Cookie Time!

This past weekend was spent trying to take a step back from the stress of the season and having a little fun.  Friday night we had some friends over for dinner and then went to see a Christmas movie at the theatre together.  We asked the kids to spend the night and had a slumber party in the living room sleeping near the lit tree all night.  (I love doing that!)

 Kids getting comfy to watch some t.v before bed.

 Miley picked her chair for the sleeover. :)

 The next morning we donned our aprons and set out to make some Christmas cookies.

 We had our dough rolling station..

 and our decorating station...

 Lexi

 Will

 Maddie

 Ayden

 Abbie

 Once a few batches of cookies were ready to be decorated, the kids left the remainder of the rolling and cutting to Rick and Todd...

 The finished products!  They were delicious and cost me a pound this morning. :)  I wrote on facebook that there were more, but the buttery goodness was now attached to my behind.

Now the fun is over and it is on to wrapping!

Girls Night Out..

We had a girls night out this past Thursday.  Lexi and I had tickets to go and see the Christmas Carol in Appleton.  We were joined by my sister Heather, my niece Taylor and our friend Kim.  We all really enjoyed the play with excellent actors and wonderful costumes.

Lexi and I getting ready to go!

Lexi and I in our 4th row seats.  Really good seats, but almost too close for Lexi because she couldn't see the best over the adults sitting in front of her. 

 Taylor, Lexi and I. :)

 Lexi and Taylor at intermission...

 My friend Kim and me..

 A nice random lady offered to take a group photo.

 Heather and Taylor..

 What a fun night!

Happy Birthday Rick..

Happy Birthday to my husband Rick today!

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday Dear Rick...

Happy Birthday to you!

We hope you have a great day.

All Our Love ~ Melissa, Lexi, Will and Miley

Happy Birthday to my Dad today!

Happy Birthday To You...

Happy Birthday To You...

Happy Birthday Dear Dad/Grandpa...

Happy Birthday To You!

Hope you have a great day.

Love ~ Rick, Melissa, Lexi, Will and your favorite dog, Miley.

Pre-Christmas...

 It's that time of year again.  Decorations are up and the tree is trimmed.  I just love the house all decorated. 

This year we added a few new ornaments to the tree, as we usually do. 

The first was this family ornament we picked up at Disney. It hooks to the string of lights and changes colors....very pretty. 

We gave the kids their yearly ornaments, which were also from Disney but they hadn't seen them until we started decorating the tree.

 Will's Mickey is a remembrance of his trip to Disney and also his first year of playing t-ball.

 Lexi's Minnie was a remembrance of Disney.  She has a string at the bottom that you pull and her legs go up like the old time ornaments I remember.

 This ornament I picked up in remembrance of my mom.  She liked hummingbirds and I picture her taking on that form when she is checking on us. :)

 Getting so tall she can reach much higher this year.

 All finished!  Great job guys. :)

My first  fresh centerpiece that I made to put in the office. 

Needs a few more berries, but think it turned out nice.

Posing in their jammies for the annual calendar.  

This ornament made us laugh..it is from a year or two ago that Will made at daycare.

Just a few more weeks until Christmas!  Can't wait. Although the holidays are a tough time for us and I have had plenty of tears over the last few weeks, I still love the holidays.  Merry Pre-Christmas!

4th Grade Basketball...

Lexi joined the 4th grade basketball team at her elementary school.  They practice two nights a week and will play in 4-6 tournaments.  She had her first tourney in Neenah this weekend, playing four games.

The first game started out really rough.  She, along with a few of the other girls looked lost, like a deer in the headlights.  I could see her frustration when she game out during part of the game and had a few tears.  The other team they were playing had already played 7 games that season, so they were all over our girls and we got beat 22-2.

The second game the girls were starting to figure things out and although they got beat worse than the first game, they looked better. The second team again had played several games already and were very aggressive.  By the third game Lexi and her team had improved a ton.  They still lost, but there was a ton of hussle and they had a much better understanding of the game.

Lexi's cheering section for games 2 and 3...

Will was not feeling well for the 4th game (we had been at the gym since 9 a.m. and the last game was close to 4 p.m.), so I took him home to give him some Tylenol.  Of course, missing the last game Lexi scored 2 baskets!  So proud of her from that first game to the last.  Just wish I wouldn't have missed it!  Great job Lex!

Lexi and Papa Bob

Lexi and Papa Ron and Grandma Joanne

Hanging with the girls between games..

If you know Lexi, she loves hot dogs.  The girl ate a hot dog after each game!  lol

Rick is also helping coach her team and was very proud of how she did.  She was given his baseball number too for her uniform, which made him happy as well.  She also is following in his footsteps in basketball with her shoes..lol.  She picked out the Air Jordans, just like he had in highschool (and probably has saved somewhere. :)

Happy Birthday Heather..

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday Dear Heather...

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to my sister Heather and also to me!  We are 36 years young today and have officially passed into the range of closer to 40, than 30. 

Happy Anniversary to Heather and Jim too!

Have a great day! 

Love - The Radies'

School Pictures

The kids came home with their school pictures tonight and they turned out so cute.  Thank goodness, because they missed the original picture day when we were in Florida, so they only had one shot since there were no more re-take days scheduled.

Lexi is looking so grown up in her 4th grade picture.

Then there is Will's very first school picture for kindergarten.  He too looks so grown up and handsome. :) (insert tear)  He didn't quite look at the camera, but at least he smiled.  It is a wall hanger.