Snow and Cooking!

Oh the joys of snow--if I don't have to be out driving in it, I love it as well!  Snow is also not much fun when you are 8 to 9 months pregnant, but our kids love it!  We only had a half day of school before Christmas break and it snowed the night before!  So Caden and I went to school, had our Christmas parties and movie day, came back to Salina to eat lunch with Daddy, and then this kiddo bundled up and was out in the snow by himself for over 2 hours!  He had a stick, a shovel, and he was happy--even helped shovel our neighbors sidewalk which made this momma pretty proud!

Then New Year's Eve we wake up to snow again--and Caden woke up with a loud shout because--YES, it snowed!  Brynn joined the party this time and so did Daddy.  Mommy snuck out a couple times to get a few pictures and then watched the fun from inside!

 I think you can guess what is going to happen to poor Caden--yes, at times, I live with three children, but he was a good sport!

Daddy gotcha!

Layne made a few sledding ramps and took the kids sledding--I missed getting a picture of Caden, but Brynn ate it up--take a look at her face--one happy girl!

 

I love holiday cooking at Christmas, but I have gestational diabetes with this pregnancy and although I have a very mild case, I have to watch my sweets and carbs so my blood sugar does not get out of whack.  I made a few items, but thankfully I have a very talented husband who doesn't mind cooking, so he did a lot of cookies and fudge so we could each take some goodies to work with us and then I froze several containers of goodies so that after baby comes, we can have a sweet party!  My parents and a friend of ours from church made sugar cookies for Caden and Brynn to decorate and decorate they did--mom and dad helped them decorate cookies one weekend in December when they kept the kids overnight and decorating cookies took most of the day--mom had quite the array of decorated cookies and of coarse we had to have pink frosting and blue frosting--plus a few other colors and don't forget the sprinkles!!

My manly man who also cooks and bakes--when needed--thank goodness!

Gymnastics

We let Brynn do gymnastics for a month in December with 2 of her little friends--it was perfect-

45 minutes, once a week--she loved it and was so excited to go.  I was really proud of how well she sat and listened and gave everything a try!  She can't wait to do dance when she turns 4, but this was a great activity for her to do until then!  A few of these pictures were taken with our Ipad, so not the best clarity, but you get the idea!

Brooklyn, Brynn, and Tara ready to go!

Balance Beam

Smiles!

Blessed to have good friends and good mommy friends!

Christmas Decor

 George, our Elf on the Shelf, made an appearance again this year--he was a little late getting in, but he appeared one evening right before supper and Brynn could not take her eyes off of him--she would take a bite, look at George, take a bite, look at George--it was pretty entertaining!  Caden had the most fun finding him every morning!  

Here were a few of George's favorite spots around our house--he loves cashews--just like our whole family, he enjoyed riding with the snowman, and the kids loved that he sat on our reindeer!

George did not help solve all our problems, but he sure was a great reminder and always full of fun!

We did get a little bit of snow--so thought I had better grab a picture before it all melted away--I love the magic of Christmas lights!

Our beautiful tree---Caden added the chain--part of his kindergarten fun--so glad that it needed to go smack dab in the middle, but he was sooo proud--what could I do.  Caden and Brynn each got to put up their pink and white tree in their room as well--one of the best things I have ever bought them--they LOVE that they have their own tree!  So thankful for my husband who wrapped all our gifts--I got to lay on the couch and tell him who each present was for and he took care of the rest--no fancy bows, because our cat thinks bows are too much fun, but at least they are all wrapped and the celebrating can start! 

 Merry Christmas to all--we started the season off right by celebrating the Birth of Jesus today at our Children's Program at church--both of our kids sang their hearts out and said their lines well--proud of them!

Rooms!

About 2 weeks ago, we moved Brynn and Caden into their new bunk beds and into their new room that they are now sharing!  So far, so good!

Layne went and picked up the bed while we were at church Christmas practice and had them set up and ready to go when we got home and both kids were super excited!  Pink and blue were the chosen colors and it has worked out pretty good--Caden was a little nervous about being on the top, but he has done great and I am soo glad we got a full bed underneath for Brynn--it has made for a great place to do story time and is so easy to lay down with Brynn if we need to.  Caden likes sleeping with a little light on and Brynn likes it with no light, so it took us a couple days to figure that out--but after we tuck them in, they get the light on to look at books for about 10 minutes and then lights out and sleep time and they have made it through the night no problems!  Of course Caden has to throw a few animals down on his sister and Brynn likes to kick Caden's mattress from underneath, but welcome to the world of siblings!

Names even got put up and few decorations hung--might still add a shelf, but the majority of it is done--hooray!

The crib also went back up last weekend--so check, check--car seat out, base out, diapers and wipes are out and ready to go.  Getting closer....as of right now, we are scheduled to be induced on Jan. 16.  If my blood pressure goes up or something else medical changes, then it will be sooner than that!

Brynn and I were grocery shopping at Walmart last week and she MADE me buy a cute little Christmas shirt for baby girl--she picked it out herself and kept saying how this shirt is for my baby--this shirt is for my little sister!  Melted my heart--she held it the whole time we were shopping and all the way home--then we had to hide the shirt in the baby's closet so the baby couldn't see!

She has a great start on being a BIG sister!

My On-Line Christmas Card!

The Parry Family--2012

Brynn 3 and Caden 5

With Baby Parry due in a month or less, I decided I would send out New Year Cards this year instead of Christmas cards--so you will have to be happy with seeing our faces on the computer for now instead of in the mail!

Mindy helped us out again by taking some family photos of us--I wanted a few memories of the

 baby bump and we were able to get a couple cute pictures while battling the 1:00 sunlight!

I was around 28 weeks prego in these pictures!  

It has been a real joy to watch Caden and Brynn love on my belly--hope they are as nice to their sister as they are to my belly when she gets here for good!

We also went to see Santa at one of the banks downtown--they have a photographer come in and take Santa pictures for free if you bring in canned goods for the needy---it was a wonderful experience, great picture, awesome Santa, and they had juice, cookies, and candy canes for the kiddos after they saw Santa.

On the Christmas list this year:

Brynn told Santa she wanted a Pink Princess Umbrella and Caden said he wanted a Lightening McQueen Umbrella--works for me--I just hope the kids are not disappointed when they find out Santa did not bring umbrellas but Aunt Kristi and Uncle Caleb did!

 

A funny on Brynn--a couple days after we had seen Santa, Brynn asked if I could take her to see Santa again and get her picture taken again--I asked her WHY--she said, "I forgot to tell Santa that I wanted a Princess Book or a Christmas Book!"  I smiled and told her she could just tell George--our elf on the shelf and he would make sure Santa got the message!

Merry Christmas to you all--Hope you have a blessed Holiday Season!

Thanksgiving

Thank you to Mindy for rescuing me with blogger--hopefully I am up and running again!

Hope you all had a wonderful, happy, and relaxing Thanksgiving!

Did not take many pictures but these two pictures capture a few items I am thankful for!

Above--Caden and his cousins glued to the Ipad--and a cookie or two does not hurt either!

Below--Kristi and Brynn get some good snuggle time!

 

So my thankful list includes:

Wonderful family to spoil us, love us, and share in the joys and struggles of raising our family!

Awesome technology that helps my kiddos learn and also keeps them entertained, plus the camera and video camera are all right there and we can also do facetime with Aunt Nell and Uncle Jake!

My awesome husband who has been my rock and support these last couple weeks when I was puking from some yucky food, stuffed up with a cold, and my blood pressure was high--so thankful he gives me a break in the evenings and tells me to go lay down and take care of me--some days you just need to hear that!

Thankful for my amazing friends and co-workers who are constantly checking on me this third trimester, sending me positive messages, texting me, and giving me hugs to help me keep a positive attitude and to keep on trucking!

Where would I be without my faith in God--trying hard to trust in him and know that he has a plan for me--which is so hard for this control lady to do!

Thankful for the joy of the Christmas Season--I did not decorate quite as much as years past, but the tree, lights, and stockings are up and they just make me smile every day!

Hugs from my two kids and also my 1st graders can solve about any problem I have--so blessed to have what I have and try hard to remember that each and every day!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Parry's :)

More baby memories with the Family!

No pictures this time, but wanted to document some of the fun baby conversations we have been having lately!

I was sick with the nasty stomach flu about a month ago, so my teacher friend Stephanie came and picked up Caden to take him to school.  She asked Caden if he had anymore good baby names for us--he thought awhile and came up with Jelly--Steph asked--like Peanut Butter and Jelly--yes, that is what he meant--and Stephanie--could you please email my mom to tell her that name! 

I clarified with Caden on that name when he got home and he said he meant Gelly, not Jelly--so there are more names to add to the list!

Brynn on the other hand is all about Princesses right now and has decided Little Princess Ariel is a great character and a great name!  Our daycare provider said that she is telling everyone at daycare that Ariel is the baby's name and about a week ago, we went out to eat at Logan's and the manager walked by and checked in with us and then asked if we were having a baby around Christmas time.  Caden said YES and it will be a sister.  The lady said congratulations and Brynn piped up--and her name will be Little Princess Ariel.  The lady was quite impressed as were all the Aunt and Uncles that she told over Thanksgiving.  I asked Layne if we should tell Brynn that might not be the baby's name--he just grinned and shrugged and told me in another month, we might really like that name!!
I must admit, it has grown on me but we will see......so add Gelly, Jelly, and Ariel to the list and as of this morning Brynn's new idea was Ballet Kitty!

Brynn also had a great name for our friend Kylie who is having a boy--she first thought Princess would be a good name, but when I reminded her that it needed to be a boy's name, she thought and thought and came up with Bob the Builder--because Bob is a boy--she even had to call Kylie to tell her that name--we have had a lot of laughs over all these fun name ideas!

Brynn is also famous for coming up and loving on my tummy and then starts laughing and tells me--that baby is kicking me again Mommy--even though I know she is not--I think she is just getting us ready for all the joys of three kiddos!

Caden has had a few questions about how this baby is going to come out--he is determined that she will come out feet first--I told him that I hope not, we want her to come our head first just like he did and there he has to argue with me that No, he came out feet first, too--he knows he did--I tried to correct him again, but then just left it alone--stubborn child will always think he is right--I will have to drag out his baby pictures to see if I can convince him otherwise!

Thankful for my children and all the joy and laughter they bring to our household!

Halloween

 Halloween on a Wednesday makes for a very long week for teachers, but it is what it is and I am glad that it only comes once a year!

Here is Caden's kindergarten class--just the boys above and the whole class below!

Thankfully, Layne and Brynn were able to come out to school and watch the Halloween parade and went to Caden's classroom and took a few pictures for this mom who had to entertain 1st graders!

  Here is Caden's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Wiles--the 3 kindergarten teachers were the 3 little pigs and Mrs. Wiles is showing on her Ipad that she built her house out of sticks!  They were super cute costumes!

 Brynn stopped by on her way back to daycare with daddy to say hello to Stephanie--one of my co-teachers--they were both dressed as witches, so we needed a witch picture--Brynn LOVED Steph's gloves with long, sparkly fingernails!

 Hello witches!

Some mommy time with my kids--witch Brynn with Defender C Mommy--Defender C is part of our reading pathways program!

 

 

  Bat Caden with Defender C mom--Layne made Caden's bat costume--Caden has wanted to be a bat for about 3 months straight--I found this simple one to make out of of an umbrella or there was one to buy--he picked this one--super easy to put on--a hooded sweatshirt that zipped up--he was happy so it worked for me!

Rewind a couple days as the Sunday before Halloween, we got together with our friends the Weber family and ate a yummy supper and decorated pumpkins.  

Brynn wanted pink and purple--with sparkles--so we picked out paint at Hobby Lobby and this girl worked for almost 30 minutes painting her pumpkin--I was so proud of her!

 

  

 Target had a whole table of decorate your pumpkin kits--Caden loved the Angry Bird pumpkin--so he and Layne worked together to create his Angry Bird pumpkin.

Jill made a glittery Jack O' Lantern face on her pumpkin.

 

I chose to just decorate mine as well--Brynn and I picked out sparkly purple jewels, glittery purple ribbon, and zebra print ribbon for my pumpkin!

Brynn's pumpkin--all finished but very wet!

3 year old Jack painted for 5 minutes and was done, but

 he got some of his favorite colors on there!

Brynn's pumpkin---dry and ready for display with her zebra ribbon on top!

 

Caden's fun Angry Bird pumpkin--with his Angry Bird shirt!

Our pumpkin display--I was a little sad that Layne did not do one of his masterpieces, but he did make us some yummy pumpkin seeds--sometimes there is just not enough time in the day!

 

Fast Forward back to Halloween!

After school that day, Caden and I left right away to pick up Brynn and go straight to Layne's work.

K-tron employees are awesome--they spoil the kids with tons of candy and it is fun to see everyone's kiddos all dressed up!

 Love this picture--looks like they are having a great conversation!

Caden the bat--age 5; Brynn the witch--age 3

 

Happy Halloween one and all!

As soon as we left Layne's work at 4:45, the kids and I ran home to drop some things off and pick up candy for church and then headed start back to our church for Trick or Trunking.  This is one of my favorite outreach programs that our church does--this prego mama had too much going on that day to get a trunk ready, but Layne was determined to decorate our van--so he was in charge this year and created a haunted van tunnel through our van--most kids loved it and Caden ate it up!  My parents came and mom took Brynn around to trick or treat, but Caden did not leave the van--he and my dad stayed and helped Layne with the van--Caden loved making scary noises or leading kids through the dark tunnel.  I went on a food run and then sat in a chair and watched all the action--it was a beautiful day and I think we had around 300 kids come trick-or-trunking at our church!

Finally at 7:00--we said good-bye to our church friends and to Grandma and Grandpa and headed home to trick or treat at a few neighbors' houses before letting the kids have ONE more piece of candy and calling it a night at 9:00.

What a day--and again, thank goodness it only comes once a year!