The kids are cute too!

Here are our munchkins.  The boys with their energy and sound effects. And the girls with their...DRAMA! This was just after eating their "dirt dessert" at Mimi's.  Hey boys, heard of napkins?  What Susan and Diane don't know is that I ended up taking four of these kids home for a sleepover.  Duane approved it, but it was a great form of birth control.  We are definitely stopping at 2! 

Girls Night Out- Take 1

OK, so far, in the new year, we have already accomplished 1 girl's night out.  Granted, Dana was missing and most of us had our kids, BUT we were able to get together within the first week of 2008!  Let's make sure we make a habit of it! You guys are a great support system to me.  Love you!

Serious boy!

You know the Build A Bear drill...stuff, give a bath and brush.  Landon was SO serious and took FOREVER to brush and cwean his dog.  If only he gave as much attention to his own appearance!  Too cute!

Build A Bear

OK- so we have built probably 20 bears between the three of us- I know, it's ridiculous, but today the kids wanted to go build bears that they themselves paid for. (Christmas proved to be quite lucrative for them this year and mommy is making them put most of it in the bank!) OK, so we didn't actually build any bears, but we built one cute dog (named "Jeffy"- don't we already have one of those in the house?) and one pink leopard named Angie Boenzi (after Em's teacher at school- they are the Lasselle leopards).  And more importantly, they had a blast.  I heard the two of them talking to their animals on the way home telling them that they were going to have to take naps when they got home.  Then they decided that since they were now "parents," they would get to do what parents do: stay up til midnight watching movies and telling scary stories, and have a midnight snack.  If only they knew how mush being an adult is NOT like that- more like dragging tired bodies to bed after long, full days.  But it made me smile.  Their innocence is so wonderful in a world that is not innocent.  They continued to talk about how grown up they were and how important it was to be good parents to their new friends and then Landon said, "I love you Emily.  I love you mommy."  How can you put a limit on an umpteenth stuffed animal that promotes such sweetness.  It was another fun day to add to our wonderful vacation.  3 days left until.......SCHOOL RESUMES!

I don't have two chins, I swear!

So here is a picture of the bowling mom's.  I will definitely have to stop taking pictures of myself from that angle.  I look like I have at least two chins.  Not the most flattering, but my friends look good. Paula was the big winner...Rae...well, she had fun, I think!

Roller skating anyone?

Um, the answer to the question "Are there any roller skating rinks still open?"  is...Not in the IE!  A couple of girls I work with wanted to go roller skating with all of our kids, but we found that roller rinks are not up and coming around here.  So we took the kids bowling instead.  We had a great time and ended our day with a trip to McDonalds - the real low point I thought  :-)- but the kids had a great time.  It's so fun to connect with "work people" in a different, fun way that involves our families.  What a great day!

Here is the product of our first official sewing effort.  On New Year's Day, we all carted our sewing machines over to my mom and dad's and set up what Duane referred to as "The Nuevo Sweat Shop."  Diane worked on her quilt, mom and Hannah worked on a skirt for her and Em and I started and finished our project.  We were so proud.  It's a little funky, but keep watching for it because she's worn it a LOT lately. More to come....