Christmas 2009

It is about time I sit down and post all of our Christmas pics. We had such a wonderful holiday and hope you all did too! We definitely got spoiled... (Click on the collages to enlarge...)
Santa brought Stetson the "birthday cake with blue frosting" that he asked for. We all had to taste it! I think that was Stetson's favorite gift this year!

His big gift was this train table. He has played on this for hours since Christmas! He has fallen in love with all of his trains all over again.

We got this special Santa plate and cup to set out his treats on. Stets was pretty upset Santa didn't finish the milk all gone and had to tell everybody about it all day! As you can see Santa didn't finish ANYTHING on the plate...lol. Stets had bath toys and finger paints in his stocking, a few games for his Click to Start game, some much needed new clothes, and a few small toys from Santa.

This was the Christmas party I had to miss due to work but Skylar got a few pics for me to post! Big J LOVED his leopard print Snuggie...

Cute kiddos...

Teigen must have gotten all work out opening gifts all morning! Grandma Chelle and Grandpa Roly gave Stetson the Imaginext castle he had been DYING to have as well as a sleeping bag, camping chair and various flashlights Stets has had a blast playing with around here lately!

We had to write Santa a special letter and sprinkle this reindeer dust out on our front porch on Christmas Eve letting him know that Stetson's mommy had to work on Christmas day and didn't want to miss him opening up his presents so we asked Santa to come by our house later in the day on Christmas. Thanks Santa!

A few pics of the girls from the Christmas Eve party at my parent's house. Stetson got a cool v-tech writing table, a cool walking, talking dragon for his new castle and a few other random toys from my parents. I do not think Stetson needs another toy until next Christmas!!

Here is Brinkley and Tylie rockin' their new outfits and Stetson ENJOYING Christmas Eve dinner.

More pics from the Christmas party at my parent's house...

Of course we can't leave out our play date with Landon we had a few days before Christmas. The boys exchanged Christmas presents and ran themselves ragged at McDonald's!

I am so relieved the holidays are over with--they can be so exhausting! We are so blessed to have such wonderful families to spend time with all year long and we are lucky we live close to MOST of them. We love you all!!

Visit Stetson's personal Santa message! So cute!!

Click on the link...

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/edf88da572d08000f6912c9fe7d13c6c

Then make one for your own child or grandchild!

Tom&Jerry

Stetson's latest favorite cartoon has been Tom and Jerry. I have to say I am TOTALLY against him watching these cartoons!! Skylar let him watch one one night and now he asks every day. Very rarely do I give in but it is hard to explain to him why mommy doesn't like him watching them. I had someone tell me once that it was HORRIBLE that I let Stetson watch SpongeBob but I have yet to see Spongebob smoke a cigar, blow someone up with dynamite or chase someone around with an ax!! I let him watch one episode of Tom and Jerry this morning while I get ready for the day and as you can see he was glued to the show!

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree!

I love putting up the Christmas tree! It is one of my favorite things to do all year long. I am sure you all know how much I love anything and everything to do with Disney so I was sooo excited to put all of the Disney ornaments we bought last year on our tree! We bought a packaged deal of them and they are all sooo fun!! These are a few of our favorites of course the princesses and little loveable Nemo!

Of course we have Woody and Buzz to keep each other company!

Yes we have already had a snowball fight or two! This is Skylar trying to get Jackson yesterday but Jackson is much too quick for an old man like Skylar!!

I can't believe how close Christmas is. I finished ALL of our shopping a week or so ago but I have been procrastinating wrapping so hopefully that will get done too!

Merry Christmas!

First off I want to say the most rewarding thing we have done this Christmas season was going shopping for an "angel" from the sharing tree at Shopko. This tree is still up for the weekend if anyone is able to help out. We picked a 2yr old boy for our "angel" and had fun picking out clothes, snow boots, books and puzzles for him. We also threw in a Thomas the train DVD and coloring book set because I remember how much those things meant to my 2 year old and how much I still love watching him enjoy them. I can't imagine not being able to put anything under the Christmas tree for my child and I know my family and I are very fortunate to have what we have and Christmas is for sharing and giving to others who are less fortunate than we are. I wish we had enough to spoil all of those "angels" but if everyone who can help out did...so many more "angels" could have a Merry Christmas. I wish the best for that little boy and his family in the coming year and hopefully things will look better for them soon. Last year when things were tight for us and we were more financially strapped than we had been our entire marriage the little "angel" still came first. Me and Skylar went without one single gift to or from each other and we did just fine. I hope that we never see the day where we cannot provide for our child/children and I can't imagine what these parents go through. Please help out if you CAN. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas this year!

Two of the most giving people I know are my aunt Dixie and uncle Bill. They love to spoil all of our kids and we are so blessed to have them in our family! Each year we put on a Christmas party the day after Thanksgiving when Dixie and Bill give out their gifts to the little ones and this was this year's party...

Brenden is super messy because I let him eat his mashed potatoes and gravy WITH his sucker instead of a spoon! Isn't that what aunts do?? All of the kiddos had so much fun with their cousins!

Uncle Bill picked a fight he couldn't win...
Of course there were gifts too...

Stetson LOVED this scooter and he now uses it to get all around the house even if he is just going from one room next door to the other...silly boy!

I just noticed not many adults appear in these pictures...I promise there was supervision most of the time!
Cole and Annilee's family weren't able to make it home this year but thanks to Skype we were able to see them open their gift which was a wii. We can't wait to see you guys for Christmas!
Thanks again to Dixie and Bill for being such wonderful giving people. We love you so much and we had so much fun seeing all of the family including all of my siblings (minus Annilee), the Risks, the Sells and my parents too! We wish you all a happy holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!

For my Daddy!

When Daddy went to Boot camp
Forty years ago
T'was Fort Hill Oklahoma
He loved to tell us so.

He talked about the courage
Of all the men he met
The food, the shots, the work routines
That you don't soon forget.

He pulled his book out many times
To proudly show us men
That represented USA
Some – not to return again.

When daddy went to Boot camp
Forty years ago
He wore his uniform with pride
And stuck his chest out so.

He slept in double bunk beds
Too tired for much sleep
And prayed to God each end of day
His humble soul to keep.

Now Daddy went to Boot camp
Just the other day
We're not sure what is going on
He didn't have much to say.

Instead of his old Army pack
He wore a Hello Kitty!
He asked us to take pictures
Must've thought it looked quite pretty!

He said his company asked him to
They sent him far away
Some secret “retreat” in the desert
Yet he didn't have much to say!

He works for JB Parsons
Construction – nonetheless
Now folks, why would they do this?
It just doesn't make sense!

Could it be age or even worse
Has he become delusional?
We tried an intervention
This behavior is so unusual.

He said it was his duty
And off he went no doubt
With Hello Kitty backpack
And his chest puffed up and out.

He said Seargent Hayes and Hadley
Might give him a bronze star
Oh daddy – we're so helpless
As we wonder where you are.

So if you read this message
And you think he's lost his mind
Please call 1-800 -lost dad
And help us – this man to find.

We've really grown quite fond of him
No matter what or where
Just bring him back in one big piece
And we'll take it from there!

Written by Janice Toolson
We love you daddy!!!!!

All ready for church...and Grandpa Reed!

Before I head for bed tonight I thought I would post these few pics! The first two are pics of Stets wearing his new church outfit (the poor kid is past due for a hair cut touch up!) and the last one is of my dad and Stetson. My dad came over on Saturday morning to go pheasant hunting with Skylar. Me and Stetson rolled out of bed around 9AM just as the boys came through the door... Skylar whipped up a yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy (of course I had my usual of chicken noodle soup because I don't like biscuits and I can't stand gravy!!) and dad stayed to eat and chat for a while. Thanks for stopping by Grandpa Reed!