"Twas the Night Before Christmas"

'Twas a few days before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse - thanks to our mouse houses out in the garage!
The stockings were hung by the TV Armoire with care (no chimney in the barn house for us) in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,while visions of Wii games and Barbies and Babies danced in their heads. And Mama in her flannels, and I in boxers,had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.

No such luck for the nap - I did mention only a few days before Christmas didn't I?!

In place of the napping I am getting some kid free time. Robert took Caleb and Kelsey to work with him today and Chloe stayed with Aunt Ashley while I ran a few errands. Any free time is better than none even if you have to deal with Walmart shoppers three days before Christmas!

We are here for Christmas Eve and Day and then will head up to Tennessee on Friday to see Robert's parents. No fun to drive up on Christmas Day unless you really want Subway or a pecan log to count for your Christmas dinner!!

The kids have two whole weeks off for Christmas break - maybe Robert should have waited till next week to take the kids to work - would probably really need the alone time by then!

Hope everyone has a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. With the Tennessee trip and the preparations for Christmas (baking, wrapping, cleaning, etc.) I will post again in the New Year!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight or at least one good night of sleep!

Chloe Turns 1!

November was a busy time for the Heller household! Chloe turned one on November 20th, we had her birthday party the weekend of Thanksgiving and prior to that we also had Thanksgiving at our new home. Note to self - do not have two things at our house in one weekend!

Hard to believe but our youngest is already one years old. Not walking yet but getting very close. She is standing up and crawling all over the place. She is into everything of course but she is still a very calm baby - nothing like Kelsey was! Maybe she has to be with her brother and sister always running around. Her birthday party was alot of fun - we did a hayride and bonfire - firsts at the new home. We love living in the country! Have to also mention mom and I were quite impressed with ourselves on the cake. I decided this year since it was a barnyard theme and also on Thanksgiving weekend (not too many cake stores open) that I should make the cake. Didn't we do a good job??!!

As I said before we also had Thanksgiving at our house. It was a lot of fun. I am so excited about our new home and it is nice to show it off. We were happy to have some new people come this year and we were also a little sad about some that couldn't make it! I know my dad missed out on our Nanny's cornbread dressing. Busying working up in Denver! It was a very relaxing day. Everyone got a chance to ride around on the four-wheeler or the truck and explore our land! Did I already say how much I love living out here?! Memaw and Pepaw Heller along with Mimi all stayed the night that night and got to play on the Wii with the kids! They had a blast along with a few laughs on trying to get the hang of it!

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. With the temperatures dropping we are also getting into the Christmas spirit. I am baking lots of cookies and the kids are constantly wanting Hot Chocolate. Along with the low temperatures the wind is pretty strong out here too especially with no trees to block it out. We will be working on the tree situation in the spring! The kids are loving their warm cozy pj's and I am loving tucking them in earlier than usual and getting myself into a warm bed early too! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!