plays xmas music, a cool make-up kit, and lots of other things I again can't remember either! Izzy got a homemade blanket, clothes, toys, socks, her first ornament, and a hat and gloves. Jason and I got a Willow Tree Nativity, he got a new razor, and some gift cards. I too got some gift cards, but most importantly a mini banana bread loaf pan! (Mine rusted out and I haven't been able to replace it. Leave it to my mom to give me hers! The best present ever!)

All in all it was a great Christmas! However, I don't think the kids will eat turkey anytime soon which is unfortunate because Jason's folks gave us a great smoked turkey! We had turkey at Thanksgiving, our family Christmas, the Allen Christmas, and the Schmidt Christmas! Gobble Gobble!

Now, where are we going to put everything? Good Will here we come!

The Allen Family Christmas

We headed to Rolfe late Sunday afternoon for Christmas. The kids spent a few days with Grammy and Papa before their cousins Sydney Lynn, Hayley, and Addy arrived. The kids woke up early on Christmas Eve morning to open presents.

Everyone got everything they wanted plus more! Maison was really excited about his i-dog, zero gravity car, and helicopter! Libby was really really excited about her potty girl, i-dog, doll clothes and her pink reindeer sweatshirt (John Deere) from Papa! I think it will take a while for everything to sink in! They always get such great things and so many things, I think they forget what they have gotten. Poor Izzy slept through most of the present opening, but she got some really great things as well! It will be interesting to see how the kids react when we unpack it all. It will be like Christmas all over again! Maybe we should put some of it away for next Christmas. I wonder if they would even notice?

This year Uncle Rog and Papa Dan rented a big bouncy house for the kids to play in at the barn! The kids probably spent 10 or more hours bouncing around in that thing! The adults even joined in on the fun.

One of Santa's helpers dropped some gifts off at the barn for the kids. Maison and Libby got these really cool alien masks that can disguise their voices. Unfortunately, the grab bag event didn't go so well. Maison got a Dalmatian that he wanted but a few of the adults kept taking it away, which wasn't really all that fun. With the help of his Mom and Dad he was able to keep hold of it. Libby was lucky in her draw in that she got the last number, but not fully understanding how the whole thing works she also was reduced to tears. The good news is that she got the last gift which was an ornament that we made of the kids singing "Jingle Bells" which turned out to be a great gift for her Christmas tree! This kids weren't too traumatized and will soon forget when they have another whole round of gift opening tomorrow!

Our Family Christmas

We decided to do something a little different this year. We only bought one gift for our whole family, which was a Wii. We bought it a week or so before Christmas. We decided it was meant to be after a series of weird circumstances.

We were going to by one for Maison last year for his birthday, but ever since the Wii came out, we haven't been able to come across one anywhere! I have never seen one in the store before. Needless to say, Maison didn't get it for his birthday. However, while we were in North Dakota, I was shopping at the Wal-Mart there when on the loud speaker I heard..."Attention shoppers, we just received a large shipment of Wiis. Anyone interested should make their way back to electronics." I called Jason, but we decided to pass just because we didn't want to spend money we didn't have. We kicked ourselves afterwards because we decided the Wii would be a more practical gift than anything we had seen in the store!

So there Libby and I are grocery shopping one Friday afternoon when I made a pit stop in the electronic department just to see if they had a Wii. Low and behold, there one was! I couldn't believe it! I called Jason immediately and we decided to get it. As I am flagging an employee down, a man came down the isle looking for a Wii I assumed. I couldn't help myself and loudly stated..."I called it!" Lucky for me, he found my enthusiasm funny! I bought the Wii and accessories right in front of Libby and she didn't even notice! She was busy playing Mario Cart.

That night the kids had a sleepover at Grama Shari and Papa Ed's, so Jason and I decided to get the whole thing set up. We even played a game of golf. We unplugged the counsel and put it in the game closet. Hoping that the obvious would be less obvious. Seems like the sneaker we try to be, the faster the kids catch on.

We wrapped the empty boxes and decided to make clues for the kids to find their present. The clues were adapted from the story "The Night Before Christmas". We thought it was clever, but the kids seemed to tire of the clues rather quickly. When they finally opened their gift, the reaction was not what we thought it was going to be. They wanted to play right a way, but Libby asked where the rest of the presents were. I told her that was it and she says with both hands on her hips..."You know, kids like lots of presents for Christmas."

We assumed it was a bigger hit than we thought primarily because they wouldn't let Jason and I play, so we got up early the next morning and played 9 holes of golf. Jason was 11 over and I was only 26 over. Is there such a thing called a septuple bogey? There should be!

Maison's Christmas Program

Maison ended up not having school today because of the snow and ice we received last night. Fortunately, they were able to have their program tonight. Part of me hoped it would be postponed just because with the holiday's I did absolutely nothing about a costume.

Maison was assigned the role of Joseph for the program, and my plan was for him to just wear his bathrobe and some flip flops. Jason had other plans. It was around 2pm and Jason asked what Maison was going to wear. I'm not sure exactly what he said, but I heard "can't you whip something up quick?" I went into panic mode, scooped up Maison and headed to Wal-Mart. What in the world could I just "whip up" at the last second?

We headed over to the women's pajamas thinking I could find something long and white. No such luck, but the scrubs caught my eye. I found a nice brown scrub shirt, xl, which would work perfectly. We dashed over to the fabric department and he picked out some cream colored fabric, I didn't even know what it was at that point, but we got the lady to cut it into two different sections; one for his head and one to drape. I happened to look over to see what Maison was doing and saw some white cord which would be perfect for a belt! Maison picked out some trim to wear around his head and we dashed to the the sewing isle. Knowing I didn't have time to sew, or could even thread a bobbin at this point (it has been quite a while since I took Home EC, is that even p.c. anymore?) I located this great stuff that is like tape, but when ironed it acts like super glue! Now for the shoes. For some reason, I didn't know why other than I was thinking about 8th grade Home EC, but I remembered these shoes I used to wear that had a hard plastic soles with laces that tied up your leg! I found some craft foam and leather ribbon, perfect for Jesus sandals!

We headed home and I broke out the iron! The final product wasn't too bad and Maison was the most authentic character in the play. When we got there, I looked at Jason and said..."See, the bathrobe and flip flops would have been just fine!" I got the pat on the back and a "way to go Mom." (P.S. Maison wants everyone to know his beard isn't real!)

Libby's Christmas Party

Libby had her first Christmas party at school today! She was super excited! We volunteered to bring the sweet treat so Libby decided she wanted to bring M & M cookies. Yummy. They were a big hit!

Libby and her school friends decorated mini Christmas trees and painted their cinnamon ornaments. Before we could go home, we had to drive out in the freezing cold to one of Daddy's job sites so the boys could see and smell her ornaments!

Cutie Pie

Libby is once again in dance this year and is loving it! I was a little worried about their outfit this year, Cutie Pie, because it is anti-pink! For anyone that knows Libby, everything has to be some shade of pink, which now includes red and purple.

Jason, Maison, Izzy and I were joined at Libby's dress rehearsal by Grama Shari and her friend Sheri. Unfortunately Sheri's friend (husband) had an important meeting at the local pub that couldn't be missed!

The day of her performance she was really excited and got all dressed up. She even talked me into a little makeup! Her class did very well considering the gym was packed and there was standing room only! I am so surprised how a large crowd doesn't even phase her!

2 Months Old

Well, Izabella finally has her nickname. We've all been calling her Izzy, except for Libby of course. Sometimes when Libby thinks I'm not paying attention, I hear her singing songs to Izzy. Grama Shari taught the kids the Name Game song, which has become Libby's favorite song to sing to Izzy. Libby's version goes something like this... Izzy, Izzy Bo Bizzy, banana fanna fo Fizzy, me my Mo Wizzy, Izzy. So needless to say Libs calls poor Izzy...Izzy Mo Wizzy "You know Mama, because she pees so much."

Izzy weighs a little over 10 lbs and is 22 1/4 inches long. So she is basically in the 45th percentile for height and weight, and in the 70th percentile for her head! Nothing new. Both Maison and Libby were little Hamburglers as well.

We have been taking her to the chiropractor which has helped with the colic tremendously! Dr. Sheri told us her back was completely out of alignment! Ouch! Fast delivery was good for me, but not for her! We were taking her 3 times a week for awhile, but are down to once a week. Hopefully soon it will just be once a month!

Izzy is becoming less and less of a baby blob! She is smiling and talking more, but pooping less. Her Doctor says breastfed babies can go 10 to 14 days without a poop! I don't know about you, but if I didn't poop for 14 days, I would be in the E.R.!

It is amazing how quickly they change!