A Mother's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.
I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Our Snuggle Bug

Since you got to see lots of pictures of Addison, I thought I would share a few of our little snuggle bug. Olivia is growing like crazy and in total admiration of her big sister.





The weekend before Thanksgiving we spent in York with Tyler and Latisha and their little girls. The girls Mamo took them to the Children's Museum in York. They really enjoyedplaying store and ringing up groceries and taking my money. Olivia was checking out the blocks and train set. Londyn and Olivia really enjoyed driving the truck.




Poor Sydney had to stay home!





Addison enjoyed playing with the farm legos.




Olivia enjoys looking at the Christmas tree and playing with the Polar Express bell! It has been so much fun to watch the girls marvel in the Christmas lights and see how excited Addison is for Christmas and the anticipation of Santa!

The Many Styles of Addison

We decided this weekend, we were staying home and allowing the girls to rest and get all their germs out of their system so we were healthy for Christmas. We didn't do much. Layed around the house, played Legos, had tickle wars, took naps and Addison played dress-up with her own clothes. Addison frequently likes to play dress-up with her own clothes. I think secretly she wants to see how many outfits she put own, get dirty and leave laying on the floor for her mom to pick up and tell her to put her clothes away or in the hamper. So Sunday, I decided I wanted you all to see Addison play dress-up, so we took pictures of EVERY outfit she had on...brace yourself and then feel sorry for me, she laid on the floor pretending to help me put the clothes away.

Her 1st morning outfit (the pj's were different that night!)

Almost got away with this ALL day!

I said to smile

You have got to be kidding, it is 20 degrees outside - put something warm on.

And so she did. Slippers and all

Check out my sweats!

I got hot mom! I wanted to wear my "tappy shoes".

Please stoptaking pictures of me.

This is the last one! Notice the headband on my forehead. Sweats compelete with tap shoes.

Addison is defiently a ball of fire and always brings excitement to our "lazy" days!!

Happy Anniversary to Us

We just celebrated out 8th anniversary! It has been an amazing 8 years fo Tony and I. Our lives together have been full of so much excitement, heartache, and best of all full of love. When I look back to our wedding day, and the events leading up to it; I particularly remember our wedding ceremony rehersal. I had specifically told Tony and his friends no to be late. I was worried because the Colorado-Nebraska game was on (that was when we were a good football team); it went into overtime and my mind started thinking he would be late. Low and behold I got to the church with my mom, and Tony and ALL his groomsmen were already there, so guess who was late.

We had talked about our vows before, and I gave Tony strict instructions he was in no way allowed to cry at the wedding because then I would and my make-up would run and I would be a mess. So we got all our crying out during the rehersal...i couldn't stop crying. Tony, being the strong man he is was great!!

The day had finally come nad mom woke me up at 7am telling me she felt like an expectant mother!! I really just wanted to be sleeping, but beauty called and we had to get ready! When we arrived at the church to get dressed, mom wasn't ready and I was worried she was not going to make it back for the pictures. I don't think we had cell phones yet to call her. She mad eit and looked like a radiant mother!! I was amazed at how calm I felt and was feeling until the minute te doors opened and we were to walk down the aisle. I froze...my heart was overwhelmed and I couldn't believe all those people looking at me, there were there to witness Tony and I delcare out lives and our love to each other; secretly they just wanted to see my dress! Mom and Kevin were ready to start walking and I remember whispering to them that I needed to catch my breath before we started or I was going to lose it!! I didn't and the day was perfect!!

Thank you Tony for being my very best friend and sticking with me through the heartaches and difficult times in our lives. I could not have gotten through one single minute without you by my side. Thank you for always believing in me and allowing me to try things and then change my mind. Thank you for being by my side and honoring my deicison about my career, I know it wasn't easy for either one of us. Thank you for honoring me and loving me everyday. I love being your bestest girl and pray we have a lifetime of love and happiness ahead of us. Tony, you are an amazing father and I love watching you play with the girls and see how they love being with you. We prayed so hard to be parents and I know at times, we never thought itwould happen. Addison and Olivia have made us truly believe in miracles and that if we put our trust in God, he will fulfill our lives. My medical condition and problems have truly tested our faith, and everytime, we have dug deep and prayed and trusted in Him. I imagine our life with more little ones running around and I pray God has that same plan for our life together. I love you Tony!!!

We decided to spend our anniversay with the girls this year. No candellight dinner, no romantic movie, but laughing, singing and playing with our 2 little miracles. We even got to see Santa on our anniversary. Here is Addison sitting on Santa's lap asking him for "a train and a dolly with pigtails".

Holiday Fun...try again

I don't know why some of you are having trouble seeing our holiday fun. The link works when I click on it. It does take some time to load, but it eventually does. Try this...someone let me know if it works this time.


Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9549318278
This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

Holiday Fun

Check out our holiday fun!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9549318278

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Sometimes we just run out of time to put our pictures onto a CD and then load them onto the blog. Today is definatly one of those days. But i thought I would just share in words what has been going on around the Chapman house these days.

Life is crazy, life is hectic, life is busy, but we are loving life and living it to the fullest. Over the weekend we decided that it was so nice outside, we just could not not put up the Christmas lights. So Tony got out the ladder, untangled the lights and up they went. Then things started to get a little out of hand...the boxes of Christmas stuff were out, and could not just sit there for a few weeks, so we put up the tree, put on the lights, put up the inside decorations, put up the outside decorations. Put away the trkeys, the pumpkins. One would think we are boycotting Thanksgiving this year. Trust us, we are not...life is just busy and we have no free weekends until the middle of December. Addison is marveling in the decorations and can not get enough of the singing snowmen. She takes them with her everywhere, and even into the bathroom with her. She has standing snowman in her room that she insists on using as a night light - it makes the sun look dark. I have no idea how she is sleeping in there, it is so bright!!

We are starting some new Christmas traditions this year and will start on Decmeber 1st, so I am anxious to see how Addison enjoys this. She can not understand that Christmas is still 40 days away, so tomorrow, we will be making a countdown wreath. You know the ones we made when we were little, it was construction paper garland. We are making one of those!

Addison is busy making her Thanksgiving Prayer Book full of things she is thankful for this year. You will be happy to know it includes her fmaily, her grandparents, her cousins, her very best friend Keyara and of course, Shrek. Yes, I am a little embarassed to send the picture of Shrek to school; knowing that it is probably not the most approriate thing for her to be thankful for. But this is her project and so we will let her take it!! Hiding and cringing the whole time!

Olivia is in full walking mode. She looks like an abused child to prove her walking skills. She has a bump on her head, a bruise on her forehed, a bruise on her cheek, and this moning, she managed to get herself a fat lip. Not just a small fat lip, but a huge one. I actually was a little worried she might need stitches, but after the blood was washed away, and the tears stopped, we decided no stitches.

We head to York this weekend to finally meet Sydney. Tyler and Latisha had a little girl in October, and we are finally going to meet her this weekend. We have given Addison all the lectures about how to touch her softly, and to only touch her toes and hands. We should be giving the lecture to Olivia.

Pictures will follow soon, in the next couple of days...i promise!!

Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car Pictures

***Please note - I am having trouble getting the video to work. Not sure what to do. Hopefully it will work soon.
***Don't forget to read the post right before this one!

Addison was VERY excited when she found out who the "special friends" were going to be. This is Tony showing her inside the auditorium what we were doing and her reaction! We loved seeing how excited she was to be seeing The Wiggles. The Wiggles house was all Addison saw when she entered the auditorium, and knew immediatly what she was going to get to see! She just could not believe that she was going to see a "Wiggley Concert". We of course had to get in line with all the other parents to see how much we could spend on souviners. We opted for a cup with the Wiggles on it, as it seemed the most practical. While waiting for the concert to start, daddy taught Addison how to blow through the straw to make it sound like a whistle, a very loud ear-piercing whistle! Mommy was not real happy!!

Addison wanted to know if she was going to be able to see her boyfriend, Jeff. She loves the purple wiggle, Jeff the best. She has a little boy in her class named Jackson; who she told us was her boyfriend the 1st few days of schools. About a month after school hd started, we ran into Jackson and his mom in Walmart. I asked Addison after we left if that was Jackson her boyfriend, she politely reminded me that only Jeff was her boyfriend and she could only have 1 boyfriend. How silly of me to forget!

Our seats were good, not too far away that Addison could not see, but far enough away that some of our pictures were not real good. Here are some pictures of Addison, our dancing Diva.

The diva dancer in action:

Bye Wiggles! Hope you had fun Addison. Mommy and daddy REALLY, REALLY had a fun time with you and you were so good on our trip!

Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car

Yep, that's right...Tony, Addison and I went to the Wiggles Concert on Friday night! Addison was so excited and could hardly believe that she was going to get to see your boyfriend, Jeff. We did not tell her where we were; we dropped Olivia off at Bubba's house and headed back out on the road to Ames, Iowa. All Addison knew was that she was going on a date with daddy and mommy and was going to be able to stay in a hotel and also go swimming. Early Friday morning when we were getting ready to leave, Addison was kinda whinning that she wanted a friend to go with her to the hotel. I tried to tell her that we were going to see some special friends while we were there. She pushed the issue all day long!!

When we arrived at our hotel, Tony went and checked in and the manager asked what we were doing in town. Tony told him and he said he was noticing a trend with the clientele coming into the hotel. We were worried that our nosy little peanut might here someone talking about it, so we tried to shield her from everyone. I am sure we looked a little silly. Anyway, we went to dinner at the Pizza Ranch, and she was still talking about seeing her friends - still no idea who it was going to be!

We arrived at the Hilton Coliseum at 5:50 pm for the 6:30pm show...the man who took our tickets asked Addison if she was excited, I told him she had no idea yet what she was doing that it was a surprise, he said, "oh she'll have tons of fun then"!! We walked right into the coliseum so that she could see what we were doing. I think she was in shock as she realized what we were doing...

"The Wiggles mom, are we seeing a Wiggles concert"?

"Addison, your friends are the Wiggles; mommy and daddy wanted to surprise you because we love you so much and you are such a big helper".

"Do I really get to see my boyfriend Jeff"?

She was beyond excited. I will load the pictures tomorrow.

Happy Halloween Raggedy Ann's

Let me preface this with this comment: if any of you out there that read this have more than 1 child you will know what I am talkig about - it is absolutly IMPOSSIBLE to get a GREAT picture of both your kids smiling and looking at the camera at the same time! So with that said, enjoy our halloween pictures of the tops of heads, closed eyes, stuffing our faces with candy and minimal smiling!

Both the girls dressed up as Raggedy Ann for Halloween this year. We were able to get som clothes from Mamo (Tony's mom) to wear. She collects and makes Raggedy Dolls and even makes some life size dolls, so she already had the outfits. Addison enjoyed trick-or-treating this year, with minimal fright. She tried VERY hard to talk herself out of ever scary costume we walked by. I had to remind her numerous times that under the mask and make-up, that little boy of little girl was just the same as her. She would look at me and relpy, "I know mom, they are silly. I am just laughing". All the while standing behind my leg so as not to see them. Olivia is getting a cold, so she got to put her costume on and then had to head to bed shortly after. She needs her sleep right now since I can't buy any cold medicine for her (apparently, the FDA thinks it does not work...Tony and I disagree).

Enjoy our febble attempts at catching the Raggedy's together:

After dinner Kristin, Brian and Keyara came over and trick-or-treated with us for a little while. Addison and Keyara were about as cooperative as Addison and Olivia were earlier in the evening. Kristin even said she didn't pull out the camera because it just wasn't worth it...true!!!

We did have a memorable Halloween and even found a few new traditions that we want to start!

Super Parents

We tried to have a fun family night last night. Fun was had by all, except Olivia. Addison had told us earlier in the week that she wanted to cut a face into the pumpkins and also wanted to paint them. What a great idea, lets do that. So we ordered pizza, moved the table and chairs and spread an old sheet on the floor. Got the pumpkins cleaned off, plates to pour the paint onto, and paint clothes on the girls. We were ready for this fun evening. Addison was the 1st to dive into the paint, and she thought it would also be fun to paint her legs black. Olivia was next, we tried VERY hard to show her that the paint went on the pumpkin, NOT in her mouth. She was not a good listener. Even Addison tried to help her with painting the pumpkin. Olivia was not hvaing any of the pumpkin, only paint in the mouth. It became apparently obvious to me that this was NOT going to be enjoyable if I had to continue fighting her off and holding her hands out of her mouth. I had visions of how this night was going to go, and that fiasco was not in my vision. (Reminded me of Addison's 1st birthday party) So, unfortunatly Olivia was not allowed to participate in the fun anymore. She went right to the bath and then to bed.

Once Olivia was in bed, we got right into getting the "guts" of the pumpkin out and continuing to paint the pumpkins. Addison even asked if she could put more paint on Olivia's for her! Addison loves her sister sooooooooooooooooooooo much, it melts my heart!!

This little video sums up the evening well. We really did have a fun time, and Addison enjoyed it so much. I think we will make this a yearly tradition! I did find out something I had not know about Tony, he has NEVER carved a pumpkin. He tried to get the "guts" out of the pumpkin, but there were still seeds and strings hanging...I took over and scooped it out!

Happy Fall Ya'LL

The girls have been enjoying trips to the Pumpkin Patch! Addison has been less than cooperative with picture taking, and Olivia just smiles everytime we say "cheese"! Last weekend, we had "grandparents weekend" at our house. Addison got to take her grandparents to preschool with her and then we all headed out to The Scarecrow Patch. We thought we would only be there an hour or so, it was after lunch and we figured the girls would get tired and need a nap. Well after 3 1/2 hours, we finally left, hoping they would fall asleep on the 20 minute drive home! Nope, both wide awake and singing in the car! Needless to say, it was dinner early, baths early and off to bed early!

While at the pumpkin patch, Addison got to ride a slide (a million times), ride the zip line, ride a pony and pick out a pumpkin. Oh, and she has a tendency to not watch where she is walking or running, and ran smack into the corner of a truck flatbed. We got some ice on the boo-boo and cleaned it up. She was good as new, and ready for more playing. Olivia enjoyed playing in the corn and watching Addison run around! We tried VERY hard to get some good pictures of the girls together in the pumpkin displays, but when one was looking or smiling, the other was not. So, not too many good pictures! A lot of pictures though.

We are anxious for Halloween to dress the girls up and go trick-or-treating! Addison likes to try on her costume EVERYDAY! Matter of fact, she enjoys trying on ALL her clothes everyday. She has made it her personal goal to see how many outfits she can wear in a single day. Sometimes, it can be as many as 10! Last night Tony and I went to parent-teacher conferences for Addison! She is doing great and her teacher thinks she is fitting into their program very well! We are so proud of her! We love you so much peanut!!!

Enjoy some pictures from the pumpkin patch!

And some more!

A Trek to Idaho

Happy 1st Birthday Leo! Mommy, daddy, grammy, Addison, and Olivia made the 15 hour trek to Pocatello Idaho to see Leo for his 1st birthday. Addison was a complete angel in the car. I could not have asked her to be any more well behaved...now she did have a constant companion to entertain her, thank you mom! Olivia, well she thought it might be fun to see exactly how many times she could poop in a day. It turned out to be 5 times just druing the car ride! I am sure that slowed us down a bit. We were up and ready to leave at 4am from Grand Island and pulled into Pocatello at 6pm - it was 70 degrees when we left and 38 when we arrived at Kevin and Jenny's house. We were able to let the girls play for a little while before starting thier baths and getting them to bed. Neither one slept much in the car on the way there, so we figured thay had to be exhausted. Addison and grammy were sharing a bed, and Addison would not go to bed without grammy, so off to bed grammy went at 9pm; good think, cuz Addison was up and ready to go at 5:30am the next morning. Tony and I learned that Olivia talks in her sleep and was rather loud, disrupting our sleep. But she slept great! Saturday, we woke up to about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it conitnued to snow all day. Jenny says 6 inches, Kevin says 3 inches! So not really sure how much snow there was. Addison, daddy, grammy, Kevin and Leo all went to the Idaho State University Homecoming parade...yes, in the snow! I think Addison had fun, she brought home a "true Idaho potatoe"! Jenny and I stayed home and got ready for Leo's birthday party! Hard to believe it has already been a year. I remember getting a call from Kevin on the evening of October 11th saying "Ker, we might have a baby...I just had to tell someone". I think cried tears of joy for them for quite sometime. I waited nervously the next day for Kevin to call me and say he was theirs. I was still home on maternity leave with Olivia. This was the 1st day I had taken Olivia to the babysitter because I had to run into work for a few hours. Well, on my way to work, I realized, I had the wrong day. So, I turned around and was just going to go home and sleep for a little while. I got the call, "his name is Micheal Leo and he is all ours! We are on our way out the door right now to go get him. What do you think we should take for him". It was so awesome to hear the excitment in their voices, a true miracle and the working of God. God has truly blessed not only Kevin and Jenny, but Leo with parents who love him uncondtionally and with so much love! I decided to head to Walmart and buy a "few" things for them. A few things turned into much more, and I filled a diaper box full of "stuff" for them!! I couldn't wait to tell Addison about her new cousin! We finally got to see them in February, when they flew into Omaha for baptism for Olivia and Leo! Leo was an answer to prayers for Kevin and Jenny, and was also a great addition to their family awhile they wait for the call from China to go get their daughter to make thier family complete!

The rest of our trip in Idaho was spent just having fun and watching grammy run around with all her grandkids!! It was so fun to watch her with them all, and truly enjoy EVERY single minute, every single cry and every single whinning moment she had with them. Addison and grammy played puppets, grammy read books to the kids, got up at 5am with Addison, grammy gave baths, put all the kids to bed, feed the kids, took them for walks, carried them and entertained them in the car! They all veyed for her attention. I wonder what she will do when they all are as opinated as Addison and want grammy with them ever second of every day! Better get your running shoes on mom!!

We spent some time at a beautiful park and tried to get some fun outdoor pictures of the girls and our family.

Enjoy the rest of the random pictures from Idaho! We sure had a great time and can't wait to get together again!

The trip home seemed to go much faster; we got home in 14 hours, but still a LONG trip, and again the girls did perfect. Olivia did not try to break her poop record, but did decide once mom was driving that it was time to poop a few times. We really enjoyed our trip and hope we can get to see Leo again real soon. Prefably before Cassie and Lou's wedding in April.

Next, we have to find a weekend to head to Wichita to see Addison and Olivia's newest cousin, Sydney. Tyler and Latisha had a baby girl this morning! Londyn is being a great big sister, although really wants mommy to hold her!

Thanks for coming by! Don't forget to check out the post before this with additional pictures!!