Funny Things They Say And Do!

- Bryce got so excited that he got to stay up an extra 2 minutes to play with his cousin Brook he jumped up while Robb was putting his pajama shirt on and split Robb's lip open. Bryce came running out of the den crying while Brook was trying to hug him and Robb came out with his hand over his mouth with blood dripping everywhere. We were a little worried that Robb was going to have to go get stitches on Christmas night. The boys are already beating up their dad.

-During Christmas Eve service the pastor paused for a moment of silence and Caleb looks up after a second and said "Why is everyone so quiet"?

-Robb told them that Jack Johnson plays all the music on the Curious George movie so now they always have to point out that the music is by Jack Johnson.

-They got a Dr. kit for Christmas and have been giving Abby check ups which always include lots of shots. They like to get all of her symptoms first and the fix is usually a shot. They always tell us "she will probably cry lots so hold her down okay". They were truly offended that I went to the real Dr. for my sinus infection after they had already "fixed" me.

-They asked Santa what the reindeer eat so they could put that out too. So the night before Santa came we had to put out cookies, milk and carrots with the tops on. Caleb was confused why Santa didn't eat all the cookies (we had left a couple of bites left) so he finished off the cookies and milk in the morning. He hated to see a cookie go to waste.

-They went out to play in the snow drift that are as big as they are. Bryce took the scooping very seriously. They were shoveling the piles of snow that were on the grass. He had to call his dad and tell him that he was working really hard to scoop everything but it was going to take a real long time to scoop all the snow off the grass. Ha Ha

Our Snowman

Four Christmases

Well like the movie Four Christmases, we too had four Christmas celebrations to go to this year but unlike the movie the blizzard didn't keep us from going somewhere warm and tropical. We had planned to stay in this cold snowy state no matter what because what would the holidays be without the ones you love. We started our marathon of Christmases on Christmas Eve eve. We celebrated with just the kids and us. We had planned on making a nice supper but after the boys had been asking every 5 minutes all day long when they got to open their presents. We opted for something quick and easy and ate pizza. The boys riped open gifts as fast as they could and seemed so excited for each present. Bryce and Caleb were more than happy to help Abby open her toys. She liked to take off a couple pieces of paper but really just wanted the toy out. It was a fun night of putting toys together and playing with new things. After the kids went to bed Santa had to get busy. I cleaned up the house while Robb brought up the Santa gifts and stuffed the stockings. We ate the Santa cookies and gnawed on the carrots a little and finally got to bed knowing that tomorrow would be a fun but busy day. We were keeping an eye on the weather because supposedly a big storm was coming through but it didn't look too bad out yet.
Bryce and Caleb were so excited in the morning that Santa had made it to their house. Bryce got super heroes, Caleb got 4 wheeler stuff and Abby got a stroller for her baby. The kids spent the next couple hours playing while we frantically tried to get all packed to make the trip back to Norfolk because a blizzard was still on its way. The weather outside was freezing cold but no snow yet. Finally at about 10:30 we left and headed for Norfolk.
It was terribly windy outside and when we got to Columbus the roads were very icy. I was so glad that Robb was driving and not me. I was nervous just being the passenger. We finally made it to the Lutz's house for Christmas #2 on Christmas Eve. The kids were very excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house and see the massive pile of presents under the tree. We opened gifts and the kids all had so much fun. Bryce by this point was an expert opener and tore all of his gifts open so fast be barley saw what he got. Caleb opened each gift and then wanted the toy out which is great except each piece of each toy is strapped in with about a million heavy duty twist ties. Why they do this I have no idea! Whoevers idea this was definitely did not have a 3 year old hanging on their leg while they were trying to get the toy undone. Abby was a little overwhelmed by this whole process. She wanted to be held for the majority of the present opening but did enjoy looking at her gifts. After gift opening the kids had a little time to play before we got everyone out the door for Christmas Eve church. I must say that Christmas Eve service is one of Robb and my favorite parts of Christmas Eve but with kids things get a little complicated. One, they don't want to leave the gifts they just opened, two it is supper time so everyone is hungry despite the fact that they have been snacking all day and third everyone is cold and doesn't want to go outside. Despite the sobbing in the back of the car on the ride there the kids were great in church and it was a very enjoyable service. Thank you Pastor Steve. We finished off the evening with a wonderful supper and the adults opening their gifts in peace while the kids watched a movie in the den. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone. By this time the weather was looking pretty bad out. It was snowing and the wind was blowing like crazy.
We awoke the next morning to blizzard conditions! The wind was blowing snow around so much that it was almost a complete white out outside. We were very thankful to be in a warm house! We got the call at about 9am that Christmas #3 was cancelled. I was pretty sad. We were finally going to get to see everyone this year at my Dads but the weather had ruined it. We didn't do too much for the rest of the day. Robb, Bryce and Caleb played with their new toys and Abby and I slept a lot since we had both come down with a pretty nasty cold that was making us feel pretty crummy. It was a pretty odd Christmas since we didn't really celebrate a Christmas on Christmas. Throughout the day the weather got worse and worse and the drifts of snow bigger and bigger. We were starting to get a little worried about heading home the next afternoon. By the time we went to bed that night it was decided that we would be staying in Norfolk Saturday night also because all the highways out of Norfolk were closed. I think everyone was starting to get a little bit of cabin fever being in the same house with the same people (mostly Bryce and Caleb) for too many days.
On Saturday we had Christmas #4 with my mom. It was nice to get out of the house but the streets were terrible and we saw some of the biggest snow drifts that I remember. Robb said "Ahh to be 10 again, this would be perfect weather for snow forts". We celebrated at my moms with Steph and Draven and Mitch and Courtney. It was too bad that grandma and grandpa and Tim and Linda couldn't come. It was a very enjoyable afternoon with good food and good company. The 3 little boys did a good job playing together and the adults got a chance to talk.
On Sunday we got the official word that the highways were open, we were headed home! I don't mean to sound ungrateful Bob and Susie, it was wonderful to stay at your house! You always make us feel so welcome it was just time to get our wild kids home to start the retraining process after being with grandmas and grandpas for so many days. :) We did get to makeup my Dad and Cindy's Christmas at Village Inn on our way out of town. Although it wasn't what was planned it was fun to see everyone for Christmas regardless of where we met and which day we did it.The kids all did decent in the restaurant and it was nice to have a good meal before we made the trek home. Thank you everyone for everything this holiday season. We were truly blessed to see everyone for Christmas. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

Christmas Preparations

It has been such a joy to get ready for Christmas this year. Not that it wasn't last year, but I was 8 months pregnant with Abby so I was huge and moving a little slow. Bryce and Caleb are beyond excited about every aspect of Christmas this year. They loved looking at all the ornaments and decorating our Christmas tree. I had bought a little tree for them last year and since Abby is so mobile we decided to let them put it in their room. They decorated it with the little ornaments that we had but decided that it needed more so for about a week now they have been making ornaments. They color pictures out of their color books and then we cut them out and put string through them. Their little tree is hilarious! I has so many paper ornaments you can't hardly see the tree!
Abby loves the Christmas tree and the lights. Everytime she sees our tree she points her finger at it and says "Oh". It is adorable. For how much of a go getter she is she has really done pretty well with leaving the tree alone. Of course she has two little boys that tattle on her if she gets too close.
Bryce and Caleb have been asking "is it Christmas yet?" everyday since we put up the tree so we made one of those paper chains to help us count down the days. Every morning Bryce makes sure we take off a ring. He would hate to delay Christmas!
Robb and I have been done Christmas shopping for the kids for awhile now but you know how it is. You see cute things that they have to have but for the most part we are done. We took the kids to Toys R Us the other night and we each took a boy and had them shop for their brother. This was pretty funny. Bryce found about 5 things that Caleb needed and had a hard time deciding which one to buy. Caleb on the other hand found about 100 things that he would like and could share with Bryce. At the end they both picked out a very nice thoughtful gift for each other. Awhile back they had decided that Abby needed a soft blankie like they have. Of course they got those blankets 3 1/2 years ago and I couldn't find a pink one like it so I had a friend at work that sews replicate their soft blankies and they are very excited to give her that.
On Saturday I had a work party that Santa was coming too. Bryce and Caleb were very excited! We got there and Santa was already handing out gifts from his bag and the boys seemed a little nervous at first. When their names were called they were quick to go get their gifts. Bryce got a Hulk and Cyclops figurine and Caleb got racing motorcycles. They loved their gifts. Even Abby got a gift from Santa. She looked pretty terrified when I sat her on Santas lap but I got one okay picture before you could see she was ready to start bawling. Later on I got a picture with Santa and all three kids. The boys were very curious about Santa after they warmed up to him a bit, they had to ask where the sleigh was, where the reindeer were, and what do reindeer eat. We now not only have to leave cookies but apples and carrots too.
I put up my nativity scene last night and this morning when the boys got up they were asking questions about it like: Why is that Jesus baby in a barn? Which one is the doctor? Were the animals nice to him? I loved this. This time of year we tend to get caught up in the Santa thing and giving gifts, I really want to take the time so my kids know the true meaning of Christmas.
Merry Christmas

Decorating the Tree

Happy Thanksgiving

This morning I got home from work and was greeted my Robb surrounded by the three munckins in our bed. I told them all Happy Turkey Day and then I asked the boys what they were thankful for. I didn't think they even knew what that word was so I was suprised and touched when Caleb said he was thankful for Abby and his brother and Bryce said he was thankful for his brother also. I just wanted to take a minute to say that I am very thankful for my family today! I have a wonderful husband who is a great father and an equal partner in our crazy lives. I know that he will always be there beside me through the good, bad and chaotic and at the end of the day we can collapse on the couch and laugh about all that happened. I am thankful for my children and that I have the chance to be a mother. It is by far the hardest job that anyone can ever have but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Even after the worst days you can go in and look at them sleeping and forget everything that went wrong that day. I must admit that I am bummed that I will spend today sleeping since I worked last night and have to work tonight. But in the grand scheme of things we can really celebrate all that we are thankful for anytime and I am very lucky and very blessed. Happy Thanksgiving!

Preschool Nature Walk

This is one of the reasons that I wanted to do this blog was to share all the funny and crazy things the kids say and do. Today I picked the boys up from preschool and asked how the day went. Bryce said "we went on a nature walk today". I asked what they saw and Bryce said "we saw turkeys and deer". I said "Wow, was the deer pretty"? Caleb piped in and said "NO it was dead a car bammed it down".
Well I wonder how many questions the teachers had to field after they showed 15 3-4 year olds a dead deer?

Family Pictures

This weekend we headed back to Norfolk in an attempt to get Lutz family pictures. I have been stressing over this for months now trying to get everyone coordinating outfits and making sure everyone has hair cuts. The one thing that you never can plan for is how the kids are going to act once you get there. From my past experince with taking pictures I think the kids, like horses can sense that I am nervous and feed off of that. Lucky for me grandma Susie had bought bribe toys that the boys were very excited to get. We did the kids together first and Abby wasn't so sure she liked the picture guy looking at her. Cousin Brook was putting her arm around Abby, which I was greatful for so she didn't jump off the bench but the photographer wasn't very flexible and thought everyones hands had to be just so. Next we got one of the grandparents and grandkids then the big family picture with everyone. This one tested my patience. I think he set us up for about 15 minutes before he started taking pictures. By the time we were done Abby was more than done. I was very proud of how well the boys did though.
We always have busy weekends when we are back in town but it is so fun to see everyone and the boys love seeing all the grandparents and their cousins. We went to Sam and Louise pizza place Friday night with dad and Cindy, Jess, Chris, Luke, Steph and Draven. Thankfully we were about the only people in there so it didn't matter that we were a little loud and the boys were running around the table. Dad is having surgery on Monday so we wish him the best of luck. Saturday we went to see my mom and had lunch with her. Again the boys got to play with Draven. It is wonderful that the kids have cousins so close to their age to play with. Later Saturday Abby and I went on the girls shopping trip and picked up a few things. Of course! Who can shop without buying anything? Robb would probably tell you his favorite part of the weekend was that I went to see the movie New Moon and he didn't have to go with me. I have read the Twilight books and thought they were good and have been wanting to see this movie. Robb however REALLY did NOT want to see this movie so Andy and I went which was fun. It made me feel a little old but it was well worth it.
It is great that we have family that is so fun to go see and that are so great to our kids.

Here Goes Nothing

Well like the heading says "Here Goes Nothing". I have thought about doing a blog for awhile and have never got around to it so we will see how it goes. Up until this point I have been keeping a book for each of the kids on what they are doing month to month and the funny/crazy things they say and do. I really hope someday they will look back and cherish those books as much as I do. Since Abby was born and our lives have gotten even crazier (if that is possible) I find myself falling behind on writing in their books. So I hope that this blog can replace those books and at the same time we can share it with family and friends that we don't get to see as often as we would like.

Well I will start by catching everyone up.

Bryce is 3 1/2 and is our little dramatic one. He has a ton of energy and right now directs it towards being Spiderman. In the last 2 months his interest have dramatically changed from loving everything to do with animals to being infatuated with super heros. He always plays Spiderman and wants Caleb to be Wolverine. He has decided that I am Cat Woman, Abby is baby spiderman and Robb is Hulk. He takes this very seriously and has even made us all masks to wear when we play. (Lucky us!)

He likes going to preschool and is thriving on all the activities that they do. He loves the art project of the day and you can always tell that he spent a lot of time on it. He also goes to Sunday school which he enjoys once he is there. They are always a little sad when we drop them off but the teacher says they do fine once they are there.

Caleb is also 3 1/2 and is one giant ball of energy. Caleb's interest have stayed the same for quite awhile now. He loves anything with wheels but especially 4 wheelers, motorcycles and dirt bikes. This makes me cringe at times because I know the day will eventually come when the question of him actually getting one of these will come up and that scares me to death. He has a million cars and trucks that he likes to race, crash and line up.

Caleb is also in preschool this year and is liking it now that he has been going for a couple of months. He was very sad when he first started which we later found out was because he thought he was going there to live. (We always say uncle Mitch lives at school because he attends the University and lives in the dorms.) Well Caleb was pretty sure we were shipping him off to school forever. Once he found out he would be home for lunch things went better. Caleb is not a sit still kind of guy and prefers the running around and snack time at preschool to the activity part. I always have to chuckle to myself when I see his project because there is 1-2 scribbles on the page and he never remembers the project of the day but always remembers the snack.

Abby is now 9 months old. She has always been very laid back and has fit into our family wonderfully. She loves her brothers to death even when they are too loud and get a little rough with her. She is getting more and more mobile everyday and in turn that means she is getting harder and harder to watch. She crawls to wherever she wants to go and her newest trick is climbing up the steps. She pulls herself to stand by the couches and chairs and is getting close to the cruising stage. I am curious if she will be and early of late walker. Although I dress her girly I am sure she will end up being a little tomboy at heart with 2 brothers around. She has never been impressed with baby toys and much prefers to chew on hot wheels cars and spiderman figures. The boys are actually pretty good about sharing and love her to death which we feel very fortunate for.

Abby has always loved her food and continues to be in the 75% and at her last check up weighed 20 pounds. She eats a lot of table foods by this point and loves crackers and crunchy things. She still eats some baby food vegetables and fruits mainly for our convenience and so we can offer her a wide variety of foods. She is currently working on her second top tooth and has two on the bottom already. It still doesn't seem possible that she is getting so big and is growing up so much. They definitely don't stay babies for long.