Happy Winter

I am preparing for Christmas this week, I am exhusted and just want to take a nap. But as the holidays are getting closer I am trying to remind myself of all the wonderful people in my life. Most importantly my family. We are so blessed to have family all around us and are very excited for visiting family to arrive next week. We will miss those who are not able to be here this week, but I have a feeling they are all enjoying the family they will be with this year.
I thought I would just share a few pictures of the kids enjoying the great winter that we have had so far and decorating the tree!

Brecken all geared up to shred!

Playing in the snow!

Miss Leighton hanging out inside.

So this was one from Indiana, but I couldn't resist putting it in! I love this one.

Brecken putting on the star.

Cheezy!

He pulled the heavy hanger on himself just a few moments later.

Making a mess while mom and dad set up the tree!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Road Trip

I wasn't sure we would survive 8 hours in the car with all the kids, this sounded like pure torture to me. I am not a fan of long car trips. But the kids did awesome! They were all really good and slept most of the way there:) We left at 2 am everyone just went back to sleep including me and Crist drove the whole way. (except for the one hour I drove so I can say I helped)

Stuck in traffic in Chicago

Woot woot! Only 1.5 hours left!!

 All smiles at 8 am we are almost there... Mishawaka here we come!

Such a sweet moment. Autumn is holding Leighton's hand.

Little did I know the beauty that would be just around the bend....Gary, Indiana. I think on a cloudy morning in November that Gary may be one of the most depressing places to drive through. But, it may have been the the lack of sleep that made this place seem worse than it is but all I remember is power plant, a dump and a porta-john storage place. So I decided to drift off until we reached South Bend, finally 9 hours later we made it!!

Aunt Terri and Uncle Tom were our hosts for the weekend, great food, family and friends from around the world for Thanksgiving.

The kids hanging on the stairs watching Autumn play her DS oh so exciting:) Thanksgiving was fun and I got to do a lot of cooking, and this is the only picture I took all day. The kids had fun and we did to, note to self take out the camera earlier! 

 The day after Thanksgiving we went on a tour of Notre Dame. My Uncle is a professor at the University. He was a great tour guide, now only if it wasn't 30 degrees.

My cousin really liked having the babies around, as long as they weren't crying...or tearing up his room.

The nanotechnology area.

Uncle Tom showing us the lab where he works. I must say Notre Dame has a very impressive chemistry department.

This is the Basilica it was absolutely beautiful.

The Grotto

 Autumn and Brecken really enjoyed the Grotto. They got to light a candle and pray for someone. We prayed for Grandpa. He had surgery today.

 We also got to visit Shipshewana a Amish community where we shopped and took the kids on a buggy ride. The kids loved the buggy ride...and so did mom:)

All ready to go!

We had a great time in Indiana! Thanks Terri, Tom and Isaac for being wonderful hosts and for showing us all around your town!

Cookies round one!

This week has been a week of firsts for the Twins. 

Leighton got to go out for a girls day! She went shopping with Courtney, Kaelyn and I. I wish I would have had a camera with me. She smiled all day! She got to ride in the car for the first time, sit in a front facing car seat for the first time, and spend a whole day away from Hudson for the first time. She was so good. You could tell she enjoyed every second!

Then we went home....the smiles stopped and so did the good behavior:) She threw a fit the second we got home because she was no longer a only child.

Today we decided to make sugar cookies, Brecken is a pro! He loves cooking and baking, he says he is a chef like Buddy (the Cake Boss). LOL 

Hudson and Leighton have never made cookies before so this was another first for them! They dug in like champs and made a huge mess with the flour! It was pretty fun to watch.... clean up after now that is another thing. But none the less fun! 

We were even able to get a few cookies made! Sugar cookies made with whole wheat flour...I am not sold, I like the originals better but the kids love them! 

 Have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mom takes a time out...in Vegas!

So last week I packed my bags gave everyone hugs and kisses and headed out to Vegas with a friend. She had to work most of the time we were there so I was solo! This is not how I find myself very often, no diaper bags, sippy cups and no kids in tow. I really didn't know what to do with myself so I decided to see as much as Vegas as I could! I did the scenic route though Red Rock (twice), checked out the strip, went on a chocolate factory tour, seen Jersey Boys, and even hit up a night club. Most of the time I didn't take my camera but Red Rock was a must for picture taking so here are a few from my trip.

The Road to Red Rock

Self-portrait #1

Scary!

Self-portrait #2

New York New York

Halloween...finally!

So I am a few days behind on the Halloween pictures, but photoshop crashed on me right before we went out trick or treating. I have been working hard to figure out how to fix it... and I did! Whoo hoo! Who would have thought that the girl who could barely use her computer to type a paper just a few short years ago would now be her own IT person. SO with out further ado.. my favorite little people on Halloween! Oh how I love this holiday!

Lady Gaga!

Autumn's costume was so fun to make! We just recycled a $4.99 dress from the Goodwill and attached foil wrapped boxes. We were going for this Lady Gaga look, not perfect but you get the point:)

Brecken wanted to be Iron Man, Spiderman and Batman! But I had bought this costume at Target last year for 90% off. I pulled it out of the bucket and he wore it for the entire month!! I think he loved it even if it wasn't Iron Man. The beginning of trick or treating was pretty tough he fell asleep and was not ready for trick or treating. He went down one street and said " I have enough candy. Let's go home mom" But soon he was following his big sister and running all over the neighborhood.

My Recon Commando! 

My babies...the Garden Gnomes! I saw garden gnome costumes at Target but they were just not quite what I wanted so I decided to make my own costumes for the twins! I think they turned out pretty good! I am really enjoying sewing lately and loved making Leighton's skirt. I think I am going to have to make her more of these!!

Hudson the Garden Gnome!

Leighton the Garden Gnome!

The kids had a great weekend of parties, trick or treating and of course CANDY!! At the end of the night the kids were getting ready for bed but Leighton did not want to give up her candy. All night she didn't let go of the handle of her basket...and at bedtime it was not going to happen either.

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Celebrating 80!

My Grandfather came for a short visit a week ago. He will be celebrating his 80th Birthday this month, so we thought we had better have cake! We had a nice dinner out at Wiederholts in Miesville, it is a great old fashioned supper club that my Grandpa likes to visit when he comes to town. Then everyone came back to our place to have a slice of Oreo cake!

Hudson loves his Great-Grandpa!

We also had a big weekend for Autumn's soccer team! They had their play-offs and Autumn's team took 2nd place!! The Fire Dogs had a great game and lost the game with grace. I was very proud of the whole team. Great-Grandpa and Grandpa both came to games on Saturday.

One of the mom's even had cookies made for each of the girls!