It's beginning to look a lot like Chistmas!

We've had a very, very busy winter so far. By far, my favorite time of year, Christmas time! I love the way my house looks all decorated and all the festivities! So I'll cut to the chase and show all the great pictures of what we have been doing. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did too!

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First stop: Mason's school Christmas party.

Audrey as Rudolph:

Mason as Rudolph:

Mason and his friends singing Christmas songs:

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All Aboard! The Polar Express!

We boarded the Polar Express train in Connersville and headed to the North Pole. Along the way we:

Hung out with friends and family:

Got our tickets punched,

just like the movie:

Had "Hot, Hot, Hot . . .Hot chocolate!"

And told Santa what we wanted for Christmas. Then he gave us the first gift of Christmas: a silver bell from Santa's sleigh!

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We wrote letters to Santa, covered them in stickers, and put them in his mailbox at the mall!

This year, Mason wanted to write the whole letter himself! I'll translate:

Front:

Santa, I want a Hula Hoop,

Back:

sword

bow arrow

Mason Lang

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We also successfully potty trained Audrey! Pull-ups for nap time and bedtime, but big girl panties the rest of the time. She put up a fight at first, but soon got the hang of it. She was definitely harder than Mason! This girl just didn't care if she was wet or not!!!

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SNOW!!!!!

We didn't waste anytime when it snowed! Bundle up like the kid from the Christmas Story and off we went. Audrey LOVED just eating the snow. Mason caught on to the wonderful art of SNOWBALLS!!!

Not to shabby for the first snowman of the season! Minus eyes and mouth!

Proof: Making a snowball to throw at mommy!

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Christmas cookies!!!!! Need I say more!

Audrey, modeling the assortment of cookie cutters:

Mason loves working the mixer:

The best part: icing and sprinkles:

TA DA!!!!!!!! Heavenly goodness:

And since daddy was working on Christmas Eve, we took him and the other firefighters at Station 3 a little Christmas joy!:

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Also on Christmas Eve:

Papaw came over to help us sprinkle Reindeer food on our roof!! Thanks Papaw!

And sometime after the kids were nestled snug in their beds. . .

SANTA arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Christmas morning:

The guys at the fire station let daddy go home early!!!!! so he could be there when the kids got up! They got up around 7:30, and started in on the presents. Mason soon understood how fun it was to shred through all the presents in his pile and reap the benefits after everything was opened. Audrey, however, opened a book, looked through all the pages, then moved on to her next gift. Too cute!!!

Everyone together," you'll shoot your eye out!"

*disclaimer-gun pictured is not in any way a BB gun or any gun that fires anything. Just a toy with noises* :)

Santa came through! the BOW AND ARROW!!!!

Audrey, admiring each gift:

Her favorite gift from Santa: A VANITY. . . she sat there forever, when I tried to give her another present she said," just a minute mommy, almost finished!" Good grief. what did we get ourselves into!

Mason's second request: a hula hoop. . . check. and not pictured: a sword. Mason must have been REALLY good this year! ;)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

Trick or Treat - - & - - Audrey is 2 !!!!

I have to start off by saying, I have the cutest lady bug and firefighter (s) ever!!!! Audrey would only sit still while I put on her face make-up if she got to hold the make-up brush. . . We're in trouble. This year, I attempted to put "soot" on Mason's face. I didn't think it turned out too bad. Daddy was working this year for Halloween, coincidentally at the station on Central State's property (abandoned insane asylum in a not-so-nice area of town! go figure!) But I had to show off the kids in their costumes and they always LOVE visiting their daddy! We then headed to Grant and Jessica's house for some trick or treating. It was chilly but the kids loved it! Mason was totally into it this year. We were slowing him down. Audrey was saying "trick or treat" half way up the drive way!

I swear that's an orb instead of a reflection. Like I said, old Central State property, Halloween night!!!!


Showing off her ladybug wings! So stinkin cute!!!

Aunt Jessica, Audrey, Uncle Grant, Mason (thanks for letting us trick or treat!!!!!)

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Audrey turns 2!!

The day after Halloween, we had Audrey's 2nd Birthday party. It turned out great. The cake was from Paige at Sweet Seductions (http://www.sweetseductions.biz). Beautiful, as always. Paige's cakes are always unbelievable, looks and taste!!!! She got lots of great things for her birthday, one of the favorites, was her very first Vera Bradley!!!! Given by my friend Stacie (mom to 2 boys, need I say more!) I thought I loved it more than Audrey, until, she HAD to take it to her Dr appt the next day. Girl after my own heart! After presents and cake, she had to change into her "party attire" Given by my friend Erin (also a mom of 2 boys, do you see a trend?) Girls, Audrey needs a girlfriend, hint hint!!!

The Dora Backpack, she wouldn't put this down for days!!!!!

Mommy is way too excited!! I can read Kenny's mind "Holy s***, we're started this habit early!"

Loving her new "big girl bike"

Blowing out her candles. The "guys" (Mason, Cam, Joey) waiting patiently

Her party dress! and of course, we had to wear this the next day as well!

Audrey and Erin

Party time!

Just to save confusion in years to come, just mark your calendars for the entire month of October to be at our house for a party! First we start off with Mason's 4th birthday party. One of Mason's favorite things: BOBCATS so it was only fitting to have a "Bobcat" party. Paige, from Sweet Seductions" once again didn't let us down in the cake category! We had a great party, one sick child, Mason's first pinata, and lots of friends and family! All in all, another successful party!

"Digging" in his cake. Cause that's what diggers do, of course!

Audrey taking a swing

Mason, doing what he does best . . . DESTRUCTION!!!!

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A week after Mason's party, we said bye to daddy as he drove 24 hrs straight (with 4 other guys) out to Colorado. . . to "provide for the family!" He went mule deer hunting 2 hrs up some mountain in Colorado. 9 days + no showers + 4 wheelers + guns = male bonding time. The kids did great, although a couple days into the trip, getting Audrey up from nap time and picking up Mason from school brought this question: "Is daddy home yet?" And for all of you wondering is he "provided for the family," not this year, but we'll see, maybe next year!

Randy, Randy's son, Matt, David, and Kenny

Elk crossing the street, Get the guns boys!!!

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Party #2! Kenny turned the big 3-0 this year! The "partier" himself wanted to keep it somewhat small. My guess is less people = less old man jokes! We had good food, good cake, and good drinks. The kids had a good time together. It's crazy to think just a few years ago, we had no kids, now, there were 7 between our friends who where there! Happy Birthday Kenny!

Really 30 candles!

The old man needed a little help from Mason and Cam!

All 7 kids played so well together. Even all staying together for about an hour, playing together!

We'll keep this picture back for their senior year books! Ha!

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Random Picture:

Mason got a sleeping bag from Grandma and Grandpa Sego for his birthday. Since then, every night that he doesn't have school the next day, he wants to sleep in his sleeping bag! He loves it!

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VCUG

Audrey had her VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram) today. If you don't remember, last year, Audrey had a urinary tract infection, which led to some testing, which then led to the diagnosis of Urinary Reflux (urine backs up from bladder into the kidney). She had been on an antibiotic daily since then to prevent any infections. Fortunately, she has not had any infections since then.!!! Today's repeat test showed she still had the lowest grade of reflux on the left kidney side, but no more on the right side! Good news! We meet with the urologist next week to see what the next step is!

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PUMPKIN TIME

We carved pumpkins tonight! The kids were really into helping. Mason did carve some of his pumpkin. Audrey had more fun drawing on hers with markers. We ended the night with popcorn (the kids ate 3 bowls each!) and watching "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"!!!!

This was their "silly faces"

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Stay tuned: the third party of the month:

Audrey turns 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!