It was a Very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!! We had such a wonderful day. We spent the night (Saturday Night) at Grandma Kathy's and had a HUGE Christmas with her. She went overboard!! But the kid's sure loved it! Nick and Toni's families each got a golden retriever puppy. I was quite mad at Bryan because he refuses to let us get a puppy. But apparently Travis and Tyson are allergic to dogs. Travis' eyes swelled up and both Travis and Tyson out of the blue broke out in hives! So lucky for Bryan, he is off the hook! We spent Christmas morning with our own little family. The kids got PowerWheels, which of course was a huge hit. They've already taken them outside and they drive them around the garage and up and down our driveway. Next we went to my mom's and had another really nice Christmas. I feel so blessed to have my family so close. I love our traditional Christmas brunch! And finally we rushed to Uncle Ken's for the Allen Christmas. This is such a wild, yet fun family! Thank you to ALL my family for all the nice gifts and for the time we shared together. It truly was a blessed Christmas!!

Big Helper

Tyson is such a big helper at dinner time. Here he is scooping green beans onto everyone's dinner plate!

Little Elf Kids

This is so cute, it makes me laugh every time I see it!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1605291622

Polar Express Christmas Party

Today I was a room mom (yikes, I AM getting old!) for Rylee's Kindergarten Christmas party. I designed the entire party-- it was a Polar Express Theme. We made a train with chairs decorated with white Christmas lights, read the book, had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, and made a cute little train ornament. It was super cute! The kids even all wore their pjs! Thanks, Grandma Kathy, for coming out to help! Rylee LOVED having you there!

Captain Plastic Bag Underpants??

I got out of the shower the other day only to find Travis and Aaron wearing plastic Meijer bags. I thought it was pretty hilarious!!

Too Many Kids at Woodland

Last Saturday I was very brave and brought 4 kids (my 3 plus my nephew Aaron) to the mall. I met my sister-in-law Toni there and she had Bailey and Payton. We played on the breakfast food, saw Santa (they no longer allow you to take your own pictures!!), and ate lunch at A&W. The kids all got blue slushies and they thought it was the coolest thing. We sure had our hands full, and I think about 17 people made that comment!! It's all part of the Christmas experience.... right?!?!?!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Friday was my birthday, and I had a fabulous night. Even though I am depressed about creeping up on 30 (hey, I have 2 more years of being in my 20s), it was still tons of fun. We started out at Mojo's and then made our way to the B.O.B. Good friends, good dancing, good times! Thanks to all my dear friends for coming out and celebrating with me!!

Still trying to get a good Christmas picture for my Christmas cards!!

Why can't my pictures turn out as cute as Lauren Hosford's??? :) It's too hard to get 3 naughty kids to all sit nicely and smile!!!!!

Rylee's Christmas Program

Tonight we went to Rylee's Christmas Program at Rockford High School. She looked super cute in her sparkly green dress and her hair was all curled in ringlets. It is so much fun having a GIRL!! The DK, K, and 1st graders all did a really nice job!!

Mr. Mom

Tyson has been so into baby dolls lately, which I think is so precious. He used to just like the doll strollers, but now he likes pushing babies in his strollers! I think a lot of it has to do with how much he loves his big sister Rylee! He wants to be just like her. Today all the kids were at school and I noticed Tyson sitting in the recliner rocking his doll and feeding it a bottle. How cute is that?!?! It's a sign that he is going to be a fabulous father someday (just like his Daddy)!!!