Happy New Year!

This post has been WAY over due! My blogging has suffered due to kids being involved in more activities and running around this year! This is my new "normal" and I guess some blogs are better than NONE!

Here's our December.....Yea! December 18th couldn't have come soon enough! We were all ready to go "Over the river and through the woods", to Granny's house. I had spent the past two weeks preparing to drive across the country! I had gotten the kids DVD players, movies, and DS games for Christmas. I went to get car serviced, and found out we needed new breaks and tires. (Isn't that the way it ALWAYS goes before a BIG trip and holiday!) I had piles and piles of things to pack. A pile with things to keep them busy in the car, a pile of presents to hide in the car, a pile of food/water/emergency kit for the car, suitcases, stroller, etc. Then, two days ahead of time, Erik found some last minute airline tickets and a great deal on a long rental car. So....

It was "Over the houses and through security...to Granny's house we go!"

Our flight home went super smooth and the kids were all SO good! I was able to sneak in a nap, and Erik was able to catch up on his Facebook stalking on the plane! It was the best trip "post" kids we've ever had! That's just a sign on how old they are getting! (TEAR!)

We got to MN and had to get our wiggles out, and were AMAZED at all the snow on the ground and how COLD it felt to us this year!

Curtis had to get RIGHT outside when we got to Megan's house! All our winter clothes were at my parents house in WI. We were going to go get them first before we headed to MN. Thank GOODNESS for social networking and facebook! I put on my status that I needed clothes and within an HOUR I had all that I needed! Of course, Curtis had some technical difficulties keeping his clothes ON....and Uncle Kyle came to make fun of him....Opps.....I mean help him!

Bubba and Meredith reunited again and in no time at all we heard, "Bubba, Bubba, Bubba!" from Meredith all day! I just loved having a little girl checking on everything in the house and making sure I knew what was going on at ALL times!
I was AMAZED at how big Charlie had gotten....and darn cute if this Auntie must say so! He's going to fit right in! He's just starting to creep and made SURE he bugged his older cousins by going for EVERYTHING they were playing with. The DS games were his favorite!
Pulling into the old neighborhood and seeing the old house was very hard and I have to admit, it brought a tear to my eye! I really loved living there and it was hard to see someone else in "MY" house! (Although, I don't miss the shoveling!)

Curtis and Johnny reconnected with old friends and it was just as if they had never left!

While they were having play dates....Bubba was up to no good at Auntie Megan's house! She loved how naughty he was...especially when he showed Meredith how to climb out of her crib!
We went to the ice skating rink our first night back, and of course...you know that our trip to MN went WAY too smoothly for something NOT to go wrong!
We met all the old neighbors there for open skate, and I was SO excited to have a cup of hot chocolate and gossip when...Johnny fell and ended up at the hospital getting stitches AND glue to close up his chin! All the help from neighbors really made me miss them more!

Let's just say it was GREAT catching up with the old ER nurses and it was actually an enjoyable trip! No one from the pharmacist, to the nurses, to the doctors in town had forgotten us yet!

In fact, it might have been said by a pharmacist, "The pharmacy just hasn't been the same since you left town!" This was after my three kids and Megan's two kids all went to the doctor and all left with antibiotics earlier in the day! (I know, I know...I'm LIVING the life baby...living the life! )

Next stop....on to La Crosse!

We finally had some winter clothes of our own, and now Bubba got to go out into the snow for the very first time that he could remember! Not sure he LOVED it that much...but it was fun!

We had a great Christmas Eve....as usual!

And my parents kitchen was quickly known as "Boy Central!"

Christmas morning was a BLAST!

The kids were at perfect ages this year!

Except for my sister Colleen who still seems to be growing and needed extra sleep....

Bahahaha!

Christmas morning...middle of the living room- 10:00AM!

Bahahaha!

Then it happened...my WORST fear while traveling this year. I knew it was going to happen...just I thought it would have happened to MY family and not anyone else's!

Cousin Cullen got the flu, and just as quickly as he threw up, his family packed the car and headed home! Not sure if you remember last year...but it was us that had to pack up and go home due to the flu!

Always a bummer when it hits on X-Mas with 17 people sleeping in the house! Luckily, Colleen, my Mom, and I had our TOP notch sanitizing game on...and NO one else got sick in our families...it stayed just within Ann Marie's.

We had Christmas up at the cabin with Grandma Deb and "Buck 9!" (Erik's Dad)

No Christmas vacation is complete until you play the elephant game with grandma!

We had a really enjoyable Christmas on the 25th with Erik's mom's side of the family too... I just wish I had taken some pictures! Very enjoyable holiday with all sides of our family!
With my baby sister living so close to La Crosse, we got so spend some quality time with her this holiday season. (Whether she liked it or not!)

Just like old times,she tagged along on a date night to the movie theater with Erik and I. Unlike old times, she was dying when Erik had us stop and fill up our Cokes and Popcorn for refills before leaving the building! She use to think that was SO cool! (:
We also had a nice afternoon away from the kids to go see her new apartment! Nothing like sitting in a small Wisconsin town, sipping on a gas station cappo, eating cheese curds, and Amish candy! GOOD TIMES WITH BEANER!
I looked SO forward to coffee time with my mom, my sisters, and friends everyday during the holidays! Ahhhhhhh!
The last night came WAY too quickly, and it was time to pack up and go. It was New Years Eve, and we went and got the "last" supper!

Watched the 6pm fireworks off of the Bluff!

And had some special time with Pop and Granny before we drove back to MN on the 1st for our flight back!

What a special visit we had with family this holiday season! We are very blessed!
On the first of January, we left La Crosse at 10:30am, and went to the airport and checked in our big bags. Then we headed off to the Mall of America to meet up with Aunt Megan one last time. Here Bubba is giving her some LOVING when he saw her!

Lefty is always good for a "peace sign!"

Then we went to the airport three hours early, b/c I just knew there would be a huge crowd and security lines. Little did I know....it would be a GHOST TOWN! We got there WAY too early! All the restraunts were closed because of the holiday and it was even hard to find food to eat for dinner!

Our time came to board the plane and we all got lined up and were ready to get on....until they announced that there was a few mechanical problems and we were delayed. 7pm, turned to 8pm. 8pm turned to 9pm. Finally they announced it was unfixable and we would be getting on a new plane when it landed. We didn't start boarding until after 10pm. Thank GOODNESS for the makers of the Nintendo DS! The older boys were in heaven not having a limit on playing!

Bubba was not quite as easy, but was good non-the-less!

If nothing else, we had our African drum going for us!

(Santa must not have know we would be FLYING!)

Finally we landed after 1AM and the flight crew and staff were the friendliest EVER! They let the boys call the cockpit and ask if they could sit in the captains seat!

They even gave us a little tour!

It was neat and saved on some melt downs as we had to de-plane and wait for baggage!

The weather was VERY pleasant and in the mid 50's when we landed....

It was still a bit too much for this young traveler!

(Side Note:

At 12:22am, ALL three of my kids were still going strong on the plane! I was SHOCKED!)

They did SO good considering what a LONG day we had been through!

Sunday was a day of rest and relaxation and were were glad to be back home again...but missing family as we always do living so far away!
Can't wait to see what adventures 2011 has in store for us....Live is NEVER dull with our family! (:

Our Nano-Second of Fame....

Last Friday, Johnny was playing cars near the TV. I was watching Good Morning America, and was busy doing dishes, and picking up the house. GMA was over, and Regis and Kelly came on TV. Regis was gone and Nick Lachey was Kelly's co-host for the day. When they walked out together, Johnny yelled, "Mom, come quick, Regis got a haircut!"

I thought it was SO funny and texted my Aunt who loves Regis and Kelly. She told me to e-mail the show and tell them the story. So, I sent a quick text to the show telling them the story and how I thought it was too cute not to share!

Yesterday (Monday) I recorded the show, just in case they said something. I didn't sit and watch the show, but was busy around the house while it was on. A friend who knew the story saw the show, and e-mailed me and said, "Was that just Johnny they were talking about on Reg and Kelly?" I went back and watched it and sure enough...our story made the air! Johnny has watched it about 20 times with a BIG smile on his face! (Kelly got his age wrong...but he didn't seem to mind!)

Sunday Funday!

We celebrated our little family Christmas today.

Always exciting to get presents!

Bubba is WAY into it this year!

And LOVES to open presents!

Erik's boss gave him tickets to the Panther vs. Falcon game this afternoon! Curtis' first official NFL game! (I thought a free ticket meant a DATE for me..but I forgot I have all boys and EVERYONE wanted to go to the game!)

Curtis was SO excited to go with JUST his Daddy!

Desperately trying to get on TV!

Sitting in the Club Level bar with Daddy warming up!

While they were at the game, we went to our town's local Christmas Parade with some friends! It might not feel like Christmas down here, but this sure did put us in the holiday spirit!

This is Johnny and his little girl friend!

She told her Grandma and Grandpa that Johnny was so "handsome, Handsome, HANDSOME!" when they were in town visiting! So, her whole family just refers to Johnny as "Handsome" now!

Who doesn't LOVE the fire trucks with wreathes on them?

Johnny waving at the fire fighters!

All the little girls were plugging their ears with the sirens blaring and my boys were LOVING it!

Hmmmm, I'm thinking I'd only see this entry in the south!

They called themselves the "Hillbillies!"

Bubba was LOVING it!

Johnny standing near the birth place of Andrew Jackson!

Temperatures dropped throughout the parade...suppose to be in the 20's with the wind chill tomorrow and Tuesday! Guess it's getting us ready for the weather back home in WI/MN at Christmas! We can't WAIT!

We LOVE Our...

New Neighbors!

It's hard to beat all the wonderful neighbors back in Minnesota...but we sure lucked out when it came to a great set of neighbor's here! Our next door neighbors are the sweetest people from Aberdeen, Scotland. (Same place my best friend Lynne is from). And, they LOVE little boys! (Thank goodness!) Anyways, our neighbor lady loves to come watch Bubba, and does it to allow me to volunteer in the kids classrooms once in a while. This weekend they had us over to dinner, and to give the kids Christmas presents! All my boys feel right at home in their house...especially Bubba! He has won over their hearts!

Mrs. knows how to get RIGHT to his heart with a bag of Cheetos! She would grab a Cheeto and take a bite, and Bubba would grab it out of her hand and stick it in his mouth REALLY fast! This was cracking her up all night!
Here are the boys with their new goods! I wish I would have video taped Curtis and Johnny opening their gift from them! Mr. and Mrs. got my boys Mario Kart for the Wii (something they always wanted) and the boys were screaming and jumping around! Mr. and Mrs. were in heaven watching it! They were way too generous, and we really appreciated it!
We did a few Scottish traditions, such as each boy had a 'cracker' at their place to open up and let pop!

With goodies and a hat in the middle!

After that, it was on to the competitions for the night! Here is a short clip of what our evening was like! As you can see, my kids LOVE the neighbors! We had a great time, and I can NOT believe we were there for over 5 hours! Again, we are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Deck the Halls....

This weekend was our neighborhood's annual Breakfast with Santa.

It was our first time there and I was pleasantly surprised!

The kids got to do crafts!

And Bubba got to do, what Bubba does best....EAT CANDY!

Here he is raising his hands in victory! You see, he realized every time you sat on Santa's lap, Santa gave you a treat! (Mainly b/c I don't think Santa could remember who had seen him already). Bubba kept telling me, "One more second" and "I have to tell him something." Then he would run up to Santa, back himself up to him and say different things. The first time it was, "I want Chuck the Talking Truck and cars." The next times it was, "I got my hair cut." Then, "Look at my new shoes!" Finally, "See my belly button!" You get the picture....

Here he is outside with the goods...

Three Christmas ring pops, and a candy cane!

The boys were loving the hot coco and seeing all of their friends!

I LOVE THIS!