So Blessed...

I can't believe how fast Christmas has come and gone! Crazy to think that by the end of the week we will be in a new year already!

We were so blessed this Christmas for so many reasons; it was our first one with Owen, what an awesome blessing to have him in our lives - he had a great Christmas! Also, we were able to spend a lot of time with family and friends - we had four separate 'Christmas Parties' to attend. We also feel blessed that even though we are faced with uncertainty in our lives, that Scott and I both have steady incomes, a roof over our heads, and food on our table!

Our festivities began with Christmas at our house as a family of 3 - Santa visited our house for the first time ever and we all opened our gifts in the morning.



Owen got a new ball and some fun toys and even a camo onesie (from dad, of course!).
Scott and I decided to get ourselves a Wii for Christmas (we figured we'd have to wait until after Christmas to get it though since everyone was sold out - but somehow my mom and Nathan found one on Christmas Eve while they were out doing some last minute shopping!!)

Around 10 or so we finally managed to get ourselves out of the house and headed over to my mom's for Christmas at her house. Nathan came into town - so the whole fam was there!! Nathan and Travis have this thing where on Christmas (and sometimes on Thanksgiving too) they slick their hair back and wear sweaters - they say they like to get dressed up for the event - anyway, here is Nathan in his getup w/ Owen in his...



We also decided to take a family pic - since we haven't had a pic of all of us together in forever (actually since Nathan's graduation from NMU in May of 05)...
Notice how somehow Nathan grew a little bit in the second pic?





We all had a great time and had a 'lucious' breakfast of ham, eggs, toast, and bacon (yum!) and for dinner we made bbq ribs with all the fixins (we decided to take the non traditional approach this year, as typically we have a turkey or ham for dinner).

Scott and I got a new digital video camera from my mom - we're still figuring it all out, but this will be so nice to have to capture all of the growing up Owen will be doing in years to come! :)

On the 26th we headed over to Scott's parents house and had our family Christmas with his parents, Jen, Paul and the kids...We had a yummy breakfast of egg caserole, monkey bread, fruit, and lots of other yummy goodies!

Here are O and Gma...



The kids all made out like bandits and had a great time tearing into all their gifts!



Own loves his Mr Brown Bear...



We weren't able to spend the whole day there, since at 4 we had our next party to attend, the VI Christmas at aunt Carol's!!

We headed home around 2 just in time for Owen's nap - and then we got ready to head out again. The whole extended family was there - and Owen had a great time playing with all the second cousins! We even tried for a pic of all the kids! Here is Dylan trying to keep his cousin occupied...



Lots of awesome food and company to enjoy!! It was a bit overwhelming for Owen with all the noise - but he is such a trooper!! By the end of the night cousin Michelle had him fast asleep in his bouncy!!

On Saturday at 4 we had the Kole Christmas at Great Grandma and Grandpa's clubhouse - the whole fam was there... Here's O w/ Great Gma...



Once again we had a great time eating, spending time with the fam and oh, did I mention eating?! (I think I've put on a few lbs this holiday season!!). Owen was so out of sorts by the end of the night though - I think he was just overstimulated - and over tired, so we left a little early and headed home.

Our plan for the week is to tear out the flooring in the dining/kitchen/hallway and put in laminate wood flooring - it will be much easier for Owen to crawl around on and also easier to keep clean!!! Since this is central area in our house and there will be a lot of dust and stuff from tearing out the tiles, Owen and I are going to be staying at Grandma Ruth's for a couple days! Scott had to work today but will get started on it this afternoon when he gets home from work!! I ordered the dumpster which should be arriving any time now! I'm so excited to get a new floor! I'll post more on the progress of our project!! :)

New Milestone

Owen has reached a new milestone, albiet a bit late, but he's reached it nonetheless...He learned to roll over - just stomach to back for now...



...stay tuned for a blog post on the Kole Family Christmas...

Deck the Halls (or something like that)...

The Christmas tree is finally decorated! I tend to be a procrastinator - but once I get going on something, I am so glad I started and have a lot of fun with it!!

Scott and I had a great time going through all of our ornaments and putting them on the three. Many of them were ones his mom saved for him throughout the years - so thee are ornaments that are almost 30 yrs old and newer ones too...

A few of our favorites...

The Bear Golfer......

The Zombie Drummer Boy....

The Ginger Clown (for those who know me, I am terrified of clowns, so why I allow this on my tree I do not know, but it is tucked away in the back of the tree)...

Side note; why is it that when its not fit for man nor beast and the local authorities are urging everyone to stay indoors, that all the men must venture outside and drive around anyway? Yup, Scott had to go check out the roads !!!

Here is our driveway around noon today...(yes that's the Jetta under all that snow - Scott last drove it around 10 on Fri night - and we've gotten all that snow and blowing since!)


Hope everyone here in MI is staying warm today - what a great day to make cookies, cuddle up and watch movies and just relax!!!

Christmas Survey

Emily posted a Christmas survey on her blog - which originally Brenda posted on her blog with a challenge to other bloggers to copy and paste the questions and answer them. So, here are my responses...

Favorite Christmas movie (cartoon or children's)? How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacay

When do you usually start Christmas shopping? Whenever I see something on sale that would make a great gift for someone throughout the year, but usually the week or two before Christmas

Favorite Christmas present? A dollhouse when I was about 8

Real or artificial tree? both - we did real the first year in our house, but then bought a artificial pre-lit tree a few years back (for $36 in an after-Christmas sale) and it is awesome! (I tend to get allergic reactions to real trees)

Colored or white lights? definitely WHITE

Favorite Christmas memories? My brothers and I all sleeping in my bedroom on Christmas Eve night and then waking eachother up to run downstairs and see what Santa brought - always in red/green/white paper (I was red, Nathan green, Travis White). Also, making Chex mix, relaxing at home and playing with Christmas gifts, going bowling, etc

Favorite Christmas song? I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (no not really), Silent Night, Its Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas, Joy to the World - I kinda like them all!

Do you like eggnog? its ok - a few sips of it anyway, drinking a whole glass might be overwhelming

Peppermint canes or fruity ones? Peppermint

Yea for the Snow Day!

So nice to be home and enjoy my fam today! Scott had the day off and I had a snow day, and so far we've spent the day having fun!

Making cookies, trying to teach O to roll over, singing, wrapping presents, and maybe (hopefully) decorating that darn christmas tree!!

And of course what fun day would be complete without some dressup for O? Here are my two guys - donning their cammo lids...


He just LOVES camo!! :)

My B.A. Baby

No time for a real post - just some quick pics...

Little O is quite the character...

He loves to hang out in new places. (He was so in awe of this box it was unreal, I'm suprised I could get him to look up from the fun he was having tugging and batting at the box flap)...


He refuses to roll over, yet somehow can migrate from underneath his music thingy (and turn a full 90 degrees)


and he is just a stud...

Chowder, Grillz, and Other Weekend Happenings

This weekend, Scott, Owen, and I headed up to the cottage in Ludington with Tim & Emily. A good time was had by all.

We we went on a shopping excursion to the finer stores of Dollar Tree and Walmart - the best purchase? Some grillzzzzzzzz from the dollar store.

Owen was a perfect little man - and slept the whole night through AND slept in until 745 on BOTH Sat and Sun!!!

Saturday, the boys went hunting and the girls and Owen made some corn chowder - good comfort food for a dreary winter day!

Sun we had a delic. breakfast of cinnamon swirl french toast and bacon - thanks Emily!! :) and headed home around 1:00. ...and what trip to Ludington would be complete without some Wesco popcorn and A&W rootbeer for the ride home - thanks babe!!

This afternoon Scott, O and I are just chilling out at home and making some plans for our winter construction project - we're tearing out our kitchen/dining/hallway flooring and installing new 'stuff' - as we'll both be off work around the holidays - I took the week between christmas/new yr's off and Scott's work is shut down during that time. There's always bound to be fun when tearing your home apart!