The Calm before the storm..... (of pictures)

Just some quick pictures for you before you are bombarded with Christmas pictures!  This is the fewest number of pictures I will have for the next 4 or 5 posts...... gauranteed!  Yes, Chistmas pictures and blogs will be in a (most likely) 5 part post...... I know.  It's exhausting thinking about..... and YOU have to read them!  haha.  Oh, and Merry Christmas Eve!  All day yesterday I thought it was Wednesday, so I am a bit behind on my baking schedule...... today will be a busy day!  And then I realized that I still need to make a packing list and get packed for the week,  and looking at our pantry, I also realized that we are out of everything as far as food for KaeLee and Hannah go!  Ugh.  So now, sometime between now and Sunday Morning, I have to go the the grocery store!  And it definitely won't get done today and I am pretty sure they are closed tomorrow...... UGH. 

Poor Hannah woke up last night covered in blood!  She has been scratching SO bad at her eczema on her chin/face and she finally ripped the skin and it was bleeding pretty bad.  We had to revert to putting socks over her hands.  I try to keep her nails super short and filed so they are smooth, but she still manages to stratch the crap out of herself!  Her hands look horrible too because if it!  I have been trying the Renew lotion that I use for my eczema, but it doesn't seem to be helping because she just rubs it off immediately and sctraches over it.  I know that if she were to leave it alone it'd help.  We may just have to lather her up with it 50 times a day and keep the socks on her all day.  Poor thing. 

Anyway, enjoy your day!  And the pictures of these two adorable little things! 

Hannah is helping mommy unpack the groceries..... I was trying to get a "candid" shot, because she was being really serious and looked so cute, but she knows when the camera is on her and is just so darn photogenic!  Silly girl!

See what I mean?

She just smiles INSTANTLY when the camera is pointed at her!  We were sitting at the table having dinner, I was telling Shawn about the grocery pictures, and then I grabbed the camera to test my theory.  haha. 

KaeLee also usually likes her picture taken.... :)

All done! 

During the "I Love You" song on Barney, KaeLee ran over to Hannah and hugged her, swaying back and forth, singing to her.  It was SO cute!  And Hannah loved every second of it!  I should've taken a video, but I was too slow. 

SLEDDING!

Well, we went SLEDDING!  And I think I took enough pictures to fill a book!  But we had a blast.  KaeLee would have stayed out there all day if we let her!  It got to the point where everytime someone sat in a sled, she was right there in a heartbeat!  She didn't want to miss an opportunity to go down the hill!

We woke up Sunday morning thinking we weren't going to go sledding since all the snow on our lawn had melted.  I had changed my status on Facebook to something like "no sledding today :(" and not long after, my dad was online checking his facebook, then I immediately got a call from my mom saying "What do you mean no sledding?  We have snow!"  I think it's a bit odd that they had snow just 3 minutes down the road from our bare lawn!  They didn't have an overwhelming amount, but it was certainly enough to go sledding in.  And then, of course, it has been snowing ALL DAY today!  Talk about a day late! :)

After sledding, we went to Russels Nursery to see SANTA!  YAY!  Hannah was very easy going and sat with Santa with no problems.  KaeLee seemd to be fine, but after sitting on Santa's lap after about 30 seconds, poor Santa had a screaming child on her lap!  Ahhhhh........!!!!  Well, maybe next year KaeLee will be more at ease.  Shawn is picking up the picture today, so we will see how bad it turned out..... haha.  

Tonight we are going to Shawn's work christmas party.  Should be pretty fun.  Then I have to start the oven up tomorrow!  I have made my baking list today and I am not sure I will get it all made, but I will sure try!  I am just glad that all the gifts have been purchased, wrapped, tagged and under the tree for the last couple of weeks so that I don't have THAT to worry about either! 

Our plans for this year are Christmas Eve at my mom's house with the siblings, then joined by the Heilman family, then Christmas morning at our house, Christmas day afternoon at my Aunt Paula's house with the Sauve's, then Christmas evening at my dad's house.  Then the next day, we are leaving for Cashmere and will be there with Shawn's dad's family for Sunday, Monday and then Tuesday we will head to Camano Island for Christmas with his mom's family.  We'll get to spend Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday there, and then head back home Friday.  Busy week, I know, but having a lot of family will ensure that Christmas lasts longer than a day!  I have ordered a travel toddler bed for KaeLee and am hoping that it gets here soon.  I think today is the day it's supposed to arrive.  I hope she likes it! 

Anyway, on to the pictures...... I couldn't decide which ones to put on, so you get most all of them!  Enjoy!


This last week, I made a fort with the girls, with the tunnel going into it.  It was pretty fun! And I think they thouroughly enjoyed it! 

Here's KaeLee crawling out to go back through the tunnel again...

Hannah too!

KaeLee piled up all of her of her books in the fort and sat in there forever reading.  Haha.  It reminded of something I would do when I was little!  I was a little bookworm (until I got into college and I was forced to read books!  Talk about ruining the fun!)

KaeLee going through the tunnel into the fort

Hannah found KaeLee's water that she left out and she was estatic!  I had to take a picture!  KaeLee got MAD when she saw her, but I told her that's why she needs to listen to mommy when I tell her she needs to keep it on the table!  She didn'tn like it, but then started to be okay with it and now she keeps trying to share her juice and milk cup with her...... talk about backfire!  Ugh.  I'm trying to teach her not to say mine, because nothing is HERS, but then how do you get her to not give her drinks to Hannah????  I can't tell her that those are KaeLee's only.....!  UGH.  Tricky stuff, this is!

Mommy and KaeLee headed to the sledding hill!

Yes, Hannah reminds us of the little boy on the The Christmas Story.  She was so stinkin cute, all bundled up!

KaeLee and Hannah being pulled on the sled...

 Shawn is pulling them to the back yard to start with the little hill....

Awe, KaeLee loves her sister  She is making sure she doesn't go anywhere...!  (they look like the same size in this picture.... haha)

 The girls' first run down the little hill

Then KaeLee got to go by herself.... as you can see, she loved it!

 Weeeeeeee........!!

 Hannah sitting in a sled..... not quite big enough to go down by herself yet!

 Mommy and KaeLee head down the hill!

 Yay!  That was fun!

 Here come Daddy and KaeLee.... with Copper chasing after them. 

This was right before they ran into the fence! haha

 Shawn and KaeLee

Grandpa gonig down with KaeLee..... with Copper on their tail!

Grandma goes down with Hannah

 KaeLee gets pulled back up the hill by Grandpa

Grandma and KaeLee

 Konner tries the kneeboard sled

Mommy and Hannah's turn..... with Copper chasing us yet again... haha I swear that dog has WAY too much energy!  His brother, Buddy, however, was not feeling up to par to join us.

Konner tries to stand up and go down

 My brother Kory is home from WSU and is going down with KaeLee

 Shawn and Hannah

Poor Hannah can hardley see!

 Kory pulls KaeLee up the hill

Shawn gives it a try on the standing up thing..... this was right before he biffed it!  haha

Kory and KaeLee

My brother, Konner, and KaeLee.  I am not sure if I am mentioned this or not, but KaeLee calls Konner, 'Konnie'.  haha.  And every. single. day. she askes for him.  "Konnie? Konnie? Konnie?" She asks every time she goes to bed for nap or bedtime, and every time she wakes up it's the first thing she askes about.  Oh, and every time we get in the car..... same thing.  haha.  I'd say she likes him.  is 14 1/2.  But taller than anyone in our family..... haha.  I think he's pushing 5' 11" right now. 

Shawn and KaeLee going down together, and Konner and Copper following...  oh, and if you are not familiar with where my family lives, those "sticks" in the background are empty hop fields.  That is what Moxee is known for.  It's hops.  In the summer, they get full of bright green vines full of hops..... I think I have a picture somewhere of a full vine.  I will look for it. 

Holden Uganda

If you haven't noticed, I have added a "button" on the left hand side of the blog. Holden Uganda. This is a foundation that my friend, Sarah, and her husband, Chet, have started. You can visit their website, http://www.holdenuganda.org/

It's purpose is to build wells is Uganda to provide clean water to those who have no access to it. This video is so sweet. They are dedicating each well in memory of friends' babies who have gone to Heaven much too early, like their son Holden.

There is a song that I really love.  It's called "My Own Little World" by Matthew West. (love him!) It talks about opening our eyes beyond ourselves, that this world does not include just "me", and asking God how we can be of help to others.  If you haven't heard it, watch it here

If you are moved and feel like you want to be a part of something more than just "population me" this Christmas, this would be a great starting point.  (I have no way of knowing whether you donated or not, so don't feel obligated because of me, I am simply passing on what I think is a good cause...)

Enjoy the video!

Carrie Underwood = AMAZING!

So my sister-in-law, Megan, and I, went Carrie Underwood on Tuesday night and it was simply AMAZING!  I LOVE her!  I don't think she has a song that I DON'T love! 

So here is Megan and I at the concert!  We had a lady sitting two rows in front of us take the picture..... BAD idea since this meant she was looking UP at us.  Horrible angle for me!  (Megan, however, looks great from whatever angle!..... I like to think it's because she hasn't had any kids yet.... haha!)

The first opening band was Songs of Sylvia.  I really like them!  They are brothers.  I enjoyed them very much.  The lead singer was fun to watch and laugh at because he really liked to shake his booty!  haha.  (um, no, honey, I wasn't looking.....?) ;)

This was probably the best picture I got all night.  It was really hard to get clear pictures with all the flashing lights going on!  I'm definitely not THAT skilled! 

THis was the second opening act.  Billy Currington.  We knew a few of his songs.  He was good!  No cute booty shaking here though.  haha.  He was a bit too old and 'scruffy' for me..... LOL!

After the opening acts, they were setting up for Carrie's stage and this was part of that!  There was a little rope ladder that came down into the middle of the crowd and two guys climbed up it and took their seats in these big chairs up there!  They had to connect themselves to a cable wire up there in case they fell and the were buckled into the chairs.... haha.  That whole thing was swinging SO much!  It was SO scary looking!  I had to take a picture of the action

And there she is!  She was incredible!  She had about 5 wardrobe changes and looked super gorgeous!

During one of her wardrobe changes, we saw on the side of the stage, this glittery thing sprinting torwards the black curtains (what we thought was the wardrobe change area)...... then all of a sudden, THIS emerges from the curtained area!  WHAT?!?!  haha.  It was amazing!

Nevermind the fact that we were RIGHT there!  We had great seats, in the fourth row right on the side of the stage!  She literally was right in front of us!  it was so cool!

The flying truck was on a track hanging from the ceiling and it circled all the way around the arena.

She stopped in the middle and talked for a bit, then sang another song for the rest of the way.  Have I mentioned how AWESOME this was?!?!  haha

She played the guitar and the piano during a few songs.  The piano rotated around the whole song.  Talk about getting dizzy!

This platform was right in front of us and it was great! 

I can't say that I have a favorite song of hers.  I love them all!  But one song that really gets me excited is "Temporary Home"  I love it!  This is the chorus:

"This is our temporary home.
It's not where we belong.
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through.
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going.
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."

 I love it.  It's SO true!  :)  Anyway, that's all for now..... I think Hannah is starting to wake up, so I better get going.  Have a great weekend everyone!  I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already!??!  And Christmas is a week from Saturday!?  wow.  It's gone by so fast!  I have another video I wanted to share with you but I will have to write about it later.  So long!