Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Illinois! We are enjoying every minute visiting with family and friends. And are so very thankful to be spending time together this holiday as a family unit again. We have been keeping busy spending time with everyone we can!

Today we spend a wonderful Christmas Eve with my immediate family which ends up being somewhat of a circus with 7 boys and 1 girl ranging in ages from 22 months - 17 years old! Plus all us rowdy adults. We had a fabulous time laughing and enjoying each others company.

Last night Benjamin was already upset about the idea of leaving his grandparents and cousins here... but we will just make a short jaunt to central Illinios to visit with Don's side of family with whom most he hasn't seen in about two years. We are so looking forward to enjoying Christmas with them.

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas day.

Weekend Away

This past weekend I went to Breckenridge, Colorado, to visit with some of my best girl friends from high school. We planned this girls' trip before Don was even back from Iraq and I have been looking forward to it for a long time!

We went skiing, snowshoeing, had a Hawaiian themed party, and got massages. Overall, it was a great trip even though we eventually nicknamed the trip "Breckenridge Bootcamp" due to the fact that Lea Ann, who lives there had some pretty intense activities planned for us. I loved seeing my long-time friends and catching up with them. On several occasions I laughed until I cried. We made some memories that will last a lifetime and we enjoyed chatting about anything and everything (without any kids interruptions!).

All was good at home until Sunday afternoon. Don called and they all had the stomach flu. Don was miserable and he and Benjamin stayed up much of that night with their heads in buckets. Part of me didn't want to return! But the other part of me couldn't wait to get home and help, nurture and love my family!

I returned late Monday and everyone was in bed for the night. Things were better by then and we all took it easy Tuesday and caught up on some household chores. The best part was when the boys woke up Tuesday morning and realized I was home. They were ecstatic. I loved it! I wished I could pack some of that excitement away and keep it for a rainy day. But I just enjoyed the moment and love being back home with my boys-- who I'm happy to report are all feeling better.

Our Anniversary Trip

On November 20, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We took a family trip to Williamsburg to the Great Wolf Lodge there. It is hotel with an indoor waterpark that we've visited a few times now (and actually have spent 3 anniversaries there!). I think Benjamin enjoyed the fact that he got to sleep in bunk beds there almost as much as he enjoyed the water slides! And Samuel had his first experience sleeping in a big bed and did great.

Our trip was off to a bit of a rough start when Benjamin got sick in the car en route to Williamsburg then he cracked his lip open on the bunk bed later five minutes after we checked in. We weren't sure what would come our way next but the trip continued without any further hiccups and we all had a fabulous time.

Samuel even went solo down some of the larger water slides.

In addition to the water park feature of the hotel, it has so many great family friendly activities. They have a story time every night where guests can come together in their pajamas and enjoy an interactive show with characters in their lobby, then a hotel employee reads a couple of books. One night during our stay they also had a magician and the boys enjoyed that as well. They also have an arcade that compares to Chucky Cheese (minus the pizza) which we all had fun in.

Benjamin also enjoyed walking throughout the hotel and activating things with a magic wand... it is called "Magic Quest" and kids are all over the hotel making things light up, talk, etc. This was something new to him and he and Daddy really enjoyed it. A great activity for them to do while Mommy and Samuel enjoyed naptime!

Overall, we all had a great time and Benjamin actually began to cry a bit on the way home saying he didn't want to leave Great Wolf Lodge.

Our Helpful Boys

A couple of weeks ago we were getting ready to go out of town. Don casually said "We need to wipe down the stove top."

Then we went on with our chores and busyness of getting ready to go. I went downstairs for a minute to grab something and I could hear Samuel in the kitchen dragging the kitchen chair across the wood floor (a sound that is oh so familiar to me these days).

When I came upstairs there was Samuel at the stove top with dish rag in hand wiping down the stove top just as Daddy had said we needed to do. Somehow he put it all together and decided he was going to help! It was so cute. Then, when Benjamin saw me taking pictures of Samuel and praising him for being a good helper, he too jumped in and started wiping off the stove top too. Who knew this chore could be so much fun! (Although, I think you can tell by the photos, one brother was taking this job a lot more seriously than the other).

I hope they continue to enjoy helping out as they grow up but somehow I know this is probably too good to last and that I better appreciate their eagerness to help now while they're young!