Christmas Day!

We made reindeer food for Rudolf and all the others!

We made sure Santa could spot the glitter and find our house quickly!

Mac throwing it in the yard~

MacKenna's worm from

The football gear was a huge hit!

Football player/Fireman!

Team Chad, Dana, and Gage!

My beautiful sisters with MacKenna~

Aunt Dana and Mac

My sweet girl!

Gage and Mac playing

Love those lashes and curls!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

My beanie babies and not so christmasy christmas cookies...

We made Christmas cookies today, that turned out to be not so Christmasy. We went to walmart to get the stuff to make them and when I asked them what color sprinkles they wanted, it was anything but Christmas colors. Oh well, we put them on a Christmas plate so that makes them Christmas cookies! Gage decorated while MacKenna licked the icing! They did all of this in there super cute beanies! Here are some pictues...enjoy!

All Aboard!

The Polar Express was a hit!! Both kids had a great time. Gage even held up his end of the bargan and talked to santa. He told him he wanted football stuff and even gave him a hug...ha! This is a drastic change from last year when he couldn't even stand the thought of santa coming into our house while we were asleep, regardless of whether or not he would see him.

On the train we had hot chocolate and cookies, sang christmas songs and headed to the North Pole. Once at the North Pole, santa and all of his elfs boarded the train with us! We will definately go again next year. Here are some pictures. Chad made fun of me because the kids got to wear their pajamas and even though they were pajamas MacKenna still had to have a bow to match! I made her a bow and while I was at it I made some cute ones for her slippers too. Hey if were gonna have fun and see santa and all.........we might as well look good! enjoy.

Before we left the house

The two cutest passengers on board!

Oh gosh...Oh gosh....big fat guy with a white hairy face....Oh gosh!

Haaa! Mac's face when santa got on the train.....really!

Gage and Santa

She warmed up to him........a little.

Me and the kids

.......and of course......the shoes!

Silly Kids!

You better not pout.....

You better not cry......

These are the reactions I got from my two sweet little angels when I tried to get a Christmas card photo......

So if you are on our Christmas card list......this could take a while!

I kept telling them smile....say cheese.... oh look over here....and Gage kept giving me that fake lazy eye crooked smile he gives EVERY time I try to get a picture. I couldn't help but crack up at them!

On another note, I want to take this moment to pat myself on the back because..........................I am just about DONE with my Christmas shopping! Yes I know, be jealous...be very jealous! I am always a procrastinator, but this year I decided I would get it done early and enjoy the season.

Stay tuned because tomorrow night we are going on the Polar Express. Gage is so excited and is even claiming he is going to sit with Santa and tell him all his Christmas wishes....we'll see about that one! I am hoping to get some fun pictures of the kids.

Shaaaaane.....Shaaaaane!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Uncle Shane was home from Colorado and to say that the kids were excited to see him as a huge understatement!! It took him all of 5 minutes to win MacKenna over....again! She would not let him out of her sight. He stayed with us a few days before Thanksgiving and Mac would wake up in the morning and yell "Shaaaane" from her crib. We went to Chad's parents in Midland on Wednesday and enjoyed time with all of the family.

(we got home yesterday and everytime I have told MacKenna no, she says "Shaaaane." ) Thank you for making her rotten Shane!

Shane fit just perfect in our backseat....can't you tell?

I did a little Black Friday shopping and got a few things for the kids for Christmas. I am hoping this week Gage can help me clean out some of the old toys and make room for a few new ones. I love the Holiday Season and am so thankful for all of our family, health, and most of all God's love! His Mercy is new everyday and His grace is sufficient! It is exciting this year, because Gage is old enough now that he can understand Christmas. I don't mind our kids thinking there is a Santa and he brings them presents, I just want that to be in the shadow of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I want them to know the story of Jesus and His birth. I want them to know that He gave them the best gift of all! So this year I want to acknowledge Him in everything we do that prepares for Christmas. We will start today with putting up the tree! I am excited to do this with the kids....(I will have to remind myself of that later when they have every thing strung across the living room and I have said be careful that can break over 100 times!)

Here are a few pictures I took over Thanksgiving!

Double Croup!!

Well, it is officially 1:00am Friday morning! Chad and I have been up for the last hour with MacKenna. She has full blown croup and sounds like a barking seal. This time last weekend the kids were with Aunt Kayla in Midland and we had to make a middle of the night trip there because Gage woke up with croup and landed himself in the E.R. MacKenna is back to bed now, but I am up listening to her on the monitor for a while just to make sure she doesn't get worse. We have done it all tonight......steamed up the bathroom and hung out in there for a while, then we went outside all bundled up to breath the cool air while Chad went to get another humidifier (cause the one we have is in use in Gage's room), and we did a few breathing treatments. So after all of that and several prayers along the way I hope she can get some rest tonight.

This is a little off the subject, but I am just sitting here thinking how different mommy's and daddy's are. We have been up the past hour listening to Mac wheeze and have difficulty breathing and doing everything to treat it......I now after all of that am still sitting up listening to her on the monitor just to make sure. I just can't roll over and go to sleep, (unlike Chad who is snoring so stinkin' loud right now). A snore that loud seems like it should hurt? Now don't get me wrong.....Chad is a wonderful daddy and amazes me with the kids, it's just that mommy's can't do that.

***Ok I am cracking up now, because he just woke himself up snoring and sat up to wipe the slobber off his face....haa! We have only been in bed for about 20 minutes tops! That's great! Sorry to make fun of you Chad.....it is just really funny! I love ya.

I am going to go check on her one more time and try to get some sleep myself. Say a prayer she will fell better soon.

Funny she is smiling because she loved the mask!

She watched Gage wear it all

week and she thinks it is her turn!

Trucks and Tee Tee!

This title sums up our day so far! It is only 11 am, but so far today we have spent the morning playing monster trucks and letting MacKenna run around without a diaper so she can tee tee when she wants. Gage loves monster trucks.......and when I say love I mean it in a possibly un-normal, obsessive, compulsive, goofy kinda way. He LOVES 'em! When Gage plays monster trucks you would think he gets them all out and drives them and jumps them over things......nope......he likes to get them out and line them up perfectly. He can't stand for them to be out of line. He knows all of there names and knows the drivers of most of them......it's a little embarrassing and redneck!

I can't seem to keep MacKenna from taking her clothes off these days, which is something I should try to get under control now so this doesn't pose a problem later in the teen years. She is constantly saying tee tee tee tee. She then takes off her diaper and stands in front of her potty holding something she doesn't have. It makes me laugh every time! I have to say Mac girls sit on the potty, so sit down. Each time she replies, " Oh Oh." This sounds really selfish, but I am not ready for her to be potty trained yet. I am not sure if she will be my last, but it makes me sad she is growing up so fast. I am not sure when she got so big? It reminds me to be thankful for every second I have got to stay home with them and watch them grow every day!

So today we will keep playing monster trucks and let Mac stay diaper free. We will see how many times I have to clean tee tee up. I have set the kitchen timer to go off every 15 minutes so I can remind her to go and maybe this will help.

No More Sweets to Eat......Please!!

Halloween was a sucess! The doodlebops were a hit and Gage and Mac had a blast. Gage corrected me all night long and told me his name was not Gage......it was Rooney Doodle! MacKenna loved her pink hair and worked it like it was her job! She knew she looked good....ha! We went downtown for a while and tricker treated the stores, then after that made a few stops by friends houses........now we have enough candy to put them both into a diabetic coma! I am sure for the next few weeks they won't let those candy bags out of their site. Here are a few pics from the night.....

Enjoying the Journey

Both kids are napping so I thought I might add a few pictures, because I have nothing else to do right? Ha! Yea right! It's funny today I was rushing Gage and MacKenna around so we could go run a few errands and they were poking along as usual. We got in and out of the car several times and I felt like I just kept saying, "Hurry up Gage" or "hurry up Mac." One time I told Gage to come on and he said, "Gosh mom, why do we have to hurry? I am just trying to look at some rocks and stuff." In that moment something hit me and I began to see what Gage was saying. Sometimes God uses 3 year olds to send us a message. So often we rush around and rush through life, we are so focused on the destination and we forget about enjoying the journey. So thanks to Gage, today I have slowed down and tried to enjoy the journey. We took our time running the rest of the errands and you know it was much more enjoyable! Here are just a few pictures from the past few weeks....enjoy!