Chillin'

Doesn't everyone double fist their chicken fries? Hey, if he's eating, he can have one in each hand, ear, foot as far as I'm concerned! (Okay, not really - that's gross) ;-)

Random daycare pictures

Here a few random pictures I received from daycare. Always makes my day a little brighter to see this sweet face pop up on my phone!

Nathan and his former infant room teacher, Adrian (now in the 3 year old room)





Wanted... for being so cute! :-)



Nathan and his bestie, Zach. They are only about 3 months apart!

Da Bears

I have noticed a trend in the Lance family since September. Every time all our of us would wear our Chicago Bears attire on a game day, they won! But it had to be all four of us... the days it was only me and Jamie or only Sean and Nathan, well, it didn't bring the luck.

So you'd better believe that last Sunday all four of us were decked out head to toe in our Bears gear, hoping for a win against the Packers that would send us to the Superbowl! Well you all know how that worked out. :-(

Regardless, are these not the two cutest Bears fans EVER? Seriously.cute.kids.

Globetrotters

I'll admit it... I've always wanted to see the Globetrotters (Jamie too!). I'm not sure why, I do know it's a show and not real basketball players, but I've always loved seeing their commercials and wanted to go. So me being the awesome Mom I am, took my desire to see them and placed it on my child. I mean, what 4 year old boy wouldn't want to see them... right?

We had the opportunity to get discounted tickets with my nephew's boy scout group, so we jumped on the chance to see them! Mom and Dad were kind enough to stay home with Nathan (concrete stairs + Nathan = heart attack for Mommy) so that we could truly enjoy this experience with Sean.

So did the show live up to my expectations? Well, let's just say I won't be as disappointed if Nathan doesn't want to see them when he is older. But we did have a good time! The humor was probably a little old for Sean, and there weren't quite as many tricks as I had hoped, but it was a fun night with my sweet Sean!

Living up to my childhood nickname

My Uncle Jim... I just love him to pieces! When I was little, he used to sit me on his lap in his pick up truck, and let me "drive" through the corn fields. I must say, I was quite the steering fool! ;-) While I never actually crashed, he gave me the nickname "Crash Gertrude". I still giggle every time he calls me that!

Last night on the way home from the Illinois basketball game (of which we WON), we were in a car accident. The freezing rain and falling temperatures helped form a nice sheet of ice on the roads. While approaching the intersection where we needed to turn, we began to slide... fortunately, we were able to stop JUST in time before hitting the car ahead of us. The car was starting to turn right, so there was just enough room between that car and the car in the forward lane next to us, that it allowed my car to turn about 45 degrees without hitting anything. Except...

The car that was behind us was unable to stop, and ran right into the back of my car - that started a chain reaction of about seven more cars hitting each other. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Even more so, the kids were NOT with us (I'm still so grateful to God for that!). The gentleman that hit us had his front bummer dented and partially off (the rear part of his car did not fair so well), but amazingly, my car had NO damage!

Jamie and I are doing well... a little stiff and sore today, but I think that's more from tensing up than being hit. The roads are much better this morning, although there are still some slick spots (I did see one car go in the ditch this morning). They are calling for 3-5 inches of snow tonight and into tomorrow, so who knows what the next couple of days will be like. But for now, we are all safe and sound.

Bath time fun

Monday night I was going to take a bath and enjoy my "bubble spa machine thingy". Yes, that's the official turn. Well, enter two kids and forget that - THEY wanted to play! It was worth giving up my relaxing time to see the fun they had with all the bubbles!

Happy New Year!

2011. Just seems bizarre! I remember thinking 1999 seemed SO far away! This year, my parents were gracious enough to watch the kids so that Jamie and I could actually go out! Now, don't get too excited - our dinner reservation were at 5:30. I mean, come on, I can barely make it through the news!

KoFusion, one of my favorite restaurants here in downtown Champaign, was having a New Year's Eve special so we thought - why not! So our besties Kelly and Mason joined us for a yummy celebration!

Christmas 2010

Christmas morning brings another set of traditions! Each morning, we celebrate Christmas at our respective homes (ours, Mom and Dad's, the Stones) to see what Santa brought! This year was especially fun for two reasons: 1) Sean really got into it this year, 2) Nathan didn't sleep through the whole thing! Normally Jamie and I don't exchange gifts (just very, very small things under the tree... everyone needs something to open), but I must have been a VERY good girl this year. Santa brought me an iPad!!! I was SO shocked and very pleased! Needless to say, between my husband and two boys (don't let their ages fool you), I haven't been able to play on it too much. ;-) The boys loved their presents, although Nathan was done after the first one (too many distractions with his current toys in the same room).












After we get cleaned up, we head over to Mom and Dad's. The tradition there is stockings first (from Santa) and then some snacking/brunch before presents! A couple of years ago, Mom actually invested in matching stockings since our mismatched childhood stockings had seen better days. Aren't they beautiful?



The cousins - take 2! Excuse the laundry basket... it's the only way we could get Nathan to stay still!

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year! I think I almost like it more than Christmas Day! It's been tradition in our family to go to Christmas Eve service and then head back to Mom and Dad's (used to be my Grandmothers) for Christmas dinner, and then the kids get to chose one gift to open. This year, Jamie's Dad, his girlfriend and her daughter were able to join us! It's always so nice when they are able to come to church with us and celebrate such a wonderful holiday!

Dinner was delicious (as always) and the boys all have such a fun time playing together! The gift Sean chose was probably one of his favorite gifts this year... a SECOND Wii Motion Plus controller! Yep, no more sharing remotes for this family!! Plus, Grandma and Grandpa didn't know it yet, but Santa was brining them a Wii for Christmas! Nathan opened a gift card to Toys 'r Us! Can't go wrong there. ;-)

It was a wonderful service, yummy meal, and priceless time with the family!



My little reindeer (Rudolph's got nothing on him!)






Brotherly love... Nathan loves giving Sean hugs, Sean likes to run away. ;-)




The cousins



My sister and her family (I LOVE this picture)