YMCA

The last 3 Saturdays have been spent at the Y.  We start at 9am so I can do my workout while Marc plays basketball with the kids.  Then at 10am it's swimming lessons!  This morning we had a birthday party right after swim lessons so I did not workout and was able to bring my camera to capture some pictures.  Here Olivia and Emma are excited to begin.

Marcus got special permission to be in this class...it's for ages 6+.  He's keeping up quite well...he is my best swimmer after all.

They played "red light green light" this morning.  Green light means kick like crazy...red light means stop...it was perfect.

They get to float on their backs...Emma has perfect form.

Marcus has perfect form too.

They do lots of swimming exercises...here's Olivia finishing one; she did very well.

Here's how we see Marcus most of the time...head under water...he's actually a really good swimmer with his head under water. 

Another successful swim lesson.  We did end up coming back after the birthday party so I could do my workout and the kids could play some basketball...we spent 3 more hours there today.  The kids were sad to leave...they love the YMCA...so do we!

Kennedy's 6!

Last night we headed to a pizza place after work/school to celebrate Kennedy's 6th birthday!  It's a lot of fun to catch up and see how big these kids are getting...they are growing so fast!  Happy Birthday Kennedy!

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas morning started out early with the cousins reuniting in Gramie and Poppi's room.  They have a TV in there now so this is a popular hangout with this crowd.

Then it was on to seeing what Santa brought.  The kids decided they were good since they got pretty much everything they asked for.

Marcus got a belated birthday present too...Superman...Perfect!

Gia got a baby for Christmas.  She was so sweet...lots of kisses.

Marcus stole Daddy's Christmas present...an Eastern Eagles hat!  Go Eags!

Olivia shows off one of the presents the kids got from one of the cousins...they built this big submarine already...pretty cool!

Emma models the bathrobes we bought for all of the cousins.  Fits perfectly..those were a hit!

Then the kids braved the cold and played outside for a while...there was even more snow than the few days before...it was definitely a white Christmas!

Auntie Tracy agreed to go hot tubing with the kids. 

Gramie bought matching PJs...time for the cousin pictures.  We did a few on Gramie's bed...cute!

And the traditional picture by the couch in order of age...
Sophie (9), Ceci (7), Olivia (6), Emma (6), Marcus (5), Gia (3), Elle (3), Baylor (1)
What a cute group!  We had to travel home the same day due to me having to work (I was not the most popular person among the others as a result).  But overall we had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

 

Today was a relaxing day for the most part.  Marc and I went shopping and left the kids with Poppi.  Gramie had to work 1/2 a day today.  We all met for lunch then back to the house.  The girls waited patiently for the cousins to come...unfortunately they still are not here though.  Olivia and Emma did get to watch "A Christmas Story" for the first time though.  Marcus watched "Frosty" in a different room...he did catch the end of "A Christmas Story" though.  They had lots of questions about the old days after that...why no TV??? was the biggest question.

 

The hot tub was a hit again.  However Daddy taught the kids to roll in the snow when they got too hot...Emma showed us what she's got. 

 

Marc had to demonstrate too...look at Marcus...bare feet in the snow! 

 

That was Daddy's version of the Polar Bear Plunge.  The kids loved it!

 

The kids brought the gingerbread cookies from home that they made.  They put a plate of cookies and one piece of fudge together for Santa along with a glass of Milk.  The carrot is for the reindeer to share...we've been following Santa on NORAD and the kids thought by the time he makes it to Gramie and Poppi's house they will all be pretty full...we figured they could just share this one carrot.

 

Quick photo in front of the Christmas tree...Look at all those presents...Santa hasn't even come yet!

 

Stockings are hung and these three are ready!  They've already been tucked into bed.  The rest of the cousins probably won't be here until late so the kids will have to reunite tomorrow morning...should make for an exciting Christmas morning for sure!  Hope everyone is having a Very Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas is coming

 We arrived safely at Gramie and Poppi's house yesterday afternoon.  They have lots of snow too!  The kids were restless because of the drive so we dressed them up and threw them outside to run off some energy.

 

Emma is really into posing lately..."take a picture Mom!"

 

I found Olivia rolling large snowballs.  Gramie witnessed her stepping backwards and then running toward the snowball to try to get some force behind it...the snow was heavy!

 

Marcus was determined to break through the ice on Oergel Creek.

 

He decided to take a break and lick the snow...YUCK!

 

The kids cooperated for a quick photo.

 

Sisters.

 

 

 

Then they wanted to make their own poses.  Cute!

 

 

 

Olivia recruited some help.  She really wanted to build a fort.

 

 

They got three large snowballs done before the other two bailed on Olivia...oh well, maybe when Uncle Wes gets here he'll help build a snow fort!

 

 

 

More posing from Emma. 

 

 

 

Marcus tried out the bikes.  He went as fast as he could on the asphalt then plowed into the snow.  Boys!

 

 

Gramie gave the kids a job...she wanted them to spell Merry Christmas with the blocks.  Look what they ended up with..."Merry Christmas Santa Love Olivia Emma and Marcus".

 

 

Gramie and I shopped this morning.  Gramie found this cute Christmas house craft.  The kids got busy.  (you'll notice the Merry Christmas message is no longer in the window...Marcus decided he didn't want it there anymore.).

 



 

The finished product...front side...

 

...back...they have a stocking on the back with each cousin's name on it...the cousins should all be here by Christmas...we're ready!

Winter Break

It couldn't have been more perfect...the first official day of winter break for the girls and look at all of this snow we woke up to!

It's just the kids and me this week...Daddy has to work. 

They thought it was fun to play on a play gym full of snow.

The girls started piling the snow up...they eventually moved to the side of the house and started making huge snowballs for a snow fort. I was busy trying to shovel snow then so didn't get pictures of it. I'm sure we'll be back for more though.




 
Emma Marie....

Olivia Rena....

Marcus Charles.

I needed a break from shoveling (it's hard work!)...so we brought out the sleds.  The kids took turns with Marcus's new sled.

We also brought out the trusty old blue sled.

Weeeeeee.....

It was a lot of fun...but our hill turned to dirt.  It was still fun though.

We ended with a jump for joy!

Well...two jumps for joy :-)  LOVE THE SNOW!!!!