More Christmas vacation activities...

Our neighbors the Macks are military retirees and they told us we needed to visit the Patton Museum, so this place has been on our list for a while. Now that Drew is in Cub Scouts, some of the things we do, he can pass of as part of his requirements. This was one of them. I've never been a big museum buff, but this place was pretty cool. It had tanks from all the different wars fought from World War I to Desert Storm. It had different types of guns, jeeps, missile launchers and other warfare. It is located about 1 hour south of Louisville in Fort Knox, which is the Army base here in Kentucky.

"Hitlers Nightmare"

Whoa what a bullet!

"General Patton"

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That night I was making dinner and the next thing I know I look over just in time to see Jack falling down the stairs. Nothing I could do but watch and scream. He fell from the very top stair all the way to the bottam. Luckily he rolled on his side, and it wasn't head over feet. Otherwise I think there would have been much more damage. He came away with a big bump near his eye, which over the last few days has given him quite a nice shiner! This is the 4th time he has fallen down these stairs. I'm not sure how to prevent it. The kid is completely accident prone!

Christmas Eve

The afternoon of Christmas Eve I took the older kids ice skating with our friends the Lorenats. This was the first time Laynee and Drew had ever been, and it was my second time. The first time being back when I was 18. Drew was a stud. He picked it up very quickly and went full out. Not caring if he fell. Laynee was a lil more careful. We usually skated holding hands. It made both of us feel a little bit more reassured with our skating abilities. By the end we were doing pretty good as well. Drew didn't want to leave, but I was cold and my knees hurt. ( I'm def. getting old!)

I'm not so sure about this!

Drew and his friend Brock

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That night the Davis and Mendenhall families came over to have Christmas Eve dinner and decorate some cookies. We made some yummy Cafe Rio and the kids had a hay day decorating cookies. Christmas was in the air. The kids were crazy hyper and ready for a visit from Santa! I didn't get very good pictures, so these will have to do.

Ben, Seth, Justin and Drew
Laynee and Adison

Christmas Morn 2009

Well another Christmas has come and gone. This year the kids were as excited as ever. In years past it has always been me and Spencer waiting for the kids to get up, not this year. Laynee and Drew asked if they could get up at 6 a.m. We said sure, knowing that in years past it never happened. The only stipulation was they could NOT set an alarm. Well the kids went to sleep and had vision of sugarplums except for Jack, which was sick all night with a horrible cold. No sleep for us. Sure enough at 5:55 a.m. Laynee and Drew came bounding into our room, just as we had settled ourselves down for a long winters nap. This was the first Christmas I can ever remember when I did NOT want to get up! I had to get up. I couldn't tell them to go back to bed and take away this Christmas moment. Soooooooo......here is Laynee with her electric scooter. She also got clothes, clothes, shoes, and a snuggie.
Drew on his new bike. He also got an air soft gun with all the equipment, and a remote control helicopter.

Jack saw these bouncer balls from Santa (one was his and the other is Seths) and he would not put them down. He carried them around for a good part of the morning. Whenever he opened a new present, he would try to hold it along with everything else. Funny kid. Jack also got a scooter, a sword, and baby dino.

I didn't get a picture of Seth this year, not sure why, but he got a skee ball machine, a sword, and a bunch of other stuff. All in all Christmas was a success once again.

Seth's Christmas Program....

was today at his Preschool and he did a very cute job, with only a few rare dorky Seth outbursts. If I was computer/techy savy at all, I would upload a bit of his singing, but I'm not. They sang 4 songs. Christmas Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday Jesus. After the program, we went to his classroom and had some cookies.
They also had Santa there making a friendly appearance for all the kids. This was Jacks first encounter with Santa and we weren't sure how it was going to go, but he was so excited and went over and jumped on his lap and preceeded to tell Santa everything he wanted for Christmas. Santa gave them both a coloring book...I guess we will have to wait for another week to see what else he brings them.

Got your ugly Christmas sweater?

Last week was the annaul Storms Christmas Party. As always, fun was had by all. We did most of the same things. Pot luck yummies, signs, mafia, name game, white elephant gift exchange, and new this year, an ugly christmas sweater contest. I looked everywhere for the worst, but really couldn't find anything. My sweater was ugly, but not bad. On the day of the party, Spence still didn't have a sweater to wear. He called me from work and I told him to pick one up on the way home...he said he didn't want to. I pretty much commanded him to, and I'm glad he did. This is the pretty lil' number he came home with......

And oh yes, he won! Cathy Lorenat put up a good fight with hers, but Spence could not be outdone. I think the fact that it was a woman's vest, and it was too small helped capture him the win. Upclose...isn't the bead work amazing! It really was like wearing armor it was so heavy.

Off to the races.....

Kason and Melanie came out to spend a week with us here in Louisville. We took them to the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Gap Clearance Center, and today we went to Churchill Downs. I have never been myself, so this was something new to me as well. General admission tickets were $3, but a worker gave us free tickets. SCORE!!! Did I place a bet? Hmmm...ummm yes I did. How do you go to the track and not place a bet? I didn't even feel bad about it, and no I did not win. My horse took 4th. I was out 2 bucks, but didn't have to pay an entry fee, so I call it even.

Our box seats about 25 yards from the track, dead center to the finish line.

I told Seth just to make it fun, that if he called the winner I would give him 5 bucks. We watched 6 races, and he won once. The #10 horse Yikes. It was a fun day at the races.

Halloween Round 2

The 2nd annual neighbor Halloween party. Our neighbors are awesome! Most of them are older couples, but they love to get together and hang out with the kids. We roasted Halloweenies (hot dogs), brauts, had chili, chips, and of course Sandy made lots of treats.

There is a house just down the street from us that we call the "blow up house." For every holiday they have tons of blow up decorations. Jack likes to visit this house and inspect them each holiday.

After eating, the kids got into their costumes and were ready for a night of trick or treating. This is Drew as a scary skeleton, grim reaper sort of dude. Seth as the blue Power Ranger, and Jack was the cute lil' green skeleton.

After about 2 hours of trick or treating this was Drew's haul. Yes, only Drews. He was quite proud that he made it to the JACKPOT level listed on his bag. Oh how he is my son! I remember running from house to house, not caring so much about getting to eat all the candy, but just getting as much as I possibly could. His bag weighed 6 pounds!!! Laynee and Seth had about as much as Drew and Jack did pretty all right for himself. All in all, we figure we have about 20 pounds of candy. YIKES!! Mason here we come!

Trunk or Treat

Happy Halloween! We had our ward trunk or treat party the other night and as always the kids had a blast. It had to be held inside this year due to rain, but it didn't dampen their spirits. This is round 1 of dressing up. (round 2 is coming...you'll just have to wait a little bit.)
Drew...dressed up as not just any football player, but TROY POLAMALU from the one and only Pittsburgh Steelers! Yes, this was my idea, and a fine idea it was! Drew wasn't as happy about it until he got lots of compliments on his costume. He was finally reasurred that his mom had been right. His choice of costumes will come in round 2. It had a mask, and no masks allowed at church.

Laynee...our cute lil' 50's girl. Props to Grandma Janice for the costume. She made the skirt, and the sweater, even tho you can't see it very well, was hers from yes you guessed it...the 50's.

Jack...a Jackhammer this year. He has the coolest name for costumes! Although he looks dang cute, this costume was lacking in the functionability category. We had a hard time getting into and out of doors, and manuvering around people. More for him in round 2.

Seth...SpongeBob SquarePants. What can I say...stinkin cute! His costume was given to us by some random lady that met us while out on a walk. Weird, but he loved it.

Stay tuned for round 2.....

Halloween FHE

The Monday before Halloween has been and always will be the annual pumpkin carving night. The kids look forward to this family home evening all year. Even tho they aren't real big fans of scooping out the pumpkin insides, hence Laynees face, they have a great time pretending to eat guts. It has always been an inside joke with Drew that he needs to try the guts each year. This year he finally got it and just pretended. Woo-hoo, it only took 8 years to get the joke!

The final outcome of our carving night: a wicked, scary pumpkin face carved by Drew and Dad, a skeleton face by Mom and Seth, and a lil' monster created by Laynee. Once again a good night had by all.

Montgomery Farms 2009

We love, LOVE, LOVE this place! It has been tradition for the past 6 years to go up to Montgomery Farms in Underwood, Indiana one weekend in October. This event is the kick off to fall/winter and all the fun festivities that take place over the next few months. If winter wasn't so dang cold it would be my favorite time of year. This year we happen to show up on their fall festival day. This meant they had live music, vendors, and fun game booths for the kids to win candy and toys. They finished the day with fireworks at dark. Its not Montgomery Farms without the........

rope swing in the hay loft,

the corn pit, (where no matter how much you shake and shimmy, you always end up finding more corn in their clothes when you get home.)

the petting zoo, and of course the haunted hayride. Its always tons of fun to hang out by the campfire with good friends, eating dogs and smores! This year it was incredibly muddy due to the rainfall we have had. This made entering and leaving the parking lot, both on foot and car, an adventure. After some pushing and more pushing we made it home with a little more than a really dirty van. (We also reeked of campfire smoke. A major pet peeve of mine. ugh! Love campfires, hate the smell!) Looking forward to next year all ready. Sadly, it will be the last time for the Wells Family. :(

Hello 80's.....

So I was giving Jack a haircut last night, and had an epiphany. Jacks hair was long, for him anyway, and it naturally grows into a duck tail in the back. I was remembering back to the good ol' days when boys used to grow out there "tail." I couldn't resist.

So I give you Jack from the front......

Are you ready for the awesomeness?

Jack from the side..........

Sweetest haircut I have ever given the boy! I put it in a ponytail just to show how long it was. I think the best part of it all was Spence coming home and saying, "Jack you got a haircut. Turn around and lets see it. " Totally unsuspecting of what was coming! His face and outburst of laughing was priceless! So now I take a vote......let him keep the tail (of which he is quite proud of. He didn't want anyone touching his ponytail.) or shave it. I'm totally ok with bringing the "tail" back into fashion. I have no shame!

Drew's new pet

Speedo, the turtle, pretty much only lasted a week before I decided he wasn't the right pet for us. He wouldn't eat and I don't think he liked us. Therefore, we let him go.

Drew came home from school the other day with a new idea for a pet. They had been studying crayfish in science and were done with the topic. The kids were able to take them home as pets if their parents would allow it. Well, when Laynee studied crayfish, her lil' guys were just that. Little. So I told Drew it was fine and sent him to school with a small tupperware to bring it home in. When we picked him up from school, this is what we got. The thing is GI-NORMOUS! He barely fit in the tupperware! I told Spence, he could have a feast if he wanted to cook him up......the kids said I was mean! So this is "Red". The newet addition to the Wells Family. He lives in a bigger tupperware than before. He eats hot dogs and cat food, and as of now, he is still alive. I've got to say.....as far as pets go.....he ain't so bad!

Seth & Soccer

So Seth started soccer for the first time this Fall, at the tender age of 4. His first game went pretty well. Today was his second game, and he apparently felt pretty good about his soccer skills. Please note that this story would be much better had you been there, nevertheless you can imagine as most of you know how Seth IS! He is playing and next thing you know he has the ball and is kicking it down the field yelling. So we listen closer...what is he saying??? Oh my, the kid is TRASH TALKING! Seriously. These were the phrases being uttered. "I'm the best." "Ya, you can't catch me dummies!" "You can't stop me." We were laughing our guts out. It was hilarious. However, it got embarassing as he wouldn't shut up! When the quarter was over, we had a kind talk about NOT saying anything on the field unless it was for your teammate to pass the ball. He did awesome even tho most of the kids are bigger and more experienced. He has had a good teacher from playing with Drew. I think that might be were he learned how to trash talk as well. Boys are such fun!

Happy 8th Birthday Drew!

What a big day for our Drew. How many people get to be baptized on their birthday?!? We celebrated in style. Both of Drews grandmas came out, along with a surprise visit from his cousin George. Drew was so excited to see him! After some soccer games, we headed off to the church for his baptism, and finished off the day with a birthday party surrounded by friends and family. Happy Birthday and Baptism Bud! We love you!

FYI...the scrape on Drews face he got a couple of days before from a wicked awful bike crash after going off the neighbors ramp. Another FYI...Drew got an even bigger ramp for his birthday. Aren't we the best parents ever. We look forward to more bumps and bruises.

First day of school...2009-10

A little bit late, but better than never!

Laynee A big 5th grader at Zachary Taylor Elementary

Drew 3rd grade at ZT

Seth Preschool at Trinity Presbyterian