Christmas number one!

We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family on Sunday afternoon.  It's a chance for us to see everyone and catch up. There is always a ton of snackie-type food to munch on and then we do a little gift giving.  My parents always give money and a little something for the kids to open. Max got his most favorite thing in the world....a new Lego set. 

 here is waiting patiently for his turn to open.....I overheard him say, "Chase, I have that one if you need some help!"  Totally darling!

He opened a space shuttle, which by-the-way was put together by the time he went to bed Sunday night. 

And little miss Maggie was SUPER excited about the gift she opened.  A cupcake maker.  She is all about baking, and this was just perfect for her.  She already made blueberry muffins, and they were really good.  Look out Cupcake Wars....there might just be some competition in a few years!

Family Time!

The kids had some time off school last week for teachers in-service, so we decided to take a little road trip to an indoor amusement park.

There was an indoor water park, bowling, arcade, go-karts, and laser tag. We had a ton of fun. And since we went on a Thursday night, there were no crowds and no lines. It was a great way to spend the day (and a half) off school.

Just the four of us!

Think I need a refresher course in bowling? I think so!

Fall family pictures!

I posted these on Facebook a few weeks back, but I forget that most of my family doesn't do Facebook, but I know that several of them read this little blog of mine. So I thought, before I get in trouble with them, I better post a few.

Here are a few of my favorites:

She's growing up so fast!

Handsome boy!

I ♥ Max's expression in this one!

Their true smiles!

so sweet!

my most favorite people in the whole wide world!

We're heading to the farm.....

To do this....

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Boys and their toys!

The other night, Andy and Papa took the kids to the Heart of Illinois Fair. They didn't go to ride rides or eat the yummy carnival food, they went to watch this:

the tractor pull....

Maybe it's just me, but something about it being so hot, super loud and very dirty doesn't entice me a bit. Thank goodness I was with the girls from church workin' on crafts (and maybe sipping a little slush). That's was a much better way for me to spend the evening.

But, boy did the guys (and Maggie) have fun! And...we all know, what makes them happy, makes us happy!

Our super fun, very busy weekend!

Here are just a few highlights of our awesome weekend with family!

Yep, that is my people standing on a MAJOR expressway....during rush hour! We were completely stopped for 45 minutes while emergency crews were cleaning up accident. People were out of their cars...just hangin out...so we decided to join them!

We were so excited to see our cousins! Can you just feel the love!

Mini-golf (thought these would be a cute pictures when I finally get around to scrapbooking again...ten years from now!)

Showing off Maggie's awesome face-painting skills! She did a great job....and Andy did a great job painting my arm...ugh!

Sweet girl!

Sparklers were a hit too!

We just had to stop here on the way home!

What a fun time we had!

Father's Day Weekend!

The four of us took off late last week for a little getaway! We had a great time, and it was an awesome way to celebrate the #1 Dad in our life!

We stopped for the day at Six Flags, St. Louis...

We didn't take too many pictures...we were too busy trying to keep the camera dry from all the wet rides we went on. Everyone's favorite was Thunder River! We got soaked!

Then we went to The Magic House, children's museum! What a fun place! I totally recommend it if you haven't been there!

Then we went here

But the kids would have been just fine doing this the entire time!

Then on the way home we went up in this

Sure hope our #1 Dad had a good weekend...we sure did!