Is it really December?

Wow! I can't believe the weather we've been having. It's hard to believe we just celebrated Christmas and here we are out riding our bikes as if it were Spring already. We were able to get out today and just enjoy some sunshine! Kyle loves riding his bike.....
good thing he got a new one for Christmas. He has just finally outgrown his and has a difficult time keeping it on two wheels.

Doesn't Hannah look just adorable in this hat? Aunt Benecia got it for her. It has all different kinds & colors of flowers to clip on it.
I just love it!


Hannah got a new bike from Mamaw & Papa Broeker for Christmas. We thought we were going to have to wait until Spring to put it together, but today's weather proved us wrong. Here she is supervising her Daddy.

It's just the perfect size for her. She hasn't quite figured out how to use the pedals just yet. I'm sure just one more sunny day is all it's going to take for her to be zooming all around the driveway.

Oh, Kyle! You are so creative, aren't you? Kyle took the swings off the swingset and chained up his bike. He then pretended it was some sort of machine. I love your imagination, Bubby!

"What, Mommy?"

Hannah's new thing this week is saying, "What, Mommy?" She has been saying it all of the time. She'll be in the other room playing and she'll come running in to me and will say, "What, Mommy?" I think she knows I get tickled listening to her!

One More Christmas Celebration

The Broeker extended side of the family always has their Christmas get-together the Saturday after Christmas. They have to rent the YMI in Huntingburg each year because the Broeker family is so large. I can't even begin to tell you how many cousins are there! It's always so great to see everyone. The food is delicious, the company is good, JB's singing was even all right, but the highlight is always opening up Grandma Broeker's handmade gifts. Let me tell you she is one busy lady. This year the great-grandkids all got two hand-made ornaments each, Ben & I got a hand-made ornament and another hand-made snowman decoration. Her kids each got a hand-made quilt. I am always amazed how much time & talent she puts into these gifts. I always love whatever it is that she comes up with. She is an amazing woman! This year Ben & I were in charge of her gift. So, we collected money from each grandchild and was able to purchase an outdoor thermometer, a giftcard to Wal-Mart, a gift certificate to her beauty shop, a year paid subscription to The Herald, a year paid subscription to the Huntinburg Press, and a brand new recliner. She doesn't have the recliner yet, but it has been ordered. So, Santa's Elves will soon be delivering that to her house.

The Day After Christmas

We went to Ben's Mom & Dad's house the day after Christmas when Ben got off from work. We had another fabulous meal! Kyle had a really fun time playing the Wii with Uncle Mark. The kids were also excited to see their Uncle Adam & Aunt Benecia who were able to make it in from Terre Haute. We don't get to see them very often, so it was nice to be able to spend two days together. Once again, we all got a lot of really nice gifts. I was especially excited to get a new cartridge for my Cricut machine. We also got some giftcards to Lowe's, so maybe I'll be posting some home improvement before & after pics soon (maybe). My children (and Ben & I) were so spoiled by everyone this Christmas. I try and remind Kyle & Hannah how lucky they are, but I'm not quite sure they understand that yet.

Christmas Night

After leaving my parent's house we headed to Dale to Ben's Aunt & Uncle's home. We ate way too much AGAIN, but had a wonderful time with everyone. Hannah enjoys playing with her cousin, Aryn. She also loves all of the attention she gets from her Great Aunts. We also have a gift exchange at this Christmas. We traded names at Thanksgiving. Hannah got a Barbie and Kyle got a book for his exchange gift. I got some scrapbooking items and Ben got some trail mix. The kids also got gifts from their Great Grandpa. Kyle got a monster truck and Tag book and Hannah got a lot of girly books.

As you can see, Kyle & Hannah are starting to wear down from their busy day. I found them on the recliner like this. It was so cute how Kyle was sitting with his arm around her. I believe they've had a wonderful Christmas Day. (They still have two more days of celebrating with family to go).

Christmas Day at Mom & Dad's

We went to my parent's house on Christmas day for lunch. We had a delicious lunch and we all got a lot of really nice gifts. Mom & Dad surprised us with The Pickerill Family History Book which was really neat. Our family also got a Nintendo Wii, which we already knew about because Ben picked it up for Mom. They were really hard to come by this Christmas season, so Ben was able to catch one when they came in at Target. Kyle already has a collection of games thanks to Mamaw Lee Ann & Aunt Benecia. I believe Hannah's favorite gift from Mamaw & Papa is her dollhouse. She just loves it! Christmas 2008
Kyle got a big bike from Mamaw & Papa. I suppose we will be teaching him to ride without training wheels this spring.

I took 12 pictures of Mamaw & Papa with their grandkids. This is the best one I got. At what age will they start sitting still for pictures??

Kyle & Hannah got to eat lunch at their own little table right by us. Next year Christian will be big enough to join them at the kid's table.

If you remember from a previous post of mine, Kyle kept saying he wanted Redi Whip for Christmas. So, of course, Mamaw & Papa had a can of it in his stocking. He was excited when he saw it!

Hanging Out with our Aunts & Uncles

One of the best things about Christmas is everybody being together. Kyle & Hannah loved spending time with their Aunts & Uncles at my parent's house on Christmas.

Hannah's Special Coat

This coat is a very special coat. You see, this coat belonged to a dear student of mine named Shelby. Shelby is in highschool now, but she wore it when she was a little girl. She and her mom gave Hannah this coat. Hannah looked absolutely adorable in it on Christmas Day and it fit her perfectly. Tammy & Shelby, I'm keeping this coat in good hands if there is ever a time you want it back!

Christmas Morning

I love the excitement of Christmas morning, especially because my children are so exhausted from the night before that they aren't in our bedroom before the sun is up just yet. They slept in....how nice! First of all, Kyle was most excited to see that Santa ate almost all of the cookies we left for him and drank every bit of that hot chocolate. I loved watching their excitement as they unwrapped each gift. Kyle's favorite gift from Santa was his Leapster 2 hand-held game. Hannah's favorite gift from Santa was her new baby. It was priceless watching her open her gifts. She would tear the paper off in little bitty bits. She wouldn't show a reaction to her gift until she got every single bit of paper off. It was so cute to see her unwrap her new Cabbage Patch Doll. After every piece of paper was off she stood back and just screamed and spread her arms out. She was super excited! I actually caught a picture of her reaction and it is posted in the collage above. Ben and I always buy each other an ornament to represent something from the year. This is a tradition we have done for many years. I keep a journal of all of the ornaments and the reason why each one is given. I do the same for the kids. This was supposed to be the only gift we bought each other this year because there have been other purchases we have made that we declared our Christmas presents. However, he also got me the American Idol Encore 2 game for Nintendo Wii. We have already had a few good laughs between the two of us playing that game. I hate to admit it - but Ben was declared the new American Idol tonight in our competition! I challenge you to come and try to beat him:)

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve at our house with my Dad's extended side of the family. We had lots of yummy appetizer & finger foods and desserts. The highlight of our evening is the gift exchange. Everyone brings a wrapped gift. We put all of the gifts in piles according to if they are for a man, woman or either. Then, we draw numbers to see who picks a gift first. When it's your turn you can either choose someone else's gift or choose one from the pile. There was quite a bit of stealing of the gifts this year. It's always so much fun, though. This year I ended up with a complete pedicure set including the As Seen on T.V. Ped Egg, foot lotion, foot scrub and a towel. Ben got a Microfiber towel set to use when washing the vehicles. Kyle & Hannah were definitely not left out. Although they did not participate in the game, they each got new books from Aunt Susan & Uncle Duane and Mom & Dad brought each of them a gift, too. Hannah got a doll that is almost as big as she is and Kyle got a robot. Hannah kept telling her Mamaw that Bubby needed a new robot for Christmas. I have no idea where she came up with this, but she was excited to see that he got one! Here are some pictures from our evening.

Still Celebrating...

Wow! We have been celebrating Christmas for the past four days. We just had our final family Christmas get together today. Who knows when I'm going to get around to posting all of these. Hopefully, things will begin to slow down. I still have another week off from work, so I'm looking forward to some down time now. I hope all of you had a blessed Christmas with your family.

Cookies for Santa

We celebrated Christmas Eve tonight with my Dad's extended side of the family. We had so much fun getting together (more pics coming soon). Tonight before Kyle went to bed he remembered we needed to put cookies and hot chocolate out for Santa. He insisted on hot chocolate because he said, "Santa will need something warm." So, I got out Kyle's hand painted plate for the cookies and warmed up a mug of hot chocolate. I went to lay them on the counter and Kyle grabbled them up quickly. He said, "Mommy, Santa will not see them here. We have to go and put them in front of the fireplace." Kyle was also quick to go to bed tonight. He even told Hannah that we didn't have time to read books tonight because Santa was going to come as soon as we were all asleep. I love watching the excitement of Christmas through his eyes!

An Early Christmas Present

Hannah got an early Christmas present today. We bought her a new shelf for her room last week to replace her changing table. Ben had some time today to get it set up for her.

The Before

Kyle & Hannah keeping themselves entertained in their new found bunkbeds.

The After
I'm sure those empty shelves will fill up fast.

Hannah - Miss Fashionable

Hannah gets up every morning now and gets herself dressed before she even comes out of her room. I always hear drawers and doors slamming and then out she comes ready to start her day. I couldn't help but laugh at her today as she came out looking like this.... Brown pants...pink socks.....navy blue sleeveless shirt (on one of the coldest days so far) and best of all the shirt is on backwards so the hood is in the front. Hannah, you crack me up!

Having Fun with Keelin

On Monday I watched my friend Renee's little girl, Keelin. Kyle & Hannah had so much fun with her. Kyle took over and suddenly became so grown up as he helped watch out for Keelin and Hannah. The plan was for us girls to scrapbook when Renee got back. Brandi also came over with Reagan & Bailey. By the time we sat and chatted for awhile and watched the kids play - none of us were really in the mood to scrapbook. All we had on our minds were the things we had to get done before Christmas. So, our night of scrapbooking ended early.

Keelin want a baby doll?
Keelin, how about a teddy bear?

Here Keelin, here's a doggy.

Keelin is so sweet. She just stands there holding all of the toys that are being pushed her way.

When Renee got to the house she had a surprise for all of the kids.

Renee made socks for all of them. Here's Kyle & Hannah showing off theirs. They were super excited. I have a pair that Renee gave me and Kyle is always trying to wear them. He has been wanting a pair his size.

Renee, Thank you for our socks. We LOVE them!

Another Christmas Party

Last night we went to Jason & Natalie's house for their annual Christmas party. We had a lot of fun. Santa usually makes an appearance at this party, but he couldn't make it this year. The kids didn't seem to mind. They always have a good time together no matter what they're doing. There was lots of yummy food, drinks and good friends to keep us entertained.

Hannah, Ryan & Kyle watching a movie together
Maggie thought she would join in on the fun.

Me & Natalie


Christian hanging out with his Mommy

Christian hanging out with his Daddy

Brittany & Josh

me with my baby

me with my other baby

Deeg and Kyle in their matching shirts

Ryan hanging out with her Mommy

Brittany, Heather, Me & Natalie

Ryan & Kyle

Kyle dancing with his Aunt Natalie

Yesterday Kyle sat and made cards. He's gotten really good at writing his name, so he folded pieces of paper and wrote his name on all of them (and that is all that he put on the cards). He came into the kitchen where I was and said, "Mommy, I need some wrapping paper." He wanted to wrap up his cards. So, I gave him a gift bag instead. He told me, "These are for Emma, Anne, Ryan & Aunt Natalie." Here Aunt Natalie is opening up her card from Kyle. Emma & Anne had already left. We had actually left these bag of cards in the van. It was right before we left that Kyle said, "But Mommy, what about the cards I made for everyone?"

He's so sweet & thoughtful.

Thank you, Uncle Jason for the hat you gave me. I LOVE IT!

Ryan telling Hannah bye. (They are so precious together).

As soon as we got in the van I got a call from my brother. He said, "Ryan is really upset because she didn't get to tell Kyle & Hannah bye." (Then what is that in the above picture?) So, we pulled back in the driveway so Ryan could say her goodbyes again. How sweet!