One More Celebration

We had our last Christmas celebration on Monday. I guess with so many people to celebrate with you have to spread it out a bit. We celebrated with my mom,Steph, Draven,Mitch and Courtney. We had lunch there and then the kids of course were excited to open gifts. They all got fun things to play with and they had fun running around and tackling with their cousin Draven. Steph got a Abby a super cute dance outfit, so of course we had to try it on.
One of the highlights of the day was seeing Mitch and Courtney's pet bunny. They thought it was so cool to have a bunny that you could just let hop around the room. If it was their choice we would definitely be getting a bunny.
After lunch and presents my aunt, uncle, and cousins from Missouri stopped by. It was nice to see them again. After a fun day we headed back to Lincoln.
Poor Robb had quite the job of packing up the car to try to get all the toys in. We had to use the top cargo rack and the hitch cargo rack. Well I guess our kids racked in the gifts. Thanks everyone and Merry Christmas.
Crazy cousins

Abby wearing her new dance outfit from Aunt Steph

Caleb and his new farm set from Grandma.

Bryce and his Green Lantern jet from Grandma.

Christmas Night

We had Christmas evening with my dad and Cindy. The weather was beautiful for December and the kids got to play outside some. They always like exploring on the acreage. We had a delicious meal and sat around and chatted for a while. The kids had fun opening gifts and then playing with their new games. My aunt and uncle stopped by and it was very nice to see them. They live in Sioux Falls and we never manage to get up there to see them. We had a great Christmas spent with lots of family.

Grandma, Grandpa and the grand kids.

The whole family. We had to use the timer so half the room ended up in the picture too.

Caleb and Grandma

Bryce helping Grandpa open gifts

Abby and Grandpa opening gifts

Christmas Morning

Robb's grandparents have Christmas early Christmas morning in Tekamah, so we usually don't make it there but this year we did. Caleb was up bright and early so he left with Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of us left about an hour later. It was nice to see grandma and grandpa. We didn't stay long because we had one more Christmas that day but it was fun seeing family that we don't get to see very often.

All the kids coloring

This is what Caleb did the entire time.

All the girls and their dolls.

Grandma and Grandpa Hansen and the great grandkids.

Christmas Eve

After playing with Santa presents for a little while, we packed up and headed to Norfolk to spend the holidays with our families.
We had Christmas Eve with the Lutz's. Right when we got there Brook, their cousin, was ready to start opening presents. The kids had a blast! The downstairs had Christmas paper flying everywhere. They got so many nice gifts from Grandma,Grandpa, Uncle Andy, Ginger, Aaron, Brook and AJ.
They had some time to play with their new toys and we ate a few snacks and headed off to Christmas Eve service. As usual we were right on time not any too early so we sat right in the front. Luckily the kids did great for the most part. They sang along to the Christmas carols and stayed quiet and listened (maybe). We always really enjoy this service. It is very family friendly, full of great music and at the end they turn off all the lights and we sing by candle light. I love that part and so did the kids. They also had someone sing the song " A Baby Changes Everything" and it was a nice reminder of what Christmas is all about.
When we got home we ate a delicious supper and enjoyed a low key evening.

Opening gifts

Brook and Abby in their beautiful Christmas dresses that Grandma made them.

Abby opening gifts

Brook, Abby with Grandma and their new American girl dolls.

Christmas Eve Pictures

Bryce and Caleb opening gifts

Cute cousins

Andy and Caleb. Andy got Caleb his very favorite toy, the remote control 4 wheeler.

Bryce and Grandma

Aj lifting weights. One strong little guy!

Santa Clause Came To Town

The kids couldn't wait to get out of bed and see if Santa came. Bryce came in our room at 2, 4 and 6 to see if he could get up yet. Finally at 6:15 we gave in and got up. They were so happy to see that Santa had ate all of the cookies, drank all the milk and the reindeer had left a mess with the carrots.

Caleb was thrilled to see that he had gotten a remote control car. In his Santa letter he had asked for 2 remote control cars. When I asked him why he thought he need 2 his reply was, I usually break it on the first day. I guess he wanted a back up or one for spare parts. So, this year Santa got his remote control at Hobby Town and all the parts are replaceable so hopefully we can keep it running.

Bryce was excited to see that he had gotten a police car, SWAT car and an ambulance with people in it. Santa had managed to find exactly what he put in his letter even though it was a bit difficult to find.

Abby was funny. I think she was still half asleep when her brothers woke her up and made her come downstairs. She was very happy with her pink kitchen though. Santa was even nice enough to bring Penny treats. The kids are pretty sure that is why she didn't bark when he came down the fireplace.

Robb with the kids. I think Robb was about as excited as Caleb was to play with the remote car.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas time in our House

We celebrated our family Christmas on Christmas Eve eve.Robb had the day off so we had a fun day of playing and it was about killing the kids seeing all the gifts under the tree and not being able to open them. We opened gifts before supper and the kids couldn't have been more excited! We were pretty excited to see them open everything too.

After presents we ate a delicious meal of steak,salmon, shrimp and rice. For dessert we followed our little family tradition of making Jesus a cake and singing Happy Birthday to him. I thought this was one way to make Jesus a focus of our Christmas celebration in a way that the kids would understand.

Abby got a baby that drinks a bottle, play food and a princess chair.

Bryce got art supplies, super heroes and Lego's.

Caleb got a real drill, farm equipment and a racing game for the Xbox.

It was a great night! We still had some time before bed to play with all of the toys, read the Christmas story and put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. All the kids took it very seriously that they needed to sleep good so that Santa would come.

Merry Christmas from the Lutz's

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope that this year has been full of joy for you and your family. This year has flown by at the Lutz house.
We started 2011 by celebrating Abby’s 2nd birthday at the end of January. She has truly changed from a baby into a big girl this last year. The term baby is now an insult thrown at her by Bryce and Caleb to really make her mad. She loves playing with her babies and likes to tell people that she is a mommy too. She tries really hard to keep up with her brothers and does a pretty good job.
Bryce and Caleb have also grown a lot this year. They celebrated their 5th birthday in June with a water fight party with their friends and a bit calmer family party the next day. They love being outside and I haven’t even been able to keep them inside now that the weather has gotten colder.
This summer they both learned to ride their bikes without training wheels. This was a huge step in being grown up in their eyes. They started Pioneer Park Preschool in September. This will be there last year of preschool before heading off to kindergarten.
Bryce is all of a sudden really into cops and K9 dogs. He was a cop for Halloween and ever since we have had our own little “fuzz buster” in the car. Every time he sees any type of law enforcement vehicle he yells “There’s a cop!” He has probably saved us some money in speeding tickets this year.
Caleb continues to be fascinated with motorcycles and dirt bikes. He thinks it is funny when Robb tells him he is going to make his mom cry if he gets a motorcycle someday. He is also a little handyman and likes to “fix” things whenever he can. If Robb is ever missing a tool he knows who to ask first.
This fall Robb took on his biggest home improvement project to date. He finished our unfinished basement. I have been wanting this done for a couple years and I guess I finally wore him down. He framed the walls, ran wire, hung drywall with the help of some really nice neighbors and installed a drop ceiling. He did an amazing job and it is so nice to have a family room, toy room, pantry and scrapbook area.
Robb is still working at EA Engineering. He has recently got to do some local projects so it has been fun to see some of his work. The boys were pretty excited to see the fish hatchery project in Calamus that he worked on this summer.
I am still staying at home and have thoroughly enjoyed the time that I have gotten to spend with the kids. I have enjoyed getting to go on a couple scrapbook weekends and have recently started doing some crafty things. I still pick up shifts occasionally at St. Elizabeth in the neonatal ICU. I love working with the babies and miss my kids being little but the stage our kids are at is also very fun. Not to mention we are now diaper free in our household for the first time in 5 years.
The kids are very excited for Christmas this year. They have their Santa letters all written and food planned out to leave for Santa and the reindeer. It is so fun to see the magic that Christmas brings to kids. They have been reading the Christmas story in Sunday school and for bedtime story. They love to play with the nativity set and teach Abby who all the people are.
They are also fascinated with the Christmas lights and they were great helpers when it came to putting up the tree. Abby has been calling the Christmas trees Birthday trees this year. I guess she is right in a way.
We wish you and your family a blessed holiday season and a happy new year.
Love,
Robb, Erin, Bryce, Caleb and Abby

Funny Things They Say And Do!

I have been writing down funny things the kids say and do throughout the year and I thought since we are reaching the end of the year I better get on the ball and blog about it.
I had so many that I am going to have to pick my very favorites or this could end up being a never ending post.

Here are some of Bryce's top funny moments for the year.

1.Bryce:I think I either want to be an artist or a rockstar when I grow up.
Me:Both of those sound pretty cool!
Bryce:How come you and Dad don't have cool jobs?
Me: Ugh I don't know?
Wow, he is only 5 and already thinks we are lame.

2.Bryce: Mom I think you need one of these.
Me:What?
Bryce: (watching a commercial for a hover round scooter)
Me: Why would I need one of those?
Bryce:It says it is for people who fall and you fell in the garage last week.
Me: True, but I don't think I need a scooter quite yet.
Great so he thinks we are lame and OLD!

3. Bryce: Sundays are fun! Sunday school and Superbowl Sunday.

4.(Looking at his Valentines candy)
Yum! This one is heart flavored.

5. Bryce: Why do you always leave the patio door open while we are playing outside?
Me: So I know you are safe.
Bryce: Oh, I thought it was so you could hear if we were saying really naughty words like poop and butt.
I guess if those are naughty words we don't have anything to worry about.

Now on to Caleb's. Anyone who know Caleb know that he says something crazy about everyday so his were hard to pick.

1. Me: You can only eat in the living room if you pay for the house.
Caleb: How come you eat in the living room then Mom?
Ouch!

2. Caleb: I don't like when you lean over me to put Abby in her car seat.
Me: Sorry, that's the way it has to be.
Caleb: (lights up like he has the greatest idea ever) You could put her in from the sunroof.
Silly me! Why didn't I think of that.

3.(Digging in the dirt.) Caleb: Oh no I just pulled a worm in half.
Me: That's OK it will just regrow.
Caleb: So if I pull all the worms in half will I find more next year?

4.(My alarm just rang and I am laying in bed not wanting to get up.)
Caleb comes in and tosses my bra on top of me and says. "Put on your boobs mom. It's time to take me to school."
Wow embarrassing

5. I fell asleep on the couch during nap time and Caleb was watching Animal Planet. While I was asleep it turned in the show I Shouldn't Be Alive. When I woke up he looks all nervous and says "I don't want to go out in the cold! That man froze all of his fingers OFF!" Great mom moment for me. Luckily he didn't understand the entire show because 3 of the 4 men had also died. Note to self: don't fall asleep with animal planet on!

Ok, so I was going to try to make this even but Caleb just has too many crazy things that he says.

6.Caleb: A Q is like an O with a kick stand.

7. (Another TV mishap, COPs came on)
Caleb:That man just got put in handcuffs and taken to jail for open container. Mom, we always have open containers in our car!
Me: They mean open containers of beer.
Caleb: Oh OK. I was worried you were going to jail mom.

Abby is taking after her brothers and says some pretty funny things.

1.She loves to spin in circle and yells "I'm getting busy" we are working on saying *dizzy*

2. (We were reading a book about a bird feeding her baby some worms)
Abby: Gross, Birds eat worms for breakfast?
Me: Yep. What do you think they eat for supper?
Abby: Probably eggs

3.She opened a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant and loudly said "they left the tag in this one".

4.She calls frost *frosting*. So she will say "look our car has frosting on it".
Too cute.

5. She calls Christmas trees *Birthday trees*. I'm not sure if its because her birthday is around Christmas or where she got it but it is pretty cute and maybe more perceptive than we give her credit for.


Although they make me crazy sometimes my life would definitely be pretty dull without them. They are constantly doing something cute, funny or being just down right naughty but that's what it is all about. So in the middle of the chaos that I call my life I try to remember that they are only little once and I try to enjoy things just a little more.

GO BIG RED!!

Robb took the boys to the Husker Basketball game on Saturday night. They were so excited! The got student tickets due to the holiday break so they got to sit up close.

In the student section they throw paper after the first basket is made. The boys thought this was the coolest thing and kept doing it throughout the game. They all came home with paper in their coats and sweatshirts.

Robb said they were well behaved and even watched most of the game.

To make it even more exciting the Huskers won. Go Big Red!

Santa

On Friday night we went to Southpointe to see Santa. The kids were pretty excited to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted. Bryce wanted a Superman and his dog and an ambulance. Caleb wanted a remote controlled car and Abby asked Santa for a baby and a kitchen. Luckily they didn't switch it up on us.

I wasn't sure if Abby would sit on his lap but she didn't hesitate to hop on up and tell him what she wanted. I didn't get a very good picture because the photographer was in the corner having them look at him. So, to Robb's dismay we ended up buying Santa pictures. Oh well, they are only little once.
After seeing Santa we surprised the kids by taking them to see the Arther Christmas movie. It was really cute and was a fun family night.

Christmas Cookies

This year my friend Jenny and I decided to do Christmas cookies and candies together. Our kids get along great and that way we could share recipes, ingredients, the work and the mess. Our husbands thought we were crazy taking this on with 5 children but surprisingly we got a lot done and had a great time.
We each had ingredients for 3-4 things and just made enough for both of us to keep. We made sugar cookies, peanut butter star cookies, fudge, oreo balls and cake balls. Jenny and I decided that the theme of the year was roll it into a ball and dip it in chocolate. The kids had fun rolling out sugar cookies and decorating them. This definitely needs to a new tradition.
Jenny and the kids rolling out sugar cookies.

Me supervising the frosting and sprinkles.

Bryce concentrating on decorating his cookies. He made a huge gingerbread man and has been guarding it to save it for Santa.

Caleb eating more than he is decorating.

Abby and Ainsley had to have pink sprinkles even if they didn't fit into the Christmas theme.

Norfolk PD

This post is a little late but it needed to be included on the blog. Bryce, who has been interested in nothing but super heroes for the last 3 years, finally started showing interest in police stuff around Halloween time. Of course we have always been supportive of whatever he was interested in but it was really nice to talk about something besides spiderman and batman for a change. Bryce was a police officer for Halloween this year and he talks about K-9's non stop. He got to see the Lincoln Police at Boo at the Zoo but much to his disappointment the one taking pictures was a female officer. I don't think he at anytime thought girls couldn't be cops he just wanted to take a picture with a boy policeman like he was. He talked about wanting to meet a police "Man" for weeks on end. Lucky for him, his auntie Steph works at the Nofolk Police Department. The next time we went to Norfolk I took his costume and as a surprise she snuck us in to meet a real police "Man". Bryce was incredibly excited but a little nervous. One of the newer officers agreed to take pictures with Bryce and even let him sit in his car and showed him around the station. The officer told the kids that he had to go check on the man that he had in the jail and of course everyone wanted to go see the man in jail. At that point we made a quick exit after thanking the officer. I hope that cop knows that he made a little boys day!

The 1st Snow

This is the first year that Abby has been excited to go play in the snow. She got all of her snow clothes on and actually lasted longer outside that I thought she would.

Everyone ready for a little snow fun.

Snow girl

Helping dad shovel.