ICE

One of the main reasons we choose to go on our little Christmas getaway is the ICE exhibit they have every year, which is still one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.

Last years theme was The Grinch and we expected it to be there for 2 years, so we were thrilled when we found out it would be A Charlie Brown Christmas.  When we found out we booked immediately and went and got a Charlie Brown video, so the kiddos would be knowledgeable of the entire Peanuts Gang.

This was the entrance as we went into the tent.   This piece was not ICE, however 95% of everything in the exhibit is all ice that has been hand carved by Chinese artisans.

My two favorite guys all suited up and ready to go in.  The temperature remains at a steady 9 degrees in order to preserve the work and the sculptures.

I could not resist this picture of my sweet little girl waiting in line to get her parka and so excited about going in to see Charlie Brown.

It  is so difficult to get pictures of us as a family when we travel, but so thankful that we did get this one as we entered ICE.

Loving this wreath and the fact that me and the kiddos were able to peak through it at Daddy while he captured this memory for us.  The temperature was so cold that we had to keep sticking the camera in our parkas underneath our arm to keep it from freezing up.

Look at my little Eskimo all bundled up and standing in front of her favorite girl, Lucy.  She really wanted Lucy to be wearing a PINK dress, that's my girl.

This picture was a must, partly because my sweet husband always tells me I need professional help and the other because of my background in counseling.

I sure wanted to crawl through Snoopy's house, but just could not swing it with a 20 month old on my hip in a size 4 parka when he should have been wearing a size 2.  Emma enjoyed walking through Snoopy's doghouse and this was one of our favorite scenes in the ICE exhibit.

At last, Charlie Brown and Snoopy so excited about their beautiful Christmas tree.  All the other Peanuts stood around them in excitement too.

My little man that I love so much all bundled up in his hat and mittens.  He was mesmerized by all the lights and the decorations.  He was quite the little trooper on this trip.  One of the things I am so thankful for is that both of my kids travel well.  They have been doing it since they were weeks old and it sure makes things alot more enjoyable.  Gavin was extremely brave on this trip and I can not wait to document what a BIG BOY he was. 

We had such a great time and have decided last year that this would be an annual trip for us to kick off the Christmas Season.  We talked with some folks at the resort before we left that said next years theme might be Sponge Bob or Alice in Wonderland.  We are hoping that it will be Alice in Wonderland & look forward to booking our trip next year. 

We have been tossing around the idea of spending next Christmas at Disney, but are not quite sure if the kiddos are old enough or we are brave enough.  This Daddy & Mommy are beyond ready to introduce our amazing babies to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Twinkle in their eyes

We arrived to our little Holiday destination and what to our wondering eyes should appear?   A Jolly Ole Fella in a red suit.  This picture is priceless of our kiddos seeing Santa. 

Both of them could have stared at him for hours as he visited with all the little children.  They were in awe of his beard, his red suit, his big red chair and his hat.

Saturday morning we woke up and were super excited to have breakfast with Charlie Brown.  Emma could not get dressed and downstairs quick enough.  Gavin did not really understand until we got there and of course he was all about eating, but did not want Charlie near him.

Charlie was so wonderful with the kids and tried to work his way into Gavin's heart slowly.  He would scoot towards him and away from him, but Gavin was not so sure about him.  I wonder what he was really thinking? 

Emma on the other hand could not get enough.  She would have held his hand, hugged him, touched him and followed him around all day long.  I can not wait to see this little girl at Disney one day soon.  She is going to be in character heaven.

Guess what, Gavin finally let Charlie into his heart at the end and even decided to give him a big hug good-bye as he was saying, "bye Charwie, bye Charwie". 

This picture just makes me SMILE and so proud that God blessed me with a daughter & a son.   Buzz & Lucy were both purchased on our getaway and they traveled everywhere we went.  They decided to rest on the fireplace mantle and watch us enjoy our breakfast.

Emma believed with her whole heart that this was Santa's sleigh that he would be using on Christmas Eve.  She got in and out of it our entire stay and was such a happy little girl every time she sat up in the seat.  I loved seeing the TWINKLE in both of my kiddos eyes as they took in all the Christmas decorations, lights, elves, Santa, trains and holiday decor.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

We have just returned from our yearly holiday getaway that helps get us into the Christmas spirit. Truly, we do not need any help since our house has been decorated for 3 weeks now, but it is an opportunity to focus on our little family of four.  This is the second year we have gone on this trip after a YUMMY Thanksgiving dinner and we had a great time with the entire Peanuts Gang! 

One of our children loved Charlie Brown and the other could not get away from him fast enough.  Not real hard to see who had an immediate crush on Charlie now is it?   We had such a good time and could have stayed longer. 

Back to the hustle and bustle of our busy life that often leaves us wishing for more time, especially when we look at our calendar for the month of December and see the dates already filled from here on out.  So many memories left to make before 2010 comes to an end and looking forward to what God has planned  for us in 2011.  He has already started preparing us for big changes and we eagerly await all that he has in store for The Frazier Four.

It's a HAPPY day!

It is a constant battle every morning before MDO trying to get my baby girl dressed.  She gets her mind set on wearing something and if it does not work out exactly as she has planned she is not a happy camper.   I decided to surprise her this morning when I woke her up when I leaned down to rub her back and tell her good morning.  I whispered in her ear, "Guess what?  You can wear anything you want today baby girl, shoes and all."  She shot up out of the bed with the biggest grin on her face and took off running towards the closet.    I knew what she would rip off the hanger first and she did not disappoint me. 

Her neapolitan ice cream dress, hand me down sparkly twinkle toe shoes that are too big (compliments of Brook), pink bows with blue polka dots and demanded that her hair be in long braids.  Now that is an outfit Emma Lou and you did not have to think twice about what you would wear today.   You kept telling me over and over again, "It's a HAPPY day Mommy, It's a HAPPY day!" 

Little Man on the other hand, he shoots out of the bed and goes straight for the tree.  Not sure if he is pondering which ornament he can break next or just listening to the music on the ones that do something special.

This morning finds me grateful for THE FRAZIER FOUR!  I am so thankful that God has given me my sweet little family and I have the holidays to celebrate with them.  Life would be so different without each one of them. 

Riding Lawnmower

My brilliant children decided to turn their bubble and noisy mower into a full fledged "riding lawnmower" tonight and it was HILARIOUS.  They are so funny, super goofy and always keep us laughing.   It does my heart good to watch them play with one another so sweetly, especially when it does not turn into a hair pulling/screaming match. Yes, I often play referee around here these days.

Gavin has started running around the house as fast as he can and putting his hands up to his mouth like he is blowing a whistle while squealing really loud.  Eventually he stops running, sticks his hands out in front of him and yells "STOP".   

They took turns pushing one another and a few times each one of them fell off.  Believe it or not Gavin seemed to have less trouble pushing his big sister then she had pushing him.  The boy is a BRUISER.  

Emma is equally as funny and today she had an entire waiting room in the doctor's office cracking up.   Her Daddy took her to the Dr. and after they got checked in, she quickly found a book.  She chose the book, I Love You This Much with characters Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare.  After she opened the book she decided to shout across the room to her Daddy, "Dad come and read the Nut Hare book to me".  Her Daddy started laughing out loud for about 5 minutes and continued to look away from everyone in the waiting area.  He immediately text me when she did it and sent me this picture of her with the book.  He thought it was so funny and the 70 year old Grandma sitting across from him did too. 

So incredibly THANKFUL  for my silly, goofy, rowdy, busy, funny, active and crazy kids.

My Littlest Elf

Seems we have lots of little hands willing to help these days.  It is impossible to keep our little man off the ladder anytime it is out.   I think he climbed it a minimum of 10 times tonight and manged to break the head off one of my GRINCH ornaments in the meantime. We will be in the market for some super glue tomorrow to see if we can't reattach his head, poor Mr. Grinch.  His big sister did not seem to think it was a big deal when she decided to say, "Mom you can just buy another one".  Not that easy kiddo, please just keep your little fingers off the tree.

I think Christmas is going to be really fun around here this year with a 21 month old and a 3.5 year old.  They both are super excited for "Elfy" to come to life on December 1st and start moving around at night.  I wonder what that little guy will get into first?  I am hoping to document his 25 day adventure leading up to Christmas.

Our Family Tree

We have waited years and years to have a tree in our home that only contains our Hallmark ornaments, vacation ornaments and ornaments gifted to us by others over the years.   We have always just combined these with our decorative ornaments because we did not have enough to cover an entire 9 foot tree.  

I am so super excited that the branches of our tree this year will hold ornaments that are very special and sentimental to us. Ones we have chosen for each other with love based on our personalities, what we were into that year, marking the kiddos years to celebrate Christmas, documenting memories we share of trips taken and so much more.  Ornaments from grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends can be found scattered through out our tree.   

When we finished hanging all 90+ ornaments on this tree tonight and I stepped back to take a look, I almost started crying.  Crazy to think we have been a family for 6 years, that Emma is celebrating her 4th Christmas and this year we will celebrate Gavin's 2nd.  My sweet husband was even excited about this tree and talked about how much he loved it.

Here is just a glimpse of some of the special ornaments we have collected over the years.   I will tell you it is not beautiful, but it is loaded with amazing memories that only the Frazier Four could enjoy.  My heart is wrapped up in this tree, it means so much to me and now I will just pray we can keep four little hands off of it.

Hustle & Bustle

No doubt the holiday season is just around the corner in the Frazier household.   It is always a very crazy time of year for us with family functions, get togethers, parties, shopping, picture taking, increase in workload and everything else that you can imagine.   Every year I say we are going to be ahead of the game and every year we are left scrambling around at the last minute.  We are working hard to try and get everything done on our list, spend time with our kiddos and most importantly focusing on the true reason for the season! 

I have yet to document our Halloween party guest but those will be coming this week. My sweet babies sure had a good time and enjoyed all the candy they got to eat. 

In the next couple months I am going to focus hard on spending my evenings with these guys and not opening up my computer until they are in bed.   Everyday I feel more and more time passing and see these guys getting older right before my eyes.

Gavin can be found with a book in his hand most of the day.  Looks like he tore a page out of this one and his sister is not going to be happy with him when she finds out.

I could not let another day go by without sharing this picture of my sweet friend Lauren and her most adorable children, Callen and Paisley.   Lauren and I met through our blogs 2 years ago and have become the best of friends.  I tell her all the time I think we were separated at birth because we have SO much in common.  It is really crazy, but I am sure our husbands are thankful we do not live closer or they would be broke.  Lauren and her sweet family traveled for a couple hours to join us for our Halloween party.  

We often kid and talk about "arranged marriages" for our children.  Truth is, if we can just end up with one of those Hajovsky children we will be blessed.   They are all four spoiled rotten, so they better secure a good education and career to be able to support the other (ha ha).

Lauren & her family live on a farm and we can not wait to travel there over Christmas Break to visit them and their new BEAUTIFUL custom home that should be ready for move in by the weekend.  Praying tons of blessings over you guys as y'all get ready to make new memories in that wonderful home.



This little girl is so excited about Christmas and ask us daily if it comes before Thanksgiving.  She had a blast decorating her tree this weekend and was anxious to assist with all the others also.



We spent our weekend decorating and planning for our family Christmas pictures that had to be rescheduled because of the weather.  Praying for good weather next weekend, so we can get that marked off the list.  Curtis is stringing the final lights on our big tree as I blog and we will get that decorated in the next couple days.  We need to purchase 1 more tree for our study to hold all the ornaments we have added over the years.   Our tree count will be up to 7 when that one is purchased (little and big of course) and we will have no more room for anything else.  I have to stay out of the stores because I am a sucker for HOLIDAY JUNK!  Seriously, I just feel like I can not have enough.  Loaded up a basket today and decided nope I don't need this and quickly put stuff back.  Thankful I made that choice because our house is busting at the seams.

It is so hard to believe that another year has almost gone by.  We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, our Holiday road trip and spending a couple days away with just our family of four.  Change is upon us and we are praying that God blesses us every step of the way as we thank him for the work he has already done.

Friday Night Lights

We love you, we will miss you and we will long to spend time with you next year.   Our football season came to an end tonight and no matter how exhausted I am, it is always a little sad to see it go.  I have enjoyed having my family at the games with me this year and have been so proud of our organizations and athletes that have made Friday nights so enjoyable.

My sweet girl was my date to the final game tonight and we had a great time.   Daddy & Gavin decided to stay home since it was a bit chilly.   I sure do love date nights alone with this sassy little thing & she kinda likes it too.

Emma is going to miss the concession stand and all the junk she gets to partake of during football season.

Our Cheerleaders ran their clinic this week, so we had lots of little ones on the field tonight and they were all so cute and excited to be a part of our final game.

I {heart} this little girl more than I ever imagined and everyday she gives me new reasons to love her even more.   I {heart} that she loves the "Bulldog School" and really enjoys attending school events with her Mommy.   I {heart} that she already knows about school pride and is being exposed to so many different school related activities.  I {heart} that she looks so darn cute in maroon & gold! 

No matter how many times she has seen him, she still does not want him TOUCHING her.  She always says, "Mommy, please tell him to keep his hands to himself" (cracks me up every time).

Hmmm... someone had to have a hot dog tonight too.   I am telling you the girl loves to go to the concession stand.

Yes we can incorporate some Matilda Jane into any outfit we wear, even under our cheer skirt (ha ha).  I am addicted and I can not help it.  Addicted to her, addicted to her cuteness, addicted to that smile, addicted to her personality, addicted to the way she loves me, addicted to her love for life & simply just addicted to everything about her from head to toe.

Emma, it is time for Basketball Season baby girl.  Get ready for Frito Pie, playing in the bleachers, whistles blowing, clocks flashing, echoing, fouls being called and squeaky tennis shoes across the gym floor.

Trick or Treat

We had a blast Trick or Treating with our very own little Tinkerbell and Captain Hook tonight.  We were super exhausted from our own party and tempted to go to bed early, but Emma was so excited to go ring doorbells and get some candy.



Dreaming of Pixie Hollow and flying high up into the sky.  So anxious to leave that she would hardly stand still for us to get a few pictures.

The cutest little hook I have ever seen in all my life.  That is my camera lens cap in his hand, not his hook.  Don't worry, he has one that he grows very fond of before the night is over. 

The best one we could get of them together before we took off for the night.  Christmas pictures are going to be fun.  Get ready "Darwa".



I thought they would stay in this wagon all night and refuse to get out to go up to any doors.

They proved this Mommy wrong when they jumped out and went to the door of every house we stopped in front of by themselves.  If we would follow behind Emma would say, "No Daddy, little kids are suppose to go up to the door by themselves".

 

Gavin seemed a little unsure about things when we got started although he tried to go into every house we went to or open the door up all by himself.

Emma was so sweet to her brother all night and made sure he got to get as much candy as she did.  Gavin tried to sit down on the porch of all the houses and open his candy up on the spot to start eating it, he just couldn't wait. 

By the end of the night he could make his own little hook with his finger and yell, "arrggghhhh".

My handsome little man was exhausted by the time we got home, but we sat in the front hallway and gave candy out to our own little trick or treaters.   The kids enjoyed giving out candy as much as they enjoyed getting it.



Tinkerbell sitting in the window waiting on more little goblins to arrive.  She was hilarious when she would open the door by herself and scoop up lots of candy and put it in their bags.  It was so funny, the kids would look down in their bags and say, "wow" because she was putting it in by the handfuls.  Of course we did not mind because we were ready for bed.

Halloween 2010 has been my very favorite Halloween of all.  I loved having our friends and family over for a party, seeing my kids dress up, watching them trick or treat and listening to them unwrap candy.  This one will be hard to beat.