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:)

Checking in from Sickville!

Well, hello all!!! Yes, it is true, we have been a little under the weather around here...to say the least the stomach flu has hit us:( YUCK!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully it has not hit the children too hard...just a little running to the bathroom for the boys and some nasty diapers for Ashley...but poor mom & dad, we haven't faired to well....:( First off, I got thrown up on twice in one day by two of my daycare kids...pretty yucky, but I felt even worse for them, because ya know how it scares you when you don't know what is happening, and they are both still little, so NO fun at all....Then later that night is when I got the pleasure of getting rid of my stomach contents.....I haven't done that in YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was horrible, but then I felt a thousand times better, so I guess it was worth it.... For Chris, he probably had it the worse...

BUT the good news is, we are on the uphill swing of things and seem to be feeling better!!!

We did feel better at the end of the week, so the boys got to get some haircuts, so they are all ready for the upcoming holiday season and all the pictures that will be taken...No cut for Ashley, I want to to grow and grow, so for now nothing:)

We did find out yesterday, that our little Ayden has to have his tonsils and adnoids taken out:( Poor guy hasn't been sleeping well for the past few weeks and just tosses and turns in his bed, is never in the same spot, and you can just see the bags under his eyes...so we took him to our doctor who thought we should see the ENT doctor, who confirmed that his tonsils are "HUGE" and that with the snoring and tossing and turning that his adnoids should come out too!!! so we are scheduled to have the surgery the day after Christmas!!!!!! Hopefully it will go well and he will recover well & quickly....makes me nervous, of course, but I just pray that he will be okay and that he will feel so much better after all of this is done!!! We will keep you updated on the latest on all of that!!!

Everyone have a great weekend!!:) Here are pics of the boys and their new do's and Ashley peek-a-booing on the steps!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

What a fun and festive time we had for our Thanksgiving holiday...We went on Wednesday evening to Grandpa & Grandma Lansink's house...My brother Andrew & his wife Lisa were back from Chicago so we got to hang out with them and visit and the kids got to play with them....On Thursday, my brother Aaron came down for the BIG dinner that mom made....IT WAS DELICIOUS:) Turkey, Ham, Pork Loin & all the fixings....can't go wrong with that...needless to say there were plenty of leftovers for everyone to enjoy over the next couple of days....

Thursday afternoon, my brother Adam & his wife Jodi and their kids joined us to visit and play....what a fun time!!!!!! and we are excited for their news that we will be having a new neice or nephew......we don't have a preference just a healthy baby & healthy mom is all we can ask for....can't wait for the new one to arrive:) Congrats guys:)

Then we headed into my Grandpa and Grandma Lansink's house to help celebrate their wedding anniversary....it was great to see a lot of my cousins and their families...we are all expanding so quickly, it is just amazing:)

Then Friday, we slept in, a little, and then hung out and played all day with Andrew & Lisa, the boys got a tractor ride, and we went to see Grandma at work at the bank...then after the bank we went to the city park for a little bit of playing around, before it was home for lunch and naps!!! Friday night after Grandma got home we went for supper in Arthur...very yummy:)

Bad news on the way home though, we were pulling in my parent's driveway and the tire sensor thing on our car came on, so we got out when we parked and sure enough we could hear the air POURING out of the tire...a rock was shoved in the sidewall of one of our tires, and was not fixable...so we had a spendy day on Saturday to get new tires put on the vehicle...HO HO HO to us...what everygirl wants for Christmas, a new set of tires:) ha ha~~~

Then we got to hang out on Saturday afternoon/evening with my aunts & uncles and cousins!!!!!!!! what a fun time playing cards and eating pizza and letting the kids play....but our time was up at G & G's, mostly because we needed them to get back into their routine today before Monday arrives...so we drove back home on Saturday night....

Today we goofed around this morning, put up the tree this afternoon, and now I just got done doing some wrapping of some gifts that we already have....just a few more things to pick up and I think that I will be done!!!!!!!

here are some pics from the weekend:) Hope you all enjoyed your Thansgiving...we truly have a lot to be thankful for this year....We love you all!!!

Fun in the snow

We went out to play in the snow yesterday afternoon!! The boys had tons of fun, Ashley still wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but did wander around a little bit....Of course the first thing the boys wanted to do was EAT the snow:) too funny...

I asked them later if they had fun in the snow....Elliott said "It's cold" and Ayden said "It's wet"....well that about sums up the snow situation!!!!!!!! they did have fun and didn't want to come inside, but Ashley fell down in the snow and couldn't get up, so she had seen enough of it, so it was time to venture in...they lasted longer than I thought we were out there for about a half hour... A very fun afternoon:)

A little bit of nothing...

So we really didn't do anything too exciting this week, and I don't have any pics to show you, but I thought I would tell you all that we are still here and hanging in there....

On Thursday night, we got surprised by a good friend of our's Lynne who was in town getting her car worked on...she stopped over and visited with me in the afternoon because her car wasn't done and then we decided to go out for supper with her & Mike and the kids...too bad Melissa was working:( But we had a good time, and we were even complimented on how well behaved all the children were!!!! An older gentleman at a few tables away stopped on their way out to tell us how good they were...Made us feel good:) Now if they would just behave at home!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHA:) Anyway...it was good to see Lynne and catch up with her, too bad Brian and the Kids weren't along so we could have seen them too!!! Next time maybe:)

This morning we woke up to a blanket of snow......and of course Elliott starts bouncing off the walls "It SNOWED, it Snowed!!!" oh to be 2 again and think snow is fun!!!!!!!!! and Ayden wanted to put on his "big boots" and go out and play....yeah at 7 in the morning we are going to go out and play...think again Ayden!!! so I said that if it wasn't too cold after naps we might head out and play for a little bit!!! If we do, I will get some pics and post them later!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend:)

Grandpa & Grandma visit

Grandpa George & Grandma Jane came for the weekend, so we had tons of fun playing with them...the boys even got to stay up a little later on Friday night waiting for them to come ( poor Ashley was too tuckered to keep her eyes open anymore)... On Saturday we just goofed around all day, got to have lunch at Applebee's and then came home for naps...Then we had pizza for supper and played some more and then it was time for bed...since George & Jane were here, Chris and I took the privlege to go and have a drink...we weren't gone long, but it was enough....

Then today, we just hung out and goofed around...I made a pork loin for supper, so we just enjoyed playing around the house and having a lazy day....We watched the Broncos win:) and then enjoyed our yummy pork loin...

Grandma got the kids some cute new jammies, so they got to wear those on Saturday night...the pics show the new sleeping atire:) We also watched "Happy Feet" this weekend with the kids...THEY LOVED IT...it is about the dancing penguins...everytime the screen went away from the penguins, Ayden would say "where did the penguins go???" all worried!!! And in one scene there are whales that are trying to eat the penguins and the boys started saying "nono whales, don't bite the penguins" very cute and very funny!!! so there are pics of them all dancing to the happy feet music, and then there are some pics of playing around tonight after baths, with Daddy being the horse:)

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend...

OH, I almost forgot!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR WONDERFUL FRIENDS Tom, Randi, and their son Logan called us the other day to let us know that they will be MOVING to SIOUX CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited:) Randi & I used to work together at First Federal and then she moved to Omaha to be with her then boyfriend, now he's her husband:) I was so sad to have her move away, but now Tom has gotten a promotion with Northern Natural and they will be moving back up here..........HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!! it will probably be a while before Randi & Logan are here because they have to sell the house, but Tom starts on Dec. 1!!!:) I just hope the house sells quickly so Randi and Logan can be here too!!!!!!!!!!! We can not wait to have you guys back in the area:)

So, Now, I think that is it!!! Have a great week:)

Ayden made the letter "A"....hope you can see it in this pic, it was hard to photograph, but he was so proud of himself:)

Ashley, letting her hair be wild...man it is getting so long!!!

Ayden & Elliott have been making "trains" out of their blocks...here are some pics of them making a really long train...

Sioux City Musketeers

Last night, even though it was freezing out....we decided to take the kids for their first adventure with a hockey game....Chris & I have always enjoyed going to an occasional game of the Musketeers, so we thought the kids would enjoy it too...and they did!!! they had tons of fun watching the hockey players skating and of course loved the music and lights and the POPCORN:)

Even though they loved it, the newness of the whole thing wore off after the 1st period and we were chasing them....no just Ashley....around....they boys did pretty good...they stood up by Chris and got some beads from the Muskies mascot ( Elliott said Mickey Mouse gave him the beads!!HAHA) so it was just a matter of corralling Ms. Jo Jo....

We ended up leaving after the 2nd period because it was already 8:30 and Ashley was getting tired....so it was on to home and off to bed!!!

Did I mention that the boys have been wearing underwear to bed!!! they have been doing it for 1 week now, and there has only been 1 accident in the middle of the night:) YEAH!!!!! NO MORE DIAPERS FOR THOSE 2~~~~~~~:) What big boys, huh????

Now, we just have a relaxing weekend planned, nothing but cleaning and laundry and relaxing!!! I already have my fridge cleaned out this morning....the deep down kind of clean that it needs every once in a while....so check that off the list for today, now on to cleaning floors and all that other fun stuff!!!

Well...Hope you all are doing ok...a P.S. note to our friends Jeremy & Julie-- when will you be in town so we can go to the Muskies together again!!! It has been TOO long!!!! Everyone have a great week!!!

Trick or Treat

We have had a wonderful couple of days of festivies around here to celebrate Halloween...The kids have been having tons of fun, and it has been fun for us parents too:)

On Thursday night, we carved a pumpkin....it was our first attempt at this, last year they were too young to even understand, so this year we thought would be fun, and boy was it...Ashley didn't get into it too much, but Ayden & Especially Elliott got right in there and were digging out all the seeds...Elliott really got into it and got most of the seeds out, he was really having fun...of course no knives for them, so mom did the carving, but they got to decide the shapes and then got to watch me light it up with a candle:) It was a very fun night...

Then of course, tonight we donned our costumes and headed out into the neighborhood to get some good treats...no tricks for us!!! The boys were Chicago Cubs players, and Ashley was the Cubs Cheerleader:) it was too cute....all the neighbors thought they were too cute, and some even took pictures...I know kind of weird huh, random neighbor people taking pics, but whatever, they are cute, so ya know!!! We racked in a fair amount of candy and even got to pick out one piece to have before they brushed their teeth and went to bed!!! Ayden picked a sucker, Elliott a laffy taffy and Ashley had some M's....to every one else this is M & M's but our kids like to just call them M's:)

Very yummy, so now they are off to Dream world, and soon we will be too!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween as much as we did:)

Happy Birthday Chris:)

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Chris...Happy Birthday to you:)

Have a great day HONEY:) WE LOVE YOU!!! What a great husband and daddy you are:) You are wonderful!!!

Picasso????

No, not Picasso, just Ayden being naughty....he colored on the basement walls yesterday when I was in changing laundry loads...he found a permanent red marker and decided our walls needed a little something....Don't worry, he got in trouble...good thing is we needed to paint that wall anyway....

Enjoy his art!!! Funny, I appreciate it more when it is on paper and not on my WALLS!

Chili....BRRRRR

It has been soooo cold this week, kind of depressing already if I do say so myself, but of course it is the perfect weather to break out the chili pot and make a big old batch with some yummy cinnamon rolls....soooooo that is exactly what we did the other night....I have been meaning to show you these pics for a couple of days, but with 8 or 9 kids running/crawling around here everyday, my life gets kinda hectic so I don't always have time to post during the week!!! So anyway...here is our pics from the wonderful chili night, even if it is too early to be this cold we can enjoy by being inside all warm and cozy with a big bowl of chili:)

Nothing much is new from the rest of the week...I made a chicken the other night (not the same night as chili) so I have some leftovers from that to use tonight for a chicken casserole...and I think tomorrow we will be making a birthday cake for our soon to be birthday boy....Daddy will be having a birthday on Monday:) I won't tell you how old, you all can guesstimate, because if I did tell, this would probably be my last post!! haha:) but of course it is time for the favorite German Chocolate cake to come out of the oven...Chris LOVES this cake and gets it for his b-day each year...yummy!!!

As for the munchkins....busy as ever....Ashley has started coming up to me when somebody is being naught to her, she of course is crying and then she tells me "no no" and points to who ever the culprit is....it is toooooo funny!!! of course not funny to her, but to me it is pretty darn cute:) poor little sister!!!

Ayden & Elliott have been busy coloring and learning all week....I have decided that instead of having bored children, we are going to have "school time" each day for the 4 "big" boys...they actually are loving it...we do numbers and letters and colors and shapes...so far everyone is doing well on the sitting still and listening, still could have some improvement in that area, but they are only 2 1/2 so I will forgive them for their short attention spans....but if I can reduce the bickering even for just 45 minutes a day, my life will be better:)

So that is what is new in our neighborhood!!! Hope you all had a great week...stay tuned next week for birthday fun, and for Halloween fun...we hve been practicing "trick or treat" so this year should be fun...and you will just have to stay tuned to see what they are this year...very cute if I do say so myself:) but I am the mom!!!