The Extended Laney get together

On Sunday we went to mom's house again for a Laney get together. It's the first time in forever that most of the family got together for something other than a death or a wedding. Dad was even there through Skype. (Bob's family didn't come into town for the holidays and Jared and Megan were at the Bengals game.)

I know Grandma Laney enjoyed having the family all together. I enjoyed visiting with everyone. I was especially glad to visit with the out of towners-Deb, Josh, Noah, Audrey and Pete. I hope Audrey has a great experience student teaching and learns a lot. I have great memories from my teaching experience so I hope she does too. Noah is the cutes little baby boy. I just want to pinch his cheeks every time he smiles at me. I wished Deb and Josh lived closer. I know we would enjoy hanging out together.

We enjoyed everyones company and all the good food. I really loved Deb's candy apples, yummy. I hope that we can do this again next year or the next time everyone is in town. To top of the evening the Bengals won the game to clinch the AFC North division and got a spot in the playoffs.

The Day After Christmas

Usually my family gets together on Christmas day. This year we got together the day after Christmas. We got up and went on over to my mom's house. We had brunch together. Then when Lindsey and her family arrived we were able to open the gifts Santa brought to grandma's house.

The kids got lots of fun gifts from Santa; remote control cars, dinosaurs, army men, Leapster games, and much more. Santa was also good to Reuben and I. We got a new grill!!! Santa also gave me a beautiful bracelet from Iraq and Reuben got a couple of knives. Of course Santa is always very generous.

Later that afternoon the rest of the extended family arrived. First Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Baur then Barb, Barry, Jameel, Sara and Nick (Sara's boyfriend). It was wonderful seeing everyone. We exchanged gifts with Great-grandma/pa. They are always so generous. We are very grateful for them and their generosity.

Then the feast began. We had a delicious dinner mom prepared. Once we were all filled up, we spent the evening talking and playing cards. The children were well behaved and enjoyed playing together. It was a wonderful evening spending time with the whole family.

Christmas day

Today was so relaxing. After opening presents the kids played with their toys and I began making a breakfast casserole. My mom stopped by to see the boys and see what Santa had brought them. She stayed and had breakfast with us. We enjoyed having her over. During her visit we decided we all need a healthier lifestyle. I want to start working out twice a week. We'll see how that goes.

Then Debbie and David came over around noon and brought tones of snacks and treats. They polished of the casserole and we snacked all afternoon. The boys had received Nerf guns from Great Aunt Linda and Santa this year. So Reuben thought it would be funny to shoot everyone with the Nerf gun. So of course it was all out war. We had six guns, one for each of us. The family room and dinning room were covered with Nerf darts. If anyone peeked through our front window, they would think we were either totally crazy or tones of fun. Jared and Megan stopped by for a visit. Jared got to join in on some of the dart gun war. It was so funny to hear everyone laughing.

Today was the first time in 10 years I served dinner for our family on our fine china. (I have used them for bridal showers.) We always go to our families homes for holidays so I have never cooked a meal that I felt warranted using our china. So, since we stayed home for Christmas day this year, I told Reuben I would make dinner and serve it on the china and use the nice silverware. Dinner was delicious and beautiful on the china. Hopefully during the next 10 years I'll find more reasons to use it.

As the evening came to an end, we played a game of Coodies with the boys and then sent them to bed. Then David, Debbie, Reuben and I played Sequence. David and Reuben dominated the game. After that I think we were all ready to wind down for the night. We said our good byes and Merry Christmas and finally the house was quiet.

I am so thankful for our families. We are so blessed to have both of our families close to us and so involved in our lives. We look forward to the day my dad returns and is home for good this time. We miss you dad, Merry Christmas.

Christmas morning '09

Evan woke up and asked if he could watch TV. I gladly laid back down in bed for a few more minutes. About 30 minutes later he came back in and asked when we were going to open presents. I asked him if he'd checked under the tree yet. He turned around and ran down stairs to look for the presents. Then came back up and said," Santa came!" I told him to go wake up his brother and then we will all go down and open presents.

As the boys ripped into each present they said, "I always wanted one of these." This was the first year both boys were totally independent in opening their presents. Logan first found his presents and lined them up across the floor. Then he went down the line opening each package. He would say "awesome", "cool", "I always wanted one of these." Then he got to one and after he opened it he handed it to Reuben and said, "You can have this one."

Evan was delighted to find out what each present was. He also said, "I always wanted one of these." They were so excited to play with their new toys.

Great Grandparents

Great Grandparents are the best. The boys and I went with my mom to my G and G Baur's house today. They both had bad falls last week. We went with mom to get groceries for them and then spent the day playing cards. Grandma and grandpa are fun to play cards with. Grandpa is always good for some "table talk". I liked having grandma as a partner. We make a good team even though we lost.:(

Grandma and grandpa enjoyed watching the boys play with my great-grandma's marbles and a magnetic dart board. I got the job of putting the old farm puzzle back together. Evan played with the cat, Old Yeller II. The cat wore out before Evan did. Logan liked to watch the cuckoo clock.

I love my grandparents very much. They have been a big part of my life and their influence has helped shape me into the person I am today. I am so glad that my children get to enjoy time with them as well.

Jason Mraz

Evan and Logan "09 Christmas

Christmas craft ideas for school

The boys have brought home some great crafts and gifts from school this year. I wanted to make a list of the items so that I don't forget them.

-Logan glued a paper plate to a large construction paper. He decorated the paper like a place mat. It is supposed to be for Santa's cookies and milk.
-Logan's teachers gave him play-dough and a cookie cutter.
-Logan made a green paper wreath with white dots on it. The dots were numbered 1 to 25. He was given 25 red dots to cover the white dots each day until Christmas.
-Logan also made a door hanger. They painted his hand green and he put his hand prints on a piece of fabric in the shape of a wreath. Then they wrapped it around a dow rod and tied ribbon on it.
-Logan was given a bell necklace that looks like a snowman head.
-Evan's teacher gave him a book and Christmas cards that Evan hand made. She had made a "window" with the words "From the desk of". Evan then wrote his name and drew a picture. His teacher Xerox copied this onto 6 pieces of card stock. She then gave him the cards, envelopes, and a pen as a gift.

Christmas tree

Logan picked out the star for a tree topper today. So my tree is officially decorated. We also bought some peppermint balls to add this year.

Logan likes Christmas

I was reading some of the posts to Logan and he heard about how much Evan is looking forward to Christmas. He said, "I like Christmas too. Put my name on there." So now I am writing about Logan. He is sitting on my lap wanting to type his name so here we go.

logan
njvvhjklouirewmnbvczztyip[uuyujuhhyyuhhghgghuy7hnbgnbbnbvb v bbbggjjhgtgggg
jhyikukkkk jujggvz478IUYYYYYYYUUHYTGgyjhbbfcvhip08uy/mmjmmnnbnmm, iuokoujyu8juj7ubtygfypl;ujk9.;j

He enjoyed poking at the keyboard.

The Elf on the Shelf

 

 

My visiting teachers gave our family The Elf on the Shelf.  This gift helped us begin a new family tradition.  The elf arrives around the holidays.  His sole responsibility is to watch the children's behavior and report it to Santa each night.  The next morning after the children wake up, they will discover the elf has returned from the North Pole and is now resting in a new and different place.  To better preserve his mystique the children are not allowed to touch him but they can talk to him.  The elf has strict orders not to talk to them, but the elf is under no such orders where grown-ups are concerned.

The elf comes in a box with a book called "The Elf on the Shelf".  The story explains the elf's job.  It also asks the children to name him.  Our family's elf name is Ron, after my grandpa, Ronald Laney.  We thought he would be great to help watch over our family. I sure hope the boys remember that Ron is watching them and reporting to Santa.  

Hot Chocolate

Logan and I decided to have hot chocolate this afternoon. Mike was outside cutting down a dead tree. We took him some hot chocolate and he was so grateful to warm up just a bit. I love hot chocolate.

Playlist

chapped lips

How do you get a kid to stop licking his lips? Logan's mouth looks like it's on fire.  He won't stop licking his lips.  I put Vaseline on his mouth every night.  He licks after drinking, eating, and just because.  He has chap stick in his pocket but doesn't use it.  Logan just likes to hold things.  

Logan loves holding and stashing things. He has a spot under his bed where he hides things.  His spot is toward the head of his bed and behind a basket of books.  Every time we're missing something we have learned to check his "spot" before panicking. He also likes small bags or boxes to stash his things (our things) in. He has used a Lightening McQueen soft lunch box, small jewelry box, backpack on wheels and just about every pair of pants with pockets.  The last time he had gum he put it in his pants pocket.  And of course it went through the wash.  Reuben will occasionally do wash and doesn't think to check Logan's pockets.  At least the load was mostly the boys clothes which really aren't worth much.  Oh well...

5 years old is the best age for Christmas

I can't wait for Christmas this year.  5 years old is the best age to be for Christmas.  Evan is so excited and has so many questions.  He has asked about Santa and how he brings the presents in the house, if Santa knows his name, and many others.  He recognized the ornament that was given to him last year from Santa.  He asked me if he could write a thank you note and leave it for Santa.  He is so thoughtful. He is also very sneaky.  When he visits grandma's or mema's house he goes snooping for presents.  He is good at hide and seek so they better be careful where they leave things laying around. :) 

I figured everyone else is doing it...