Camping You Say?

I guess all that camping talk got the kids excited.  They built this teepee out of branches Sunday Afternoon.  Now, it HAS been nice here lately, but no shoes children... REALLY!?!?!  That's one fight I've given up on.  As long as there is no chance for frost bite, que sera sera.

 The dogs helped too...
Casey : "Hey, Logan.  Do you need me to hold this stick for you?"

Time for the sheets...

 Dogs: "what u got in there 'manda?  BACON?"

Home Sweet Home.

PreBirthday

 Saturday my mom drove to Wichita to take Logan shopping for his birthday.  This has become a much anticipated tradition with all her grandchildren.  When it was Amanda's turn, we hit the clothing stores ('cus that's what she loves).  Now that it's Logan's turn, guess where we ended up!


... Any guesses?....




... It wasn't Kohls!...





Nope, my son took us to Cabela's!!!!!!!!

Oh, my gosh!  I know you are surprised too!  NOT!!!  We shopped for new arrows for his bow, gloves to protect his little fingers from the string, eye protection to keep him from "shooting his eye out" with his pellet gun.  Then we had to get him some new cargo pants to hold all his ammo... and let me tell you, it was quite a different shopping experience with him than with his sister.  He grabbed the first pair he saw, said "I'm good.  Lets go." and that was that!  HAA!

When we got back home, he headed straight for the back yard to try out his new gear.

Smile a little, would ya?!?!  GEEZ.  SO SERIOUS! Oh, but nice shootin' Tex!

Then Logan graciously let his grandma and mother shoot a few.

 While we were out shopping and playing, Amanda and Eric were busy getting ready for the Father Daughter dance with the Girl Scouts (Oh, by the way, Amanda joined the Girl Scouts. : )  The dance was titled the Black and White Ball... so guess what Amanda decided to wear! BLACK AND WHITE!  That girl takes things so literally it scares me!

 Don't they look nice?  : )

Museum of World Treasures

Today we did a family fun trip to the Museum of Wold Treasures.  We spent 4 hours exploring this mostly Hands OFF museum and I was impressed that the kids did so well!  

This place a little of everything... Dinosours...

... Fossils...

Egyptian artifacts including two mummies...

(Amanda was totally creeped out by these)

... and SO MUCH MORE!

They also had a fossil dig and let you keep anything you found.

The kids found lots of small shark teeth, some ray teeth, spines from 

sea urchins, and assorted coral pieces.

 Logan really liked learning about the presidents and the tanks of WWII.

 Amanda really enjoyed the children's area and made use of the puppet theater.  She put on several puppet shows for whoever would watch.

When we got home, Logan wanted to continue the fossil digging, so I buried some treasures in the back yard while we went down the road to invite some friends over.

They found lots of shells (that we had brought back from our beach vacations) but the best treasures found were the nickels, dimes and quarters I added to the dirt!!!  : ) 

Two SICK Monkeys

This week, it's not the Two Little Monkeys... its Two SICK Monkeys!  Monday morning Logan woke up with a fever and severe headache.  By mid afternoon, he felt so bad that he asked his dad to take him to the doctor... PLEASE!  His doctor suspected a sinus infection or the flu, but put him on antibiotics just to be safe... two days later, he is still running a fever.

Then this morning, Amanda woke up with a 102 degree fever, nasty cough and body pain... I suspect that the nasty flu virus has infiltrated our home!  We all got our flu shots too, way back in October!

Then to top the cake, Eric also woke up this morning with muscle pain... OH NO!! NOT YOU TOO!!!!!

I think I'm doomed.  There's no way I can escape these nasty germs when I'm surrounded! : (

Perpetual Motion 'Manda

Night Drive

Logan and Amanda took their new toy for a night drive... I mean, it comes with headlights so you need to drive it when it's dark, right? : )




Here's what this monster looks like in the light of day... now you know why it hurt so bad when he ran into me!

Coat?  Who needs a coat in January?  Not MY little monkey!

Christmas at the Monkeys' House

 We had another wonderful Christmas in the monkey house!  We had a whirlwind visit with family the weekend before, but I forgot to take my camera so no photos until we got back home on Christmas Eve. 

 I helped the kids make cookies for Santa, then that evening, Eric helped them get out an assortment of yummy treats for The Jolly Old Elf and his flying reindeer crew.  I didn't catch a photo until after Santa had made his visit.  Boy, that guy is FAST!  He ate all the celery with peanut butter dip, all the cookies, most of the milk, and carried all the carrots and oats out to the raindeer while Eric and I were in the basement.  We didn't hear a thing!

 Santa left some frosty footprints when he visited us.  He brought each of the kids their own tablet, filled their stockings with candy, and hid our Christmas pickle quick as a wink.  Our little elf Elmer also left with Santa.  He left us a note letting us know that he would be back again next year, but the kids sure will miss him! : )

Notice the dark strip on our tree?  This is the year that our prelit tree gave up the good fight.  It had lots of lights burnt out when we set it up, and I replaced all that I could, but we ran out of bulbs and they don't make that kind anymore... after we fixed the worst of it, we put all our ornaments on like usual and a week later, an entire section of lights went black!  Oh well, it was too late by that point to do anything about it, so we just lived with it.  It's the year of the stripe!  : )

 Last year Logan woke up at 4 am... this year we told him not to wake us until 7.  He still woke up super early (around 5 I think) and he saw all the foot prints then promptly woke up his sister to share the joy and wonder.  What a swell brother, huh?  : )  But being such an obedient son, he let us sleep until 7 as requested...

 The toys were kept to a minimum this year, since my two seem to be growing out of the traditional toy stage.

They had their eyes on these comfy chairs since August...  : ) 

 And the dogs could smell these GIANT rawhide chew bones from across the house!  They begged for them for weeks!!!

 Here are some other random gift photos...

 Bed pillows (so they will leave mine ALONE!!!)

 Logan got a case for his compound bow.

 Clip board for homework in our comfy chairs!

 FAMILY GAME TIME!  This one is really fun!

 slippers

 And Mom gifts... I got a mug from Logan and a ring, key chain, and jewelry box from Amanda.  They picked them out for me at the Holiday Shop at school.  They also shopped with Eric for earrings and a new necklace for me.

 Logan bought Amanda three puppies... and I did't get a photo of it, but Amanda bought Logan the new Big Game Hunter from Cabela's.  I think he spent the rest of Christmas playing it!

Billow for a fireplace .. but we're going to use it for our campfire... Logan loves playing with the one at Grandma and Grandpa's.  He is constantly asking if he can fan the flames.  Now my little pyro can blow to his heart's content!

 Eric got lots of cool stuff... sleeping pants, shirts, tools, but the thing he enjoyed the most was the brain teaser puzzles I got him.  : )

And I enjoyed putting together a Christmas puzzle Gayle gave us.  The kids and Eric help some too, but it was mostly a Diane project.

So there you have it.  Christmas 2012.  Now you know why it took me so long to post this.  I think I spent an hour getting this ready!