Happy Birthday Steve!

The kids were so excited to celebrate Steve's birthday this year! They talked about it for weeks - planning the cake, the presents, etc.

The kids went with a wii theme it seemed! Lindsey picked out a bowling cake for Dad since "he is the greatest bowler in the world" (world of wii - maybe ) Cody and Charlie picked a new Super Mario game and a new cuddle blanket for playing games downstairs with dad. It was a great birthday!

Love you Steve!!!

the third time was truly a charm!

Potty Trained --- even without a trip to Chicago's Booty Camp!

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year! We had fun with friends and the kiddos this New Year's Eve - here a few quick pics to share :)

Excited to see what the new year brings....

Pillow Pets - ??? -

For Christmas, we broke down and got the kids all Pillow Pets - They have been asking me for them for at least 1.5 years. Even Charlie kept giving me the Pillow Pet commercial tag line - "they are practical - a pillow and a pet". I just didn't see what would be so fun about them. I still don't really see the allure, but they LOVE them!

So, they love their pillow pets and now we get to lug 3 more big fluffy things around the house all day and to bed of course :) Out of all of the presents, I think these were the favorites this year...

Our Merry Christmas!

Somewhere in the chaos of creating the perfect Christmas season, "it" hit. The kids, the decorating, the shopping, the wrapping, the phone calls from family members all day long, and the school holiday party planning, etc. had all overwhelmed me. I was feeling crazy - like I could never pull off a happy Christmas full of memories for my family of 5, much less the expanded family of Soets & DeVries members. Truthfully, it had started a bit before holiday decor had come out...

My world had been seeming more cloudy than sunny for the past few months, but at the bottom of the crazy that was swallowing me up, Steve listened. I cried, bitched, yelled, laughed, and bitched about it all some more - and Steve listened.

In the end, he just gets me.

Through the day - Through the clouds

Through the monotony, the questions, the piles of clutter and never ending laundry, failed expectations, and much needed reality adjusments-

Steve gets me and I love him!

***And thanks to Steve, I got back to me again and we all had a very merry Christmas!

-more pics to be posted posted soon!

Will there be a SNOW day?!?

The kids have been loving the snow! The count down to Christmas and the hoping for snowdays has begun!!!

ornament exchange 2010

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