Merry Christmas 2010

Just woke up to open gifts!

I think it's pretty safe to say that the kids were much more interested in opening gifts AFTER the Christmas story than in listening to the story :)

For the boy who loves buttons . . . a power drill! Hopefully this will replace the need for him to push buttons on the phone which resulted in a 911 call earlier this week.

He didn't think Christmas would EVER come!

This is a prime example of our family dynamics right now . . . the oldest two are engaged in an activity . . .while Tyler stands at the ready to destroy everything with his hammer!

Kayla's gift to me . . . a decorative candy cane, of course. Love it!

We've started a tradition of sort at G/G Varner's that the kids dress up/act out the Christmas story as it is being read. Joshua announced to grandma last week that he wanted to be Joseph -- so she whipped up a simple costume for him. However, on the way up to their house, he must have had a change of heart and let us know he was NO LONGER interested in being Joseph. So . . . Uncle Brian stepped up to the plate and filled in. Quite hilarious!

Our little "Mary!"

Hangin' out! And as usually, when everyone arrives and we start opening gifts, I TOTALLY forget to take pics. Bummer.

These were our advent calendars for Christmas -- each day had a piece of chocolate and the kids NEVER let us forget! Thanks Aunt Freya!

This was Joshua's Kindergarten Christmas party -- the kids were definitely excited!

Playing bingo! I got suckered, I mean, I agreed to coordinate the Christmas party . . . not the best timing with everything else at church, but fun to see the kids!

Happy 6th B-day!

Since Joshua ended up spending his "real" birthday at home (due to pneumonia) we tried to make the best of it! So, Bryan assembled his new bike late one night (note to self -- probably worth the $10 next time for assembly!) and we had him go on a "treasure hunt" the next morning. Yep -- it was hiding in the downstairs bathroom! He hasn't had a chance to ride it yet -- I guess that the joy of having a December birthday :(.


We had to postpone his "friends" party, but did manage to sneak it in last week. Just had several of his friends over for pizza and a few games. Have you tried getting 6-year olds to smile lately?????

Not sure if his picture was taken before or after the "knock, knock" jokes started!

Now that was pure entertainment . . .!

They painted some cars (meant to look like "mario" cars) -- and then we glued Mario in them!

Like I said, we're having trouble in the "smile" department!

Opening gifts . . .

Cupcakes and ice cream! These were supposed to look like the "one up" cupcakes from Super Mario brothers -- but Joshua thought they looked more like Bowser's Back . . . so Bowser's Back it was!

Several days later we had a "family" get-together!

He was enamored with the "trick" candle!

And several random things . . . Joshua finished his book several weeks ago in Sparks, and as a reward, he got to pick a prize from the "Sparky Suitcase." Just happened to go through when he was making his very important selection . . .!

Yes -- that would be my phone in the toilet. Thank You Tyler.

We watched some neighbor kids last week, and the kids were SOOO excited to be able to have a "slumber party" for a bit before their parents returned. They were really cute!

You know your family is light show crazy

...when your six year old draws a fairly accurate representation of
the light show, complete with correct colors.

Thanksgiving, Sparks, & Joshua's hospital stay -- whew!

Just a few pics from the last week . . . My brother and sis in law were in for Thanksgiving. Lots of fun and craziness! Bonding over the "laptop" . . .



Dad had surgery the wed. before Thanksgiving on his ankle due falling off of a ladder . . . so this was his Thanksgiving experience! He actually felt pretty good at this point because the nerve block was still working its magic . . .

Uncle Ryan and Tyler . . .

Coloring with daddy . . .

Mom wrote a simple script for the Sparks lesson time about the 10 lepers -- wasn't sure how it would actually go over, but they did great! Very attentive, too!

Group coloring project on "Mario" in preparation for Joshua's 6th birthday party . . . pin the mustache on Mario. But -- that won't be happening because . . . .

. . . Joshua ended up in the hospital for 2 nights with pneumonia. Went to the dr. office on Monday morning because his cough was just getting worse (despite starting an inhaler) and we went straight from the dr. office to the hospital. After getting some antibiotics in his system, lots of iv fluids, breathing treatments, he really started to improve in how he was acting.

Yes, there was a PS2 in the room . . . so needless to say, that took his mind off the matter. Watching TV in bed, playing PS2 games (we don't have a game system at home) . . . what a life! His lungs still have some junk in them, but dr. thought with breathing treatment at home every 4 hours, more antibiotics at home, he will be fine. Still scary, though. It really makes you take a step back and evaluate everything -- thank you, Lord for the health you have given us.

Father in law's latest hardware after his leg break

He got screwed.

Happy 4th B-day!

Happy 4th b-day Kayla! We actually "celebrated" her b-day as a family 4 days after her "real" bday, so we took advantage of Applebees 99 cent kids menu last Wed. to celebrate her "official" bday! Just Mommy, Kayla, and oh yeah . . .Mr. Tyler. Always makes things interesting!


Doesn't every 4-year old wear her Jayhawk cheerleading outfit for her birthday pictures????

Opening gifts . . .

Giving the "baby that wets" a try to see if it really works . . . it did!

A little "post-day" celebratory fun . . .Happy Birthday Kayla! We love you!

Tyler destroyed the free HyVee cookie

Happy Halloween!

The kids were SOOO excited about tonight! We still are surprised that Tyler went for hte lion costume!

Trick or Treat!!!!

This was Tyler's mode of transportation for half of the night . . .

. . . until he decided it was time to be mobile! That boy walked for about 45 minutes with his tail dragging from house to house. Yep . . . he got the system figured out that if he went to the porch, he would receive candy. They are so quick sometimes!


Checking out the stash . . . let's see, if they get one piece after every meal . . . we should be finished by February!

Fall This and That

Several weeks ago, J's class went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. The teachers had prepped the kids to wear lots of layers and long sleeves since it is NORMALLY cold in October. However, this particular day, it was really, really warm and didn't have to worry a bit about it being too cold! It was actually HOT!

Here he is . . . emerging from the long hay "tunnel" --I got wigged out just looking down the one end!

His whole class.

So, I really wanna give a garden a try -- so we (as in Bryan and Ryan) rented a heavy duty tiller and they worked it up.

We'll have to do it again in the Spring, but we'll see what happens . . .

The picture was not posed . . . our oldest two with the neighbor kids -- they play together A LOT!

And, just for giggles, some Tyler pictures! I always think of the book "Good Night Gorilla" when I see this picture!

I swear, he is part monkey . . .

Yep, this is our "I just got my hands on a blue permanent marker" smile!