sitting on Santa's Lap

I took the kids to sit on Santa's lap this week. I figured we needed to get this done if they were going to get their order to him. Bryn asked for a guitar and an American girl doll, Kyler asked for a Troy Bolton Jersey. Bryn told me after that Santa said, "Okay" so she said that means yes! She was so excited, I think she might have been expecting a "no!" I don't know, but anyway, we are excited for Christmas this year!
Koby was so brave and didn't even flinch when I handed him to Santa.

Our Gingerbread tradition lives on.....

Last year we decided that we were going to do a gingerbread project every year. When I made the dough this year, I didn't really know how much to make because I didn't make any templates for the pieces. So what I ended up with was two houses, one was smaller than the other. Erick and I took the bigger house and Byrn and Kyler had the smaller one. I didn't get any "in progress" pictures because my hands were covered in icing. However, the end product turned out great. We had such a good time doing these. The kiss with the tooth pick sticking out of it on top of Bryn and Kyler's is some sort of a gun, so while Kyler was creating a battle field Bryn was designing a castle!!! Next year I think we are going to each need our own so the designing is less conflicting. However, there were no arguments, Kyler did his thing and Bryn did her thing.

Ice Skating

We took the kids to the Olympic Park here in Atlanta and went ice skating. It was so much fun. It was a pretty warm day but by the evening it had really cooled off. Erick and the kids were the only ones to skate, while Koby and I watched and took the pictures. Erick held on to both of them for one time around and after that they were off on their own. Bryn could make about two laps to Erick and Kyler's one. They both stayed pretty close to the edge for safe measure but they had a great time. we walked about the park a little to see some of the lights and the statues they have to represent the Olympics which was really neat. This is such a fun place, we don't get out and see much of it since Erick has such a busy schedule, but there are some really neat places here and ice skating was one of our favorite so far.

getting ready for Christmas

The kids were so excited to set up the tree and put out the decorations for Christmas. Erick brought everything down from the attic and we got right to work. Erick and the kids build a little platform for me to set up my village on, it is so perfect. The village is on both side of the tree and what you can't see is that it actually goes all the way behind and the tree and connects both sides. I have the "park" set up behind the tree which is Kyler's favorite with the ice skaters. I have been so amazed that Koby has not pulled on the cloth that covers the platform. He is not crawling but he can roll to about any place he wants, but he has left the tree and village alone! We got everything set up and now just have to wait (the hardest part!)

Our Thanksgiving

Bryn was sick the entire Thanksgiving break, actually she was sick until the following Tuesday. However she did eat some leftovers on Sunday, so she at least got to have some Thanksgiving dinner. It was just our little family this year, but it was really nice. We all stayed in our jammies most of the morning while we finished up the preparations. The kids watched a movie and played in the tent. Dinner was almost perfect, I need to fine tune my Thanksgiving dishes, but for our first Thanksgiving alone it went well. We of course missed our families, but enjoyed the day together!

One of Koby's favorite places to play. He pulls and pulls on the basket when I fold laundry until I put him in it.

These are just a few pictures of the kids playing. Koby loves the little barn that makes the animal sounds and the Bryn and Kyler love to play with him. They are so much help when I need someone to keep an eye on him!

The time of year when sickness abounds!!

The kids have been so sick this year, I feel like we have caught every bug that has come along. Erick was even lucky enough to catch one of them. This was a picture I took of Koby at the Dr. Office. He was so happy and at the same time he felt so sick. I couldn't believe what a good baby he was even with a 102.3 fever!

A visit back in October

It is so great to have visitors! Erick's mom and dad were able to come out for a visit in October. His dad had some work out here and his mom was able to come along. It was so nice to see them and spend some time together. It was conference weekend so we were able to watch that and Erick and his mom went to his choir practice Sunday evening. They also took us out to dinner one night which was a real treat! We really enjoyed spending some time with them and hope that his dad has work out here again real soon.
Here are a couple pictures I got while they were here: