Christmas and stuff

Last week our friends came to visit for the day since they were on track break. It was so nice to have a full day off of being the kids entertainment! Thanks girls!We went to the dinosaur park and the kids had a blast!
We even fed the ducks and tried to stay away from the crazy geese.

On Christmas Eve we had the kids dress in their new pajamas from Grandma & Grandpa DeMille. They were super cute but getting a nice picture of the kids in the new pajamas was a different story! They were too excited for Christmas to come :)

We got up around 7:30am. I know the time will be getting earlier and earlier as the kids get older. It still seemed early to Jason and I because we were up til 1am getting toys put together.

I love this picture of Tyson peeking around the corner, he was SO excited!

Tyson and Taylor got a tunnel and tent. In the tent we put Tyson's huge dinosaur.

It has a remote control and makes the craziest sounds, the kids LOVE it.

Taylor got a big wheel and is now driving all over the house in it. I can't wait til the weather warms up and she can ride with Tyson outside. She will be in heaven.

The kids could have been done right there, but we had a whole ton of other presents to open!

Here Darrell is handing out presents. Next year we decided we will not let Darrell sit by anyone else's presents. He opened half of Mark's and was driving us nuts by the end!

Daddy and Taylor opening presents.

Mark was super excited to get new church shirts.

My Mom was visiting with us and made the kids these cute little hats.

Aren't they adorable?

This is the day after Christmas. I love that they are still playing in the tent. Tyson is having his dinosaur eat Taylor's new princess figurines. Classic!

I was trying to get a cute picture of the kids in their new church outfits, but this is the best I could get. I wanted a suit and coat for Tyson but found this little vest outfit instead. Taylor's skirt and shirt were from Grandma and Grandpa DeMille. It even had a matching coat! Oh, I love dressing the kids up! I knew all those years of playing Barbies with my sister would pay off eventually!

We hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas. 2010 here we come!

Christmas activities

Last night we went down to the Bellagio to see the flower displays and the water show. Our kids LOVE the strip and think all the lights are amazing. It is sad but I think we get down on the strip maybe once or twice a year. We decided this is our last "Christmas" outing. I don't think we'll make it up to Ethel M's or Sunset park this year. There are just too many people out! I went to Superwalmart yesterday during the day and the place was a mad house.

Tyson just got a haircut yesterday as well, he is looking so grown up lately!! He loves polar bears and knows all about them. He kept telling us polar bear facts as we walked around the Bellagio.

They had this fun train that went on all these little bridges. Really cute.
We saw the water show three times and the kids were mesmerized by it each time. It was such a nice night, I love Vegas!

I threw this picture in because this is what happens when Daddy holds the camera. I take nice pictures of him and the kids and this is what is taken of me. The kids will wonder why they have no pictures of their mother while they were growing up and I will tell them to ask their father that question! Side note: I am not crazy, Tyson likes to put his cold hands on you and I was telling him how cold his hands were. Just in case you wondering. (I love Taylor's face, even she knew daddy was taking a bad picture!)

We decided to do Christmas picture cards at the last minute. We set the camera up and tried to get a picture in front of the tree. One word: NIGHTMARE! I honestly thought about sending this picture out. Tyson wanted to go to sleep but we made him stay up and it got ugly.

Then we had the cheesy/painful smiles.

And finally we used this one.

So, I made 25 of them and was sure I wouldn't use them all. I mean, I know I do not have 25 friends. Well we used them all and didn't get to send them out to half of the people we wanted to. So sorry if you didn't get a card from us this year. Anything that goes wrong this Christmas I am blaming on being pregnant. So there you go :) Merry Christmas!!!

offensive language

I have to admit I am a swearer.

I once heard that swearing is the attempt of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully. I admit my mind is feeble and getting worse with each passing year. Jason thought once I had children it would help my potty mouth but it has only gotten worse. Not only is my mind feeble, it is also now sleep deprived. The reason I am telling all this is yesterday Tyson drops something on the floor and says, "Oh sh**!" (Sadly that is my go-to curse word.) I say, "Tyson, that is a bad word and we don't say bad words." He looks right at me and says ,"I didn't say a bad word I said oh sh**."

We sure reap what we sow huh?

I guess I have my New Years Resolution all ready to go!!

our week

We finally got this boy a tree! It is amazing how much a 4 year old can whine! He decorated it and it has made him so happy. Now the daily whine is about Christmas. "Is it Christmas yet, when's Christmas?" Side note: Has anyone seen this game Pop the Pig? If Tyson is not whining about Christmas he is talking about how my stomach is going to pop open just like this game. I am VERY disturbed by this game and may send a letter to the makers of it! Taylor is getting too big for her own britches! We had all the kids over for preschool last week and Taylor had to be right in the middle of the mix. Here all the kids are painting Christmas ornaments and Taylor is painting everything, including the table :) She was happy painting, she just pulls the angry eyebrows out every time I try to take a picture. Taylor can pull herself up onto all the chairs and piano bench now. Nothing is safe!
Yesterday Tyson's preschool class went on a field trip to Anderson Dairy. It was fun but the tour was a little weird. They would walk you down a hallway to show you all the machines and then at the end of the hallway the lady would say, "Now turn around so we can go down the other hallway." I was worried a little kid would get trampled or something, it was odd.

The best part was the free samples of ice cream at the end!

They also have all of these puppet animals that talk and tell stories (like the ones at Chuck E Cheese). Tyson is still worried about this mouse that is being chased by a cat. Of all the things he saw that's what he remembers! My son, what a nut!

Traditions

Jason and I were joking the other day how going to the Magical Forest every year is our unofficial and unwanted tradition. A little information on the Magical Forest if you are unfamiliar: It is at Opportunity Village (that's where Mark works) and every year they have all of these lights and displays and things for the kids to do. We have been going since before we had kids because we would always take my guys. Poor Jason didn't know what he was in for when he married me!This year we went early because last year we went on New Year's Day and everything was trashed. We also wanted a night that wasn't too cold for everyone and Monday was just beautiful here in Vegas.

Tyson was obsessed with this slide, sorry it's so dark, starting from the left is Darrell, Jason and Tyson.
Every year a sports store makes an awesome display with motorcycles, this year was no exception!

Tyson went into an ambulance, he is afraid of police men, ambulances and firetrucks so he did really well in this ambulance. Why is he afraid of police, etc. you ask, because we told him if he's bad they would take him to jail. He has never tried to get out of his car seat while we were driving again! I know, mother of the year award material, but sometimes you would just do or say anything for them to be good in the car! It's hard enough with all the crazies on the road!!

Taylor was in pointing heaven, everything got a huge wow and point from her :)

What can I say?

By far our most favorite thing is the train. It runs all through the displays and is loads of fun. Mark loves it because he gets his own wheelchair car and waves at everyone like he's in a parade.

Taylor was very serious during the ride. She smiled when we got off of it.

The merry go round takes a close second to the train, I think they went on it 4 times at least.

Inside they have all these gingerbread houses that were made by the casinos or cooking schools. This one took the blue ribbon and even had a working clock in it!

We also had to have funnel cake which made a huge mess! Too fun!

Tyson loves decorating for Christmas and I think we are finally going to go get him his tree. I wonder what he'll whine about all day after we get it!

We have started a brand new tradition this year! Yes, I know Thanksgiving is over but I've decided we are getting older and I am not getting any better at cooking Thanksgiving so every year we need to have our own no stress, no deadlines, no company Thanksgiving. We made a turkey and I tried three new recipes. It was GREAT! Don't get me wrong we love seeing family and all that but man, get togethers are stressful! And I'm sure my kids would not have worn these hats in front of everyone. Aren't they the greatest?!?

We love getting the grape and apple juice in the wine bottles, Mark and Darrell think they are drinking the real thing and laugh their guts out. What a couple of nuts!

Traditions are fun, unwanted or brand new. What are some of yours?