Christmas morning magic

This was the first year Matt and I as parents could really play up Santa Claus, and I have to say it really puts a lot of magic in Christmas when your kiddo can't hardly go to sleep because he is so excited. We put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, and Tyler reminded us all night long, "Santa does not come while you are awake". Sage advice that he found tough to follow when it was actually time to hit the sack. Christmas morning was kind of crazy. I tried to keep with my family's tradition of sorting out the presents and then opening them one at a time in age order. It wasn't until we had gone back and forth two or three times between Tyler and Corrinne that Matt brought it to my attention that we were not really sticking to the plan since neither of US had opened a single present yet. I guess I was just too excited seeing my kids have fun. Once Matt and I attempted to jump in to the present unwrapping, the kids lost interest in what we were doing and the unwrapping quickly became a little chaotic. Can't expect two kids under four to really be patient enough to take turns that many times, right? My favorite present for Corrinne was this little rocking chair, which she quickly learned how to turn around backwards in, rock it really hard, and fall flat on her back. She only did that once. She also enjoyed her little cabbage patch from great Grandma Campbell. She gave it "loves" (hugs). Tyler loved all of his presents. Mean parents that we are, Matt and I did not bring out Tyler's Santa present until he had unwrapped everything else. He had asked at least two shopping mall Santas for a rescue helicopter. Once he had all of presents opened, we asked him if he had gotten everything he wanted for Christmas. He tried to say yes, and then said, "Well, I asked Santa for a rescue helicopter. He must not have heard me." After a response like that it would have just been cruel to tease him any longer. The reaction we got when we brought out that one last present hidden behind the tree with Tyler's name on it was priceless.

The other fun thing we did was tie a string to the tree that led both Tyler and Corrinne downstairs to a toy playhouse from their Grandma Nelson. Both Ty and Corrinne were very excited about this new addition to their playroom. All in all, there were lots of smiles from both parents and kids this Christmas. We feel very blessed.

Family is Fun

May I just say, I have the best in-laws a girl could ask for, especially when it comes to how great they are with my kiddos. Matt's parents came in to town for one day on their way up to visit the Omaha extension of our family. They packed more fun in to that one day with my kids than I am able to do in a week. Tyler was in attention heaven. Grandma and Grandpa listened to all of his jokes, watched all of his tricks, read him books, played with cars...what more could a little boy ask for? Ty, Matt, and the grandparents took a little trip to Independence to see the visitor's center, while sick little Rinne and I stayed home. Now those are good grandparents. Wish we lived closer and could see them more often.

Christmas Firsts

It's amazing to me how fast the month of December is going. This one is full of firsts for this family. We decided to buy a REAL tree this year...They are cheaper than the fake ones, but after having it up for a couple of days I can't wait to buy a fake one at the after Christmas sales for next year. The day we brought it home was very exciting. Tyler wanted to have colorful lights on the tree. He practiced wrapping the lights around Daddy first.

We pulled out all the ornaments which Tyler loved putting on the tree, while Corrinne took them off again. Once we got them all on Corrinne pulled the whole tree on top of herself leaving her a little stunned and all the ornaments on the floor. Yeah!

This was Daddy trying to secure the tree a little better, with a little help from the kids.

Corrinne was also quite fascinated with the little nativity set. She loved setting them up in little rows.

Another first was Tyler's first school Christmas program. (He's in the middle). Oh, he looks all sweet and innocent there, doesn't he? That was the beginning of the program. Too bad I don't have any pictures of the end of the program where my son and the cute little kid next to him were having a friendly little shoving match. That was a tense moment for me as a parent, wondering what exactly do you do when your kid is sharing shoves with another kid in the center of the stage in a chapel during the Christmas program? The other picture I don't have was the lovely little stare down Tyler gave the little boy after they were done with the pushing. The singing was adorable, though.

Finally, Corrinne and Ty got to play outside in the snow today. This was Corrinne's first time getting to play in the snow. It took 10 minutes to get her dressed in all that pink fluff, but the picture of her was worth it. She looked like a little pink marshmallow. Tyler loved the snow, and probably would have played in it all day if he didn't have to stop to eat. Kids are fun.

Gas obsession

So...remember this time last year when gas stations were putting up funny things like this instead of the actual price of gas, because it was pretty much too painful to look at?


I told my mother, who is currently paying ridiculous money for gas living overseas (sorry mom), that when gas gets below $1.50 a gallon here I was going to take a picture. Well, I don't have the picture today. It seems lately everytime I pass a gas station i am behind the wheel, not in the passenger seat and it is hard to take a photo and drive at the same time. No really, it's hard. But I just HAD to tell everyone that gas prices here are INSANELY CHEAP right now. And by that I mean $1.35/gallon!!!


I seriously filled up my tank the other day for about $25.00, and that's when it was 1.59/gallon which I thought was a steal. I haven't been able to fill up for that price since my first year in college.

I don't know why this is so amazing to me. Maybe it was all those reporter stories I did back in 2004 when gas prices were going up and I had to interview people at the pump. "So...what do you think about the gas prices? (please say something intelligent that I can use)"


Seriously, I think I did that story WAY too many times. It must have had an impact.

Who needs a trainer?

Matt has been working out with a trainer these past couple of months and has really bulked up the muscle mass. This morning he was working out at home and Tyler was very interested in what he was doing. So, Matt was showing him some of the exercises he has done with his trainer like lunges and sit-ups. Tyler jumped right in, "Look at me, I can do lunges too!" He had a very serious look on his face the whole time, like he was working really hard. He needed a little help with the situps. I think the best was when they were doing push-ups. Ty did a few on his own (real pushups, no kidding), and then he took a break and made his Dad work a little harder. Ty is always telling me he wants to grow up and be big and strong like his Daddy.

Avid Reader

Now, I love my little girl but I really have to keep an eye on her especially when she is being very quiet. When this happens I usually find her making toilet soup, dumping her brother's cereal bowl in the middle of the living room floor, getting in the pantry and emptying an entire box of Cheerios in the hall...you get the picture. There is one exception to this, however. Just about once a day, I will find her off on her own reading. Who doesn't love to just spend some quiet time alone with a good book, right? Corrinne certainly does and today I had the camera handy to finally document it. She can entertain herself for quite a while (by one year old standards) just flipping through the pages of books. She really likes our book of nursery rhymes and Curious George...shocking, I know. Of course, I will sit down and read books with her too, which she also loves. I just recently added some more books to the basket in her room and as you can see thinks she hit the jackpot.

Still trying to get in to this

Me and my cute little girl playing house at Sears. Ty can be seen trying to climb on top of the house. Shocker! So I was reading a bunch of different people's blogs tonight and really enjoying catching up on other people's happenings. It inspired me to add something to my blog since I haven't done anything with it since I created it this summer, and actually I don't think i ever emailed anyone the link because I didn't want the pressure of knowing i would have to update it. I am a wimp, I know. My brother Bret brought that to my attention tonight while i was whining about not being able to find the time to update a blog, so why should i start one. ---Enough whining--

This is Corrinne doing what she does best..."The Look". You have to see the picture up close to really appreciate it. This is the face she pulls when she either knows she has done something wrong, or doesn't want to do what I want her to. She thinks she's being so tough and stubborn. It's a signature look, and it makes me laugh every time.

Tyler loves to dress up and play pretend right now. His favorite character is Handy Manny (a cartoon fix-it guy on the disney channel), which is funny because we don't have cable and he has only ever seen one Handy Manny show. Nonetheless he likes to dress up as Handy Manny and always wants me to find something for him to fix. He spends a lot of time explaining things with his hands and telling Matt and i what to do when he is dressed as Handy Manny. The picture says it all. He has already broken half of his plastic tool, but still keeps hammering away on anything that I don't specifically prohibit. Consequently, Corrinne thinks that tools and fixing things are pretty awesome as well. Her favorite movie is the one Handy Manny video that we own. She specifically requests it multiple times a day by pointing her chubby little finger at the dvd player and saying moo-be maa-ny (movie, Handy Manny). Poor girl doesn't stand a chance at being a girly girl with a brother who is obsessed with being mr. fix-it all day. Though, since Halloween, Ty has broadened his make believe costume wardrobe to now include a cowboy and a firefighter. It's fun.