Mom of the Year Award

So, I had just gotten through working out and I take my kids to the car to buckle them in. I put Luke in the car first but don't buckle him in and then take Kate around to buckle her in. Well, Luke crawls up in the front seat and locks all the doors without me realizing it. So I close Kate's door and go around to buckle Luke up and sure enough all of the doors are locked. The first thing that goes through my head is that I just had a friend tell me that this happened to her and I totally saw myself doing this one day. So, a security car is driving through the parking lot and I sprint to catch up with him and bang on the side of his door. I think I freaked him out for a minute. He says he can't get it open so he called pop a lock. I tried and tried to get Luke to push the button again. He was just looking at me like I was crazy. He pushed it a few times but ended up pressing the lock side. So you would think that he would be a little weired out by the situation. No, he was having a ball. He found the diaper bag and proceeded to eat like 4 pieces of gum (with the wrapper still on) and started biting into my chapstick. He was in there for like 25 minutes and he loved every bit of it. Kate didn't cry at all thank goodness. I can't tell you how many times I said, " Push the button!!" People in the parking lot kept looking at me giving me sympathy looks. Even though it was a crazy moment in motherhood, it made me laugh. Gotta love 2 year olds!

Spaghetti

Kate's first try at spaghetti.

Christmas

We had such a great time this year for Christmas. We got to spend lots of time with family and just relax and have fun. We still have not had Christmas with John's family so that will come later and we are really looking forward to that. The weekend started with the Cowboy Christmas Ball that John's band plays at every year. It is 3 nights long and we always have a great time. The kids get to come because it is a family friendly place. It makes for a long night for the babies but they have fun while they are there. This year the Walkers came to the ball on Saturday night. Emma and Luke were some dancin fools! We were so glad that they came. The rest of the time was spent eating and hanging out with family. And of course Santa came. I will miss Luke saying, "Santa comin??" over and over and over. He was really excited about it. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

My Family at the Christmas Ball (John is in the background because he was on stage.)

John playing

Us and The Walkers at the Ball

Luke and Emma Dancing

My Brother and his wife with the kiddos

Christmas Morning (nice hair)

Every little girl needs a glo-worm

After Christmas morning bath

Cousins at the Park

Meredith and I took the kiddos to the park today to try and get some new pictures of all of them. It really wears you out to try and get pictures of kids this age. I think we ended up getting quite a few good ones. Meredith took all the pictures and I was the crazy one behind the camera doing everything possible to get the kids to smile. So far the girls have been the hard ones to crack. The boys are pretty good at the smiling thing.

Mr. Luke

Miss Kate

Kate and Hayden playing with keys

Luke and Ella giving hugs

Sliding

All four in the swings. Luke and Ella are getting a little too big!

Cheesy Grin

Kate on the go

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent at home with two sick kids who had the stomach bug. Although we missed getting to see some of the family, we actually had a relaxing day enjoying the snow and I got a head start on decorating for Christmas. The family brought us tons of food so we didn't have to miss out on that. The kids started feeling better over the weekend so we ended up getting to see both of our families. Here are a few pictures!

The Powell Family out in the snow

John's mom, Tara (John's sister) and Meredith(Sister in law)

My kids enjoying Thanksgiving in their PJs

Luke and Cousin Ella reading to each other. They love to play together!

Kate asleep in the swing at church. I just had to take a picture because that never happens.

Miss Kate

I found her in her crib hugging her baby monitor. Apparently she had pulled up and leaned over the crib to snatch the monitor from the table next to her crib. Guess it is time to move the mattress down!

More Halloween

We took the kids trick or treating last night to see grandparents and greatgrandparents. Here are more pictures.

Kids with Granna

Luke with Mur