What did Wii get for Christmas?

With Chris starting a new job on December 8 we have been very busy this holiday season and we didn't talk much about Christmas gifts. Knowing that we would have a little extra money coming in I thought I would surprise Chris and Parker with a Wii. Little did I know that they would be next to impossible to find, especially when you begin looking for them on the 16th of December. After having no luck finding a Wii I gave up the search and bought other gifts for Parker and Chris. Imagine my surprise when we came downstairs on Christmas morning to find a Wii under the tree for Parker and me.
How in the world Chris found a Wii on December 23rd will forever be a mystery to me!*

* The real story is after trying to find a Wii at several stores on the 23rd and having several salespeople laugh in his face Chris ended up at Wal-Mart. After asking about the Wii at the electronics desk (and being laughed at again) a salesperson came out of the back with a box and said, "Are you the guy that just asked about the Wii? I just found this box in the back." Not believing his luck, Chris held the box tightly to his chest fearing he would be mugged on his way out of the store.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

We didn't have to do much dreaming as it began snowing
shortly after our plane landed and continued almost
until our plane took off for our return home.

I didn't quite plan this pic, but it turned out the timing was just right

to catch the snowball in mid flight.

Helping Papa snow blow the driveway.

(I have to admit this made me a little nervous!)

Playing in the snow with Aunt Caty.

How is that coat from Iceland treating you, Caty?

The Pack

As promised, here is a pic of the 8 layer stockings.
Although they took too much time and cost too much,
I hope they will be cherished through the years.

How cold?

Sorry for the extended break in posting... I decided to sew new stockings for our family and who knew it would take ages on a 40 year old sewing machine? They are finally done (and I think they turned out pretty cute... I will post pictures soon), but now we are headed out of town for a quick trip to see the family in Michigan. Speaking of that trip, the following conversation took place today after I picked Parker up from school:

Me: Guess who we get to see on Friday?

Parker: Who?

Me: Garrett, Ryan, and baby Josie.

Parker: Do they live in Michigan?

Me: Yes.

Parker: Why?

Me: Well, their daddy and mommy work there and live there.

Parker: They might get cold.

Me: (laughing) You are right. It sure does get cold in Michigan.

It sure will be a shock to us to go from 80 degrees and humid to 30's or less and dry. I hope we are up for the challenge!

Bumbo Chair Fun!

Bumbo chairs have to go down in history as one of the funniest places to put a baby. Even Parker sees the humor in them!

Although Parker sees the humor, I am not so sure that Averie does!

Smile!

Well, one out of two isn't bad!

Halloween Fun

When I asked Parker several weeks ago what he wanted to be for Halloween he practically shouted, "Batman!" Fortunately for our wallets we had enough Batman gear around the house to create this Batman outfit.

Our little pumpkin!

We discovered last year that the local mall hands out candy on Halloween. It is the perfect spot to go for little guys. We also discovered that if you go early the unwitting store clerks hand out handfuls of candy filling a little bucket pretty quickly.

Of course we had to have a bat pumpkin to go with Batman!

It all comes out in the wash

A couple of days ago I noticed that our washing machine was having a hard time counting down. We have one of the new fangled front loaders with an electronic display and every time I put a load in the 56 minutes it said it would take ended up being about 1 hour and 56 minutes. Having no time for this nonsense I sent Chris out to take a look at it. After taking some hoses off he called me out and said, "Are you missing any of these?" Well, perhaps if I had actually counted them after washing them I would have realized that two of my nursing pads were missing. Apparently they had gotten sucked down into the filter making it hard for water to drain out of the machine. If only they worked that well for their intended purpose!

Hmmm.... notice anything different?

Ok, so I tried to change my blog layout. Apparently it was somewhat of a success because I now have a different background. It wasn't a total success though, so bear with me as I try to figure out how to change the layout of my whole blog, not just the background. One of these days my blog will look pretty sweet!

Fun with the aunts

Aunt Caty and Averie

Aunt Elise and Averie

Thank you so much for coming to visit us. We had a great time!

I'm it!

I've been tagged...

1. I was a counselor/instructor at a summer camp for stringed instrument musicians.

2. I was in the front row of a Toad the Wet Sprocket concert.

3. I have sent in the money to take my Florida teacher certification test twice,
but I have never taken the test.

4. I was given a perfect attendance award in 7th grade.

5. I flipped an ATV while riding in the mountains of Colorado.

6. I was kicked in the knee by a horse when I was 4 years old.

7. I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies.

I am going to tag anyone who reads my blog, but does not have a
blog of their own. Leave your list in the comments area.

Who's the Leader of the Pack?

We were lucky enough to go to Disney for a couple of days last week. We had a great time, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind when bringing a 3 1/2 year old and a 6 week old to the Magic Kingdom...

There will be a line leader... notice who is missing from the picture? Yes, the
youngest mobile child will run far ahead of the group.

Riding the carousel three times in a row makes the most sense when there are
lines for other rides.

There is a reason children under 3 get in for free.



You will see sheer terror on your child's face many times throughout the day.

If you are offered a free stroller by someone leaving the park take it! (Or if you aren't Dutch, just pay the $15 and rent one for the day.)

The things that are free, like the whirlpool bathtub at the hotel, the monorail,
and the bus, will be just as much fun as going to the park.

At the end of the day, it will be worth the price of admission!

No Plans for E.R.S.

Aren't they cute?

To follow up on my first entry, no, we don't have any plans to add Ernie, Rhonda, and Sam.

Deal or No Deal

Today Parker and I ventured out to Target and then Linens 'n Things. At Target we encountered a clearance sale of all their summer swim gear. Life jackets, swim floats, swimming pools, you name it, were all on sale for 75% off. That meant the swimming vest that I have been eying for Parker was $3.75 instead of $15.19. To me that is a pretty good deal.

We then continued our shopping at Linens 'n Things. I stopped there because the store is closing on Sunday and was hoping to get some good deals on things I didn't even know that I needed or wanted. Well upon entering the store there are signs everywhere that say the 20% off coupons that come in the mail or newspaper are no longer being accepted. Inside the store the lowest clearance price I saw was 60% off, with most things being 30% off. Maybe if they had followed Target's example they would still be in business!

Go Pack!

As we were driving to the hospital on the morning of my induction for Averie it dawned on me that we might have made a huge mistake in choosing her name. You see, Chris being from Wisconsin is a huge Packers fan. He has passed his love for the Packers on to Parker and has tried to influence me (Kristi) to drop my loyalty for the ever losing Lions and join the Packer fan club.

Now, back to the naming mistake. Had we chosen Ursula our initials would have spelled PUCK. Had we chosen Ingrid our initials would have spelled PICK. Do you see the error of our ways? I guess we are bigger fans than I even realized! Go PACK!