Christmas Day

We have loved the tradition of waking up at our own house and celebrating Christmas and then heading to Cincinnati but given that Christmas was on a Saturday, we thought we would come in town on Friday night and wake up Christmas morning at my parents' house (what will be our house this time next year).

The kids were ready to go at 7 AM but we insisted they waited for all of the adults to get up. They were amazed to see their stockings were filled to the brim!

We all opened our stockings.
The girls went shopping for everybody in the family and I loved to see what they thought everybody needed:
--Ella got Cindy a blinker thing she can wear when she runs and she got my dad pancake mix because she loves when he makes pancakes for her
--Laney was proud of her finds as well. She got me a plunger. Oh, how I wish I was joking but according to Jason she saw it at the store and carried it around the whole store laughing, saying my mama is gonna love this.



Me and my plunger



Once we finished the stockings it was on to the massive amount of presents



Ella's favorite gifts were her 2 wheel scooter and the glow dome



Ella's school had a shopping day where kids could pick gifts for their family.
I let her go in the room with her friend, Carly, and I had no idea what they picked.
There were even helpers there to wrap the presents.
Ella got J the post-it notes, she got me a MOM ornament, got Matthew a stuffed animal (she was later concerned that the eyes were beads and he might get hurt on them) and for Laney she got a notebook. What a fun idea!





Matthew loved the wrapping paper and playing with Laney's dolls (too true) but really loved the stand up race track he got.



Now THAT is a cute reindeer



Jason was really excited about his Ipad



Let the celebrations continue at the Willetts



Bettye did her special advent calendar again where each child picked out numbers and those numbers corresponded to either gifts, money or food. It's always so much fun!



The numbers they picked from



Then the chaos began



Laney and her sticker crown

Ella loves makeup and here is her new makeup kit

Matthew had an electronic Christmas...a phone, a musical wand.
What more could an 18 month old want?



Matthew and Pappy Stan had somebody to call

This piggy bank was painted and decorated on Christmas afternoon.
The girls couldn't wait!

We were able to stop in to see my Aunt Jan and my niece, Angie

Cindy, my mom and me

The Pope family

What is this?
A family picture where almost everybody is looking??

Our last celebration was with my Grandma Jean, Uncle Fred and Aunt Nancy



The antlers reappeared on Grandpa Mike and Uncle Fred

Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of Jason's extended family--there are so many of them that it is tough to keep a camera around. There are about 30 of us there, half of those being kids, so we are just happy to leave there talking to everybody, let alone taking pics :)

Merry Christmas 2010! Here is to a great 2011!

Christmas Eve

We went to Cincinnati December 24th, after wanting to come in town the 23rd. But alas, another Willett got Matthew's bug (Jason and Ella) so we wanted them to get healthy. Little did we know that although they were healthy, they would later get the rest of the Pope/Willett family sick (Laney, then my sister, then my dad). At least we left our mark, right?

On the 24th, we went to church with Jason's parents. There are two churches we have wanted to try out once we get back to Cincinnati and the one Jason's parents go to, Sonrise, was one of them. Another contemporary church like ours' here in Indy, but not nearly as big (about 275 members). It was a great service, although Laney and Matthew did not join us (Matthew was in bed and Laney was still recovering).

Matthew was hamming it up today!

Sledding down Popes Slope.
It's a little grainy as I was shooting this from the kitchen window.
Not a cold weather fan!



Jason took Ella out sledding.
Cindy had just finished a run and stayed out for some fun snow time.



Snow ball fight!

Somebody was wishing he was outside

While Ella was sledding, Laney wanted to stay inside
We watched Frosty......Laney enjoyed dancing with Frosty

In their new Christmas pajamas, the girls were ready for Santa.
Grandpa Mike was ready too :)

Reindeer food
Ella added tons of extra carrots for the reindeer.
It was shocking they could eat it all (thanks to some helpers--aka Nana & Grandpa who picked them up-- the carrots were gone by morning)

Can't wait for Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Here is a collection of our Santa pics throughout the years. Typically the pics have been with Santa at my work party but there are a few others of Santa's helpers thrown in :)

I didn't lose a kid
Laney had the H1N1 and was home with a 105 fever--wow those were a long 4 weeks!

They wouldn't even look at Santa this year, let alone sit on his lap

My personal favorite--in the Walgreens Store
Neither one of them would come close to him so I put them
in a cart and pushed them infront of him.
Laney's face cracks me up!





My only trip to see the mall Santa in all of these years.

Probably one of my favorite Santa pics.
I can totally understand why Ella is crying in this pic--he is a very scary Santa.
But what can you expect when it's the Santa at Best Buy?

Our mantle

Although our mantle is not noteworthy enough to be on the front pages of a magazine, to me it means a lot.

--The stockings. Each Willett has their own, hung by the word PEACE (something we strive for daily but let's be honest, we don't often get).
--A picture frame with the saying "Be merry and bright." That is what the season should be...merry and bright instead of the stress that many of us feel. This was given to me by a dear friend and will always remind me of the great friends I have here in Fishers.
--Our mantle is simple, like us. We are an active family but really enjoy the moments at home--playing outside with friends, baking/cooking, playing games. We are simple and as parents, Jason and I cherish those simple, not fancy, moments.
--The advent calendar. We have been continually telling the kids the meaning of Christmas and that presents are just a bonus. Although Christmas from Santa this year will be really low key, we hope to instill in our children that Christmas time isn't about the best gifts or the most gifts...rather it's about family.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!

Happy Birthday, Laney!

It was 4 years ago today that our Laney Bug was born. She came into the world very quickly (contractions started at 4:30 AM and she was in my arms before 8 AM) and has been a pistol ever since. She was such an easy baby and smiled all the time. Being a little older, she has definitely been a Jekyll and Hyde girl. When she is good, boy is she good and sweet. But if she is in a bad mood, watch out! Game on! She can make you want to cry.

Facts about Laney:

--She can count to 20 and enjoys "reading" with Ella
--She loves to play with her siblings and making Matthew play the baby
--Her favorite food: PB & J
--Her favorite snack: Almonds
--Her favorite drink: Skim milk
--Favorite activity: playing house, playing school, running around
--Favorite color: purple
--Rarely goes anywhere without her pink blanket
--She loves to say "special treat. Don't tell Daddy." If she wants a dessert she will say, "Special Treat. Don't tell Daddy." It is so stinkin' cute but seriously, like J is the stickler? He can rarely say "no" to the girls.
--Fearless!!!
--Oh and she's got personality (the next 3 pics are just perfect examples of this):

Who doesn't like to sleep in a tote?
Since we are moving, I guess Laney was taking one for the team



I asked Laney to color in the cover of her artwork folder and she drew the above.
It was a picture of Matthew w/ his peanut....that is exactly what she said.
She IS a character!



Yeah she was proud of herself

Laney, you are such a joy to raise. You are a spirited kid and enjoy being in the know. I love your love of life and the laughter your bring. But I honestly hope that once you turn 4, a light switch will be turned and some of these temper tantrums will be gone. Wishful thinking?

But I hope you always have this fun loving light inside of you!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laney had been at a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese a few months ago and has been asking for her 4th birthday to be there ever since. Typically I like to have parties at home (and from now on these parties will be very low key) but given that our house is on the market and I don't want to have lots of kids running around at once (my 3 are enough!), we granted Laney's wish. Some kids would be shy or overwhelmed by the loud, bright, crazy place but not Laney. It's like she was "home."

Here are a few pics of the party:

Stan & Bettye came up for the party!
Look how happy she is to see them (plus they bought her a go-go puppy which she has been asking for since the commercials came out).
Once we learned how to turn it off Demo mode it has stopped the constant barking.
It is really cute!



My parents also came up for the party!
They bought Laney a bike which has a carrier on the back for her baby doll.
She rode it around the Chuck E. Cheese parking lot and then wanted to ride it all night long.
Too bad it is 20 degrees outside.
Matthew has been really under the weather (no symptoms other than crying all the time and only wanting Jason and myself). Hope he feels better before Santa comes!



The proud Grandpas

Laney had 10 friends there and here are two of them:
Reese & Carly (btw, Reese's shirt was so cute...Kristy, did they have an adult version of that??)



Madeline was there for the fun

2 hot mamas!

Hand Check!
J called this "Kristy's Stand in"
Although I personally don't think I can fill her shoes!

Jack and Jen.......could it get any cuter?

We had been prepping Laney for the ticket booth and more importantly, had been discussing strategy with J. There are over 300 tickets but some of the tickets are worth 300-500 a piece. We were out to win!
Laney got in there and starting cracking up at Jason.
Jason lifted his shirt to try and scoop them in but that didn't really work (although we swore before that would be the best way). Laney's crown got more tickets than the shirt technique.
But what was great is you got out of the booth and then counted them--I mean "counted" them. So we guessed at 600 and she was like "ok." It was great!

We got about 1300 tickets which scored some very expensive plastic purses, makeup, stick on earring, etc. But it's what the birthday girl wanted so that is what she got!



I thought Laney might get shy around Chuck E. Cheese because seriously, he is rather scary. But she ate-it-up! She loved her crown, her stickers, her medal, her name shouted out loud. She was all over it!







Laney & Max
Max has already become an important part of our household :)



Her new ride--check out the baby doll carrier in the back!
Laney was in love!

I only had my zoom lens so I couldn't get everybody in the picture.
Here are most of them though :)

Yeah, I think she liked it :)
When we left the party, she said, "Thanks, Mom. That was the best birthday ever."
I agreed because I had no clean up, no set up, I didn't cut the cake, serve the food, pour the drinks. Yeah, that is my kind of party!



We love you, Laney!!!
Happy 4th birthday!