Snow to our eyeballs or maybe just or Knee Caps

We have had a lot of snow these past 4-5 days. Last night as we were getting the kids dressed up to go outside and burn some energy playing in the snow, Jon mentioned that he wanted to go snow blow a path up our hill so the kids could walk up it. I thought he was crazy but told him we would meet him outside.

Once we got outside I was amazed that the snow was a few feet deep. Santa brought a new sled and Grandma and Grandpa gave us a new sled so we had plenty to go around. We all took turns going down our hill. It was a lot of fun. KJ really got it to playing outside last night. Jon and I both agreed that he had done a 180 from where he was at just a month ago when we first started playing in the snow. At first he would cry about everything. He did not like to walk in the snow or get his hands wet. Last night he would sled down all by himself over and over and over again. When he would get to the bottom he would yell out a scream and then belly laugh. It was so great!

We all really enjoyed our time outside last night. We were out for over an hour and then no one wanted to head back inside but it was getting late so we needed too.
I am sure this snow will get old by the time Spring arrives but it really has been so much fun this year with the kids. They LOVE being outside and they can even get their snow pants and boots on all by themselves now. That makes life a lot easier for the Mommy!

Last night as I was tucking KJ in, he was talking all excitedly about being outside and sledding down the hill by himself, with Ella, with Daddy, hitting the bottom, falling out of the seld etc.. It was one of those moments where I felt like he had changed (grown up) even since dinner which was 2 hours prior to that. I love when something like that helps me slow down and take a good look at my amazing children and how fast they are growing up. It felt great to be outside last night and observe the kids playing in the snow and enjoying every minute of it. Life has gotten easier as these kids no longer need us for every little thing!

Santa Came, He Delivered, We Survived!

This morning I woke up to Ella right in my face shouting "Santa came mommy we were so good he came"! We then immediately rolled out of bed and headed for the stuffed stockings. It was so much fun to watch them look at all the gifts that Santa brought to them. Kendrick and Aimee tore through their Santa gifts in no time and Ella took her sweet time looking and taking in every little lip balm and necklace that Santa brought. It was really fun to sit back (as much as I could) and take it all in.We had so much fun today with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle T, and GG Del. We had a long gift opening after breakfast and the kids were thrilled with all their new toys. I think the favorite in the new Trampoline or for the girls it might be the make up bags that Grandma gave them stuffed with lip gloss and make up brushes. They think they are hot little things with all that stuff.This Christmas has been so awesome. The kids were so into it. Last night at Church, Ella was really into the baby Jesus. She could not wait until the service was over so we could get a close up look at Baby Jesus. Also, I was not prepared for the Sermon to include the kids but when they called all the kids up to the front, Grandma marched them all up there. It was fun to hear KJ shout out all the answers to what the Deacon was asking. Then they all got a little gift on an Angel so when KJ came back to sit with us he shouted out "Mommy, look what I got"! This made everyone around us chuckle. It was cute to see how excited they got.I have to say that I was prepared for all of the fun this Holiday Season. The excitement in my children's eyes and the love in their hearts was amazing. What I wasn't prepared for was today when KJ broke down in tears after all the gifts had been opened. This really took me for a loop because I was not expecting any of them to get upset today. However, my Grandma and my mom explained to me that Holidays are hard on kids. They are off their schedule, eating tons of treats, wound up from all the new toys and gifts, and I am sure they just reach their limit. When KJ started crying today, I started to cry right along with him. I knew the feeling so well. All the anticipation was over with the gifts and Santa's visit. The Holidays will soon come to an end and then we face a good 3-4 months of winter. Naturally, as his mother, I just wanted to take the sadness away for him. He quickly snapped out of it, ate some lunch and then took a good 2 hour nap. He has snapped out of it now tonight and I am sure once Daddy gets home tomorrow they will be thrilled to show him all their new toys and treats.
God has blessed us again with another Holiday Season filled with joy. It always amazes me how fast the Holiday Season approaches for us and I am sure that it will do the same in 2008!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

Christmas Excitement!

These kids are so excited for Santa to come. This Holiday season has been so much fun! Now I just hope these kids sleep tonight with all the anticipation for Santa to come.

The other night when I was tucking the kids into bed I told them that we would need to leave some cookies out for Santa. Aimee replied "Not the Gingerbreads" I just laughed and asked her why not the Gingerbreads, in which she replied "Well is Santa going to eat them?"

Gingerbreads are Aimee's new favorite and she did not want to share...even with Santa.

Merry Christmas!

The Car Wash...

The other night Jon and I were fortunate enough to get a night out with my family to go to dinner and the Theater. Our friend Sue Babysat for us so we were kid free. However, on the way to drop the kids off Jon decided that he wanted to wash the van so it would be clean for our night out.
At first, I was a little nervous how that would go with the kids in the car because when I was a little girl I was extremely afraid of the car wash. I mean I just hated it! When I mentioned this to Jon he insisted that we still go to the car wash and then told me it was all about the presentation. Jon then proceeded to dance around and told the kids we were headed to the car wash.
So we pulled into the car wash and Jon gave the kids the play by play of what was happening at the car wash. When the wash part started happening Ella was not sure if she should laugh or cry but she then giggled because both Jon and I were talking it up so much and giggling.
After the car wash the kids talked about it all the way to Sue's house. Aimee did not want to do it again unless she could sit next to Ella and hold her hand. Kendrick wanted to go back right away and do it again. In fact, he asked Sue if she would take him to the car wash.
Once again, it was another new thing to these kids. It is so much fun to see the world through their eyes.

Evasdropping...

A few weeks ago some friends of ours gave us some "hand me down" Halloween costumes. One of these happens to be a Spiderman. This morning, when they were playing dress up, Aimee put on the Spiderman costume. Kendrick then asked his daddy, "Why does Spiderman save people when they are in trouble?" In which Jon replied "Because he is a good superhero". Then Aimee piped up and said "I don't want to be good, I'm a naughty Spiderman" then as she ran off to play with her brother and sister she said "watch out guys here comes Naughty Spiderman"!

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The other night when we were tucking the kids in at Grandma's house, we were going through the usual lecture about going to bed nice and being good. Grandma then heard Kendrick whisper to Aimee "We have to be good or Santa won't come" Then Aimee replied "Well, I don't like Santa"!

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This morning when I was getting ready to head to a meeting for work Ella came into the bathroom all dressed up with her baby and cheer leading costume on and said "Look at me mommy"! I told her she looked like a "Cool Mommy" in which she replied, "Soon I am going to be a Pretty Mommy too"!

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Santa's Village

Yesterday afternoon, we headed over to Santa's Village. It was a farm that converts into a village for Santa. There was lots of stuff to do there and I think we enjoyed every bit of it. We visited with Santa's Reindeer, we dropped coins in the cho cho train as it went by, we went on a sleigh ride with horses, we visited with Santa, and we decorated cookies with Mrs. Santa. Whew... all of this in about 2 hours.
The best news of all was that Santa told the kids that they were on the "good" list. They were pretty excited about this.Aimee still did not want to sit on Santa's lap or even talk to him. She is so afraid. I am not going to push the issue with it though. I can't scar her for life. I will just write on the back of the pictures that she would not sit with Santa.
After Santa's Village we all headed back to Grandmas for our last dinner together. The kids were all tired out and they all decided to share the sofa to watch Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. We are back home now and tonight when Jon was getting KJ dressed for bed, KJ asked Jon if Santa lives in our town? Jon told him that Santa lives at the North Pole but KJ insisted that Santa lives in our neighborhood!!!

Holiday Celebrating

We are having an awesome weekend with Jon's family. Yesterday was our Christmas celebration and everyone had such a fun time. The kids have really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Gift opening was a riot and the kids just LOVED everything they got. Kendrick kept asking if there were anymore gifts for him under the tree. Aimee was poker face the whole time as I think it was all very overwhelming for her. Ella would exclaim how much she just loved her gifts. At one point she told Grandma that it was "Just what I wanted"!We had our traditional meal of Prime Rib and even the kids enjoyed some of that. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus and then had some cake to celebrate. After our Birthday celebration we loaded all the kids up in our van (including the cousins Eric and Emily) and then headed out to see some Christmas lights. We all had a great time singing Christmas songs, looking at all the pretty lights, and then ended the light tour with making various farting noises and all of us laughing so hard.
When we got back I told the Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle that we get to take all the kids again next year because it was so much fun!!!
We went to church this morning and it was such a nice service. Lots of Christmas music to sing. Then the kids even got to go to "Sunday School" with Uncle Chris, Aunt Lori, and Cousin Eric. They really enjoyed that as well.
We are so blessed to have such awesome family. It is so much fun to watch the kids really enjoy their cousins. It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow and head back home. This is another "Erickson Family Christmas" to remember.

Holiday Traveling

It always amazes me how much work it is to get us all packed up and ready to head out of town! I often tell people that if I could just put my house on wheels it would be a lot easier. I can't complain though because it is easier now than it used to be. When the kids were babies we always had to bring a ton of stuff. I am not sure how we ever got it all in the van. Pack N Plays, Stroller, clothes, bottles, blankets, etc..
We are in pack mode right now with the preparation to celebrate the Holidays early with Jon's family. We are all excited for the change of pace for a few days. It sounds like Grandma and Aunt Lori have tons of stuff planned. It is also nice to catch up with some of Jon's friends that we do not get to see very often.
The blog might be quiet for a few days but I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell when I do return.

Holiday Gymnastics Show

The kids participated in a Holiday Gymnastics Show today. They had a big audience with Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle T, Jane, Mom & Dad there! It was really cute to watch them do all of their gymnastics moves and how thrilled they were with their audience.When the show was all done Santa came out and handed out metals and goody bags for all of the participants.
The kids were thrilled!Also, they had a drawing for door prizes and we did not win just one prize but TWO. There was probably about 10 prizes they gave away and about 100 kids....not bad odds. I told Jon to head to the casino...Just kidding!

Oh Christmas Tree Part 2

We finally got our Christmas tree decorated. The kids had an absolute blast. It went too fast though as I realize that we do not have as many ornaments as I thought we did. I might have to head out for after the season sales this year and pick up a few ornaments.

Tomorrow we have Breakfast with Santa! It should be fun!

Lots of stuff to blog about right now and not a lot of time to do it.

Stay Tuned...

Snowy Days

We have had a ton of snow so far this year. Today was another snowy day around here. After the kids woke up from their naps, I decided it was time to get dressed up and head outside in the snow. We were out for over an hour and we had such a blast. We spent a lot of time sledding down our hill, playing on our play set, making angels, and sledding down our driveway! The girls even got themselves dressed! That was awesome. We had so much fun! I can already tell that Jon and I are going to have so much fun this winter with all the fun activities we can try. I think Ice Skating might be first on the list!!!! I have been having a hard time getting into the "Holiday" Season. I am not sure if it is because it feels like it got here so early or what but I just have not really been feeling it. However, today after we put the Christmas lights on the tree, I listened to some Christmas music as I made some cookies, and then I spent an hour outside in the snow with the kids, I now feel the season. I am so excited for Christmas this year. These kids talk about Santa everyday and they tell me that they want "EVERYTHING" from him! It is so much fun to see the Season through their eyes. They are growing up so fast right before our eyes. For now I am just trying to soak everything in because I know I will look back on these years and really relish in their memory. Today as I sat at the top of the hill and the snow fell all around us, I watch all three of my little people play in the yard. It was one of those moments that I will remember forever. I am so proud of them and how big they are getting. I look back on the past 3.5 years and remember all of the "firsts" we have had along with some of the struggles. It feels great to be exactly where we are at right now. I now can see with clarity that every age and stage brings its ups and downs. I am so excited for all the memories we still have to make together and I am so grateful for all that I have. Life is good...really, really good!

Oh Christmas Tree....

....oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are thy branches!

It is official, we have our tree for 2007!  We took the kids this afternoon to pick out our tree for this year.  We had great intentions of taking them to a nearby farm to cut down our own tree but since it has been cold and it snowed all day on Saturday, we decided this year we were going to a tree lot to get our tree.  

We picked out the tree in no time.  The kids had fun and we even asked the nice guy to take a family picture for us.  

It was so much fun.  Once the tree was selected and in the van, I loaded up the kids up while Jon went to pay for the tree.  The guy that was helping us told Jon that we had a very charming family!  That was nice to hear.  

We have the tree in the stand and ready to be decorated.  Tomorrow we will hopefully accomplish this task.  

Mac vs. PC

Since my Computer is RIP, it was time to get a new one.  Jon really wanted to get a Mac.  At first, I was like NO WAY!  I am not getting a Mac because I am not used to Macs and I am not clear on how to use them.  The more I started to think about it I started to cave on the idea. 

 Jon saw this and encouraged us to go to the Apple Store.  So off to the Apple Store we went I am sure the sales guy at the Apple Store was real impressed with me when I smiled at him and asked him why I should buy a Mac as opposed to a PC.  He smiled at me and then proceeded to talk about the Mac Books (Lap Top) for about 45 minutes straight.  He showed me all the cool and wonderful things this computer would do. He was very convincing.  I knew Jon really wanted a Mac so we made an agreement that we would buy the Mac Book Laptop for me (I am sure I will share it with Jon right now).  If in a few months I just really miss my PC then Jon will take this computer and we will get me a PC Laptop.  

It has been a few days now with this new Mac.  I have learned a few really cool things and I am amazed at how easy this computer is to use.  I still have my frustrations because I am not clear where to find things or how to do certain things on this computer.  It is almost like stepping into a foreign country and not knowing a word of the language.  The first night I had buyers remorse but that has passed.  I view a computer as a necessity.  It is amazing how lost I felt when I did not have my computer.  

Yesterday, I was playing around with some of the features on the computer.  I discovered the built in Camera and what it could do.  The kids had a blast with the different options the camera offered.  Check out these pics:  

Flu Shots

Today we headed over to the doctors office to get our flu shots.  Daddy was not able to make it so our friend Jane came with us.  We talked a little beforehand about getting the shots and they all told me they would be brave.  

When we got to the clinic, we got called back right away.  Kendrick volunteered to go first.  Everything was fine until he got the shot.  He then started to cry and had the saddest look on his face.  I told him that he was such a brave boy and that Daddy was going to be so proud.  He quickly got over it and went back to playing with the Etch a sketch.  

The nurse then asked who would be next, and Aimee shouted out that Ella was next.  However, since Ella is Star of the day, I told Aimee that she was going to go next.  She was a little scared but she was brave and I held her hands while the nurse gave her the shot.  Aimee immediately cried and could not stop for a good 15 minutes.  After Aimee was done then it was Ella's turn.  She started throwing a fit the minute Aimee started crying from her shot.   

Ella FREAKED out on me and I was a little nervous.  She started running around the room screaming "no, no, no" over and over again.  The poor thing was scared to death.  It really broke my heart to watch her but I knew if I showed any signs of emotion that it would be all over with so I just picked her up and set her on the table.  It was a struggle but I finally just laid on top of her and told her that I loved her very much and it was for her own good.  The nurse gave the shot and it was done.  We had two little girls that had very hurt feelings and could not stop crying but the shots were done.  THANK GOD!  

I just kept telling them how brave they were and how Daddy was going to be so proud of them.  What an experience.  Shots are no fun but we all survived and now we are done with that.  Hopefully next year they can have the nose spray.