It's Been Awhile

Just thought I would test out the software, and see if the kink that was killing my blogging spirit has been fixed.  Maybe I should wait until after all the holiday craziness!!  Good thing I have a helper for all the decorating.

 

Hooray!  All better.  I can continue!

We have been quite busy since Thanksgiving.  It seems like there is always something that needs to be done before Christmas.   The kids and I drove up to Seal Beach one day during the first week of December to visit Brett (who was up there with his ship all week) and to see Great Uncle Doug, Great Aunt Carol, and Brett's cousin Greg.  

Carol was fabulous enough to take a picture of the 4 of us together, our first in over a year.  Oops.  We should be better about that, huh?  The kids were a handful after spending two hours in a car, but we still had a great time and a VERY yummy dinner.

After Brett got home Saturday morning, we enjoyed a very lazy weekend involving Pajama Days and lots of couch snuggling.

Our babysitter, Sarah, was kind enough to help me try to get a decent picture of the kids for our Christmas card, but alas, it was not meant to be.  Not a single picture of the two smiling (with a normal smile) at the same time!  This was the closest we got, and wouldn't you know, it was the first picture taken.

Have you heard about Sarah?  We love her.  By far the BEST babysitter we have ever had.  Of course, she is leaving us to chase her dreams in New York City.  Isn't that always the way with the best sitters?

This last weekend was less than relaxing.  Brett's Christmas party for his ship on Friday night was exciting to say the least.  Even the kids were up at least 3 hours past their bedtimes eating candy and playing with the other kids.  The next day, well, they were less than chipper.

We still dragged them to the USO Santa Store event, and it was completely worth it.  Emily got to sit on Santa's lap for the First Time Ever.  (She was too scared of him last year.)  And one of the volunteers used Brett's phone to take a picture of all of us.

Two pictures of all of us in the same month??  Groundbreaking!

The kids each got a goody from Santa.  In fact, Sean got a very fabulous Fisher Price phone which he was 'talking' on for the rest of the afternoon.

The main event was Emily getting to 'shop' in Santa's Store for presents for Brett and I, which she then got help wrapping.  It all stays a secret until Christmas - we even had to wait for her behind a curtain, and she was ecstatic!  As soon as we got home we had to 'put them up in her closet so we didn't peek!'.  What a ham.  While she was 'shopping', Sean got to walk around the Harley Davidson dealership (did I mention they helped sponsor the event with the USO?) and watch people starting up motorcycles.  I have never heard him say, "Oooh!" so many times in one day before!

Emily is a little too obsessed with the 'naughty list'.  She even went so far as to make a video of herself explaining to Santa why she should be on the 'nice list' and gave him examples of herself being good.  She ended it with, "And being good is one of my favorite things to do!".  If she doesn't become an artist, I see a lawyer or lobbyist in our future!

I haven't uploaded any new pictures lately, there is just not enough time!  Hopefully this will keep the Grandma's at bay a little longer.  You know how those Grandmas get...

No one likes you, Blogspot.

So we have moved to San Diego (Bonita to be exact) and both Emily and Sean have had a birthday. I would love to tell you all about it, but I am having a crazy time trying to edit a new blog post. For now, please just check out the pictures in the links to the left. January - April are all new! And if you notice we don't have hardly any March pictures, that would be because in the shuffle of the move the battery charger for the camera was "misplaced". (aka Emily put it away with her toys and I didn't find it for almost a month.) I also wish we had more pictures of our road trip out west. I'll do better next time!

Was December Really That Fast?

December was a little hectic. Just a little. We had to get ready for Christmas:

Everyone (well, except Sean) had to visit the dentist:

Brett graduated (summa cum laude!) and received his commission:

Emily got to help out by removing the black tape covering his ensign stripes. It was crazy cute!

Grandpa Larry and Grandma Sally came to visit for a week and we did our best to keep them busy. We exchanged presents while they were here too.

Emily and Grandma had a great time making cake in her new Easy Bake Oven.

A few short days and a little bit of silliness later,

it was time to pack to head to Wisconsin.

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Ken called in a few favors and got Emily some record breaking snow to play in. And here I was worried there wouldn't be any...

We got to share Christmas morning with Grandpa and Grandma.

(Did you notice the strategic lack of ornaments on the bottom of the tree?)

The next day all the cousins arrived for our Glidden Christmas, and chaos reigned. In fact, there was so much chaos, I misplaced my camera...

After everyone headed home Brett and I went visiting and Sean made a new friend, Elliot.

We also had a few nice visits with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Swaney.

We flew back home on New Year's Eve and walked in the house a few short minutes before midnight.

See? It really was crazy!

(Don't forget to check out the December Pictures link on the top left of the page for more pictures!)

Nomad Babies

Last November we spent more time away than at home! We love to visit grandparents and Brett's schedule allowed us some time. First I took the munchkins to the farm in Wisconsin for a week. After all that time getting the house ready to show, we needed a break! Obviously, Grandma Pam got as many snuggles in as possible.

Emily snuggled as well, but she likes to spread her snuggles all around. Plus, I think the kitties were helping keep her warm in the cool Wisconsin Fall air.

She used her best "cute faces" and pretty smiles to entice Grandma to keep the craft projects rolling across the table for most of our visit. =D

Sean seems to be taking after Uncle Chad and spent his time "working on cars and trucks" for Grandma and Grandpa.

We did go home for a week and Emily did a great job being a big girl and helping to keep the house, as she called it, "ready for pictures!" For Sean it was just business as usual. (Yes, that is food on his face.)

For the week of Thanksgiving we drove to Grandma Sally and Grandpa Larry's house for more snuggling and some fabulous turkey.

Emily worked on a LOT of puzzles with Grandma and Sean did his best to terrorize both Grandpa Larry and Buford.

He loves to scoot around their house and watch the world outside. It's the only place he's been where even he can see out the windows!

It was wonderful to get to do so much visiting, and really, 12 hours each way in the car with the kids wasn't all that bad. No, really. =D

Fall!

Hello, long time no blog eh? I could make excuses about how my camera doesn't turn on without the planets being properly aligned, or how whenever I upload a picture onto a blog I am working on it defaults to the very top of the page... I could, but I won't. Any more. =D

October was a very exciting month for us. Halloween is a much anticipated holiday here since I start working on costumes about a month before and Emily gets to watch them slowly come to life. I had originally planned to dress Emily up as Milli, and got so far as finishing a satin dress for her, but then I saw a scarecrow costume for Sean and decided Emily could accompany him as Dorothy. I think they approved.

Our first Halloween outing was 'Trunk or Treat' at church the Sunday afternoon before the actual holiday. They had face painting, cotton candy, and lots of games for the kids. It was an absolute blast.

We also did some real Trick or Treating the next Sunday, which Emily was so very into that she wore herself out after about an hour. We weren't too sad about that. =D

I had a chance to take them to the Montgomery Zoo one day in October as well. They have finished the giraffe feeding platform and both kids got to feed the 3 year old.

Sean has pretty much mastered the art of sitting up by himself, but every so often he gets so excited he tips over backward. It's pretty adorable. In fact, some times he is the last man standing...

He is just such a happy little guy. He brings a smile to our faces every day!

As always, don't forget to check out all the new pictures in the October folder!

"I Had Fun With Grandma"

We had the pleasure of Grandma Pam's company this last week and a half, and boy was it ever a pleasure. =D

I would definitely have to say that one of the highlights of her trip was our visit to Dream Field Farm. Emily got to feed a baby goat and a calf with a bottle.

She got to learn how to milk a cow. (Don't worry, it was just a 'practice' cow...)

We also got to take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our little pumpkins!

They had a "Cow Train" pulled by a small tractor that took us on a tour of the farm and even out to their honeybee hive where we were able to watch the bees fill their honeycomb through a huge plexiglas enclosure.

We finished our day there with some quality bouncy house time and Sean took a much needed nap.

On the way home we stopped for lunch and some shopping in Montgomery. Emily loves to look through the sewing patterns at Joann's!

And wouldn't you know it, Sean needed another nap.

Sean has had a few firsts the last few weeks. On September 30th (the day we went to the pumpkin patch) he got his very first tooth! (He will not let me take a picture inside his mouth, or you know I would!) He also wore his very first pair of sneakers last week.

Emily and Grandma also helped me de-clutter, paint, and organize the house in preparation for trying to sell it. Emily's favorite part has been playing in the huge U-Haul storage boxes and helping fill them up.

As always, don't forget to check the "September Pictures" link in the upper left for more photos like this one:

And seriously, how cute is this??? =D