Last Christmas photos...

Linley's modeling her new Snow White outfit from Grandma Carol...we had to snip the sleeves b/c the elastic was unbelievably tight. She also got the dress shoes to match. I believe we are finally finished with Christmas this year, YEAH! Looking forward to the new year.

Christmas morning at our house:)

Santa visited us late Wednesday night and ate all of our sugar cookies and milk. Linley got exactly what she asked for and was beyond ecstatic...watch the video:) Thayer got more pieces to his new train set. The kids finished off their afternoon at Grandpa Bill's, then we headed back to our house to rest before going to Grandma Carol's. Needless to say our Christmas day was long, but very enjoyable.

Thayer in his new Tonka dump truck
Linley and Uncle Doug Thayer's favorite toy: footballs Unwrapping at our houseLinley got what she wanted!

Christmas in Fort Scott...

Last weekend we headed back to my stomping groud for an early Christmas with my family. Luckily the kids got to experience Nickelson Christmas and play with their cousins while Kip and I visited. We enjoyed wonderful food and am feeling the effects of little exercise now...but I believe that's what resolutions are for??? One of my sister's is now engaged so we are looking forward to that wedding come summertime. The kids got great gifts and are having a blast playing wtih them. I hope they will soon realize how lucky they are to have such a big loving family. Merry Christmas.

Linley and Gigi
Opening presents at Papa & Nana's

Thayer finally getting the hang of it thanks to Aung Meg

Her excitement shows :)

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

We woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on the ground! It's still snowing as I type but has slowed down significantly. We spent the day inside watching cartoons and playing. The kids and I bundled up and headed to Linley's preschool to do crafts and share a story/song. It was so much fun being a part of her day! I think Thayer is ready for school, I practically had to drag him out of her room. A quick trip to Target and I found some snow bibs for Linley and some long underwear...unfortunately I was unsuccessful for Thayer. Linley thought she ought to try them out when she got home from school, so Thayer and I played along and trounced around in the snow. However, Thayer and I were much colder than her since neither he nor I had warm bibs on:) She proceeded to show us how to make snow angels and all it took was a little homemade hot chocolate to get two of them inside so I could warm up.

Santa

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the kids with Santa to post. Our trip to the mall did not go so well. I really thought Thayer would like him considering that's all he says. Linley politely said she did not feel comfortable and was not quite ready to meet Santa...maybe next year. Thayer started screaming as soon as Santa began talking, which I guess could be quite alarming to a 20 month old, when they've never associated it with Santa. Oh well, we are still planning to do the carriage ride down Poyntz this year, so we'll post those soon.

Poppy T's Bday

This past Sunday we helped Kip's step-dad celebrate his birthday. The kids had a lot of fun horseing around with everyone there. Linley has perfected her cheesy grin for the camera:) We are planning to take the kids to see Santa at the mall...will let you know how that goes, as well as a carriage ride this week.

Our Christmas Tree

This is our sad mini Christmas tree. Linley and Thayer were both very helpful in hanging the ornaments and the ribbon. We will definitely be hitting the after Christmas sales for a new tree.

The fun never stops...

We had some crazy fun at my parents house over Thanksgiving. The kids couldn't get enough of all of my sisters. They adore each of them and it amazes me already how their relationship with each one is different. Linley got to play barbie's with her new fav great uncle John...she also learned some creative new names for her barbie's:) Even after a full week at my parent's house we already miss them:( We definitely stuffed ourselves silly and poor Kip got what I had last week. Thayer and Linley were able to decorate a gingerbread house with the help of Aunt Ali, Aunt Maeci, and Nana. Unfortunately, Linley's attempt at drinking hot chocolate didn't go too well...it ended up all on the kitchen floor. Maybe we should stick to plastic mugs. Unfortunately when we left Saturday, they admitted my grandpa to the hospital, so we are praying and wishing him a quick recovery. I believe that catches us up as to what we've been up to. Next on our list is decorating our mini tree and getting lights up, that is when the weather cooperates. Ugh, I am not looking forward to shopping this year for Christmas. Here are some pics from our trip!

1 down, 2 to go...

thanksgiving dinners that is. We officially kicked off Thanksgiving last night with Kip's side of the family tree. I have to admit, after a slow and uneventful day at work it was nice to relax and enjoy some good adult conversation...as well as food! The kiddos were worn out by the time we got home and were super easy to get to bed. Speaking of kids, Thayer inherited a new bed from some friends of ours. He is now sleeping in a big twin daybed and their room is much more open w/0 the crib. My baby is definately not a baby anymore:(.

My Workout....

this is what takes place in my house when I try to do a workout video and both kids are up. It looks pretty chaotic, but before Kip got the camera they were actually both doing the moves with me. We could not quite laughing, mainly at the fact that our kids were entertaining themselves by doing squats, lunges, and some cardio. That's what we call quality family time at our house:)

Busy weekend

Some trick or treating at the grandparents kicked off our weekend of family fun. Saturday unfortunately I worked as well as KSU losing to KU. We did get some visitors...Aunt Meg and her friend Adam. Took the kids to the park and ended our evening eating Chipotle and watching the Texas/Tech game. Ashley, Meg's friend, brought her son, Tyson over for a visit and the kids did not want them to go. They adore babies, especially Thayer, he did not want to give him back:) Sunday was church, work, our visitors left and a nice evening walk through campus while daddy was playing catch with the uncles. I can not get over that it's the month of Thanksgiving and we are only 11 weeks away from Christmas!!

Zoo Spooktacular

Family Photo after the zoo
Linley/black cat


Linley, Thayer and I

Linley, Thayer, and Kip

Thayer/lion

Sunday we took the kids in the costumes to the Spooktacular at our zoo. It was extremely windy but the kids got some good candy and got to see some animals. Unfortunately I am fighting off a sinus infection and was not feeling too whoopy. Willie the Wildcat was there and Thayer gave him a high five...Linley on the otherhand made a beeline as far around Willie as possible. Kip and I finally saw a movie later on in the afternoon. I think it's been well over 2 months since we had been to the theater. The kids had fun playing out at Kip's dads house with their Grandpa and Uncle Doug! We had a busy but fun weekend.

Halloween Party

Saturday morning I retook the ACT, since it's been over 10 years. I'm pretty sure I was the oldest person in the room:) The proctor even did a double take when she picked up my test booklet that had my date of birth on it. Afterwards Kip, the kids, and I all started preparing for our Halloween party we were having later on. Linley and I were mostly in the kitchen prepping the food, although she always managed to find something else to do! I did get her to help pick up and clean the mirrors. Kip ran my errands and cleaned up the yard, all while Thayer took a fabulous nap.
We ended up getting it all pulled together just in time and had a fantastic night with our friends and their kids. Even though our house is on the small side it definately was doable. We had great food, wonderful company, and well behaved kids...what more could you ask for. We will definately have to have an adult party sometime soon, minus the kids. These are just a few pics that I was able to snap.