Saturday, December 29, 2007

Playdate with Elizabeth and Brandon


Zeb's good friend Bruce has two children our kids ages. The kids adore each other so every once in a while Zeb ventures up north for a playdate and enjoys some time with once of his buddies. The best part is that I'm left alone - totally alone - no kids - just me and a book. I love these days.


Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ethan's Sleepover




Since Kevin and Jessica were leaving soon we had them over for dinner last night. The time sure goes by quickly. We also had Ethan sleepover. My little nephew adores Keara and Keara seems to adore him so they had a great time playing together. I can't remember all that they did but rest assure there were lots of giggles.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Day 2007






Well, if you can believe it I was the first one up Christmas morning. Kailei came scooting into our room around 6:30am and then we both woke up Keara (which took exactly 2 seconds to accomplish). The kids were wowed with all the gifts under the tree and their eyes sparkled with delight.

They quickly ripped open every gift and the smiles on their faces said it all. Keara has asked for a bitty baby stroller, bitty baby's xmas dress and a grow-and-know-your-name puppy which Santa happily brought to her. Kailei asked for a guitar, a drum set and an alarm clock. Needless to say that Santa brought her those gifts as well.
We headed out the door to Mom's house around 9:45am. My favorite part of Christmas is breakfast. We don't have as much time at home as we would like but having a real breakfast is a treat for my family. Mom and Dad make pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, rolls, and the like and it just tastes yummy. Not like we could not make those items throughout the year but in all honesty I don't so it is quite fun to have them at Grammy's house.

After we cleaned up breakfast, the kids opened their presents from their cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles. We are all truly spoiled by Grammy and Poppy at Christmas but you all know my Mom LOVES Christmas.

The rest of the day was spent playing, napping and herding children. Everyone remained healthy which was a miracle in and of itself so we could not have asked for a better Christmas than to have everyone there, celebrating this special time of year in the name of Jesus.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Eve






Traditionally we always attend church on Christmas Eve so we all dressed up in our finest and headed out about 2:45pm in order to get a seat for the 4pm mass. Often we have to sit in the basement there are so many people but this year we were bound and determined to get a seat upstairs in the church. So packed everyone and everything up and claimed our stake. It was tough to keep the kids entertained for over an hour and then have them sit quietly during church but all in all they did great and the atmosphere was just so much nicer.
After church we headed to my house for our "Christmas party". Each year Tracie and I switch off hosting and we basically just have finger foods but since we are all dressed up from church it just seems like a fancy party to us country folk. The big tradition that night is to have grape juice and ginger ale. Don't know why but we love it and it has to be there each and every year.

We had some additional guests this year so it was full house. Gary's parents joined us, Zeb's brother Mitch and his family joined us and my friend Judith joined us. We had such a great time and hope everyone else did too.

The girls went to bed at their usual hour anticipating just what Santa was going to bring them.


Sunday, December 23, 2007

Cookies!




Every year since I don't know when my girlfriend Lynn and I spend a day baking cookies. It is a tradition that we both look forward to. Since the Archer's don't bake, it falls upon my shoulders to make sure we have sweet treats for the holiday. Each year that I do this, I think of my Grandma who always enjoyed baking as well.

When Lynn arrived this year she reminded me that last year she had to brave quite the snow to get to my house. Actually, we had just been snowed in for days and my Dad actually took his truck and picked Lynn up to bring her to our house so the baking could get done. Some people will do anything for an oatmeal raisin cookie.

Anyway, we made lots of great stuff and pigged out on cookie dough. It doesn't get much better than this.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Dining Out



Well, once a year we brave dining out with everyone together. There were 15 of us total and made it to Olive Garden. The kids did great and we enjoyed some great food. Kevin treated us all which was especially thoughtful.

After dinner we went back to Grammy's and decorated some cookies. I've never seen so many cookies decorated so fast. It was crazy but the kids had fun.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The Archer's Are In Colorado

Well, Kevin and family made it into Colorado. We are excited that they are here for Christmas. They try to come up every other year if they can. Since Dylan's birthday is in December we started by celebrating the cowboy way. Dylan is so into horses. It is very cute. Texas is the perfect place to be a cowboy too. I forgot my camera so have no pictures to share but they had a great time.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Still Dancing

Yes, we are still dancing. Enjoy the dance Keara learned in her after-care program at school.


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Xiu Xiu's holiday dance

We had the pleasure of watching Kailei dance around last night. Hope you enjoy it as well.


Sunday, December 16, 2007

Keara's First Dance Competition

Keara had her first taste at what an Irish dance competition might be like today. We signed up for the winter fun feis which really just has the Heritage Irish Stepdancers competing against each other but it is a great opportunity for the kids to get on stage and see what it will be like.

Keara did the jig and the reel and she did just great. She got a second and a third place and had a great time. She said it was her favorite activity this weekend. Mom and Kevin both came to watch and enjoyed which made it even more special.

I took some video so hope you enjoy it.


Best Laid Plans


The Davison Christmas party was planned quite a while ago. It was scheduled for December 15th at Curtis and Amy's place. The presents were wrapped and we were ready to go. Merle and Phyllis came up Thursday night planning to attend Keara's Irish dance class on Friday and Kailei's Chinese class Saturday morning. And then...it all blew up. Sigh...

The snow storm cancelled Keara's dance class. Kailei got sick on Friday night (we still don't know what she had but we do know she had a temperature and complained about various things). Zeb woke up with the flu Saturday morning. Since Kailei was ill we didn't take her to Chinese class although she seemed much better. In the morning it looked like all but Zeb would go to the party. So I went and got my haircut while Grandma and girls spent some time in the kitchen making items that will go straight to my waist and thighs but are oh, so good. I came back to Kailei feeling worse again. Zeb was in no shape to take care of her so the three of us stayed home. Grandma, Grandpa and Keara got to the party.

They said there was great food and good company. We are sorry to have missed it. Keara and I are currently crossing our fingers that we don't get sick. Wish us luck. :)

Friday, December 14, 2007

Winter Wonderland





Well, despite the fact it was a school night I could not resist taking the opportunity to take the girls to Winter Wonderland. It is a new attraction this year and my girls loved it. It is similar to a haunted house where you walk through various items but they all have a holiday theme. Things like an ice tunnel, a gingerbread house, a candy cane tunnel and the like. It's nothing that amazing for the parents but if you look through the eyes of your child, it is just too much fun. There was hardly anyone there last night so we got to go through the place numerous times (4 to be exact). Both Kailei and Keara even talked to Santa Claus. We really had a good time. The holidays are so much with kids around.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

A Royal Evening



Little girls in pretty pink princess dresses surrounded us tonight as I took the girls to Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes. It was a mother/daughter date and most of the folks from my MWCC group attended. The girls looked adorable and I think they had a great time.
Some of us were able to go to dinner afterwards which was enjoyable as well. We put the kids at one end of the table and the adults at the other end and were pleasantly surprised at how well they behaved at the restaurant. What a treat!

I had kept the event as a surprise for the girls. I did however let them know there was going to be a surprise and let me tell you that telling a six year old in the morning that there is going to be a surprise only leads to a day of asking questions, begging and pleading to find out what exactly the surprise would be. But it was worth it to see their faces. It was a cold and snowy day so it seemed perfect to venture out to see an ice show.

Good times.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Funny Elves - Ya gotta love this!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1198933630

My brother Kevin found this site and I just love it. So enjoy watching my mother, nephews and Keara dance around.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Quote for Today


Random exclamation from Keara on the way home from school...


"I believe in God and Santa Claus."

Sunday, December 2, 2007

The Weekend



Well, Keara enjoyed a sleepover with her friend Caroline this week. Who knew how much energy a couple of 6 year olds could have? I definitely do now. Whew! I was exhausted within a hour of having both girls. Kailei was not feeling well on Friday so she missed out on some of the activities. I took the girls to see Enchanted which they both enjoyed and then they played clear until lunch the next day.

Saturday was our MWCC groups holiday party. While it seemed a little early to celebrate we were quickly whisked away by the holiday spirit and had a great time. Our friend Robin hosted at her house this year. There were three and four year olds everywhere. This group is like extended family for us so we enjoyed the laughter, watching the kids open their gifts, tackling issues that cropped up such as the xmas tree falling over and making sure the kids played nicely. There is never a dull moment. We once again failed to take the kid picture at the beginning of the evening and waited until the end when they were all exhaused and difficult models to work with. One of these days we will get it right but the pictures and the evening are yet another memory for us.

Other than church, Sunday was uneventful. We stayed home. I napped. Keara received a scrapbooking kit at the party Saturday night so she was busy creating her own pictures to put it in. Kailei is into watching holiday movies such as Frosty the Snowman right now so she spent time doing that and Zeb was outside trying to hang some holiday decorations.


It was a great weekend but went by way to fast. There was probably a list of 100 things I should have been doing but there you have it.