The new year

Sorry for such a long time between posts - sorry! Here is some news about our new year so far!

 

We spent one whirlwind day after Christmas and went to both Superior and Arapahoe to see the extended sides of the family. We drove to Superior in the morning and visited with our cousins who were all there. Then, we had lunch with Betty and went to the lake for a bit where mom, Kara and the boys were.

 

 

Here's a picture of my kids with my cousin Jenny's four little ones, Ela, Eva, Jak and Max. The baby is Lilly, my cousin Kristin's new baby. Luckily it was a nice day and the kids ran around outside for a while!

 

After that we loaded back up and drove the 2 hours to Arapahoe to visit my Grandma Delores at the nursing home. She doesn't remember us anymore, and certainly didn't know the kids but she enjoyed the company. The kids played the piano for her and she enjoyed that. They had a big bird cage in the room where we were visiting and the kids thought that was neat.



These other pictures are from our New Year's Eve party at the Joyo theater here in town. The multiples club rented it out and we showed Monsters University to the kids. We all ate popcorn and candy and had a fake midnight countdown on the stage (see 3rd picture) afterwards. Everyone is wearing their coats because it was FREEZING in there - and of course, the weather outside was freezing too. However, I'm glad they didn't have the heat on because there was an article in the paper about a week later about how a whole bunch of people got carbon monoxide poisoning from there because of a faulty furnace. Yikes!



We took cousins Callan, Carter and Camden with us. We also ate dinner with them before we went. Afterwards, the kids went to bed and Brian and I watched a movie by the fire. A nice low-key New Year's! The next day a lot of friends and family came over to watch the Huskers win their bowl game, so we had a nice new year's! Unfortunately, the next week, we weren't as lucky. Will, Xander and I all got the influenza! We did have flu shots back in October, but it is H1N1 that is going around and it wasn't in the shot. Boo! We were all pretty sick. The boys had about 4-5 days of high fevers, 102 and above. We went through lots of ibuprofen and nebulizers. Will's cough hung on for a while, but we were able to get through without any steroids or extra medicine from the asthma doctor. I got sick too, and totally lost my voice and ended up with a sinus infection. We didn't have school on Monday the 6th because of the extreme cold, and it's a good thing we didn't because I don't think Will or I would have gone. Will probably should have stayed home on Tuesday but I sent him because I needed to go to the doctor. I got some antibiotics and Will got better as the week went on so we were all on the mend.

 

In the midst of all this craziness - the kids turned 8, on the 8th!! Apparently that is called a Golden Birthday. We were going to celebrate the weekend before their birthday but that's when were all the sickest. So, it got postponed until last Saturday, the 11th. We took them to a matinee of "Frozen" at the theater and then dinner at HuHot (their choice). Then back to our house for chocolate cake. I asked them if they wanted a plain chocolate cake or fancy and they said "Fancy!" So they got a chocolate mousse crunch cake. It was yummy and I even splurged on the diet to have a small piece with them. It's hard to believe they're 8 now, but here we are! They're acting more grown up all the time. I'll have them fill out an "all about me" page soon so you can read all about them. Happy Birthday crazy kids! That's all for now!

 



Rollerblading

One super nice Saturday after Christmas, we got the kids' rollerblades out and they tried it out. They loved it! They weren't very good at it, but they tried hard. They spent about 2 hours going up and down the sidewalk, which was flat. The driveway was harder, because it was not flat! They did a good job and want to do it more, but it's too cold!  

Merry Christmas 2013

We had a nice Christmas this year! It was spread out over two days, instead of rushing around in one, and that was really nice. We had lots of good food and spent time with family, which is always nice. Here are some pictures from the day.

 

Christmas Eve day was at the Niebuhrs. Lunch, presents, church then back for more food!

 

 

All the cousins!

 

 

Wearing their stocking on their feet...

The best picture yet....From front is Callan, Camden, Carter. Back - Grace, Xander, Will.

A family picture, everyone dressed up after Christmas Eve church.

 

Christmas morning was fun as usual. The kids were excited to get presents from Santa. Skylanders and Legos were the popular gifts from Santa. There were also games, new sneakers, and a rainbow Loom Kit. If you don't know what Rainbow Loom is, click here. They love it!

Thanks Curt and Renee for the pictures and Art and Soul gift cards. I'm sure we'll be able to find some way to spend that this summer! 

Everyone in front of the tree - have to get one of those every year!

Both sides of the family came over for brunch on Christmas morning. Here's a picture of all the kids from both sides of the family. That was a good time - super good food and everyone just hanging out playing with new toys!

 



It was off to the Hoefs house after that. The kids were getting a little tired by then, so the cousin picture didn't turn out so well....but we sure had fun - more eating and presents! 

The popular presents from the Hoefs Christmas were rollerblades and pads, mp3 players and Husker stuff. Xander got a spy safe which he loved. The kids haven't put the mp3 players down, they love listening to their own music.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!