Opening Day

This year Parkie is in Little league and yesterday was opening day. We attended the opening ceremonies which was followed by his first game. All the boys were so hyped up and ready to play. The boys named their team "Bombers"..lol Parkie scored two runs and was able to play catcher, shortstop, right field, and third base. The Bombers ended up winning 20 to 14(or something like that). Anyway, I of course was the crazy mom taking pic's anytime he made a move :) During the fourth inning Grandma and Grandpa showed up with Minnie and Poncho (their dogs) to watch the rest of the game. We all had a great time and Parkie looked like such a little boy that it made me sad and happy all at the same time :)

Curly-Haired Cutie

As I walked out of the bathroom after showering this morning I was hit by the sight of Abby. She had taken out her morning bun and her hair looked so beautiful with the sunlight hitting her curls. I looked at this tiny little girl with beautiful long curly hair. I just stood there and looked at her. I knew taking pictures of her hair wouldn't do it justice but, I quietly went and got the camera. I knew I could get one in before she would look to see what I was doing. As soon as I took the first one she wanted to pose for a few more :)

Easter

Eggs, candy, and bunnies oh my! It has been a long Easter weekend. Even though its been long I loved every minute of it ( besides my 6hr shift at work on sat). I really love Easter and try and make it as special as possible. Even though I didn't feel like I did it justice this year as I sit here and reflect on the weekend I can honestly say I'm happy with the way it turned out. I'm already thinking of things that I want to do next year :) what can I say I love holidays!! On Saturday we went over to the Pollmann's house who host an Egg Hunt for all the little kids of the Ward. It was so cold but, the kids were so excited to search for eggs they didn't even seem to notice. That evening after I got home from work we colored eggs and made sure the Easter baskets were out so that the Easter Bunny could fill them during church. After the kids were in bed I was able to fill baskets and get the house ready for the next day. I love putting Easter baskets together!if I could do it for a living I would :) Anyway, I knew I needed to make sure the kids knew the true meaning behind Easter so I prepared the "Egg Lesson" (that's what I'm calling) it. On Sunday we went to Church and then headed home to see if the Easter Bunny had arrived. As we drove up, Parkie and Abby spotted eggs in they yard and knew the Easter Bunny had been to their house. They jumped out of the car and started picking up eggs. As Parkie was finding eggs he spotted his Easter basket through the window and ran into the house. They were so excited to see everything the Easter bunny had left them. Parkie put together his tent right away and Abby played solo's for us on her guitar :) While the kids played with their new toys I worked on decorating my lamb cake for dessert. My Grandma Krueger use to make this cake for Easter when I was a kid and as soon as I found the pan in a store I knew I had to carry on that tradition. Abby wanted to help so bad, so I let her help put on the eyes and nose. To finish off our weekend we headed over to Brad's parents for our Easter dinner. I of course had the camera in hand the whole weekend and took lots of pictures. I wish I could post them all but, I'm choosing to post some of the highlights of our weekend. :)

Goodbye 2010

I have realized that I suck at blogging!!! My goal for 2011 is to be a better blogger among many goals that I have set for myself this year. I feel like I can't move on to 2011 with my blog until I brief about our holidays. Christmas is such a big deal to me that it would be against everything I stand for as a "Christmasholic" (I just made that up........its a gift:)) Anyway, I put so much effort into trying to make holiday's special for my family that I want to share pic's and write about them.
So this year I was determined to perfect my "Christmas Platter" as I call it while dieting... uh yea I know ..wth? Ok, so I have never claimed to be the smartest person. I had to rely on Brad's taste buds to let me know if it was a keeper or not. Ok..Ok......I admit it...I did try tiny little bites. My Mother in Law told me long ago if you take a tiny little bite of something the calories fall out the bottom. I'ts true....I have seen them fall..(or were they crumbs?) I found a couple of keepers and hope to master fudge next year.
So besides my trial and error with baking we did do the typical holiday activities. We did however add a first which was getting a real tree. I love the smell of real trees and wanted my house to smell like Christmas. It's been so long since I have had a real tree that I forgot about how big of a mess they make with all their needles. Despite the needles I will for sure do a real tree again next year.
We also took the kids to get their pictures taken with Santa. I thought this year Abby would love sitting on his lap, but that was so polar opposite as to what her reaction really was. She screamed and cried (sorry Santa) and arched her back to slide down. He was a champ and grinned and let us take a few pic's. This years picture looked a lot like last years. I am learning that with kids not everything turns out perfect and sometimes those imperfect moments are the ones we remember most.
Christmas Eve we did our traditional activities over at Brad's parents. We do an appetizer dinner and we also act out the Christmas story. Parkie was a Sheppard and Abby was assigned Mary this year. I wish I could have recorded it on video because Abby was so sweet with her baby Jesus. She is such a little Mommy and is so gentle. We really enjoy that tradition every year.
This year Christmas Eve I papered the doorway to our sun room shut (which is where the tree was) so the kids couldn't peek at their presents. I had told Parkie I was going to do this and he was so excited about it. After they opened their stockings they were allowed to run and break through the paper. I couldn't wait for them to see their gifts. Santa was pretty generous this year so they both got one big thing they really wanted. Abby didn't want to open anymore after she noticed her vanity. Parkie couldn't believe that Santa really brought him a four wheeler. I'm thinking that Santa and Mrs. Claus (Brad and I...to avoid any misunderstanding) must of been on crack to buy a four wheeler in the winter. Oh well, I'll get......I mean... Parkie will get to ride it as soon as it warms up.
The day after Christmas we were able to go to Indiana to celebrate Christmas with my family. We all dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters to add a little humor :) My dad made a prime rib dinner for everyone and Grandma P.R. did her usual Christmas bingo. This year it felt like the perfect Christmas. I really loved spending time with both sides of the family and feel fortunate to have them all apart of my life. With that said now I feel like I can move on and say ......Happy New Year!! :)