Rocker Chick

For weeks, all Maddi could talk about was wanting a pink "tar" for Christmas. Everyone else except Dad had their own guitar so Maddi did not want to be left out of the fun. Here she is, in all her glory, rockin' out to some song on her guitar, (earpiece and microphone headset and all) having the time of her little life! Oh, and the costume? From her new collection of Disney princess dresses she got from Santa. Who knew that Belle was the rock 'n roll type??!!

Happy 8th Birthday Drew!

Wow! I can't believe that my little guy is now an 8 year old! Drew is an amazing kid who has grown up to be a polite, fun, silly, smart, happy person that I love to be around. It is funny to see the "generation gap" between me and him, as I have no technology skills at ALL! and he has no fear of all things electronic. If he doesn't know how to use something--no worries--he just dinks around and figures it out. Me, I just get frustrated and usually call for Jamie's help (see first blog post for reference).

For Christmas, Drew had gotten a couple of items that you could also use with an MP3 player. After all of his Christmas money was tallied up he was convinced that he needed to go buy one, although Jamie and I had already gotten him one for his birthday. After begging and begging for someone to take him to the store, we decided we better have him open his presents so he could see his MP3 player. Let the downloading begin!!! Song after song we downloaded and he was finally satisfied after he had about 20. The rest of the night he was walking, or dare I say, jammin' around the house, singing out very loud (his voice is about as good as mine) to his very own set of "Gunnar's tunes" (Gunnar is Drew's middle name). He also received Guitar Hero for our new Wii but I think that was more for Dad than anyone else since Jamie has played with it more than anyone else so far.

Since Jamie and I both worked today on Drew's actual birthday, we celebrated yesterday with a family day out. However, today he got to spend the day with a friend and they had a blast. Between swimming at the rec center, having a snowball fight with friends, and cupcakes with a big "8" candle to blow out (thanks Vicki!), he had a great birthday. We love you Drew and are so proud of you kiddo! You make us smile--

Christmas

Because Jamie had to work on Christmas Day (low man on the totem pole) we opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve, and then just had Santa presents on Christmas morning before Dad had to leave for work. Drew was probably the most surprised because he got the electric guitar he had sooo been wanting. He takes lessons and his current little acoustic guitar was an inexpensive one from Toys R Us and it is all but falling apart. The good news is that he has been practicing like crazy because he loves the sound it makes. Lars and Maddi enjoyed their Santa present too, but I think Maddi was most excited about the Hello Kitty items in her stocking that Santa found in the $1 bin at Target--go figure. Lars was probably equally excited about his Star Wars underwear because he keeps making me wash them to make sure they are clean for the next day.

Overall--the kids had a blast and even Grandpa Jim came over on Christmas Eve to play a game of golf on our new Wii. For the record--Drew won.

Baking Extravaganza

One of Maddi's Christmas presents was a Princess EZ bake oven of some sort but the cool (?) thing about it is that it doesn't use the good 'ol fashioned light bulb to bake your cake, it uses ice cubes. Sound gross? I thought so too, but Maddi was so excited to bake her first "cakes" all by herself that we had to do it first thing after opening that gift on Christmas Eve. It was interesting to say the least and the cake was a bit "spongey" (sp?) but she was thrilled and it wasn't anything a few extra sprinkles on top couldn't make better. Betty Crocker--eat your heart out!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Ahhh, the ever popular visit to the jolly old elf in the big red suit. I actually dread this part of the season because I always seem to take my kids when there is, in fact, the longest line of the season, or someone is crabby (usually me!), or everyone gets too hot so they pile up their coats in my arms, or someone has to go to the bathroom right when we get two spots away...you know the deal. This year, however, we were able to make the process pretty painless and had a fun evening hanging out waiting for our chance with "the big guy". Each of my children took their turn telling him the things they were hoping to get for Christmas and I was trying very hard to make sure I took good mental notes so I wouldn't forget.

The next morning I asked Lars to elaborate on one of the items he asked for but he told me, "no." As I tried to coax it out of him he told me that he wasn't telling anyone what he asked Santa for because that was between him and Santa. Since Santa knew what he wanted, it shouldn't matter to anyone else. Even 4 days later, still no telling! Wonder who he gets that stubborness from.....

First Birthday Party

After several years of watching his big brother get to go off and do cool stuff with friends, including birthday parties, Lars' big day finally came. Yes, I am talking about his first birthday party! He was so excited for this party that was for a friend from his very own class at school. He has been to other parties before but its usually with mom and dad or with family friends. But this party was different, this party was for Lars only. As Jamie and I watched him walk out that door with such a proud face and present in tow, we knew it was much more than just a birthday party, but a chance for our little Lars to show us that he's not as little as we would like him to be anymore. Although his growing independence is showing through, he still does lots of stuff in the shadow of his big brother who he adores, but this sort of marked the first of many more "big adventures" to come for the Lars man! PS--He's also got a loose tooth so stay tuned for updates on his first visit from the tooth fairy!