A Look at our Christmas

The kids opening their stockings.

Bella awoke to a new bed, a new rawhide bone and a new rope toy! She was in her element!

The Dog from the North

Bella loves the snow! I thought she would be a princess and gingerly step into the snow to do her business. Nope! She thinks she's a snow plow. She heads straight into the snow nose down. She LOVES it!

She would stay outside for hours if I would let her.

At least her coat looks warm.

The only draw-back is what you find UNDERNEATH the snow dog when she comes back in. Unless I get the blow dryer after her or rinse her in warm water, she will melt all over the house. Silly dog!

Christmas Photos for Aunt Doris

Johnny's Aunt Doris asked for some pictures of our house at Christmas. I had taken some of the kids a few weeks ago while trying to get a picture for our Christmas cards. Here are a few that didn't make the cut!

Parker on the upstairs landing

Parker in front of our new tall, skinny tree.

Grayson in front of the back window revealing our winter wonderland!

Parker, Grayson and Halle hiding our skinny tree.

Me and my sweetie. We used this picture in our card. Don't ask....I mailed them late....it should be coming!

Sweet Halle under the stockings that Nana made.



Grayson by his favorite Christmas things...the nutcrackers.

Halle Jane

Halle and cousin Chatlie at the American Girl store in Chicago. Nana treated us girls to a lovely Christmas dinner along with Alyssa and Molly (Halle and Chatlie's AG dolls.)

Sorry for the "posed" pictures Aunt Doris, but I hope this gives you an idea of what Christmas looks like at our house. I'll try to take some more candid shots and post them for you. Have a VERY Merry Christmas!

Friends

Jen, Helen & Wendy

Meet two of my very best Wheaton friends, Helen and Wendy. Our families have spent a lot time together over the last year, and the three of us have been meeting on Tuesday mornings to do Beth Moore Bible studies. I am thankful for good friends!

Dangers of the Ice and Snow

You've probably noticed that I haven't been blogging lately. It's either because I haven't found much blog-worthy or I've been too busy to notice stuff that should go on the blog. At any rate, something blog-worth DID happen today and I have time to post it! And you'll be thrilled to know that it's about my very most FAVORITE topic-----the weather!

I should've known that it was going to be a bad day. When you wake up and the temperature gauge says -9 degrees nothing good can come from it. We had no business being out of the house, but of course we had to go to Grayson's first indoor soccer game of the season. We all loaded up in the van and were on the highway when all of a sudden there was a loud CRASH, a hard SMACK and I was cold and wet.

And there you have it. A very large sheet of ice came off of the roof of the van in front of us and went right through our windshield (and notice the lovely dents in the roof). At first I was just shocked at the ability of snow from a car to smash through our windshield, but we quickly assessed that no one was hurt and were so thankful that the ice hit where it did. A few inches to the left and it would have hit Johnny, and few inches to the right and it would have hit me. A few inches lower and it could've blown the whole windshield. I am feeling God's protection at this very moment!

The inside of our van is covered with ice and glass. Although a lot of the windshield remained in-tact, lots of tiny pieces of glass adhered to the ice particles from the snow ball and are now littered all throughout our van. You can't touch one without the other.



We were close enough to Gray's game that we continued our journey. The front desk provided us with a roll of duct tape, and it did the trick. (Is there NOTHING that duct tape can't fix?) Needless to say, it was a very chilly ride home, but we made it. The car is still a mess....who wants to vacuum up icy glass chips when it's still below zero? None of us. We headed for the fireplace to thaw out. I think we'll just stay home until it warms up to double digits. The high today was supposed to be 5, but I don't think it made it. Tomorrow will be better. It's supposed to get up to 9....positive 9....18 degrees warmer than today. Yippee.

The Polar Express

All aboard! We took the kids on a trip to the North Pole via the Polar Express (aka the Metra Train.)

It was super cold outside but felt GREAT inside the train.

Nana and Granddaddy (and Bitty Baby) got to go with us, too!

The kids got sugar cookies and chocolate milk.

Halle enjoyed cuddling on Daddy's lap while listening to the Polar Express story.

We took several family pictures, but Halle and I looked the best in this one! It's hard to get 5 people looking great in one photo!

When we arrived at the North Pole, guess who we picked up? Who knew??

After our train ride, Santa met us at Starbuck's for coffee.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Halle's First Ever Angel Party

Ten little angels joined Halle for her first Angel Party--a tradition that my sister, Andrea, started when her girls were little. When Andrea moved to Houston, she mailed me her Angel Party box and urged me to get started with Halle. How could I refuse? The girls were all so cute dressed up in their wings and halos!

Each Angel brought and angel ornament for the gift exchange. It was fun to see all the unique ornaments--no two were alike.

After decorating pizza angels with sauce, pepperoni and cheese, the girls decorated angel-shaped sugar cookies. Here are Halle, Kelly and Kelsey in the various stages of decorating (and tasting!)

The girls also made several angel crafts--they decorated their wings, made an angel ornament and also an angel bracelet. Craft-time was very busy, and I was so blessed that my bonus parents were here (John and Jane Harris) to help me accomplish this! They were such a HUGE help!

I can't wait for Halle's Angel Party next year! What fun!