Christmas Eve traditions

On Christmas Eve morning we go for breakfast with Papa and Grammy and the gang. This year it was the Wilder family, Yocca family, Us, Craig and Esmerelda, and Scott, Parker, and Cobie. The kids had fun running around the restaurant - thankfully there weren't too many people there - and playing with the dancing snowman.
























On Christmas Eve afternoon we always go to the Laug Family Christmas celebration. This year, the first without Great Grandpa, we celebrated at the farm. Great Grandma loved having the house full of laughter, conversation, and children. The house was certainly FULL and so were we after all of that delicious food. Great Grandma had so much enjoyment watching everyone open their gifts. Olivia adores her Barbie Hug & Heal puppy and Ethan started playing immediately with his jungle animal set. Scott and I love our 3 new huge frames and can't wait to fill them with some photographs I took of the kids!

Christmas with Grandpa & Mary

The weekend before Christmas we celebrated with Grandpa and Mary. Great Grandma Laug, Ashley, Andrew & Violet, Brittney & Justin, and Christina & Marianne were all there. We enjoyed a wonderful buffet of food and each other's company. It is always so fun to see the kids open their presents and play together. Ethan was so thrilled with his Batman device that acts as a robot and fighter all at the same time. Olivia and Marianne had great fun with their new Littlest Pet shop sets. Violet was held a lot by all of us but didn't seem to mind one bit.

Our Christmas Card 2009

Daisys Holiday Celebration

Last night Olivia and I went to the Girl Scout Holiday Celebration with her troop. She loves being a Daisy (the youngest Girl Scout troop). The party had food and lots of crafts. Olivia made an ornament, a picture frame, a card for Daddy, and a decorated display plate among other things. She got a lot of compliments on her headband/bow. Isn't my little Daisy just adorable?














Olivia and her good friend, Ellie Benson.















The Coopersville Daisy troop 3747...Molly, Taylor, Jocelyn, Olivia, and Ellie. (Kaylin and Katie couldn't make it.)

Happy Birthday Scott!

We celebrated Scott's birthday last weekend with a special dinner out with Scott's mom and the kids at Carabba's, compliments of Nana. So yummy and delicious. We love it there! Ethan particularly enjoyed watching the cooks work in the open kitchen..."ohhhh, FIRE!"


















The next day we Skyped with Gigi so the kids could open their Christmas presents from her. She found an Incredibles costume for Ethan and an Incredibles watch and window clings! Ethan was in his glory! He was so super excited to really be able to "be" Dash and/or Violet (he really likes the force field that Violet can make). Gigi gave Olivia a pretty pink hoodie with all of the Disney Princesses on the back and little tiara. Gigi really does spoil them way too much.

The Super Hero...


















...and the Princess.
















On Scott's actual birthday we took the kids to the movies, "The Princess and the Frog." This was Ethan's first time at the movies so we were a little concerned about how he would do. Wow! He was so good and absolutely loved it! He was incredibly adorable sitting in the big seat with his little legs just reaching the end and a big bag of popcorn tucked right next to him. I would occassionally reach across Olivia and pat Ethan's arm and he would say, "I'm okay Mommy. I'm not scared" and go right on pushing handfuls of popcorn in his mouth and watching the movie. He was just so precious. And Olivia was just a little lady sitting with her legs crossed and hands folded resting on her knee. Such a little princess! Both kids really liked the movie, even Olivia who was a bit nervous about going to the movies because "they turn the lights off and it gets dark in there."

That night Scott ordered a pizza he always wants to get...a Chicago deep dish meat lovers pizza from Peppino's. The kids and I got our usual and let Daddy have that monster of a pizza allll to himself. It actually took him about 3 or 4 meals to finish the whole thing! Hope you enjoyed it honey! The kids and I made our usual party hats and cards for him - which he truly does love - and turtle brownies.

A Novel by Olivia Laug

Olivia loves to write books. She is so much like me sometimes. She has written several books based on songs, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Jesus Loves Me," and "You Are My Sunshine." Her latest work she has titled "It's All About Love."

The cover. It says "I Love You."













First page says, "The rambo disperd." ("The rainbow disappeared.")
The second page says, "An the rabo uduerd." ("And the rainbow undisappeared.")













The last page. "The fowrs got love." ("The flowers got love.")

An Angel and a Prayer

Sweet little Ethan sure does love his "church" (that's what he calls his Sunday school). Every time we get close he shouts, "There's my church!" He gets so excited. The days of his body shaking as Scott walked him closer to his room are long gone. Last Sunday the room leader warned Scott, "We're working with glue and glitter today, just to let you know." Well, they sure did - to make sweet little halos. I can only imagine the scene as Scott picked him up to see all of those sweet little 3 year olds sitting so nicely in their chairs with their halos on waiting patiently for their Mommy or Daddy to pick them up. Ethan had a ton of red glitter in his hair and a huge smile on his face. When we got home I had him put his halo on one more time so I could take a picture of my angel, then he was going into the shower.


















I sometimes call Ethan "Pastor Ethan." He loves to say grace before meals, just him, and his bedtime prayer is quite loud and animated (I usually can't contain my laughter - have to be sure to get it on tape soon). So as usual Pastor Ethan was saying grace before dinner and this is how it went, "Dear Jesus, Thanks you for our food and our family, and for our decorations and everything, and for Kung Fu Panda because it's great to watch it, and The Incredibles too because it's great to watch and that's all. Amen." Love that boy!


Olivia's wonderful Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Tagg, had a great idea for Christmas this year. She asked her class to bring in gifts and baby necesseties for Coopersville Cares instead of getting her a gift. I thought this was a beautiful gesture on her part. We usually donate a gift to Toys for Tots but decided if this was what Mrs. Tagg was asking for then we should oblige. Olivia chose the new Disney Princess Tiana Barbie doll, a pack of 3 Pretty Ponies, and a pacifier. She was so excited thinking about a little girl just her age getting these gifts for Christmas. And she certainly didn't want to forget something for a baby, hence the pacifier.

The Santa Parade & Mail

Last Friday night was the annual Coopersville Santa parade! It had been a snow day for schools so there was plenty of the white fluffy stuff around for Santa to land his sleigh. It is a big deal- announced on the news, news cameras around, lots of people, and freezing temperatures! We always see the reindeer, get hot chocolate, and watch as much of the parade as we can. I say that because we have never made it to the end. Olivia is usually too cold and begging to go home. This year we actually went and sat in the train for a bit to warm up. Then we decided to start walking home and on our way we saw the end of the parade with Santa!! Very close up. I think the kids were a little awed by it.



















That same weekend we stopped in to Macy's after church and the kids dropped off their letters to Santa. Olivia's letter said she wanted a dog, a cat, and baby stuff. Ethan colored a picture for Santa from his Incredibles coloring book. The kids thought this was pretty neat.