Snow Fun

This weekend we decided to prepare for our ski trip in a couple of weeks by "Camping Out" in our living room after a day of snow fun. Saturday after the kids' nap we all went outside to play in the snow. We went sledding in our back yard and tried to build a Snow Man. Unfortunately the snow was too powdery to make a snow man so we just took a couple extra runs on the sled. Katie only went on about half of the sled rides, but did better than last year when she screamed the whole time. After sledding we had some hot cocoa and started to get read for our camp out. At bed time instead of going to their rooms we set up every one's sleeping bag and Pillow Pals, popped up some popcorn and stayed up late (9:30 is late now) watching a movie before brushing teeth and getting into our sleeping bags. No one really slept in the sleeping bags, Helena kept everyone awake because she said she had "too much energy." The only ones who came close to falling asleep were Mary and me. Seamus was quiet but kept crawling out of his bag to give goodnight kisses. I guess he's not used to having people sleeping around him since he has gotten his own room. Today we went through some stuff in our basement then had the kids walk around the basement in their skates to see how well they could balance. They all did really well, and we plan to take them skating at our ski trip in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow we have their second dentist appointment. Hopefully they cooperate and have no cavities, I would feel guilty if they do because I'm the one who brushes their teeth. The pictures are from sledding in the back yard.


Katie playing outside


Seamus playing outside


Helena playing outside


Katie and Mommy sledding


Helena, Seamus and Daddy sledding

Christmas Pictures

Christmas Eve By the Tree


Clay performing the first ever recorded Spoon Ear Hang at Christmas Eve Dinner


Santa Steve visiting Christmas Eve Dinner at Grandpa Huddas' House


After Santa stopped by our house


Coming Downstairs Christmas Morning


Oh Boy Presents!


Seamus opening a present


Helena opening a present


Katie Opening Present


Christmas Katie


Christmas Helena


Christmas Seamus


Christmas Kids


Trying out sleeping bags and Pillow Pets


Katie and Seamus helping take down the tree/singing Jingle Bells

Christmas Update

Merry Christmas everyone! This is the first post in a very long time that will have no pictures attached. We are currently without a laptop power cord so we are unable to download pictures to our computer without connecting the actual camera to the desktop and who has time for that. Long story short, we almost burned the house down with a faulty cord a few days before Christmas. Smoke, melting carpet, and sparks means we can't recharge the laptop battery right now. Hopefully the cord will arrive soon and I can update with some photos but until then, here's what's been going on...
Christmas Eve was at my parents house this year and most of my mom's side of the family was in attendance. We even got a visit from Santa Claus (aka my brother Steve). The kids had a good time playing with their cousins and even tried most of the traditional Christmas Eve fare.
On Christmas Day we woke up super early to see what Santa left us under the tree. Katie was running around the house trying to find Santa since she knew he brought her presents at my parents house the night before. It took some convincing and a super-cool new play kitchen to get her to come by the tree and open presents. After a quick breakfast we headed out to church. My mom and other family members sing in the choir and we all enjoyed listening to the singing. The kids even made it through the whole mass thanks to some snack traps filled with Cheerios. After church we headed to my parents house for more gifts and Christmas dinner. My parents have been doing a theme-based meal for the last 10 years or so and this year's theme was Middle Eastern food. My brothers and sister-in-law did most of the prep work and cooking and without a doubt this was the best year yet. Tons of garlic sauce, tahini sauce, hummus, kabobs, and shwarma later we were all stuffed and planning out next years theme which will be Mexican! We hung out there for a while and then headed over to Pat's parents for another round of gifts and food. His family always does a white elephant type exchange and everyone has a blast cracking up at some of the crazy ideas people come up with for gifts. By that time it was way past the trio's bedtime so we headed home with some very cranky 2 year olds.
Sunday we spend the day hanging out at home and my parents came over to see what Santa brought. Pat's sister Kathy who was in from NC also came to stay in the Aunt Kathy bed for a few nights before she had to head back home. We got to go back to Pat's parents and spend some more time with them and his brother Tim and nephew Conner while she was in town as well.
Yesterday Kathy had to head home and my mom underwent some precautionary surgery. My dad was at the hospital forever yesterday so I brought him a snack and went to keep him company for a while. Mom was finally out of recovery and into a room around 9pm last night. They had gotten to the hospital around 10am with surgery at 1pm so needless to say, they both had a very long day. We went to make sure she was okay and settled for the night and then headed for home.
This morning Dad headed back to the hospital to be with her and Mom actually came home this afternoon. She'll be out of commission for a while but we're hopeful that her recovery will go smoothly. Today was also the day that Pat got to pick up his new car. We turned in his Caravan since the lease was up and decided to get something with a little better gas mileage. Even though the new Malibu won't fit 3 car seats, it will hopefully save us some on each fill-up! Well, it's been a very hectic few days. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I'll post pics as soon as I can. Merry Christmas!!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

The trio helping Daddy cut down the tree


Katie picked our tree, isn't it cute??


We finally got to go get our Christmas tree yesterday. We tried a new place out in Applegate and drove out there with the usual crew of Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Steve, Aunt Becca, Uncle John, Clay, and Drew. Aunt Christ and Wayne even came out to join us this year. The kids favorite part was afterwards when they got to go into the cabin and have some hot cocoa and popcorn. They weren't overly excited about trudging through the snow looking for a tree. I'm not sure I would have been either if the snow was as deep as my boots were tall, like it was for them. We went back to Aunt Beccas and had some pizza afterwards as well as helping them get their huge tree into the house. I wish I had thought to take a picture. Their trees are always enormous! We came home afterwards and put our tree up and decorated it. The kids helped put up the ornaments and can't stop themselves from touching them every time they walk in the room. 2 more days of work for me until Christmas Break, I can't wait!

The decorating Elves


The finished product!

Breakfast with Santa

Today we braved the crazy Michigan weather and went to have breakfast with Santa. The Berlin Twp Fire Department was hosting the breakfast so we met Aunt Becca, Clay, and Drew this morning for a visit with the big guy. We also got to see 3 cars in the ditch on the way there as well as some of the fire trucks at the station. The girls again had no problem going to say hi but Seamus wanted nothing to do with him. Pat had to hold him to even get him close enough for a picture. Funny that he didn't mind taking the candy cane when it was all over. I'm doing the snow dance hoping for no school tomorrow but it's not looking very good. The 4 inches or so we got today is just not quite enough. We've lost power a bunch of times today too because of the weight of the snow so maybe the odds are better for no school due to a power outage. Oh well either way, only 7 more work days and then Christmas Break!


Wow! A real fire truck!


Fire-Girl Katie

Cha Cha Cha Changes...

Big changes have been taking place in the Murphy house over the last week. For the first time, the trio is not spending every moment of their existence together. Seamus got his own big boy room! We’ve been having some serious trouble with bedtime shenanigans and came up with the common denominator of Seamus. Every time we would have to go up there it was him out of bed, turning on the light, jumping on his sisters, getting the wipes and Kleenex off the dresser, I could go on… Don’t get me wrong, the girls were not innocent in all of this. We did find Katie running around with a garbage can on her head, but the instigator was definitely Seamus. Needless to say something had to change or we may not have made it. I couldn’t take another night of wanting to go to sleep and hearing nothing but the sounds of silliness coming from down the hall. Friday night Aunt Becca babysat since Pat and I had a party to go to but bright and early on Saturday morning, we moved Seamus’s bed to his new room. At the store later that day, we bought a new nightlight and a new moose lamp for him. We picked up a dresser from Grandma and Grandpa H last night after my Christmas concert, got it home and put most of his clothes into it. He has slept in his new room great! I’m not sure why it took us so long, I guess Pat and I just weren’t ready for him to be such a big boy. Hopefully it lasts… The good thing is they started behaving just in time since St. Nicholas came to visit yesterday as well!

We are so grown up we can even make our own bagel pizzas!



Look what St. Nick brought us!


Finding the gifts in the shoes


Helena finds an Elmo


Katie finding Big Bird


Seamus and Cookie Monster

Thanksgiving 2010

On Tuesday Katie, Seamus and Helena started their winter Gymnastics class through the Parks and Rec. We registered late so it was actually the second meeting, but with winter coming we decided late or not they needed to be able to get out of the house and get some exercise. They all did pretty well and had their own particular skills. Katie was best at a move called the "Bear Walk." Seamus excelled at the "Stairs and Wall" course. Helena's special skill was to sneak up to the CD player and push the buttons so the wrong song kept playing when it was started. Mary and I both had Wednesday off, which was good because we needed to clean up a bit because Aunt Kathy Murphy stayed with us through the holiday weekend. After straightening the house we took the kids out to do some shopping for Christmas. Thanksgiving was not as busy as in the years past, we only had two stops to make. We actually got to relax around the house until 3:00. I got to watch the first half and a bit of the Annual Thanksgiving Lions Debacle in the comfort of my own home. Our first stop was at Aunt Kathy Soup's house for Thanksgiving Part I. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Huddas, Uncle Steve, Aunt Becca, Clay, Drew, Aunt Kathy Soup and Uncle George. We saw some of Mary's cousins, aunts and uncles we don't often see and it was nice to see them on the Holidays. Afterward we went to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Pat's house for Thanksgiving Part II. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Murphy, and most of my brothers and sisters with their kids. Even Aunt Kathy Murphy was in from NC until Sunday and was staying the rest of the weekend at our house. On Black Friday we went shopping at Costco mostly to pick up the Christmas cards pictures we took on Thanksgiving and played with Aunt Kathy almost all day. On Saturday all five of us went to Partridge Creek with Aunt Kathy, Aunt Shari, Uncle Tim, Aunt Robin, Conner, Nikki and Brenna. The kids got some new shoes, looked at the pretty decorations and got lunch in a restaurant. After we ate, Mary and Aunt Kathy found Santa in one of the department stores with no line! Helena and Katie sat on Santa's lap and go their picture taken. Seamus wanted nothing to do with Santa, he just stared at him and took a candy cane when it was offered. On Sunday Mary and I needed to get some groceries so Aunt Kathy got some alone time with the Trips before she had to leave for home. We always hate to see Aunt Kathy leave, so she snuck out during nap time to make things easier for everyone. After the kids woke up from their nap, we decided to get the Christmas lights up because we didn't know how many nice days we'd have left since December is right around the corner. Three and a half weeks until Christmas Break...


Katie and Santa


Helena and Santa


Conner and Santa


Katie and Seamus putting lights on the bushes


Seamus and Sponge Bob


Seamus and Helena with Sponge Bob


Katie decorating the house


Katie, Seamus, Helena, and Sponge Bob