A Valentine Tradition..

The 2nd annual Father/Daughter Dance was on Friday and the girls were very excited. They got to dance, do crafts, eat, and play games with their dad's undivided attention for two hours!

Dan, Danielle, Gracie, Tay and Jason

Ben was so excited b/c we got to hang out with Kelli, William and Nicholas..he had to wear his special spiderman shirt... The sweet girls not fighting, yelling at or antagonizing each other...

A Night OuT!

This was our first night out with an "official"paid babysitter.

The kids were very excited and did GrEaT!

We were So HaPpY to see Monica and Alon..we had such a nice dinner..

Can't wait for the Alley Cat!

The Holidays all Mixed-Up!

We were blessed with several different Christmas celebrations and below are just a few photos from each one. Goodbye to Jason's Grandpa Harold who is now watching over us from Heaven.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Another tradition our family started this year was the "Pickle" ornament..I guess Santa hides it really well in the tree and the child who finds it gets an extra present.
Sweet Baby Colin..2 months.

Gracie's beautiful princess dress from Uncle K and Aunt L

Layne Mae (Scott and Andrea Hopper's daughter)..She wore her puma racing shoes with her dress..it was the cutest!

Taylor opening one of her gifts from her "stocking". Thank you to everyone who contributed to the "stocking" gifts. Tay, Grace and Ben really appreciated it.

Gracie, Taylor, Colin, Ben, Sadie and Noah..Christmas in Hinckley.

Christmas Monring 2008

Taylor and one of her favorite gifts...

Great-Grandma Shirley, Gracie and Grandma Sandy

Grandpa Jim and Gracie

Tay, Grandma Sandy, Paps, Ben and Gracie

Andrew and Heather

Dad and Tracy

Elf on the Shelf..Zipper had a busy season..He watched that the kids were good and listened to their requests then every night he flew back to the North Pole to give Santa his report..The next morning he was hiding in a different spot and the kids had to find him...

Payton, Gracie, Nolan, Taylor and Ben

Oh my gosh Mom!

This is my old cheerleading outfit from the 8th grade...they were so old we got to keep them..I wore it for Halloween 1998 in Broad Ripple. My girls think this is sooo funny!

Gracie our sweet "snow princess"

Just a few pictures from Gracie's first dance recital. She practices once a week at "Dance Unlimited" and absolutely loves it! A GIANT thank you to Grandma Becky for sewing her costume (it was perfect!)and to Daddy for the headband! We are looking forward to many more recitals and getting there very early for a good seat.

Gracie was so excited to dance...not nervous one bit...I hope she is always this confident...the girls had so much FUN!

Gracie and Hailey who aren't in the same class but, did perform on the same night!

A couple shots Grandma got before the performance....

Gracie and Grandma...

Let the Yuletide FuN Begin!

Ben, Nolan (nephew) and Hailey(neighbor) all attend the same preschool. So, today we got to celebrate the "holidays" by icing our own cookies, exchanging gifts and singing! The kids had a fun time and now they can focus 110% on Santa's arrival.

~~Thanks to Heather, Melanie and Grandma and Grandpa for all the ride assistance this year..and a big THANKS to Grandma Sandy for watching the kids so I could attend the party with Ben!~~
**please remember to pause the music on the playlist to hear the boys "sing"..

Ben with his "gift" a plush dog..named none other than Toby.

Aunt Heather giving the boys a lesson in working the video camera...

Hailey and Miguel Benjamin..not feeling the greatest but, still managing to eat his 2 cookies..
Would you believe he didn't eat any of these b/c they weren't from home...Nolan won't eat much that isn't from his home...

Jolly Ole' Saint Nick...

All Tay wants for Christmas is Wii games, DS games, Uggs, (u know the low dollar things)..Gracie would like a Sleeping Beauty vanity, baby dolls, basically everything she sees and Ben would like more cars (like this one daddy got him, that he just had to bring to show Santa)...
So, this is the first time that Gracie has sat on Santa's lap since she was 1. All the other years she would have no part of it. Her question to me before it was their turn was..."Is Santa going to have Bad breath? " Her comment after..."Mommy, Santa's breath didn't stink..it smelled like a candy cane!"

The kids were troopers waiting the 35 minutes for Santa...Thank goodness for Auntie Anne's...

I thought with Ben I would have some say in his fashion choices..WRONG. I think he might be worse than the the girls...He found this sweater that Harrison handed down to him and now it's all he wants to wear...Go figure.