SNOW!

Yes, we got snow! What a fun surprise!! Looked outside Sunday morning and saw all of THIS! Sooo pretty, I love it!

Zach was, as you can imagine, in heaven. Here he is trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue.
Pushing Curious George around in the snow....
Zach and our snowman. Not only did our snowman have a carrot nose, but broccoli eyes and a tomato mouth! I know, it's kinda weird, but we gotta use what we have, right?

He had to go down the slide of course!
Abby's first snow experience. I sat her down on a plastic bag so she wouldn't get wet. She really wasn't so sure about all of the cold, wet stuff though! Didn't want to touch it, that's for sure!

Bathing Beauty

Some shots of Abby during her last bath. Usually she and Zach take a bath together, but this one she had all to herself, and I think she liked the more peaceful aspect of it!!
What are you looking at??
Cheeeeese!

Recent pictures of the kids

She had just been crying (see the tear?) but as soon as she saw the camera she flashed me one of her most charming smiles. She cracks me up!
Everytime I take a picture of Zachary, he wants to see it. After this one he looked at it and said, "Hey, I'm cute!"
Not sure what this is all about. Looks like some sort of Pilates stance or something!
Touchdown!! Andy is very proud of her recent accomplishment. Now if she would just say "Go Ducks" he would be in heaven. :)

How Does it Do That???

So has everyone already heard about the wonders of this little tub when it comes to stopping your kids' cough? Goes like this: If your child has a persistant cough, keeping them (and you) awake at night, then rub Vicks VapoRub on the bottom of their feet, put socks on them, and the coughing will STOP! They (whoever "they" are) were claiming that this was instant, and 100% full-proof. Quite a claim! So on the last round of coughs we went through around here, we tried this on Abby........and it didn't do squat. Although I didn't use very much on her feet, and I didn't put her in socks since I figured her sleeper was good enough. Oh well, we tried. I knew it was too good to be true. Sigh...

Well she again has a cold and BAD cough, so I thought I'd give ol' Vicks another chance to prove his worthiness to me. Andy really rubbed a thick amount on the bottoms of her feet and then we did put socks on like we were suppsed to. And do you know what? The difference was AMAZING!!! Her cough wasn't 100% gone, but more like 90%, which is good enough for me! Wow! I have no idea how it works, but it does so I guess I shouldn't question a good thing. I guess it also pays to do things the way they tell you to. (thick layer and use socks) So, the moral of my rambling is: Try it! And use it the way they say and you will be sooo happy you did. I'm telling you, a restful, peaceful nights sleep makes a world of difference for everyone! Yeah Vicks! :)

Pizza Party

So my dear friend Andrea got a bunch of us organized to go out for pizza on Saturday night. We went to Papa's and it was CRAZY busy there! We were worried we weren't going to find a table! It was a fun time though, even if it was loud and busy. Zach loved their play area.....it was the first time he had used it and it was a hit! So much so that I had quite a hard time finding the little guy when it was time to go. Amid the chaos of the kids, getting all of our gear packed up (you know how it is packing for two kids!), and saying goodbye to everyone, we forgot the half of our pizza that we didn't eat on the table. Just sitting there....sigh. Bummer! Especially since that was good pizza and we don't splurge on Papa's very often anymore. But, what do you do? Thanks to Andrea, Eric, Scout, Jeff, Jenny, Will, David, Gloria, Caleb, and Sarah for a fun night! Whew! :)

The first picture is of Jeff and baby Will. He is such a cutie-pie! (Will, not Jeff. Not that you're not cute, Jeff, but you know what I mean!)

Andrea and Scout. So sweet!

Twins, Sarah and Caleb. These two are quite the dynamic-duo! Very fun!

And then there's my bunch.....can you tell these goofy boys are related?

Our little Ding-Dong. Yes, we call her Ding-Dong......do you think she'll mind in 10 years or so? It stems from a little song that Andy used to sing to her when she was new....."Abba-Dabba Ding-Dong, Abba-Dabba Doo, Abba-Dabba Ding-Dong, I love you!"

And that's it. Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I should have taken more.

A Zach-ism...

Ok, I just had to post this cute thing that Zach said the other day to Andy.

Zach had just gone potty and Andy was helping him wash his hands when Zach said to him, "You know what, daddy? I'm lucky." Andy says, "Oh yea, why are you lucky?" To which Zach responds, "Because I love you!"

Melts your heart!

The Latest

Zach's cousin, Jace, visited us on Saturday. They are only 6 months apart, so they had a lot of fun playing together. I love how kids can become such fast-friends!
Enjoying their respective "rides."
Jumping around and playing peek-a-boo on Zach's bed. (the new bed-tent from Grandma Stapleton is a hit!)
Getting ready for their mac-n-cheese party! Why not?
Yum! Abby, getting in on the fun too. She sure had fun playing with the big boys. Well she thought she was playing with them at least!
Then Zach and Jace decided it would be lots of fun to literally dump out every bin of toys onto the floor. Hmmm.....I wasn't too keen on that one. We had a big clean-up party after they were done. She's her daddy's girl, that's for sure! Don't turn us into Child Protective Services though please. It was completely empty I promise! My sweet girl.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hoping 2008 brings everything nice for you all!

Peace!

Later on Christmas Day...

So after our little festivities at home, we headed to my mom's house so she could see the kids and give them her gifts. After that, it was time for a very yummy brunch at Andy's parents house. After all the activities and all the eating, we went home and we all had a nice, long, NAP! Aahhh, gotta love it! :)

Grandma and Abby. She gave Abby a little stuffed snowman and Abby is giving it loves.
Zach, digging into his stocking at Grandma's house. He was mostly excited about the bubbles!
Our little family.
At the Stapleton house. Only 3 of Andy's 8 siblings were there, and it was still a housefull! It's always nice to have so much family around at the holidays.
Zach checking out his new truck while cousin Adam watches. Abby on her new ride.....Grandma and Grandpa gave her this very cool Mickey Mouse plane. She has a lot of fun with it when Zach lets her actually use it! He seems to think it should be his. Hmmm.....Grandma and Grandpa, amid all the loot!
Me and Andy doing a self-portrait. We were trying to look goofy, and I think Andy wins with his one crossed eye. Didn't know he could do that!