Cousin Dance Video

The Nielsen cousin's had a little dance off on Christmas Eve at the Lake house. This will be on the blackmail list for years to come!

Christmas in the Ozarks

This year the Nielsen Clan left their respective homes and traveled to Gravois Mills, MO for Christmas weekend. Oldest brother Jeremy and his wife Sarah were unable to come due to the fact that they live in Orlando and work for the mouse and this is their busiest time of year. Bummer.

The Texas Nielsen's(and I use this phrase loosely) Left for our trip on Wednesday afternoon after I got off of work. I got released from formation at 11:35 and we were on the road by 12:20. I was thoroughly impressed with our efficient and speedy packing. We drove as far as Tulsa the first night and got there around 8:30 PM. The kids and I passed out within a half an hour of showing up there - Jake was really glad he had a book.

Thursday morning we were on the road again bright and early. We wanted to just get to Missouri because they were predicting a huge snow storm to begin that evening. After navigating our way through the crazy hills of the ozarks we finally arrived at our destination. After months of planning we were there! It did not disappoint. It was a big house set in a quiet neighborhood - where I didn't see another person for three days.

We unpacked and I headed to the grocery store about 15 minutes way. Jake and the kids stayed at the house to greet his younger brother Adam and his wife and son who were coming from Indianapolis. When I returned with my plunder (AKA Christmas dinner) the kids were all in the back yard down by the lake throwing rocks into the water. They had a blast all afternoon - Thor was running so hard that he refused to put a coat on claiming that he would be "too hot"- He's my little polar bear!

We whipped up some pulled pork for dinner and cracked open our Christmas cookie stash. It was fun hanging out with no distractions for once. The TV only came on once the whole weekend and that was only for a short while when the monsters were napping.

The boys had run out to the store to grab a few thing that I had neglected to get and while out discovered a light show was going on at the nearby fairgrounds. Upon their return we all jumped in Adam and Sarah's "swagger wagon" and treated ourselves to a little Christmas adventure. The kids loved it - especially little Wylie- he sat in the front on Jake's lap and every time we passed a Santa he would say "ho ho ho". Too cute! My rug rats were most definitely ready for bed when we got back to the house. It was almost two hours past normal bed time so we packed them away in the master bedroom closet that was to be their bedroom for the weekend. We put a futon mattress in there and they LOVED it. At one point Jake went to check on them and the above picture of Thor is what he found. He was waiting to see his Grandpa! When Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brad and Caleb showed up Thor peaked over the balcony and saw them - he then turned and ran back to his "room". Jake thought he was going to wake Baleigh up and tell her so he rushed up there- only to find that Thor had flopped down in bed and was out like a light. I guess he just had to make sure everyone got to the house safe and sound.

At O'dark thirty (5:30 AM for those of you who don't speak baby anymore) all three grandkids were up and ready to meet the snowy wonderland that had occurred overnight. The first words out of Baleigh's mouth when she saw it were "It snowed so it is Christmas Eve!" She has been waiting for snow for EVER! When I say snowy wonderland I mean a very light dusting compared to what I grew up with but any snow for these guys is magical. They played out in the back yard for HOURS. Baleigh was out with me at 7 AM and aside from a few bathroom/snack breaks she didn't come in until mid afternoon when I insisted on a nap for my kiddos (bad plan on mom's part there). They made a snow man with uncle Brad and rolled several large snowballs- one of which they later dumped in the lake to see if it would float/melt.

After and afternoon of snowman making most of us gathered around the dining room table to make gingerbread houses. This has been a tradition of my family for a long time and is one of my favorite memories from Christmas at my grandma's as a kid. The week prior the kids and i had made a practice house and it turned out pretty good. So we baked the pieces for three houses and assembled them at the lake house. Then we broke out the stash of decorations-or as Wylie calls it "keeny". I the ratio of candy eaten to candy stuck to houses was around 50:50. The most surprising was that even Brad and Caleb seemed to enjoy the event. Thor and Brad decorated a house together and really did a magnificent job.

                                                       Wylie working on his sugar coma

                                                     Thor and Brad working on their masterpiece

  from left to right: Brad and Thor, Caleb and Baleigh, Sarah and Wylie

The kids were stoked for Santa to come, although they were a bit concerned on how Santa comes down the chimney without getting burned in the fireplace. We explained that he just blows the fire out and then relights it before he leaves. Pretty talented guy that St Nick. Baleigh had a case of Christmas eve adrenaline. Long after Thor and Wylie had given in and passed out  she remained awake begging to stay up. At one point I turned on cartoons in Jake and my room in the hopes that she would pass out while watching. I was in the kitchen prepping things for lunch the next day and everyone else was in the living room doing what "santa" does best(eating cookies and putting gifts under the tree). I heard her come out and panicked - I yelled " get back in bed Santa is here!" Then I went up to talk with her. I explained that we couldn't open gifts until the morning time- all she heard was that there were gifts down there. She didn't fall asleep until around 11PM. Then at 5:30 AM she was up to see what Santa had brought.

                          Don't judge- you try and get three toddlers to look in one place at the same time

                                           Thor is one of his animal masks from Grandma Cori

       Baleigh Bean with her baby that she named Dolly Bean- doll and dress by way of Sarah and  Adam

All the cousins had gotten matching "christmas" jammies the night before as had the adults. Thank's Auntie Sarah!   

The turkey went in the oven during presents and the rest as they say is gravy. Grandpa helped by making said gravy as this is a skill I have yet to master. We had quite the spread, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cheesy potatoes, swiss vegetable medley (  traditional Nielsen fare)   brussel sprouts with bacon, and rolls from a can (strangely enough this was the one thing that failed). I don't think anyone was even close to hungry when they pushed themselves away from the table. In fact the two pumpkin pies I had made only got partially eaten. I think that is a huge compliment...people were so full there was no room for dessert.

                                                                About to head home!

I started the packing shortly before bedtime and so we were prepped for launch by 8 AM the next morning. We were on the road by 8:30 along with Adam's family. Having the longest trip ahead of  us with 12 hours of travel we wanted to get an early start. Baleigh made it about 20 minutes in the car before she tossed her cookies- literally and figuratively. We made and emergency stop for gatoraid while I cleaned up the back seat- Thank goodness for baby wipes! I treated her tummy with dome dramamine and 10 minutes down the road she was out light a light. When she woke up for the wold's largest McDonald's in Vinitia, OK two hours later she was all better.

Traffic was pleasant, and the weather was perfect. We made it home right around 9:30 PM on Sunday night and after downloading the car  we all racked out.

This week is only half days so it was nice only go in for a couple of hours before going home. Tomorrow Auntie Katie (best friend from College) is coming down for the weekend. We are all really excited to hang out. We have spent the last few new year's eves with her  at her house so it will be fun to host this year. Although we don't have a Wii so it may not be quite as much fun.                

See How We Have Grown!

 Thor's first Christmas in our tiny one bedroom apartment  in Colorado Springs. 2006

 Baleigh's first Christmas in our New Lenox, IL apartment. 2007

 Our third Christmas with kids after moving from Indianapolis to Illinois again. 2008

 First pictures with Santa and Mrs. Clause at the Ft Leonard Wood Library. 2009

Ft Hood Texas Christmas picture with Santa- Pershing Park Village Christmas party. 2010

Random Chrirstmas Pictures.

Every year since Thor's second Christmas we have made gingerbread houses. This year we made a train instead. The kids still loved it. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Just to clear this up before someone thinks we gave this away or something - this is dessert for the kids for a few days. So if they decide to eat frosting out of the bag while making it, I don't mind.

This is Baleigh making a door hanging at our village Christmas Party. She had a ball and didn't want to leave when it was time for us to go. We couldn't stay long because I had to go to the St Barbara's Day Ball. I would have much rather stayed and made crafts with them.

Santa wasn't actually receiving kids yet but when we asked if the kids could take a quick picture before we had to leave he was only too happy to put them up on his lap for a photo.

Family Pictures

It has been many years since we have had a professional family picture taken. So last week  we headed to Olan Mills to remedy that. I remember as a kid going to Olan Mills with my brothers and sisters to get pictures taken. I have alot of good memories of getting ready and trying to look our best for one of the few times we had pictures taken as a family. My favorite picture is one of my sisters and me all dressed in black and white on a white background. We actually look like we liked eachother. And you would never guess that it was probably 100 deg out that day from what we are wearing. But it was a darn cute picture. I give my mom mad props for doing all that with as many kids as she had. I don't know how she did it.

I really like how the kids' pictures turned out and am so very proud of how the one with Jake and them turned out especially. Check them out!

Image Center - Olan Mills Portrait Studios
Image Center - Olan Mills Portrait Studios

Saint Barbar's Day Ball ~ 3 December 2010~

Last night was the 69 Air Defense Artillery St Barbara's Day Ball. Sounds glamorous doesn't it. It wasn't. The best part of the day was going to get my hair done at lunch and then pretty much having the rest of the day off- until I had to leave at 4:30 PM to go to the ball. I ripped my last pair of nylons before heading out the door so I had to stop at Kmart up the street to grab some- In case you hadn't heard-Kmart Sucks! lol. I linked up with my good friend and fellow Chemo 1LT Sarah White when I got there and we went as each others dates. Neither one of us had our significant other there so we took our formal picture by the tree together. You have what fun you can at these events.

I learned the story behind St Barbara and it was horrific. She apparently converted to Christianity and her father was infuriated. So after torturing his own daughter in the attempt to get her to recant he grabbed her long beautiful hair and beheaded his own daughter. The legend claims that flames then shot from her body and consumed it right before a bolt of lightning came from the sky and struck her father killing him and consuming his body as well. Pretty intense stuff.

I sat with all the guys from my shop and it was mildly entertaining. Thankfully CPT M. brought his wife and she was a joy to talk to. She just moved here from Germany so much of the conversation was explaining why people used certain phrases and explaining the rank system- I remember being the wife who didn't know anything and so it was fun to be able to help a sister out when it comes to being a military spouse.

None of us stayed to dance and we all got out of there as soon as we could. Our trinket to take home was a  glass boot mug. So now I am the proud owner of 2 boots. Classy I know.

2nd (3rd) Birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in 7 days or less....

We had a whirlwind Thanksgiving week. We picked Jake's mom Diane up from the Austin airport on Saturday afternoon and didn't stop moving and shaking for the next week. On Sunday we had a nice pancake breakfast before Grandma and I hit the shopping. In just under 2 hours we completed all of our Christmas shopping. Amazing!

Monday was Baleigh's actual Birthday so we picked up the cake we had ordered the week before to have with dinner. She loved her princess cake and managed to get enough frosting on her to look a little like the cake herself.

Tuesday I had to work so everyone else spent time at the park and doing a little more shopping. We went out to dinner on Tuesday night to an Asian Buffet that we like here in town and the kids learned to use chopsticks- its amazing what kids can do in under and hour! After our international affair we drove out to BLORA to see the Nature In Lights show. We drove through the park looking at over 100 Christmas light displays - it was really beautiful and the kids enjoyed it so much.

Wednesday morning I got up and took the kids to my Brigade Turkey Bowl on post. That allowed Jake and Diane an opportunity to sleep in a little. That and Grandma wanted to do some of the Turkey day cooking so she did the day before things like the pumpkin pies and stuffing for the turkey. That afternoon we took the kids to see Tangled 3D. They didn't want to wear the glasses but still enjoyed the movie immensely.

 Thursday morning the kids and I got up early and stuffed the bird and finished up the rest of the side dishes. When Jake and Diane got up we were able to sit and relax until lunch time. Lunch was amazing. Diane shared two family recipes with me and I was so excited to learn how to make the holiday potato bread (that both Jake and I love) as well as her version of pumpkin pie....its just better than mine and such an easy recipe.

We all stuffed ourselves and then went into our respective food comas.

We had decided to celebrate Christmas on Friday with Grandma since we will be with the Nielsen family on actual Christmas. At 1:30 on Friday morning I headed out to do what little Black Friday shopping I wanted to do. I got to Kohl's and got in line (15th in line wasn't too shabby) for their 3 AM opening. I had planned out my shopping strategy earlier in the week so that I could be done with shopping and back in bed before 4AM. I got in snatched up my treasures and was checked out before 3:18 AM!

At 6AM Thor and Baleigh both popped awake and were ready to see what Santa had brought. They got games (board games are the new greatest thing lately), and each got a digital camera (thank you Kohl's black friday sale- I saved $110 just on those), and several new outfits. Then we sat them both down and had them close their eyes while Jake brought in the holy grail of Christmas presents. Thor got a bike and Baleigh got a motorized Motorcycle (Hot pink!). I am going to try and upload the video of their reaction to it - it was priceless! I think that Grandma was just as excited about her new Kindle as the kids were about their bikes. lol It was really nice to finally get her something that she truly wanted.

Saturday morning we all piled in the car at 5:30 AM to take Diane back to the airport. Baleigh was so upset when she got out to leave- She kept saying "I'm gonna miss grandma!" - poor kid.

Overall it was  a great week- now we need to start prepping for the Christmas in 4 weeks. So excited!

BBQ, Road Trip, and Giant Pandas...

We decided this year that since we don't live close to family that celebrating birthdays would become a nuclear family thing. Thor really wanted to see Killer Whales and Baleigh wanted to see Giant Pandas. Pandas are only located in three zoos in the US. SanDiego, Atlanta, and Memphis. So Memphis won because it was the closest, and Jake and I have wanted to go there for almost a decade.

We went over Veteran's Day weekend since I had 4 days off. I had been in the field for 11 days before that so it was nice to spend some quality time with my family. We headed out on Friday morning not knowing exactly where we were going to stop and a loose plan that we would get to Memphis around 9PM. We stopped for a great lunch in a little town in Arkansas(my first time in Arkansas BTW). The Bodacious BBQ was just that BODACIOUS! We weren't sure what to expect but it was amazing. In fact it was so filling that we didn't actually make it around to eating again until the next morning! I would say it it the second best BBQ place I have ever been too and we have been to alot of places in the past couple of years.

We made it to Memphis around 8:30PM and drove down to Beale St. The best way I can describe it is its like an old down town area that has a bunch of shops and bars on it. It is closed off to traffic at night and so we took the kids for a walk down it. Baleigh was in her own little word -skipping along with her hands in her pockets. So cute. We saw horse drawn carriages and Thor wanted a ride so badly. Baleigh however was reluctant. One guy told her she could sit in his carriage and see if she liked it- she got in and immediately said "I'm just like a princess"?! And that was that. We took a 45 minute ride around what looks like a really beautiful city. Our guide told us about the typical things that tourists do and then gave us the 411 on where to go and what to do with two toddlers. His first suggestion was the Zoo which we were going to anyway but he also advised us against spending a hefty amount on Graceland admission. He said you can get a good look at the mansion without actually going in and that the kids would most likely be really disinterested in what there was there. Kind of disheartening but good to know.

Zoo day dawned bright and beautiful! We grabbed a quick breakfast of muffins in the hotel lobby and raced to the zoo. We were the second car in the parking lot -even after getting a bit disoriented - not lost. I take full responsibility for that as the navigator. The zoo did not disappoint. All the animals were very active and the exhibits are designed in such a way that there is no bad vantage point. Each animal is in an area that is surrounded by buildings that look like they would be found in the area they are from as well as vegetation that is native to their home.We saved the best for last - Le Le and Ya Ya - the Giant Pandas. Baleigh was SO excited to finally get to see them. She ran back and forth to their enclosures trying to get as close as she could.

We made a pit stop in the China Gift Shop. Here she chose a baby Le Le of her very own and a hat and t-shirt to commemorate the trip. She couldn't have been happier.

We had not eaten all day so we headed to a famous BBQ place on the other side of the city. However, when we got there we discovered that it was only open from 4 PM to 3 AM. So we opted to go to the Neeley's (a couple who has a show on food network). Gotta say - worst dining experience/food EVER! : ) I guess we should have read the reviews because of the 100+ on the site I checked out afterward there was not a single positive review.

On that note we headed back to Texas. We had thought that we would stop around the Texas/Arkansas state line but by then the kids and I were sleeping and our amazing pilot drove us home getting us there at midnight. It was so nice to sleep in our own beds and still have two days off before heading back to work. We loved Memphis overall, and Graceland will still be there next visit.

                                                          Memphis Bound!

                                                              Pink Panda Cupcakes - as requested

Halloween 2010

Last year in Missouri we had a stellar Halloween and were looking forward to the same here in Texas. This year Thor decided he wanted to be a Puma. You would not believe how hard it is to find animal costumes for a 4 year old. We could find black cat like costumes that I could have altered for him but he had his heart set on looking like a mountain lion. We scoured the internet and all the local stores to no avail. In the end he changed his mind and decided he would be a leopard. We found one costume that fit that bill and it still needed to be altered to fit him. He loved it though.

Baleigh was SUPER easy to shop for. She walked into target looked at the costumes and decided right then and there she wanted to be a lion. So a lion she was. She wore that costume for three weeks solid before Halloween and for a couple weeks after.

We went trick or treating in the town just north of Killeen the night before Halloween since Halloween was on a Sunday this year and I was leaving for the field early on that following Monday.

The kids had a blast! Baleigh found a few places a little scary but Thor soldiered on and got candy for the two of them at those places. They both walked at least a mile before deciding they had had enough. I have never seen such a good haul.

The following night we handed out candy in our driveway. Apparently our neighborhood is notorious for giving out good candy because we got mobbed and were out of candy(we had 10 lbs) in less than an hour. The kids even ended up giving away a good bit of the candy they had gotten the night before. I think it was just as much fun for them to give it out as it was to go trick or treating. They are such generous kids.

Thor's Birthday

Its been forever since I last updated the blog so here goes.

For Thor's 4th Birthday we drove down to San Antonio to go to Sea World. Every part of it rocked his (and everyone else's) world. Seeing an Orca that close up is truly a wonder. The sheer size is enough to make you stop and gape, but to see them do flips and tricks with such ease is amazing.

The day we went was really perfect. It was starting too cool off and was on a weekday so the park was virtually empty. We stopped for a pancake birthday breakfast before hitting the park and then hit the ground running. We saw the dolphin show which features acrobats and is combined with an exotic bird show as well. Strangely enough Thor's favorite part of that was the part where the Macaw's flew right over our heads multiple times.

He had the opportunity to go shopping in Shamu's gift shop and came out with a 4 foot Orca who has slept with him every night since.

When we got home he helped me make and decorate a his cake with Orcas. IT was fun to have some time doing that together and he really liked the cake. We haven't quite made it to Cake Boss status yet but we are trying.