Christmas festivities

Well, the craziness of Christmas is over!  We had a good time celebrating with our families and our house is almost back to normal.  The last couple of days have been nice to just relax, play games, and get things organized.  We only have a few things we need to return/exchange before heading back to work.  We hope everyone had a great Christmas! 

Finally sitting on Santa's lap...still not too sure

Ryder telling Santa everything he wanted for Christmas

Our little angel in the church Christmas program

Mickey and Minnie hats that GG made

A bunch of Minnie's and one little Mickey

 A good picture of Ryder with Grandpa and Grandma Great

Kyra taking Ryder for a ride in their new Gator

Boiler UP!

Lounging on Christmas day...too bad you can't see our matching jammies!!

Wreath Making

Well, Bart is gone until Wednesday for work so we decided to make wreaths.  Dad came out and watched the kids while Mom, Lys, and I made wreaths.  Ryder had shots today so he was a little grumpy!  We had a good time and our wreaths turned out pretty good.  Here are a few snapshots from the craft projects.

Mom gathering her supplies

An action shot of mom

Mom's finished product

My finished product (lovely outfit, I know!)

Lys realizing she is more crafty than she thought

All of our wreaths

Busy Busy

Our attempt at a Thanksgiving picture

I was looking so forward to Thanksgiving Break.  I needed some time to relax and get so much needed sleep.  Yeah right!!!  That did not happen!  We spent Thanksgiving day with our family.  Thanksgiving night mom and I went to Walmart at 9 to shop for some good deals.  We got home around midnight then headed to Lafayette around 5 Friday morning for some more shopping.  I can't say I got tons of great deals, but I got a lot of shopping done and found some good stuff on sale.  I enjoy going more for the fun of it than to find good deals.  Friday was also Bart's 31st birthday.  I can't say we did much celebrating on his birthday because I was exhausted!  Yesterday, we spent part of the morning with Leah, Lydia, and Abel.  It was good to see them since we don't see them too often.  We also got together with the Leman family to celebrate November birthdays.  We then ventured to Valpo to do some shopping and go out to eat.  This morning we got up, went to church, then went to my family to celebrate Bart's birthday.  We then headed to Miller's tree farm to get our tree.  I had good intentions to get our tree up and house decorated, but the weather got in our way a little.  I'm kind of glad since I needed some time to relax before having to go back to work tomorrow.  This time of the year gets so busy, but it's always a good time. 

This reminded me so much of Bart and his typical attire in high school

What a lovely day to get a tree..still managed a family photo with our tree

Kyra was sleepy, but still not too fond of Santa

Progressive Dinner

This past Sunday we were in charge of hosting the main meal for the Progressive Dinner for our church youth group.  We decided to have haystacks, which went pretty well despite the mounds of rice that we had leftover.  The kids came, ate, played a little football, had a devotion, and headed off to desserts at the next location.  We had a great time with the kids and are looking forward to hosting again next year.

Fall festivities

It was made known to me that my last post said stay tuned for lots of updates....that was a month ago.  It's been crazy busy with me going back to school.  We have done some fun things this fall.  We carved pumpkins, which is one of my favorite things to do since mom never let us do it growing up (it was too messy!!)  I also took the kids with mom to Kent's pumpkin patch in Brookston over fall break.  We went through through the corn maze and then picked out a pumpkin to take home.  It was a lot of fun!  We took the kids trick or treating, too.  Now it's time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

Cleaning out the pumpkin

Pumpkin guts

Posing at Kent's Pumpkin Patch

In the corn maze

Being a big helper

Our little bumblebee and future football star

Updates!

Well, my time at home with the kids is winding down.  I go back to work on Wednesday.  I'm very sad to be leaving the kids, but I'm ready for the routine!   It won't be too bad since I have a 3 day week, then a 4 day week because of Fall Break.  Hopefully, that helps me ease back into the routine.  We have had fun at home, but I think Kyra is ready to be back to Patty's to play with kids.  I don't think I'm as much fun!  I posted some new pictures.  Ryder is getting such a cute personality.  He loves being talked to and I can almost always get a smile.  He is growing like crazy, finally.  Kyra and I enjoyed a day a couple of weeks ago.  We went out for lunch at Dog N Suds, went shopping for some winter attire, and ended the day watching Lion King in 3D.  We had a blast and needed some time together.  She is getting anxious for Halloween.  I'm hoping to take  her to a pumpkin patch at some point.  And, of course, we have to carve our pumpkins we picked out.  We will have lots of updates in the near future.  Stay tuned!

Getting ready for the Trojan football game

My little Purdue fans

Kyra's new haircut

Thought she needed her 3D glasses to eat lunch

Thought they looked cute

At the movies!

A cute smile

Another cute smile

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Delph

What a great day!  After all the time spent planning, decorating, shopping, stressing, it was a success.  Alyssa was a beautiful bride and the wedding was fabulous.  Justin is a great addition to the family, even though he has pretty much been a part of us since the beginning.  I feel really blessed to have a family that gets along so well and are always there for each other no matter what.  Justin has always been a great brother.  I know that he and Alyssa would do anything for us and I hope they know that we are always there for them too.  I hope they are enjoying their honeymoon, but I can't wait for them to get back. I kept picking up my phone all day to text Lys, but forgot we had strict orders not to text since it would cost so much!  I can't wait for them to begin their lives together and I'm getting pretty anxious for some Delph babies!  (I just realized I don't have any pictures of the groom...sorry Justin!)

The beautiful bride

Auntie Delphy and the flower girl

Lys and I

Our family picture

Mommy and Kyra

Daddy and Ryder

Think she liked her cupcake?

My first official day off

Ahhh....the first day of school. Instead of preparing, planning, and heading to school today, I am enjoying my day off with the 2 kids. They both slept in until about 7:15 today. It's amazing how 7:15 is now sleeping in! We got up, had breakfast, got baths, had lunch, and just woke up from a nap. Life is good today.

Things have been going really well with a new baby and a 2 1/2 year old. Kyra loves her new baby brother. She always wants to hold him and hug and kiss him. At first she needed some extra attention and wanted help doing everything, but she is getting better now. Ryder is doing great. He is such a sleepy baby. We're working on getting him into a routine and it's been going pretty good. We're heading this afternoon to get his newborn pictures so stay tuned in the next few days for some pictures. For now, here are some fun ones from the last 2 weeks.