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For the past 2 weeks we have been working on redoing the living room. It has bugged me for years and I have always felt like I was still living in my college apartment. We finally added a little life into the room. It is still a work in progress as we would love to eventually get wood floors and new furniture, but for now I love it. Here are the before and after pics!

Finally taking down the stupid wallpaper

Before

After

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After

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After

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After

You get the idea!

Future gold medal gymnasts

The last Friday of Christmas break Jason and I decided to take the kids to the 5 and under free hour of play at Flames Gym. Apparently every other parent in Port Huron had the same idea because it was mass chaos in that place. The kids didn't notice because they didn't stop running, jumping or climbing until the hour was up. It was fun and probably something I'll do more with them during the summer, since of course the free time is during school hours only!

Happy New Year

Jason and I were able to snag our favorite babysitter (Keeley) for New Years Eve. So we went out!! Janelle came along with Keeley to help out and join in the fun. All of the kids were asleep well before midnight and it sounded like they had a great night.

Another great photo taken by Kaleb.

Kaleb, not wanting to be in a picture.
Emerson having to eat some dinner before she can pig out on the junk food!

New Year's morning with Kaleb, Emerson, Keeley and Janelle. Mmm, bacon and sweet rolls. Could there be a better breakfast!?

After breakfast Jason went to pick up Avery and Hanna so that the cousin get together was complete. I tried to convince Jason that we could handle 6 kids of our own, but he wasn't having it!

Avery, Keeley, Janelle, Emerson, Kaleb and Hanna enjoying a movie

Pizza time. Everyone made their own pizza. They loved it!
There you go Emerson, just pour the whole bowl of cheese on yours!
Yummy pizza. They were all impressed with their cooking skills.
Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008

We have had some great Christmas celebrations in the past two weeks. Our first get together was at my Aunt Diane and Uncle Dan's house so that we could spend time with the VanDeven/Talbot side of the family. It is always fun hanging out with my cousins. There was only mild chaos as there are now 6 kids under the age of 5!

The Sunday before Christmas Kaleb participated in the Sunday School Christmas Play. He was too stinking adorable. His famous lines were "Christmas" two times and he also had a part in the bells playing Twinkle Twinkle. He did so good. Is it cheezy that I actually cried watching him?!

Finally, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my parent's house with Lindsey, Derek and Grandma Rice. The kids had a few presents to open and got into the bath so they could get in their Christmas pajamas. After we left my parent's house we went down to Desmond's Landing to see the lights, which has now become a tradition for us.

The next morning Jason and I actually had to set the alarm for 6 am and get ready before we woke the kids up at 6:30. We're crazy. In a few years they will be up way before us and we'll wish they would sleep in! We opened all of the presents from Santa at home, including an air hockey table for Kaleb and a slide for Emerson already set up in the basement.

At 7:30 we arrived at Jason's parent's house for present opening. This way all of the cousins could be together. The kids all got dress up clothes and pajamas from Grandma. The older kids will also be taken out on Monday by Grandma and Grandpa for a full 24 hours of fun. They are all looking forward to it.

Brunch was at Grandma Rice's house, another tradition. There were no more presents to open, which disappointed Kaleb, but it was a nice relaxing morning. Dinner was spent back at Jason's parent's house and we spent the last few hours of our evening at the Erickson's house. This is a fun time to catch up with my friends that I don't get enough opportunity to see during the year.

It truly was a very Merry Christmas!