All dressed up

The Christams festivities started on Christmas Eve. We all got dressed up and attended the Christmas Eve service at church.

COOKIES!

For the past 3 years or so, my friend Bree and I have gotten together before Christmas to decorate cookies. We like to do it without the kids around so it usually ends up getting done in the middle of the night. Well, last night was our night! We put the kids bed and then I headed over to Bree's at about 8:30 and stayed there until the job was done at about 1am! We had a lot of fun and did a lot of catching up. If I was up until 1:00 in the morning at home by myself doing that, I probably would've been pretty grumpy by the time I reached the last cookie. The Christmas season is so much more fun when you have friends to help you get through it!

old school....

A couple of days ago Iain was asking if he could play Sean's old video games. Nintendo to be exact. So Sean hooked it up and Iain played until it was time for bed. Mario Brothers is his favorite!

The Polar Express

Grandma and Grandpa Campbell treated us to a ride on the Polar Express on Saturday (who knew it was right in Utica?!) We got the kids dressed up in their PJ's for the trip (cause that's how they dressed in the movie). They had a great time riding on the train. Iain was so excited to see Santa....this is the first year he wasn't scared of him. Ella on the hand, was interested in looking at him, but didn't want to have anything to do with sitting on his lap! So we saw the north pole through the window of the train and then Santa got on and visited with each child. Over all we had a nice time, although the ride back seemed a lot longer than the ride there!

DECORATING!!

I love decorating for Christmas! Lately, it is the only time of year that I change my decorations. This year we have 2 Christmas trees. One that has my good breakable ornaments on it and one with non-breakable ornaments that the kids can play with. The latter is a small tabletop tree that was kindly donated by Oma and Opa (Great Grandma and Grandpa O'Neil). Iain was so excited to put it up and decorate it! Now, almost everyday, he pulls a chair over to the little tree and plays with the ornaments and put his toys in the tree. So thank you Oma and Opa! I am so glad he is not doing that in MY tree!

The first Thanksgiving

That is, our first Thanksgiving of 3 from this year. We spent Thanksgiving day at my sister and brother-in-law's house. The kids had a blast running around in circles, screaming all day. We stayed overnight there on Wednesday so we could have the most amount of time possible for the kids to be running around screaming together! At one point my sister and I realized that the children were being very quite....well that was because they had found a large coloring book and decided to rip it to shreds. Well at least they had fun playing together....and so did we. We have so much to be thankful for!

busy times....

It has been quite some time since my last post. I figured I should get back into the habit before the Holiday Season is over! We have had a lot going on lately....our 6 year anniversary has come and gone, we had 3 Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas tree cutting and decorating and you know the usual....working, taking care of the kids, yada yada yada.

Sean and I went to Niagara Falls for a couple of days for our anniversary. It was freezing but beautiful. We had never seen the falls at night and it is quite impressive. I think more so than seeing them during the day. But it was so cold and windy that night, we had to look from the warmth of the car.

Ella worked up her appetite for Thanksgiving #2 at Gramma and Grampa Campbell's house by climbing all over this chair for like an hour.

Iain on the other hand, did this.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving (before our third Thanksgiving dinner with friends), we helped Gramma and Grandpa pick out and cut down their Christmas tree. Aunt Colleen and Uncle John also came along. They are so fun! The kids always love when they come to visit!

Tagged

Well, I was "tagged" by my friend Jenn and I actually had to do some research to find out what it means to be tagged (I guess I am not up on the latest blog games). So if you get tagged, you are supposed to post the 4th picture from the 4th album on your computer. Here's mine....

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I saw the which picture was in the 4th album. I was hoping for an old picture of Iain or something cute (not that Sean isn't cute). This is one of Sean's progress pictures before the BB contest.... I hope you don't mind me posting this Hun.

I tag.... Jude, Kelly Tullidge, Jesse, Lauren and Andrea. Have fun!

Blue Power Ranger

The kids go to the gym with me (and Sean) almost everyday. And everyday, Iain finds the same blue Power Ranger to play with. Well, on one particular day, I went to pick them up after I was done working out and the gym babysitter told me that Iain was saying he wanted to buy his own blue Power Ranger. So, she very kindly gave him 50 cents towards his own Power Ranger. Now, I don't know how Iain got so attached to this toy or how he even knows that it is a Power Ranger (I don't like them and he has never seen the show). But at any rate, he wants to buy a Power Ranger for himself. So, we went home that day and emptied out Iain's "dino" bank.... which he has been putting money into for probably 2 years. Any money that he finds on the floor, in the couch cushions or in pants that Sean is not wearing, goes into the bank (he used to pick up Sean's pants and shake them to see if he could hear any money clinking in the pockets). Anyways, we took the money to Target and found a blue Power Ranger that Iain could afford. He was so excited to get it paid for so he could open it right anyway and play with it. We got up to the register and counted out $7.55 in change. The cashier must have loved us. Now Iain has his very own blue Power Ranger that he paid for all by himself!

Fun with a bucket

Ella discovered all by herself that this bucket made a very nice hat.... I didn't show her, I just went in the livingroom one day and she was walking around with this bucket on her head. A couple of days later, I captured these pics of her in her hand-me-down pj's with the bucket. Notice that she picked the bucket that says "under" on it.... after all she is "under" the bucket.

Leaves

After our trip to the farm, I didn't think there was going to be any more days to play outside without getting all bundled up.... until the next day. Iain didn't even need a coat.... or long sleeves for that matter. What a pleasant day to play outside!

Down on the farm

Last week I took the kids to a local animal shelter called Lollipop Farm. They have dogs and cats that are up for adoption plus bunnies and farm animals that need homes also. It was the first time I had taken Ella there. She loved seeing all of the animals, especially the ducks. Iain has been there several times. He wanted to see the sheep. They have an area set up where you can pet the sheep and the goats. Unfortunately the sheep don't usually let you pet them but we did get pretty close. The kids had a fun time and it doesn't cost any money to go there. It was a great way to spend a warm autumn afternoon!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween (better late than never)!

Time to eat!

....and that we did! Sean hadn't had chicken wings or ice cream in 3 months and that is what he wanted. Right after the awards were given, Sean couldn't wait to get some junk food into his belly. He brought candy bars in his gym bag and immediately had an Almond Joy.

We left the show right after Sean got his trophy.... no waiting around to see how other people placed. We didn't want to waste time with that, Sean wanted to eat! He did some research to find the place that has the best buffalo wings in Buffalo.... Duff's. So that is where we headed. Right after Sean took a shower. For some reason, he didn't want to walk around in public with orange skin. Everyone joined us at Duff's, it was a great time and Sean ate wings like they were going out of style!

After Duff's we went to Friendly's. By this time our friends had petered out. Ryan and Bree had to drive back to Rochester, Tim and Maria were exhausted and went back to the hotel. But Dave and Linda hung in there 'til the end. And what an end it was! Sean got a huge Reese's pieces sundae and I think he ate almost the whole thing. But all of that sugar was too much for Sean's body to handle. He was looking quite pale. He got up to go to the little boy's room but didn't make it there. He passed out in a nearby booth. Luckily there wasn't anyone sitting there! He recovered after laying down in the booth for a few minutes. That was how our evening ended. Linda made Sean a special apple pie, but after passing out from the ice cream he decided to eat the pie the later.

On Sunday there was more of the same.... eating junk food, feeling ill, more ice cream (no passing out this time). On Monday he was back to his normal diet since his digestive system was suffering. We did have chinese food though (that was my idea) and it was yummy!

Sean's Competition

I know some of you are anxious to hear the results of Sean's bodybuilding competition. I'm sorry it has taken me a few days to get this post up. Unfortunately, Sean didn't bring home the first place trophy, but he did win second place in his class. He was okay with that. The guy who won first place in Sean's class also won overall in the novice division.... I guess he deserved it. In MY opinion, Sean should have won and with different judges he may have. Everybody looks for different strengths. Well, at any rate, I am proud of him. He worked hard and did very well for his first show.... I'm sure there will be more. So here is a run down of how the day went....

Sean had to be tan for this show and obviously he doesn't get tan naturally. So on Saturday morning, Sean broke out the fake tan (don't worry, it washes off with soap and water). My hand looked pretty "tan" when I was done rubbing it on his back! Most of the pictures are courtesy of Tim, Sean's best friend. He and his wife Maria stayed with us Friday night and we traveled to the show together on Saturday. It was such a huge support for us to have them there with us. They are truly awesome friends! Sean's parents also came along. They met us there later right before the show started.

Before Sean could go out on stage, he had to get his muscles pumped so that they would look more filled out for the judges. Here he is doing some bicep curls to get his muscles ready for the pre-judging to begin.

Sean is the third one from the right (the whitest one up there). The guy second from the right is the one that got first place. The pre-judging is very difficult. The judges call out a pose and everyone has to do it at the same time so the judges can compare everyone. They have to hold the pose until the judges say they can relax. But even relaxed isn't really relaxed.... posing is a very grueling workout!

After the pre-judging, there was a long break (a few hours). During the break we went and checked into our hotel. Sean had some relax time and then we went back to get ready for the "night show". Our good friends Ryan and Bree came out to see the night show. We had quite the cheering section! After more tanner and more pumping up, Sean performed his night routine. Basically, you get on stage by yourself and pose to whatever music you choose. This is where things get a little weird. Some people have props and strange music.... turning the show into a circus! Sean did awesome, he looked great up there!

Here we are with the second place trophy. Way to go Sean! Over all we had a good day.... long but good. After the show activities deserves a post of it's own....

Iain's first field trip

Today Iain's class took a field trip to a local farm/store. I was one of the lucky Mom's who got to go along! We took a tour of the store and the cider mill. Then we fed some goats and finally got to pick our own pumpkins. The pumpkin picking was the most exciting part for most of the kids. Many of them spent the whole time we were there asking when we were going to pick pumpkins. If they weren't asking that, they were asking when we could have donuts. Kids are funny. Mrs. O. brought donuts back to the school for the kids to have as snack today.... they were yummy!

The end is near....

Sean's bodybuilding competition is this Saturday. He has been dieting, working out, running, tanning.... for 12 weeks to get ready for this contest! It is very hard work to get in the kind of shape that Sean is in right now. He has been in the gym 6 days a week (5 out of the 6 days, twice a day), he counts every calorie, carb and protein and he practices posing everyday (it is very hard to smile while you are posing). A lot of people don't understand the science behind bodybuilding and the discipline it takes to make your body look the way Sean's does. It is not a sport for dummies.... just the opposite. He has been a bit nervous the last couple of weeks, but the nerves have been turning to excitement as the show draws near. I think he looks amazing.... perhaps better than he has ever looked. Maybe I am biased cause he's my husband. What do you think?

Look out all you other freaks! Sean Campbell is in the HOUSE!!

Leaf wreath

Yesterday Ella and I took our usual walk to pick up Iain from school.... and for those of you who don't know, the school is practically in our backyard. Since the weather was so beautiful, I decided to bring the stroller so that we could take the long way home and go for a little walk. One of the projects that the kids made was a leaf wreath. It was a paper plate with a hole in the middle and the leaves were glued on all the way around. Iain showed me which one was his. I saw it and thought to myself "how am I going to get that home in the stroller?" It had about four leaves on it, 3 of them were very tiny, and the rest of the plate was completely covered with glue (and it was still wet). So, I very carefully placed it on top of the stroller (even though I was very careful, I still got glue on the stroller) and suggested to Iain that we collect more leaves during our walk home and add them to the wreath. He agreed and this is the result! I had glue all over my hands and the stroller by the time we got home, but the wreath looked very beautiful hanging on our door!

Abbott Farms

On Sunday we took the kids to Abbott Farms with Grandma and Grandpa Campbell to pick apples and pumpkins. We had a great time taste testing all the different apples. Even Iain was tasting them. I guess in Iain's mind, apples are yummier when you pick them yourself (Iain doesn't usually eat apples). Ella rode in the stroller most of the time. She did get out to look at pumpkins though.... lots and lots of pumpkins!

Nap

I can't stop posting! Sean had my camera for a while and I guess I was going through blog withdrawal! Here is Ella right before she went to sleep today. So snugly with her blanket!

A lovely autumn afternoon...

Today the kids and I played outside for a little while. Well, the kids played and I chased them around with the camera. Ella hasn't really had much opportunity to play outside yet without constant help....until today! Everyday she is walking better and getting more confident. She had so much fun running around (or waddling actually). Picking up little sticks or leaves she found. It's funny how kids can "play" outside without any toys. Her and Iain both played for quite awhile without anything except what they found on the ground. When Ella got tired, I brought her inside for a nap and then Iain and I went back outside for some more fun!

Matt and Tara's wedding

Last Friday Sean and I attended a wedding for one of Sean's college friends, Matt. It was held in White Plains NY, which is about 25 minutes north of New York City. Our trip started off kind of rough. We got about 45 minutes outside of Syracuse (almost to Binghamton) when the car broke down. Now for those of you who know us well, you know that our car breaks down regularly....but only when we have to travel somewhere. Thank the Lord for AAA (we have the plan with the most coverage you can get). The tow truck driver got there pretty quickly, which was kind of unusual but a nice switch from the norm, and was nice enough to drop us off at the airport so we could pick up a rental car (also covered by AAA). And we were off on our way again. We hurried to get there in time for the ceremony, but that didn't happen. We missed the ceremony. Lucky for us, there was a long lapse of time between the ceremony and the reception, so we did make it to the reception! We had a great time and it was good to see friends that we don't get to see often. It seems whenever Sean gets together with those guys, it's like no time has past. They just pick up right where they left off!

Congratulations Matt and Tara!