Christmas time

Working in healthcare, we don't have many perks around the holidays. 

We work while everyone else gets to spend the day with loved ones. I heard friends talking about how they were spending Christmas eve and it made me sad to think I was heading into work.

But that's what we do in the mission to "Make Lives Work" at Courage Kenny. 

So I put on my smile and drove in bright and early. I managed to get a lot accomplished in just the first few hours of the day and had more than one "thank you so much for your help" from my patients and families. Thankfully I was able to sneak out a few hours early and in an effort to make up for lost time with the family on Christmas eve, I made a pit-stop for coffee frappes on my way home :)

Let's just say I was greeted with some really big THANK YOU's! from the girls.

The best I could do was get the three kids together for a photo on Christmas eve. Regan refused to change into something other than comfy clothes, Sidney put on her Santa Vineyard Vines shirt and claimed to be festive, and Lincoln wouldn't let go of the reindeer that accompanied Ellie since it was the only day of the season he could touch her. 

I'll take what I can get. 

Yes, the reindeer and Ellie even made the family picture. 

Whatever. We're all looking at the camera and we're all smiling. It's a win in my book!

I didn't even pull out my camera on Christmas eve. I guess that means we enjoyed some family time instead. We ate, shared gifts with Ryan's parents and Lincoln opened this gigantic tiger that roars and had me take his photo in action. Isn't he scary!?

Before they climbed into bed for the night, I insisted on my traditional photo of the kids in front of the tree. It's so magical to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. Lincoln is so delighted in the excitement and wonder. And I love to listen to him as we drove through the neighborhood, telling  me how beautiful each house was with all of the lights. 

Bright and early Christmas morning we woke up to presents from Santa. He ate our cookies, the reindeer ate our carrots, and Ellie disappeared through the frosted glass on the sliding door. Magical and glee was all around us. 

Lincoln scored big with hockey skates and a helmet, which he proceeded to wear while opening the remainder of his gifts :) 

Sidney had begged for an Alexa from Santa, and was disappointed in that she didn't think it would be gifted. Her face was priceless upon opening! 

We shared the rest of the day with Hope and my mom with a sprinkle of facetime with Ben out east. Some of us wore ugly sweaters, but mom insists her Bon Jovi sweater was most certainly not ugly!

And looking at this photo below, I'm pretty sure Sidney is holding one of Papa Leo's favorite holiday toy....the Santa that toots! 

Thanks for the memories, it was a wonderful holiday season 

Santa and Ellie

We slid into Santa's lap just in time this year. Actually, I make a reservation months in advance because this Santa is the real deal I tell you. He's simply amazing and gives us time to sit and chat and have a real conversation. We love him to pieces! He's the only real Santa!

 

 

Our silly Ellie the elf is keeping us on our toes with her tricks and hiding spots. She's had a lemonade stand (ie: sitting on cups peeing), turds in my wine glasses (sitting on a glass with a Hershey poop inside), taking cotton candy baths and mountain climbing the cupboards.

 

Lincoln hurries down the stairs each morning, so excited to find Ellie and her reindeer.  This morning she arrived under the tree with gingerbread houses for the kids! Each one got busy, two of them at 7:30am :) Their masterpieces are adorable and it was so fun to watch them in their creative spirits. 

Tubing...forced fun

Growing up, my parents had a thing we called "forced fun". In other words, we did things that they thought we might like, whether or not we wanted to. Once it was a WWE wrestling match, another time it was a gigantic rollercoaster. They were almost always right, we liked whatever fun was thrown our way. I've adopted this "forced fun" mentality with the kiddos and for the most part, it's always fun! Last week we headed to a nearby ski hill and took the family tubing. A fun time was had by all! (well, Sidney may have gotten bored without her "screen time" for a few hours, but we'll call it a win).

 

I knew Lincoln would probably love it the most. Ryan was on the track next to him for the first run and he worried slightly that it might be too fast for him.
Nope.

This no fear kiddo had a complete blast! And made us promise to come back another day.

 

 Ryan and I are not ones to miss out on something like this, we were right there for the fun. And the weather was perfect! 30+ degrees on a winter day in Minnesota....I'll take it!

 

For a couple of fun videos, click HERE and HERE.



Preschool Christmas Program

We are blessed that Lincoln attends a preschool with teachers who love him and take good care of him. He has made close friendships and is learning all he needs before Kindergarten. This past week they held a short Christmas program for the families and Lincoln was so excited for us to watch him on stage. 

His most favorite song was Hippopotamus for Christmas and his subtle dance moves on stage were adorable! Click to watch a (super long but worth every second) video. 

Lincoln couldn't wait to find his best buddy after the show, along with the Big Guy himself :) I may have to gift this photo to these two friends on their 18th birthday or senior graduation! 

Christmas Round #1

Every year, sometime between Christmas and Thanksgiving, my brother and Jon return to MN for a Christmas celebration. This year it happened to fall on their birthday weekend, and we did all we could to pack some fun and celebrating into our time together. 

We started off with a big Christmas ham dinner at our place the night they arrived. The meal was yummy but the time together was even better. I sat at the table extra long that night, taking it all in and enjoying the moment rather than rushing to clean up. I can tell that Regan is getting older, because she too sat around the table, catching up, listening to stories and simply conversing with the family. 

My mom and Lincoln had a mean game of Laser Tag going on, and I came around the corner only to catch this quick photo of my mom :) 

Go mom go! 

Early the next morning we ventured to the big Mall of America where my brother was waiting with his "Birthday outfit". I had no idea what to expect when he let us know the night prior that he had a special gift for all of us....look at him! 

I may have given him grief more than once as he showed up multiple places (all day!) in that silly outfit. Apparently this is what you can wear when you don't care at all what anyone thinks of you :) 

It was a day of "yes", and very little "no". Instead of buying Christmas gifts, Ben and Jon requested to take the kids on a shopping spree. Oh they loved it! The only request was for the kids to pick out things that they wouldn't normally purchase. And we did just that! Sidney found a stupidly expensive squishy and their reply "SURE!". 

Although we didn't come home with these ride-on toys, the kids sure had fun scooting around the toy store, which was packed with people....

Both girls wanted to check out some make up stores so we went into more than one of them. Ryan and Sidney had us all buckled over in laughter when they came across this fun mirror allowing the buyer to test lip colors before buying. 

Ryan looks like he's done this before! 

This is the result of not wanting to try on clothes, and then in putting back on your own sweatshirt, you do so backwards. We made her pose for us with the hood up. 

After a full day at the Mall, both girls had double header dome ball games so we spent the evening cheering them on and entertaining Lincoln while dodging foul balls.
Can't get enough of watching them play. 

They're both continuing to work on their skills in this "off season" and I'm proud of how hard they are working. It was fun to have a little bigger fan club this weekend. 

The next day we went back to MOA and spent the morning at Crayola Experience thanks to some gifted tickets by a dear family friend. The kids played to their heart's content, as did the adults :) We crafted and molded and created for close to two hours. Eventually we walked over to the attached hotel and the kids took advantage of the swimming pool in hopes of wearing out Lincoln for a nice afternoon nap. 

It worked! And when he woke up, he was a TIGER! 

Ha! 

This cutie cracks us up. Whenever we take a picture, we always have to do one of just him. Acting like a tiger. 

It was a delightfully wonderful weekend where memories were built and good times were had. Just what Christmas celebrations should be. 

I'm sad that Hope had to work the night of this family picture.....I might have to figure out how to crop her in! 

Snuggly little boy

As the girls get bigger and their snuggles less frequent (or non-existent from the oldest), I am forever grateful that Lincoln wants nothing more than for someone to "sit by me". Each night he snuggles into my shoulder as he gets a few minutes on his iPad. 

And I love every second of his affection. 

I also love that he willingly shares his snuggles with his favorite Godmother, who happens also to be one of my favorites too :) He doesn't shy away from her tight hugs either! 

Or another one of my favorites....some time with Hope. She helps us out with a few hours of watching him and I got this quick photo while I was at work one day :) I'm pretty sure it was another "sit with me" moment. This boy sure loves to love. 

Love you my snuggly little boy, never stop snuggling. 

A boy (and girls’) best friend

Angie and I got together and decided that Baylor was in need of another sleepover:) I kept it a secret from the whole family, only clueing Ryan in at the last minute. He wasn’t thrilled, but I knew the kiddos would be ecstatic! 

And let me just say, the look on their faces was better than Christmas morning!! 

Angie opted to quickly drop him off, so without anyone knowing, I snuck outside to get him. Sidney was the first to be greeted when we came inside and may have shrieked a little! We then found Regan who was hiding out in her room during Lincoln’s nap. She had heard something strange coming towards her room, looked up as he bolted in and she too screamed with excitement! She immediately shut her computer and hopped on the floor to play with him. My heart melted for the love these two have for him. 

Once Lincoln woke from his nap, Sidney told him to come down and a surprise was waiting for him. He was so giddy sliding down the stairs, and screamed “BAYLOR!, you didn’t tell me Baylor would be here!”  

Baylor was just as happy as the kids and begged to play fetch for what felt like hours on end. He’d stand at the door, whimper (which threw Ryan into a panic of “he’s gonna pee in the house!) and wait for the next willing person to go play with him in the frigid air. When nightfall came, we switched to ball inside which wasn’t nearly as fun. 

And as we all know, he’s a scavenger when it comes to food. He stood there with his puppy eyes, just praying ryan would feed him. Sorry buddy! 

Sadly we had to say goodbye in the morning as I brought him back to work for Angie. Let’s just say re-entry has been tough...despite being clipped to her wheelchair 2 offices down, he finds his way into my space and can often be found just like this at my feet. I’m  so happy to be his “auntie Liz”! 

Lincoln has asked no fewer than 300 times when Baylor will come back: “a different day mommy?!” Yes buddy, a different day :)