The Grandkids

My sister took some pictures of the kids for some possible gift ideas for my dad for Christmas. Here are some of her shots!

Advent by Candlelight

This was our table, decorated by my mom.

Megan (my best friend) and me

My sister-in-law Jessica, me, my sister Maria, and Maria's MIL Pat

On Friay night my church had their first "Advent by Candlelight." This was such a WONDERFUL evening. It is for ladies only! Each table was decorated by the table sponsor, and then each table provided an appetizer, dessert, salad, and fruit/vegetable for the buffet. We walked around and looked at all the tables, and they were just amazing. People used their finest china, and the centerpieces were all so interesting and gorgeous! We enjoyed wine, great food, beautiful music, and the company of some very special women. If anyone has any tie to OLC in any way, I highly recommend coming to this event next year. It is so worth it to take some time, slow down in this crazy month, and really appreciate the true meaning of Christmas!!

Sorry for the lack of blogger updates....

but once again, I lost my stupid (as Tyson says, "no say poo-pid") camera. Every time I lose it, it always comes back to me though. And sure enough, it has been found. I took it up to Kathy's last weekend for Thanksgiving, and it got lost somewhere in her house. So I got no pictures of Thanksgiving, and the camera is still up in Grant, so I cannot take new pictures! Sorry! It is my pet peeve when people do not update their blog regularly, and now I am guilty! I hate my piece of junk camera too. None of the buttons work on it, so you can't zoom, delete, or look at any of the pictures from the camera. Junk! We will have to get a new one before we go on our CRUISE in 4 short months! CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!

Nothing new and exciting around here. I am still looking to fill one daycare spot. It is very stressful to be short on money right before the holidays. I've had a few interviews, but everyone seems to live on the opposite side of Rockford as me and no one wants to drive so far! I don't blame them! I am sure it will all work out, as it always does.

We got the world's ugliest Christmas tree last weekend! I saw a sign for Christmas trees for only 30 bucks, so we went there. It turns out this was not a real Christmas tree farm though! It was a guy who has a big field of huge pine trees. He will cut off the tops of these huge trees. I just couldn't bare to tell the guy the trees were ugly, so we just picked one out. I didn't realize exactly how ugly it was until we got it home. It looks TERRIBLE! I wish I could take it down now! But it's a memory I guess! The kids think it's great, and that's all that matters. :)

I am looking forward to the next few weekends and all the Christmas parties! Today my sister is coming over to bake Christmas cookies! :) I love all this snow (for now) and the Christmas spirit is in the air! Happy Holidays to all!!!! Hopefully new pictures will be posted soon!

Hot Chocolate Season Begins!

The other day the kids played outside for a bit in the cold weather! When they came in, they all wanted hot chocolate. It immediately reminded me of last winter. EVERY TIME they played outside, they wanted hot chocolate to warm back up!

What else is new with the McKellars? Bryan and I went to conferences for Rylee and Travis on Wednesday night. Miss VanderVeen said that she and Mrs. Cole just love Travis to pieces. He has already shown tremendous growth since school started. He is well-behaved, smart, cute, and just doing great overall! Rylee is also doing very well in first grade with Mrs. Pitsch. Her reading is FABULOUS and her writing is also great. Apparently Rylee has made a close friendship with one girl in the class, so she just needs to work on making more friendships and not being so "cliquey." Here I go with the drama of having a girl!!! But Bryan and I are both very proud of our kids. Tyson even got a mini-report card from his teacher! He is also doing very well in school. He participates appropriately in circle time and other class activities, he enjoys playing with his friends, and he is speaking in full sentences now. Most of his words still don't have beginning sounds though! But he is really talking so much more now. The other day he said, "Never mind!" when Bryan and I could not understand what he was saying. It is so cute to see all those little expressions that he picks up on.

And the last exciting news to share is that our basement is now complete! Last week we had the refrigerator delivered, and it added the last touch to our basement bar. Our grand opening party for our basement bar is scheduled for NYE 08.

Trick-or-Treat!!

Tyson had to try on Brandon's Michigan helmet!

Bryan tried it on too!

Here is Bryan pulling the boys in the wagon.

Tyson has got to the the cutest Winnie the Pooh ever!

Rylee was so excited to find her friend Alexia from school! They ended up trick-or-treating together the whole night!

We stopped by to say "hi" to Auntie Ann and Uncle Ernie!

Here is Travis enjoying apples and caramel dip at his school party!

Rylee is decorating a sugar cookie at her school party!

We also stopped by Grandpa Jim's and Grandma Jean's to get some candy! Aunt Maria was there too, along with Uncle Carl, Aunt Jess, and Aaron. Notice Aunt Maria as the preggo zebra! haha!!

This is Rylee in the school costume parade.

And there's Travis as Batman!!

Rylee and her friend Megan.

Travis and his friend Gabriel.

What a gorgeous Halloween we had! It was just perfect! We started the fun with Rylee and Travis' school parties. Then we came home and got ready for trick-or-treating. Rylee decided at the last minute that she didn't want to be a koala anymore (it was too "boring"), so we dug through our dress-up box and she ended up being a bride! Travis was Batman, and Tyson was Winnie the Pooh. We went with a big group of friends to trick-or-treat in the Cannon Farms neighborhood. This was the best year we have ever had with our kids and trick-or-treating! They are finally old enough now to enjoy it! The past few years, we went to about 4 houses and the kids were done. But this year they ran from house to house and just loved it! Bryan and I could even wait on the sidewalk and the kids went to the doors by themselves! I brought the wagon along, so they rode some and walked some. After over an hour of trick-or-treating, we went back to Abby's for a party. She had yummy food, GREAT cookies, and a delcious spiked apple cider labeled "NOT FOR KIDS!" It was a wonderful day and just loaded with fun!!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we carved our pumpkins! It is so much fun to see the kids' excitement! I just love doing things that bring back the joys of childhood! Tyson, however, had no interest. He cried the whole time and was "scared" (he tends to be our wimpy child!). So that he why he is no where to be found in these pictures! The kids are getting so excited for Halloween!

Spiderman Jaden

Jaden and Maria hung out with us today and Jaden was running around wearing this outfit. He is so stinking cute!!