Malia's Birthday

Last Sunday was our neice Malia's 2nd birthday...we went down to IG for a fun birthday party....it was delicous chilli, cinnamon rolls, cake and ice cream!!! what more could you ask for:) The kids had a GREAT time playing with their cousins...it was a good afternoon:)

Other than that, we haven't really been doing much...trying to stay warm, that is for sure!!! it has been too cold to go outside, so we have cuddled up and watched movies on our new TV:) the boys of course go between Ice Age & Cars....as I type we had to put Lightning McQueen in (AGAIN)....it is amazing to me how many times kids can watch something and not get bored with it...but it is a cute movie, so I don't mind...TOO much:)


In other news...I believe Ayden has recovered fully from his surgery!!! he is much much better, and is eating like a HORSE!!! he is too funny....the other night, we ate supper, he ate everything on his plate, and then we were watching a movie, when he came up to me and said, Mommy, I'm Hungry!!!! well...I said, how about I go and get and orange and peel it....yeah he decided that would be good, but then out of nowhere came..." I want a cheeseburger too!!!" WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! little stinker!! we opted to just have the orange, but made cheeseburgers the next night for supper!!! so as you can tell, he is back to his old self, and maybe even a little bit more of a pig to help make up for those days when he ate basically slim to none!

The other two peanuts are just that...peanuts!!! Ashley is talking more and more everyday and always has to put her two cents in....the other day she ran around the whole day yelling "look at me, mommy" and then she would do something silly....and Elliott, well is just too smart for his own good!!! his new favorite phrases are "Ca-Chow" and "later mater"...guess where he got these!!:)

so other than that...not much to report, just trying to survive the winter and can't wait until SPRING and warm weather so we can GO OUTSIDE AGAIN!!!!

Everyone enjoy the rest of their weekend:)

NEW TV

Well-- Finally, we bit the bullet:) so to speak anyway...We got a new TV...Chris has been wanting one for a while, and today we decided it was time to go and get what he wanted...

So off we went to Pflanz here in Sioux City, and found a 52" LCD Mitsubshi... it is AWESEOME:) the picture is sooooo good, it is really amazing...it is especially wonderful with our fabulous new Blu-Ray DVD player that we got for a Christmas gift...the picture it projects is so clear it is hard to believe it is only a movie!!!

Then of course, we don't know if we want to mount the TV on our wall yet upstairs, so we opted to find a new TV stand to put it on, so we have the TV in our basement on its new stand while we try and decide if we want to mount it or what we really want to do with our upstairs living area:)

So needless to say it has been an eventful day around here...and tomorrow will be even more:) Little miss Malia is turning 2 tomorrow so we are venturing down to IG for her birthday party:) We can't wait to help her celebrate!!!

ELMO LIVE!!!

Hey:) Sorry it has been soooo long since I have updated...we have been sick around here, not a fun way to start of 2009, but we are hanging in there and we hope that we are on the tail end of this cold and yucky stuff!!!

Last night, Chris surprised the boys and me with tickets to go and see Elmo Live at the Tyson Events Center:) Chris stayed home with his little girl to keep her company and I got to have an evening out with my boys:) It was soooooo much fun & the boys LOVED it:) They love Sesame Street, so of course, they were excited to see all the characters that they love....some of the highlights were of course Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Oscar the Grouch, Grover & Cookie Monster....of course all the gang was there, but those were the ones that the boys kept talking about!!! The show was really cute and they sang songs and danced....Elliott told me he wanted to go up on the stage and dance!!! I told him that was just for the characters, too cute:) and Ayden knows the Sesame Street theme song really well, so he was really jamming out when they all sang that!!!

We had a great night, and it sounds like Chris & Ashley did too....some daddy/daughter bonding time:)

Here are some pics of the evening...we enjoyed a big popcorn & a Sprite along with our show...the boys enjoyed that too!!! What fun:)

Ayden--Tonsils & Adnoids

So, the day after Christmas was spent whisking Ayden away to the same day surgery center here in Sioux City, so that he could have his tonsils and adnoids removed!!! We arrived at about 7:30 and he went in to surgery at about 9--it only took like 15 or 20 minutes and we got word that he was done and in recovery...the doctor came to talk to us and told us that his tonsils were "huge" and his adnoids were 3/4 full, so it was definitly a good decision to have this done, he will be able to breathe so much better, and thus sleep so much better!!! Thank God everything went well, and after some coaxing to get him to eat a couple popsicles we were able to bring him home...he did really well on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday were kind of so-so day's....he would have his moments, but they were pretty few and far between...Today has been better, he has drank and eaten more today, so that is promising I think!!!

Thank you for all you prayers, thoughts, calls & stop by's to help our little Ayden feel better:)

Christmas

I am a bit delayed in getting this post up, but I have been trying to get Ayden back on the mend from his surgery, so forgive me!!!

Christmas this year was great!!! We started out with heading down to Ida Grove on Wednesday afternoon, went to Christmas Eve mass, and then headed to my grandparents, Grandpa & Grandma Lansink's house...We had a great supper and had fun visiting and playing with cousins...we got some great gifts:) it was a great night...then we headed out to my parent's house, so we could get the kids in bed, but first we had to put cookies out for Santa!!!

In the morning, Santa had left just a few crumbs on the cookie plate and a LOT of presents for everyone to open:) We had so much fun opening, the boys and Ashley each got a new bike---those were from Grandpa and Grandma & they LOVE them--- other highlights include clothes, a drum set, a truck set & a VTech ABC toy!!!! the kids are in heaven:)

After all of those wonderful festivies we headed out to Sac City to my Aunt & Uncle's house where my aunt Janna was hosting the Spotts family Christmas!! How great to see everyone, it was so nice to play games, and of course the kids got more great presents!!! One might think that our children are spoiled or something!!! oh well, I guess Chrismtas is once a year!!! After some great snacks, we opened the presents and then had to head on for home, because of Ayden's surgery scheduled for early the next morning!!! We were sorry we couldn't stay for supper, I am sure that it was delicious!!!!!!!!!

When we got home, Santa had stopped here too!!!! The kids got a Kitchen & a Train set and table & some Cars laptops with learning games on them!!! Boy, Santa sure was busy...good thing he stopped here at our house with those, because there was NO WAY we were getting all that in the rental car that they gave us...a Nissan Altima...it barely fit the 5 of us!!!!! haha:)

So it was a great holiday, yet again!!! THANK YOU to everyone for the great presents, great food and great enjoyment that you gave to us this Christmas, it was wonderful:) Here are the pics from everything:) Enjoy!

Getting ready for Santa...

We took advantage of the YUCKY weather this weekend, to just stay inside and do some baking for Santa...The kids and I had a good time making cookies, and dipping Oreo's into almond bark...the boys got to put sprinkles on those, and they got to roll the peanut blossom cookies in the sugar...they were very big helpers and cannot wait until they get to put out some of the goodies for Santa to eat when he comes!!!

Ashley, well, she didn't get to help as much as she liked, but she did get to have a Hershey's kiss to hold her over while we were making the cookies, and she is a chocolate lover for sure...after she had one, she kept coming up to me and saying chocolate please!!!!!!

And there is also a pic of the kids clean after their bath tonight!!!

Everyone stay warm and have a Merry Christmas:)

Schrunk Family Christmas

Hello All!!

Sorry it has been a while since we have checked in, but trust me there is plenty to report about tonight!!!

First I got a new camera for Christmas:) Chris gave it to me last Wednesday evening:) It is a canon digital and it takes WONDERFUL pictures...check out the slide show below for all the wondeful pics from the weekend...

On Thursday evening, we took off after all of my daycare kids left, and headed to Dubuque to spend the weekend with Chris' parents and siblings for the Schrunk Family Christmas...We had a good drive, despite a little snow from just before Webster City to about Cedar Falls, everything went well...We arrived around 10:30 and got the kids settled and went to beds ourselves...

On Friday morning, we played and hung out around the house for a little while...Grandma Jane had an appointment to go to, so we took that time to take the kids to the mall to see Santa!!! This was the first visit of the season, and it went OK...they all would give Hi-5's to him, but did NOT want to sit on his lap...so we just stood by him and visited for a minute, they really seemed to like him, for the most part... Then after that we met up with Grandma Jane to head up to Mt. Carmel, where she works, to visit some of the co-workers...aka "show off the grandkids":) Then we were back to Grandma & Grandpa's for a nap....After nap's Grandma had made sugar cookies, and she frosted them, so the kids could decorate them with sprinkles...They had tons of fun with that... Later on after supper, we hopped in the car because in Dubuque at Murphy Park is a wonderful display of Holiday Lights...it is really amazing...you get to stay in your car and drive through the park and look at all the lights and decorations that hundreds of volunteers put up....it was sooooo pretty, and the kids absolutely LOVED IT!!!

On Saturday, we had special plans for the morning, because all of the grandkids were getting their pictures taken with Grandpa & Grandma...The shots turned out awesome...all of the kids cooperated and it was really a great shoot!!! Then it was back to G & G's house, for our family Christmas dinner....wonderful ham, turkey and all the fixings!!! VERY YUMMY...after naps we got to open presents...the boys got awesome John Deere tractors and Ashley got a shopping cart and some groceries...also some power tools and a tickle me Ernie...everything has been wonderful, the kids love it all and have played all day with the new toys!!!

After a little leftover dinner & some wondeful cheesecake (thanks Carolynne)... We had heard that the weather was not going to be the greatest on Sunday...it was supposed to be sleeting and freezing and slick out, so we really didn't want to drive back in that, so we opted to head back for home on Saturday evening...da da da.

That is supposed to mean bad things are coming....

So we are driving along...and what should appear...............2 deer!!!!!!!!! And wouldn't you know it we HIT 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!

We were right at the 6 mile to Fort Dodge sign, when this all took place...the car was NOT driveable...we got the state patrol there...who got us a tow...we opted to stay in a hotel for the evening considering it was 10:30 at night, and by the time everything was all said and done and the tow truck got us to a motel it was nearly midnight....Thankfully we were all okay!!!!!! the kids were a little shook up and scared, but everything was ok once we got in our room and got them settled into bed...Then the next morning on Sunday, my parents, came to our rescue and picked us up at the motel and took us back to their house for a while...then we brought their van the rest of the way home...we will figure out a rental situation soon, hopefully the Expedition will be fixed soon!!!!!!!!!! and then this whole mess can be behind us!!! We were just thankful that we arrived home all together and in one peice, vehicles can be replaced, our children can not!!!!!!!!!!!

So that is our fun time that we had...it was great (except for the last 24 hours)...Thank you to all who made it a wonderful Christmas celebration for us and for all you help with our little accident!!! We love you all:)

Enjoy the pics in the slide show...sorry there are so many, I couldn't pick just a few:)