Miscellaneous fun...

After the holidays, we had some fun with the Hefner-Glavs as they enjoyed their first holiday season with little Boone. We even snuck out for some adult conversation while the kids played with a babysitter. Adult conversation? What's that? Don't worry, we picked it up quite quickly....

Morgan enjoyed drinking out of a teeny tiny cup and has really been enjoying wearing her new BSU t-shirt EVERYWHERE!

Boone wanted to give a toast to his Mama... That look of determination!

Aidan just wanted to mug it up for the camera...

Heelying her little hear out. Look at that smile!

Happy Birthday to Baby J and Daddy!

Another wonderful Christmas goes down in the books! We had a great time celebrating Christmas and Ryan's birthday... The kids are at such a fun age for the holidays and they definitely make this season so special.

The birthday boy and a very excited little boy! If you look closely in this picture, you can see the pirate ship Aidan painstakingly made for his daddy. He was beyond excited to give it to him and then on Christmas Eve, he got even more excited because he had "the best idea EVER!" He whispered to me that his fantastic idea was to put a couple of dollar bills in with the gift because "that will make daddy REALLY excited." Don't read this and think that Ryan is obsessed with money, I think Aidan just wanted go above and beyond for his #1 guy... These boys, how I love them!

Morgan and Grandma having a mid-present opening snug.

Morgan saying thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for her new Heely's.

Mo showing off some reading skills. Santa came with a lot of new chapter books!

She'd been nerfed! A common occurrence living with Aidan and Morgan!

In between a lot of eating, church and napping, there was a little Nerf warfare that went on!

Ryan's birthday sushi feast (which he made). I've got to work on my birthday celebrations for him!

I normally don't condone when people take pictures of food, it kind of weirds me out, but I had to break my rules to show the fruits of Ryan's birthday labors... It was YUMMY!

Like my new heels that Morgan is modeling? Don't worry, they were a joke from the kids and attached was a gift card so I find something a little more my style!

Little did poor Papa Jeff know that he would travel all the way to Boise and be put to work assembling five million Lego toys while the rest of us relaxed and napped. Sorry Papa J, but we sure did appreciate, especially a little blondie...

Christmas Eve!

We had another great Christmas Eve celebration with the Bordner's and my parents! The Bordner's were gearing up for Lola's big arrival on Wednesday... Which leads me to the worst child care job Ryan and I have ever engaged in. We had the Bordner kids spend the night on Tuesday night while Kirstin prepped for the big arrival. Unfortunately, "Auntie Sarah" came down with the flu at around 9 p.m. (The exorcist-vomiting kind). I quickly moved downstairs so my germs wouldn't be near Payton and Ryder. Unfortunately, I started to hear rumblings upstairs at around midnight and down came Aidan, with a barf bucket. He was quickly followed by his sister, with another barf bucket. Then yep, you guessed it, down came Ryan, not with the flu quite yet, but on the verge. Fortunately, the Hamilton's came to the rescue and were able to take care of the Bordner kiddos! It's always an adventure around here... Needless to say, the Kearney's owe the Bordner kids a fun night soon! Back to the fun of Christmas Eve though, pre-nasty flu bug!

One of neighbors gave the kids "Reindeer Food" (sprinkles with oatmeal) to put out on Christmas Eve. Aidan meant business, Morgan however needed to spin!

Not an inch of the yard was spared from the food!

This little guy was taking no chances... Dreams of a new bike and Star Wars Legos were just too exciting!

Our proud little guy!

Chess... It can really spark the thirst. Thank goodness for Camelbacks!

Look at these cuties all ready for Santa! Do they get any sweeter?

I would love to know what these two talk about... Debating the meaning of life or trying to determine what each got for Christmas, hard to say!

Papa J., Aidan and Ryder, making a surprise appearance!

Three amigos, if Aidan had his way anyway. He adores Ryder and his big sis.

I have no idea why we used Sacajewea as a backdrop at Winter Garden Aglow...

Morgan's excited about something... So odd to see, that kid is never excited!

The Bordners! A family of 4 about to become a family of 5!

These two continue to be something else!

A fearsome four...

Wet Wrap Time!

It isn't winter without millions and millions of wet wraps... This week it was the full facer, but Morgan refuses to let me take pictures of that. We've have a new development in the land of wet wraps... Aidan does them also to show his support. Sounds like a good idea in theory but in reality, it means that there are two soaking wet, freezing cold children and two sets of multiple layers that need to be washed. I'm currently frantically trying to find other modes of him showing his solidarity to Morgan!

Who knew that a wet wrap would make this little guy so happy... He was soon shivering and was thanking his lucky stars he doesn't have to do these on a regular basis!

Wet wrappin'. Morgan thought the soccer socks added a nice touch and a tube sock scarf? All the rage these days!

Santa Claus Came to the Hamilton's!

The Hamilton's threw another fantastic "Santa" party. Papa Gene wins the best sport award for putting on the suit every year and making our children's little heads spin with excitement! And the Hamilton's do the best job making sure we all have fun...

I can only imagine what Morgan is saying... Probably reciting her list, talking about her loose teeth and asking Santa about when he lost his... Yes, she's still loose-tooth obsessed!

Payton wasn't sure about it all, so Jeremy had to help his girl out...

Aidan got his gift by performing what looked like a "walk by." He was in and out with his gift in 2 seconds flat. Star Wars Legos? How did Santa know?

Girl Scout Christmas!

Don't think for a second that the Daisy Girl Scouts take time off around the holidays. Yes, my friends, they just steam right through with their hard work! Morgan's troop not only put together a ton of toys for kids who were in the hospital over the holidays, but they spent some time caroling at Winter Garden Aglow (Also known as "unorganized chaos" and "other Daisy moms and I freaking out because we can't see our child and are convinced they have been lured away by promises of candy.")

After caroling, Morgan and Alexandra decided to do some tumbling down the hill. Well, why the heck wouldn't you when it's 20 degrees outside?

Running up... to just tumble back down...

Morgan and Alexandra taking turns ringing the bell... No pictures of the actual caroling. I wasn't kidding when I said we were frantically trying to get glimpses of the girls in the huge crowd. The girls had a blast and I think Morgan was pretty proud of herself!

Is that Miss Idaho in the left of the picture? Is that the same Miss Idaho that Aidan now has a signed picture of and he gets googly eyes looking at? Yep, the Girl Scouts are on the VIP tour for the pageant princesses. I asked Morgan if she wanted to get in line to meet her and she asked me, "Why would I do that?" Aidan won out though and we did have to stand in line to meet her! On a side note, we had a great time at the toy drive party that the Ada County Paramedics threw and it was great to see the generous donations for the kids!

Cookie Time!

Is it considered Christmas if there isn't massive amounts of sugar consumed?

Bookie was Back!

I know, I know... Long time, no post! And you'll have to pardon these posts as they are being done in a flu-infused haze. I'd like to blame the flu for the lack of posts, but since I've only been sick since Tuesday night, that's probably not going to fly. I digress...

While Bookie is already gone, back to the North Pole with Santa, he was here and he kept these kids in line. While Bookie was up to some nightly hi-jinks, don't confuse me with the moms who go to outrageous lengths and mess up their homes? make cookies? leave behind elaborate messages? Who are you people? But I do have admit it was fun to have Bookie leave some cryptic messages and find a creative place for him to be found each morning!

As you can see, Bookie noticed there was a little whining around the Kearney household in the days before Christmas. Their "oh CRAP!" faces were priceless when they saw this little note... I felt bad for a second but was pretty pleased with the results!

Ryan came home one afternoon to pick something up and moved Bookie into a hidden candy bowl while the kids and I were running errands. They were SO excited when they got home!

And there was lots of bribing Bookie this year!

This was by far the cutest note that Aidan left. Look at that image of Bookie, genius I tell you!

Not only did Morgan recite her Christmas list to every passerby she could, she also wanted to make sure the big guy in red understood just how much she wanted Heely's, a skateboard and a new bike helmet. Message was received and this child now looks like a pink blur, constantly in motion. Once again, emergency room doctors, you are most welcome for our business!

I was runnninnnnggg... Here we go again!

I swore I was done. Only one marathon after having kids and then onto my next bucket list item. And then this little boy named Ben Towne got cancer and because his fight ended, his parents took it up where he left off. And they created the Ben Towne Foundation and decided to end this pain and suffering for other pediatric patients and their parents once and for all. They created Ben Towne Foundation and now it's up to the rest of us to make sure their goal is met.

Our children have had normal medical issues and we've been lucky enough to be able to find interventions (tonsils out, a stay at National Jewish, etc). It's not lost on us that these interventions are to make our children's lives better, not to save them. I constantly find myself thinking, what if my child's life was at stake with these procedures? What if these procedures were just the first steps in years long painful, tiring, wearying treatments? It's too much for an adult to comprehend. How could a child even begin to understand how they could receive such a devastating diagnosis?

Much to the chagrin of my knees, but to the happiness of my future orthopedist, I have registered for the Portland Marathon as a member of Team Ben Towne! October 7th, we'll be running mile after mile for this foundation, raising money and awareness along the way... I'm excited about this opportunity to put my legs where my heart is and be a part of the movement to change the face of pediatric cancer.

If you aren't a runner, fine... But then I'd like you to donate! If you are a runner, I expect you to join me. If you know a runner, I expect them to join me. The challenge is on people and this girl is going to be relentless... So here we go again!

Day 2 of Tonsil-lessness...

I am happy to report that after day 2 of recovery and we are doing just great around here... I think we underestimated this little guy, he's being such a trooper and we couldn't be prouder. He and I had a low key day of codeine (him, not me), lots of Polar Express and more milkshakes than I thought it was humanly possible to ingest!

Uncle Jonny and Auntie Heather sent a new Lego helicopter for the little patient. Utter bliss doesn't capture this little guys reaction to a new Lego set. Look at that little swollen happy, face! On a side note, his voice has completely changed. I keep looking over my shoulder when he calls out to me and think, "Who the heck let that kid in the house."

More thanks!!!

I recently had some additional pictures sent to me by Heather, which documented our oh so fun weekend and I just had to add them!

I love this picture. Little Max, I could stuff that kid on my carry on and take off with him, he's just too cute. Don't worry Foster's, I'm working on resisting this urge!

The Feast! Such a fun and yummy dinner, thank you Fosters!!!

Uncle Jonny and his boy. This little LOVES his daddy and will soon be able to out-throw him too...

Bogie and Dash, the hell hounds, were busy keeping the talent scouts at bay while this little show was going on! No need for child stars, they have plenty of time to get to work and make some moolah for Auntie Sarah/Mommy's retirement... I kid, I kid. But in all honesty, that little girl can SING!

Have I mentioned I am thankful for this little gal? Oh how she makes the world brighter!

Cousin time with Raechelle. We LOVE Rae, such a sweet and stunning girl. If she doesn't come to BSU, I just don't know what I'll do! Kidding, kind of... The hard sell is on sister!

Grandma time! These girls love, love spending time with grandma. There were lots of giggles coming from this corner!

At one time, these two just didn't quite know what to do with each other, but now it's all becoming clear that they are partners in crime. I smiled so big when I overheard the girls say, "Wait until mommy (me) leaves, I have a secret to tell you." Keep it up girls, I love it!

What, St. Nick? What a fun surprise at the Lodge! Check that off our Christmas to-do list. I mean, standing in line at the mall for 3 hours, my favorite sweaty place on earth, is fun and all, but to walk right up was pretty convenient.

So I guess it really is the start of the Season! Hooray!