Cabin Adventure

For Bryan's birthday he only had one request: a family trip to the cabin.
Keep in mind that it is still under construction. On our way, I remembered that the 4WD on the truck just went out. I got a little nervous. We had some trouble making it up the snowy, icy road and finally endded up stuck in the bank of snow that was 6" below my window. We had to carry the kids and walk to the cabin. With the windchill it was -10 degrees. Luckily we only had to walk about 1/2 mile.

The cabin has no electricity, furnace, plumbing yet. So we got to the cabin and Blake was hysterical. There is one room in the basement that is insulated on 3 walls, has a wood burning stove, a carpet piece, and a plywood temporary wall. Bryan brought in a lamp, started the fire, then headed back to the truck.

I set up the portable DVD player. The room heated up quickly, Blake calmed down, and the kids watched Toy Story. Bryan made it back as the movie was wrapping up. We played a game of Cootie, then put in The Fox in the Hound to watch as we fell asleep. There is not much to do to keep the attention of the kids while they are confined to one room.

Bryan's dad, Todd, and Jason Hall woke us up the next morning with a Ding-Dong for Bryan's birthday and McD's for breakfast. I went home with the kids and Bryan stayed with the guys to work.

Bryan, hope you had a great birthday. It was quite the adventure, but we are not going to have another family sleepover at the cabin until it retains heat and there are railings on the stairs and on the loft.

Christmas

Mom and Dad came out West for the holidays. They stayed at Cami's, so most of our Christmas festivities took place there. We went over Christmas Eve for our traditional dinner consisting mainly of appetizers: potstickers, BBQ Lil' Smokies, sweet'n'sour meatballs, veggie tray, cheeseball, tortilla-chili roll-ups, spinach artichoke dip, etc. The kids opened their Christmas jammies while we were there. When we got home Bryan got Sara all riled up about Santa coming. He told her that if she didn't go to sleep that he wouldn't stop at our house. Of course that made it very difficult for her to get to sleep.On Christmas morning Blake woke up first. Bryan went in to wake up Sara and tell her that Santa came. She ran around the room incredibly excited and disoriented. Sara went straight to her Hello Kitty tent, but it took Blake a minute to notice his car. They had so much fun. Grandma and Grandpa Bear came with Todd and Jamie to see what the kids got. Then came Bama and Papa. We went over to Cami's for Christmas Dinner. After opening presents with the Long side, we went over to the Washingtons'. We had a great day and were so thankful to be with our loved ones.

Tonight we had a special family home evening and a special visitor came.

The kids were delighted to see Santa, all but Mr. Blake.

Blake just stared at Santa, and would only stay on his lap for a minute. I was still impressed!
Andie

Sara told Santa that she wanted a Barbie and the Diamond Castle barbie, and a Hello Kitty tent.

Kate

Santa brought all of the kids slippers.

After Santa left, the girls watched for his sleigh out the back door.

Richins Nativity

This year Sara got to play Mary in the Richins' Family Nativity. She was so cute, with Kyle as Joseph. Blake did not participate. Maybe next year he will be old enough.

Just Hanging Out

I think that she may, literally, love him to death one of these days.

Blake was completely amazed with the "no." He and Sara climbed on top of her kitchen so that they could get a better view out of her bedroom window.

During Christmas Blake became a candy fiend. One morning after I came out from getting dressed, this is what I found:

Fun With Kari

For the last 2 1/2 weeks Kari Watkins was living with us. The kids love her so much and it was nice to have an adult to talk to throughout the day.

We pulled the mattress off of the top bunk and put it on the floor. Lucky Kari got Sara as her new roommate. One day in the midst of playing dress-up, Sara climbed into Kari's bed

(mostly naked) to read books.

Kari made this cool tent for the kids in the living room. They hung out and watched movies while I went Christmas shopping.

After the big storm we needed to shovel the driveway. Kari started while I got the kids all bundled up. Then I finished while she supervised the kids and took them inside when they were done.

Photos by Kari:

She wanted to get some cute shots to remember the kids by.

Kari painted her fingernails black. Sara, wanting to be just like Kari, had to have black fingernails too. Kari decided to add white polka dots.

Playing in Kari's storage bins.

Gingerbread Castle

Each year we get together with the Washingtons for this fun tradition. This year instead of building a gingerbread house we opted for the gingerbread castle. Bryan was sick, so Kari helped. Sara had so much fun, once we had the basic structure done. Poor girl, unfortunately her mother is a bit of a control freak when it comes to decorating gingerbread houses. She did have free reign over the back of the castle. Although Blake was present, he had no interest in decorating our castle. However, he didn't mind devouring all of the decorations! When we got home he played hide -and-go-seek with me in his closet. He was trying to avoid getting on pajamas.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, yes, I am actually 30. These are the gifts that my children picked out for me. Can you guess which one is from Blake and which one is from Sara?

Welcome Baby Jude!

Jude was born to our friends, Kevin and Erin, on December 6. I took Sara to visit them in the hospital. He is such a cute baby boy with tons of red hair.

As we were leaving we passed the nursery. There were two baby girls in the window. "I want Santa to bring me one of those babies for Christmas. I love the one with the red bow," she exclaimed. If only it were that easy!

Ladies At the Cabin

The day after Thanksgiving Kelsie and Rachel babysat all of the kids so that the ladies could go help out at the cabin. We moved piles of wood in from outside, swept floors, threw away garbage, and designed the lighting. Overall it was a successful day. I now have a greater appreciation of all of the work that Bryan and the rest of the guys do in that cold cabin. Hopefully it will retain heat better in the near future.

Visiting With the Greats

We got a surprise visit from Uncle Allen and Aunt Marge, my great aunt and uncle. Uncle Allen is my Grandpa Long's youngest brother. They were visiting from Kansas for Tana's wedding. It was so nice to visit with them. Blake took to Uncle A right away. He just climbed right into his lap.

Confessions of a New Kids Fan

I know what you all are thinking, that I am a huge dork. I don't deny it, but I must confess that long ago I was an avid New Kids on the Block fan. It all started in 4th grade with the cassette tape of "Hangin' Tough." I then continued to add to my collection with Teen Beat posters of the Kids and Mr. Jordan Knight. They were all over my bedroom and closet doors (mom wouldn't let me hang anything on the walls). Jordan was my first crush. I continued with my love affair of the New Kids through 5th grade. In Middle School the New Kids were not so cool anymore. I secretly was still a fan, but my love for them quickly faded. While in college I heard that Jordan Knight had released a solo album and Joey McIntyre released a Christian album. I was not interested enough to buy either album. The New Kids were dead...or so I thought.
This summer I heard on the radio that New Kids on the Block were getting back together for tour. I mentioned it at Sunday dinner to my sister-in-laws and joked that we should go to the concert. Crystal was interested in the concert, due to Natasha Bedingfield opening for them, but said that the tickets were a little high. I thought no more of it . . . until Jamie called. She had free tickets fall into her lap and wanted me to go with her. Finally, 10 year-old Lara's dream of seeing the New Kids live would come true. I was going to see Jordan, Jon, Joey, Danny, and Donnie!

We had a blast! I couldn't believe how the lyrics of songs that I hadn't heard in 20 or so years came back to me. They did all of their cheesy dance moves. However, their wardrobe was noticably updated. So, here's to the New Kids for making me feel like a 10 year-old again.