Disney On Ice - Toy Story 3

Last Sunday, we went to Disney on Ice-Toy Story 3. Our little man had such a good time. He knew all of the characters and would shout out in excitement as each one skated out onto the ice. And then, after a while, if he didn't see Bullseye or Buzz he would say, "Dad, where is Buzz?" "Dad, where is Bullseye?" And when Buzz or Bullseye or any character for that matter would return to the ice the shouts of excitement would come back. He did this throughout the whole show. I think I can speak for all of us when I say this event was extra special because it was the first ICE show for all of us!

Here are some pictures of our day:

Happy New Year

THE NOON YEARS EVE BALL p.s. It was like being at Time Square!

We kind of cheated on celebrating New Years Eve this year. We (Eddie, hubby, Cassidy, and I) went to our local zoo for their NOON YEARS EVE event. The event is all about kids and gives them a chance to celebrate New Years Eve kiddie style. Each kid was given a green Noon Years Eve cup, complimentary juice (to cheers with of course) and chips, and were also given the option to make a maraca out of an empty pop bottle and some bird seed if they wanted to. We made a maraca. And yes we made noise with it!

Eddie and Cassidy:

Eddie, Hubby, and Cassidy petting a chinchilla:

The weather was absolutely beautiful. I believe it was 60 degrees, which is like unheard of around here on December 31st, and sunny. Halfway through our walk around the zoo, we all took our coats off. It was so nice to let the kids run after being coped up in the house because of cold weather. Anyway, we saw lots and lots of animals and then we went to watch the ball drop. Eddie was so cute. When everyone counted down and the ball dropped he cheersed us all and said, "Happy New Year!" And then he wanted to keep cheersing. We had a great time. Noon Years Eve at the zoo was a great event and we will definitely be going back next year.

On New Year's Day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Mueller's house to bring in the new year. The kids played, the adults talked and visited, we all ate great food (the sweat sauerkraut was the best), and then a few of us danced to the new dance central game on the xbox 360 connect! We all have a great time.

Here I am with my two men on New Year's Day!

Me and my little man:
Grandma Mueller, Eddie, Bella, and Ariana:

Christmas 2010

Christmas break flew by this year. I swear the time off keeps getting shorter and shorter each year but then again I guess any time at all off with my family is a blessing. As you may have read we were really busy up to Christmas doing Christmasy things. And as you can imagine the business didn't stop there. On Christmas Eve Nana Dresp and Uncle Bob came over to our house to celebrate, have dinner, and of course to spoil Eddie.

Here are a few pictures:

And then after the party broke up we had to leave milk and cookies for Santa!Christmas morning was absolutely magical. Eddie woke up not even really thinking about Christmas and Santa. He woke up asking for his computer (Mobigo) that he got on Christmas Eve from nana. I gave him his computer and then went downstairs to get my coffee. When I returned to the room he was sitting there on my bed looking so cute in his Christmas jammies playing his computer when I asked him, "Who do you think came last night?" And he said, "SAANTAA!!!!!" He immediately wanted to go downstairs to see if the milk and cookies were gone and to see if Santa left him any presents. When he finally saw what awaited him he said, "Mom! oh boy! oh my gosh! look mom, look dad!" and then he started opening his presents. With each present we got an oh my gosh, oh boy, oh mom, oh dad.... it was so stinking cute! He was so excited and so exhausted from the excitement that half way through his presents he said, "okay. I all done now. I save the rest for later." So, he took a break and came back to finish opening his presents a half hour or so later (note to self: do not let Santa bring as much next year!).

Here are a few pictures of Christmas morning:

After opening presents all morning we went to Aunt Janeen's for Christmas dinner. Eddie had a blast playing with his cousins and getting to spend the afternoon with family. We all had great company, great food, and an overall great day together.

Here are a few pictures from our afternoon:

Uncle Ed and his oldest nephew jamming in the basement:

Eddie opening his big wheel:The day after Christmas Grandma and Peepaw Mueller came over to celebrate the Christmas holiday with us. And again our spaghetti man was spoiled. We enjoyed each others company and had a great dinner. The hubby and I were spoiled too by all grandmas and grandpas. Thank you all for making our holiday so special. We love you.
Here are a few pictures of Christmas, that day after:

Christmas Lights

Last Thursday the hubby and I took Eddie to see Christmas Lights at a farm near our home with some of our neighbor friends. The minute we drove into the farm Eddie was hooked by all of the beautiful lights. Little did he, or we for that matter, know that the best part of the night would be making a toy in Santa's workshop with elves that like to dance and sing. Eddie was extremely attentive and focused on making his toy with the elf. He listen to every direction and even handed the right tools to the elf when she asked for them. After he was done making his toy with daddy, I was in charge of helping him paint his toy. And let me just tell you, the toy is still tightly wrapped and in the back of my car. We put some much paint and glitter on that toy it was ridiculous and I just know that I would be finding paint years later if I brought it into the house. Anyway, we all thoroughly enjoy making his tractor. After the making and painting of the tractor, we took a tractor ride through the farm to see all of the Christmas lights and then stopped at the horse stable to watch a horse show. Pony rides were offered at the horse stable as well. Much to my surprise after a few minutes of watching the big horses gallop and jump, Eddie want to ride a horse. So, a pony ride it was. He was so happy sitting on top of that pony. And we were so happy because he was so happy! We ended the night eating a hot dog and a bag of chips at the snack shop while getting to watch model trains chug along their tracks. Going to the farm to see the lights was a great night!

The toy making and painting:

The pony ride:

Holiday Festivities

The month of December has been filled with Holiday Festivities. Eddie has truly been Santa'd to death this year and has had many opportunities to celebrate the Christmas Holiday. We participated in my schools breakfast with Santa and dinner with Santa. We went to Mr. Kringle's Inventionasium where we made a puppet, snow, toys, and built blocks with Santa's elves. We rode Christmas trains, built ginger bread houses, and even helped mommy decorate the Christmas tree. Eddie understands, at the age of 2 and 1/2, who Santa is and what Santa brings on Christmas day. He understands that many people in the world put up Christmas decorations inside their homes and out and he understands that people say, "Merry Christmas" in passing during this time of the year and he too has told many people, "Merry Christmas." We are very thankful to have been able to participate in so many wonderful holiday festivities together.

Here are some pictures of all that fun we have been having!!!

And stay tuned for more because the holiday festivities are to be continued with pictures of Country Lights, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day!!!

Lil Kickers

Last Saturday we took Eddie (aka: our little guy) to his first Lil Kickers class. The class works on listening skills, being able to follow directions, agility, hand eye coordination, and speed. And did I mention the kids even get to kick around a soccer ball? AND they got to be spun around on the giant parachute by their parents. Needless to say, Eddie had a blast!!! And so did mommy and daddy. Eddie has got plenty of speed and agility and energy. The other skills are there and we see them from time to time but they need a little work! Hopefully, by the end of the class Eddie will be a Lil Kickers all-star!

Here is Eddie in action:

Santa 2010

On Wednesday November 24th, Mema and Papa Alberts and I took the little man to see Santa. He did so well this year and even waited in line as patiently as he could. He sat on Santa's lap cheesing for his pictures and then told Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He is getting way to big way to fast (and I know that I've said that a thousand times but I can't help it.... the time is going by way to fast).

We arrived to the mall a little early so I decided it would be a good idea for my little man to build his first bear! He made a bee line to, yep, the brightest blue bear (THE PEACE BEAR). He was a little unsure about making the bear, especially when it was time to stuff the bear. The noise from the stuffing machine scared him a bit, but he quickly got over the scared and went back to making his bear. He even gave his bear a bath. And then after bath we made his bear a birth certificate and named his bear BLUE!

Here they are together with Santa:
Here is our little man making his bear:

The Very Sad of Fall 2010

On October 30, 2010, My aunt Denise Marie Afanador die at the age of 52. Loving wife to my Uncle Louie, mother to my cousins Greg and Steven, grandmother to Izabella and Alejandro, and sister to (my mom) Renee Schilling Mueller and Dave Schilling. It is so hard to believe that almost a month has past by without her here. I'm sitting here looking forward to a Thanksgiving Feast with my family but yet am not feeling as happy as I should. And it's because my Aunt Denise will not be there with us tomorrow enjoying her husband, children, grandchildren, sister and brother, niece and nephew. And enjoying the great food and drinks that we always have. Her presence will be missed greatly and so will her sense of humor and her love. We will all be thinking of you tomorrow Aunt Denise, we love you.

Our family has gone through so much in the last year and a half. My grandfather past in August of 09, my grandmother in December of 09, and now my aunt. Hopefully, 2011 will bring more joy to our family than sadness.

On another sad note, but not nearly as sad as losing family. I made the decision to put down my dog of ten years. Her name was "KOA." She was loyal and protective and probably the best dog I will ever have in my entire adult life. She was one of those dogs you could just let outside with you and she wouldn't go anywhere. She was a porch dog. She was the best. I took her everywhere with me before I got married. She loved the beach. She absolutely loved swimming. And she loved to go running with me. But then when my son was born, I made some bad decisions. I separated all of our dogs from our child, which of course we all know that is exactly what your not supposed to do. I couldn't help it. At the time, we had three dogs. I was so afraid of coming home with a new born baby and three dogs running around my ankles. I kept thinking.... I'm going to fall and trip with the baby.... One of the dogs is going to bite the baby when I'm not looking.....I am going to step on one of the dogs etc.... So anyway.... turns out, out of three dogs she was the last one standing. And after a while she became lonely. And then she started limping. And then she stop going outside to the bathroom. And then I made a very tough decision. And now she is not here. And I miss her. And I think about her all the time. But I know I made the right decision. I know you are at peace and happy now KOA. I love you.

Halloween & Such 2010

Halloween was a bit of a challenge this year. Our little man would not wear a costume. He liked all three of the costumes I bought and would carry them around the house like dolls but just wouldn't wear them. I finally, after seeing his little buddy Anthony dressed up as a farmer, decided that he would be a hunter! My husband and Papa Ed both hunt so I figured since they both have all the hunting gear and our little man has seen all of it, there would be no problem. I was wrong. The first time I put the camouflage overalls on my little man he rolled on the floor screaming, "take these off of me." Eventually, with enough distractions, he got over wearing the hunting overalls and went with the flow!
A week or so prior to Halloween we painted "baby pumpkins" together, participated in the Halloween story time at the library, went to Boo at the Zoo with Nana Dresp, and did some trick or treating in the downtown area of were we live! And although wearing a costume was a bit of a challenge, Halloween turned out to be a great night. We went to Papa and Mema Alberts house for dinner and trick or treating. Our little man was pooped after 15 or so houses so daddy took him back to Papa and mema's to pass out candy to the kids! He had a blast. And we all had a blast watching him.

Fall 2010

Fall of 2010 has been filled with yet more great memories made together and with family and friends. Our little man is not so little anymore. And he is developing the best personality. He is smart, strong, kind, caring, and at times a little stinker! He is learning at a mile a minute and does not forget a thing. He is loved by many people and has had some great experiences thus far in his life. We to have had great experiences since he has come into our lives. It is hard to image life without him. We laugh, play, run, jump, climb, sing, watch movies together, and my favorite- cuddle. We go to the parks, festivals, the zoo,fairs,story time and holiday activities to make sure he is well rounded and learns about everything and anything. Fall of 2010 has been filled with fun and love.

Here is a slide show of our times together and with friends and family:

P.S. Slide show of Halloween to come!!!!