Hamilton Family Party of Four

Friday, February 12, 2010

Birthdays, Snow Days, Sick Days….

Well the full swing of winter is upon us. In the Hamilton household we know it’s winter for a few reasons…

Reason #1 BIRTHDAYS!!!! (And an Anniversary)
Sadie turned 2 on January 14th. Bryce and I made a cake for her on her actual birthday and the kids had a hay-day decorating it with all the sprinkles!

Jared and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary on January 24th (also Bryce's birthday). It's amazing to look back and see how much we have done together.

We had both the kid’s parties on the same day. Bryce was super excited as this was the first year he was able to invite friends. He had his party at Monkey Joe’s, it’s a place full of inflatable jumpers and slides (the parents are even allowed to go on them)! Bryce was super excited to share his “Incredible” themed birthday with his friends. He truly enjoys being 4!

We had Sadie’s party back at our house with all of our family. She had a Hi-5 themed birthday. Hi-5 is a kids’ show on Discovery Kids that has lots of singing, dancing and skits. Sadie is OBSESSED with it…it plays non-stop on one of our DVD players! She loves to say she is “2” and is living up to it, complete with imagination, energy and of course tantrums!

Reason #2 SNOW!!!!
Snow has been falling, falling, and falling. Bryce LOVED the snow!!!! He crawled in it and “rolled down the hill”. Jared bought a snow-blower this year and has definitely got his use out of it this season. These snow days have lead to some school delays and cancellations for preschool this week and I have enjoyed spending the extra time with my kiddos.

Reason #3 SICKNESS!!!!
Sadie was diagnosed with asthma last year and we were lucky to escape the entire summer and fall without any flare-ups or use of the nebulizer. Well, that has all changed. All the yucky germs are lurking about and caught Sadie! She had a double ear infection, sinus infection and flare-up all at once, so the nebulizer is back in full use! We also found out that Sadie’s ear tubes are no longer functional so she will have a new pair put in. With her history, her ENT feels it’s best to also remove her tonsils and adenoids at the same time. She is scheduled for surgery on February 24th. Sadie did great with her last surgery, but this one has a bit more recovery to overcome and I pray God’s blessing for a speedy recovery!

Bryce has usually been my “healthy” kids, but these yucky germs got the best of him as well. He has had an ear infection, a sinus infection, and the stomach virus…yuck!

We are on the mend to good health. I just hope Spring gets her QUICK!!!

So, that’s the update in the Hamilton household for the Winter of 2010!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Last Week to be 1 years old!!!!

It is hard to believe that my baby will be 2 years old in ONE WEEK! She has been such a fun addition to our family. This past month she is growing leeps and bounds, getting ready for her transition to be a 2 year old!

She is in a big girl bed now (a toddler bed). She does a pretty good job of staying in her bed. Things have been a little challenging, mainly at night, as she is pretty much potty trained so when she wakes up (no matter what time, 1am, 3 am, 6am) I jump out of bed to take her potty...and she goes!

I went to check on her at nap time today and found it quite comical that Sadie was wearing tap shoes, while asleep! I think she is asking to be put in dance class, which we plan to do when she turns 2!!!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

"Official" Christmas 2009

This year's Christmas celebration seemed to last the entire month of December, not that it was a bad thing at all. We should celebrate the birth of Christ of day! Bryce (and Sadie) really got into Christmas this year.

On Christmas Eve Eve (yes 2 eves), we attended a gathering at our church. It was a nice service with carols, skits and sermon. After the service we headed up to NW Indiana to celebrate Christmas Eve with Jared's family. Jared's mom and step-dad hosted Christmas at their new home in St. John. It was great to be with family and watch the kids play together and be so excited about Christmas!

We drove back home on Christmas Eve to prepare for Santa's big arrival! Sadie was very sleepy when we got home, so she went right to bed. Bryce made sure to leave cookie and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. He was so surprised the next morning to see that Santa had brought him his Spider Man fishing poll he had asked for! Sadie got a Hi-5 video and princess ball from Santa.

We had my Aunt Gayle, Uncle Larry, cousin Christopher (and his girlfriend) over for Christmas Dinner.

We truly enjoyed this years Christmas and excited to see out kids learning the true meaning of Christmas!

Monday, December 21, 2009

The Christmas Celebrations Continue

Upon returning home from Wisconsin we have been in full swing with Christmas Celebrations. It began with a Christmas Party at our neighbor’s house, complete with a visit from Santa. This Santa was GREAT. He read a story, even rapped a song, and asked each child (nearly 25) what they wanted for Christmas. The kids could hardly wait their turn to sit on Santa’s lap. Santa even had a present for each child in his bag. We had a great time.

From Christmas Celebrations 2009

The preschool’s annual Walk to Bethlehem was held last week. The preschool director “walks” each class through props (made by the classes) that help tell the story of Jesus. Each year they build on the story. Being that this was Bryce’s 3rd year, the story was quite detailed and all the kids enjoyed hearing the magical story of Jesus’ birth. Sadie’s class was a bit more to the point. They sang “Happy Birthday to Jesus” and each gave Jesus a hug.

From Christmas Celebrations 2009

Both Jared and I have had work Christmas Parties. I have also been baking away making my famous tea-rings (a recipe that has been passed on from my grandmother to my mother and to me). Christmas is not the same to me without making these tea-rings).

Jared read in the paper this past weekend about some of the best light displays around the area. The 1st and 2nd Place decorated houses were in Carmel, so we strolled by them one evening. We have NEVER seen anything like this before. You pulled up and they told you to tune in your radio to a certain station as the light display was synched to music. It was unbelievable! We know the kids enjoyed it as well as we did not hear a peep from them in the backseat looking at the lights. This will be a new tradition for us from now on!

There have been numerous Christmas specials on TV and we have enjoyed sharing these with the kids. This Christmas season truly has been magical with the kids. We have heard Bryce on numerous occasions singing Christmas carols by himself…too cute! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Reynolds Family Christmas

Our annual Reynolds Family Christmas was held in Wisconsin this year, December 5-11. With my brother, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Ashley, taking jobs in Wisconsin we decided to venture up to their area. We got a timeshare condo in Wisconsin Dells. My brother, Eric, flew in from California and my parents and our family caravanned up to the Dells.

The kids did great on the drive. It probably helped they were in different cars and had all the attention of two adults just on them!

We spent one day skiing at Cascade Mountain. We got up on skis last year for the first time in over 10 years, up at Lake Tahoe. This ski resort was much more in our comfort of skiing. We are enjoying this new adventure and hope to make it a yearly event. While we skied, my parents took the kids on a Santa Train ride and then brought them over to watch us ski. Bryce even asked, “When I’m 4, can I go skiing?”

Another Day was spent at an Indoor Theme Park at the Kalahari Resort. There were go-karts, carousels, ferris wheel, high ropes course, mini-golf, laser tag, arcades and so much more! We all had a great time.

Being the Waterpark Capitol of the world we of course enjoyed the indoor waterpark at Kalahari. This place was great. They are very catered to kids. There were so many things for the kids to do. Bryce did some waterslides on his own, but preferred to do the ones with us in tubes/rafts. Sadie was so content in the kiddie area. My mom was so entertained by Sadie’s excitement!

We visited the Tommy Bartlett Exploratorium and it was so neat. There are hands on activities galore that focus on making things go and how things work. Eric and I remember going to this museum when we were kids.

There was so much laughter, game playing and reminiscing during the week. We had Christmas Dinner one night and even had a surprise visit from Santa! We even got 14-16 inches of snow making it feel just like Christmas!

The kids, as well as Jared and I enjoyed ourselves so much that we would LOVE to make this a yearly trip.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

So Much To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving of 2009 made us feel very blessed. The Lord has given us so much to be thankful for. We have a home, food, beautiful and healthy children and great families.

We ventured up to Northwest Indiana on Tuesday night, which was a great travel day. On Wednesday we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop where they have a Winter Wonderland and even get to meet Santa and take a picture FOR FREE! The kids had a blast, we even went back later in the evening. Bryce could hardly wait his turn to meet Santa and Sadie followed right in tow. Bryce asked Santa for a Spiderman Fishing Pole!

We spent Thanksgiving Day at the Reynolds’ household where my brother, Aaron, and Ashley (his girlfriend came down from Appleton Wisconsin. We also had Ashley’s family join us. A great time was had! The kids enjoyed being at Nana and Papa’s with all their toys…lots of them where mine and my brothers when we were little!

Jared and I decided to participate in Black Friday this year. I will state that was our FIRST and LAST time going! I love a good bargain, but those people are nuts! It truly was a spectacle worth seeing.

We then went over to the Wagner/Bognar household. Bryce and Sadie LOVED being with Evan and Norah! It is so neat to watch the kids grow up together. Evan and Bryce are 5 months apart and Sadie and Norah are 4 months apart.

We hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving with your families!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Halloween 2009

I know Halloween has passed some time ago, but I thought I better get this blogged before we get to Thanksgiving (yikes, next week) and all the activities we have for December.

The month of October was CRAZY!!! Jared was on an 8 week traveling spree and I was working quite a bit between the office and hospital. I am soooo happy to report that Jared will be home for quite some time and I won't have to play the "single-mom" role for quite awhile, yippy!

The week of Halloween was very busy for the kids. Sadie had her Halloween party that the parents were invited to come to. The next day we attended "Trunk or Treat: at Bryce's preschool, which is also my aunt's church. We didn't want to get the kid's real costumes dirty, so Bryce wore his pirate costume from last Halloween and Sadie was a princess.

Bryce had a Halloween parade at school with a class party. He had a blast!

Halloween night was quite cold. The kids made it around the cul-de-sac then had to come inside to warm up. Bryce enjoyed handing out the candy to all the kids. We warmed up and met up with all our neighborhood friends for some more trick-or-treating fun.

We decided to pass on carving pumpkins this year, but the plus is we have been able to enjoy them longer as fall decorations on our porch.

I am now caught up and hope to not delay posting Thanksgiving and Holiday blogs!