A weekend with some cousins...

My (Sarah) parents came up for the weekend with our niece and two nephews (on my side.)

My mom had come up to watch the boys when Selah was born, but hadn't seen her since, and my dad had yet to meet her, so it was a nice time. Selah was horribly spoiled, especially since her Godparents came over, too. She did not get put down much, or at all really.

Watch out Makian, you are going to be a war casualty!

(Brianna shooting at Mr. Eric. Bryan reloading her belt.)

SURPRISE ATTACK!

Jacoby comes out of nowhere and Noah takes refuge on the couch with Mr. Eric!

Bryan is not at all fazed by any of this...

Bryan, attacking the little people.

Poor little people!

Selah, getting some loving from her Godparents!

Thought bubble above Selah: You know, I actually wouldn't mind playing on my mat for a little bit if that is alright. All this entertaining is exhausting!


Jonah is a bit exhausted, too. He's catching a breather in the corner. (2 hours past bedtime.)

Trying to get a picture of all of the kids together. We are waiting on the two 3 year olds... Jonah and Jacoby look like typical men, and Brianna just LOVES to hold Selah!

It didn't get much better than this. Rachael's kids (Brianna and Jacoby) are hamming it up, while the rest are not interested.

The adults, playing with the kids' toys after the kids are in bed...

We had quite a thunderstorm (yes, in December) during the night. 50 mph gusts. That WAS our grill, which USED to be on the patio with the chairs...And it appears that the OSU grill cover blew away. Probably into some poor Michigan fans yard, the imagined look on their face makes it all worthwhile!

Selah has this problem where she doesn't like to wear her hat.

See? And it usually retains it's shape like this. Weird, eh?

Brianna sneaking a nap, er...I mean, spending some quality time with Uncle Bryan!

Makian is finally my friend. I just had to bribe him with cupcakes...I am not too proud!

Selah, napping on Grandma.

Waiting.

We cannot open presents until Noah gets up from his nap.

So I am just going to keep an eye on them.

Me, too!

(Makian kept restacking and making towers until I finally went and woke Noah up.)

FINALLY!

Noah came down to the kids' relief!

The girls.

Brianna and Selah.

A somewhat better picture of all of the kids.

Jonah-7

Jacoby-7

Brianna-5

Noah-3

Makian-3

and Selah-3 months.
Thanks Aunt Rachael!!

Here comes Jake, guns blazin'!

(This is battle number 302)

Jacoby watching Brianna's back while she makes a quick get away!

Finally a smile for the camera!

(Jess, he needs a haircut.)

Evil that I am, I snuck in a family picture op while there was someone to take it.

Bryan was NOT happy. But hey.

(Selah got quite a few compliments at church wearing her new red dress!)

Watching Zamboni videos on Youtube.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Santa Came...along with some pretty awesome packages in the mail from family and friends, even though the boys weren't perfect, I guess that weren't bad enough for the "naughty" list!

I was truly afraid that Jonah was going to make a big deal out of not getting as much this year as last year, though I did have a talk with him about how his gifts cost more than Noah's and he probably wouldn't have as many as Noah. His response? That's okay, Santa will bring me stuff, too! However, they were both very grateful for everything they got, and i never once heard any complaining (except about the lack of 6 D batteries, which will probably cost as much as the gun! And Selah got a toy that takes 4! Santa had better check that stuff more carefully next year!)

Well, I tried to get them all smiling, but looking is the best I could get!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and didn't forget to say Happy Birthday to Jesus! No cake for Jesus here this year, I was too far behind :( But we did say Happy Birthday!

Jonah's 8th Christmas

It is so hard to believe that this is Jonah's 8th Christmas! I think he fared a bit better this year than his first (Santa got him a Medela double electric pump in 2001- as it was $200, that was all he got! Luckily he was the first grandkid on both sides, so his extended family made up for Santa's lacking!)

Here he is, checking for the "good stuff."

This one says Jonah!!

So at first he stacked all of the obvious clothes boxes to the side, but once he opened one, he was THRILLED! New, soft, warm pjs!

Hey, is that another clothes box????
I sure do hope it is more pjs!
(He got 5 pairs of pjs, and was more excited each time! It is great to buy things they need and have them get excited!)


LOVING my new Hess truck. These things get better each year!
THANKS to you in the F L!

Opening the box from our great grandparents and Jacki in WV!

We are so excited to wear our new WV Mountaineers shirts, and Selah already wore her Santa clothes (see below)! And thanks for the Army truck that shoots missiles and the RC sports car!

WOAH!

A remote control Marine Chinook!

Dad said we could pretend it didn't say Marines and I could still keep it ;)

It it so cool, though it has sustained some battle damage recently.

(Dad figured out the hard way that super glue melts Styrofoam. But Scotch tape holds up through a few crashes before it must be replaced!)

This is what I asked for!

The new "belt-fed" Nerf gun.

Unfortunately it takes 6 D batteries, so I haven't gotten to try out the power mode yet.

Which is probably going to hurt, so you better not mess with me!

I also got two Lego Star Wars ships and Star Wars math game for my Leapster. I got my WHOLE list! What a great year!

Noah's Fourth Christmas

Noah was pretty excited about Christmas this year.

Maybe not so much about the clothes, though.

Then I convinced him to look at the clothes instead of just pitching the box to the side.

I think he was glad that he did...

Because waiting inside was a shirt that reads:
i wanna drive the (picture of a Zamboni).

According to Noah his shirt says:
"I like to drive the ice machine!"


I don't REALLY have to take my shirt off to wash it, do I?

The "ice machine driver, Nick" is driving his other truck.

The Hess truck this year is a dump truck with a front-end loader.

The boys LOVE these trucks, which are only put out at Christmas, and having working lights, sounds and motorized parts!

Noah is in total shock that he got HIS OWN light saber for Christmas.

(It had to be Sith, as I think we have all the other colors.)

He was SO excited (since now Jonah cannot take it away from him), though I think Jonah played with it more than Noah. Unbeknownst to me, NONE of Jonah's 3 light sabers work anymore. (and they don't just need new batteries.) Poor Jonah, he might just have to use his imagination for the lights and sounds...

This is the Ice machine driver in his new hat.

The infamous Diego train set. (see quote of the day)

Amazingly enough, he said he just wanted Santa to bring this train set- EVEN AFTER he had seen it in my closet. He said, "I hope I get the rest of the Diego train set. Oh wait. (ran to my closet- but I had moved it) Oh, yeah, it's not there. I hope Santa brings it for me!"

Noah, not sure if he is enjoying his lollipop from Grandpa Mike and Grandma Debbie.

(But he did eat the whole thing, so it couldn't have been too bad!)

Oh, I wasn't on the table! Really I wasn't!

This time he was quicker than the camera. (Note the tablecloth and the track hanging off the table.)

Once again, I really wasn't on the table!

He told me:"I cannot climb on the table because I might get hurt and Santa would be sad that I could not play with my new Thomas train set!"

Christmas Eve

We went to Mass on Christmas Eve, and it was great- less crowded than Sundays! Selah wore her dress again, and this time we remembered her shoes!

Just waiting to go to bed so Santa can come to my house!

Noah playing with his garbage truck he bought with the money Grandpa Mike and Grandma Debbie sent.
He is garbage man, NICK.
(No clue)


And one last check to see where Santa is before bed!
(the military has a website called NORAD tracks Santa, and we keep an eye on it every year. The kids love it.)

The boys got to open one gift Christmas Eve, and I videoed, but did not take pictures. OOPS!
Jonah opened his gift from Tyler- a new tanker truck. He had a lot of fun playing with that.
And Noah opened his gift from Aunt Pat and GG. He got (drum roll, please...) a REMOTE CONTROL ZAMBONI!!!! It is specially made for little kids, so it is easy for him to drive, and he LOVES IT! (Like there was any doubt on that one.) He says THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Selah's first Christmas

We all gathered around Selah for the opening of her first ever Christmas present. Everyone was so excited...

Everyone except Selah, that is!

But it got better as it went on...

She got a handful...

And tore it off. Good Job, Selah!

Hmm. What is this?

Wrapping paper?

What shall I do with it?

I KNOW!

I will eat it!

(BRYAN! STOP HER!)

Good save, Daddy!

Selah, wearing her new Christmas dress (over her PJs).

Let me see that!

What does she want?

Her new musical globe from her wonderful Godparents!

She really liked watching it spin!

Hanging out with her new Christmas bear.

(The collar of the dress was not buttoned, hence the "scarf.")

Well, Dad. What do I do with it?

Is it going to get me?

Sweet little Selah taking a Christmas nap.

Mom! Don't you know that I hear the click of the camera?

I'm ready to play now!

Noah! Please let me play with my own presents!

(Santa bought her a jumpy thing.)

Wow! Look at that flower! OH. I didn't know it was the sun!

On my new "tummy time" toy. Mom hopes I won't scream until I puke on this one!

Can't you make any funny faces, Mom? I am pretty tired of hearing you call my name and take a picture!

That's better.

Wearing my new Santa outfit.

Jammin' to the music in my other new Santa outfit!