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Candi

our merry little christmas

The birth of Jesus Christ. Decorations. Traditions. Gift Giving. Food. Family.

We celebrate all of the above and this year was no exception. It was a little different with my grandma having passed in May as well as family drama that has caused some traditions to cease. That didn’t stop us from making this a memorable Christmas for our children as we do every year. I wasn’t the least bit stressed about shopping this year which was nice. Ken always helps me shop for the kids and as they get older the presents get more expensive, but usually more simple and easier to wrap.

The kids got me a MacBook Air, which now means I will be able to blog more and make many more videos for our YouTube Channel. Since I work at my desk all day I just can’t stand to sit there for a second longer than necessary to work on the Mac desktop that we have.

The kids were all spoiled as usual.

Andrew

Blake

Chase

Karli
She also made a What I got for Christmas Video, it’s all the rage on YouTube.
Her blog post is here.

Our elf, Clyde, also wrote the kids a letter before he left on Christmas Eve. If you click on it, you can view it larger.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our kids, both sets of grandparents and my grandma Mille. It goes by too fast as always. Our tree only has one more day before it gets moved back into storage. Soon the house will be back to normal. Kids back to school. Here we come 2014.

candi

December 31, 2013 by Candi

blog

Christmas Haul 2013

Hi, This is Karli Reese and I’m 9 years old and this is what I got for Christmas this year. Hope you like it, please thumbs it up and SUBSCRIBE!

December 30, 2013 by Candi

holidays & occassions

Merry Christmas

We didn’t send out cards this year so consider this your Christmas card!

I know some of you probably thought we took you off our card list since I always send out cards. But nope, just wasn’t feeling it this year. The internet pretty much keeps all of you updated and you see plenty of photos of us throughout the year.

Thank goodness the photos even turned out. We had enough time for one photo right before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and fingers crossed that we ended up with something presentable. I would have got yelled at by Ken to hurry up if I would have tried to take anymore than that. We are all always getting yelled at before church. If you think about it, church is one of the few things that we go to as a complete family where we really have to be there at a specific time. Must be why I whine about going to church most of the time. I enjoy mass while I’m there, but boy do I hate the process of getting there. Plus you can’t wear sweats.

Rest of our photos will be coming shortly :)

So how was your Christmas?

December 27, 2013 by Candi

blog

October & November Pictorial

The past couple of months have been full of busy times, let’s recap…

Andrew went to Homecoming…his last one :( Which he went to with “the guys”.

Andrew turned 18!

We surprised him with a party with his closest buds, here was the first wave of friends. Others came throughout the night.

And then he went and got a tattoo! This is what it looked like the day he got the tattoo, the shading looks different now, especially in the middle. I’ll have to get a recent photo.

Roller blading with friends and cousin Emma.

Happy Halloween! Karli dressed GOTH for a school party. Her friend’s costume was so cool!

Then she decided to go with a pink tutu for trick or treating with a sweater just because it was chilly and raining a bit. Chase wore an old baseball uniform. I love when they get older and will just wear whatever instead of wanting a fancy expensive costume. They just want the candy :P (That’s Karli’s friend there in the middle.)

Chase turned 11! Two different cakes, one on his actual birthday and then one for his party.

We took him and his buddies to Sky Zone and they had a blast.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house and Chase helped me clean the turkey. Yes, he just balances on the countertop like that. Weirdo!

After dinner we played game after game of Scattagories with the kids…Tori was my helper!

I can’t believe Christmas is in 8 days! We are ready for the most part. We actually have everything wrapped too. No more waiting until the last minute. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!! HO HO HO!!

December 17, 2013 by Candi

blog, movies & tv

AVATAR the Exhibition

The Henry Ford Museum invited us to come visit their museum to check out AVATAR: The Exhibition. We have all been to the Henry Ford Museum before when the kids have taken field trips in elementary school. There is so much to see at the museum and we have always gone through it so quickly. It was nice to make a visit as a family and have no time schedule to adhere to. I was super excited to check out the Avatar exhibition as it is an amazing movie and James Cameron is one of the most brilliant directors I know.

It was like walking right into a piece of Pandora. They had some actual items straight from the film.

I almost don’t want to share everything with you because truthfully it is so worth checking the exhibit out of you are an Avatar fan. Stop scrolling now if you don’t want to see the rest of the photos!

There were so many interactive things like these replica cameras that allowed you to “film” actual scenes right from the movie.

They had a fun video game, which of course the kids loved! I had to pull them away from it because other people wanted to see it too.

They had touch screens set up where you could create your own plant life that also resembled plants that were in the movie.

Another touch screen area where you could check out different creations and creatures.

One of the coolest things that you MUST DO when you visit the exhibition is perform your own scene and watch yourself move around Pandora displayed as an AVATAR character. The video of the whole thing which is uploaded to YouTube and the link is sent to your email for free. Chase thought that was pretty neat.

If you are interested in visiting the AVATAR exhibition be sure to visit soon as it will only be in Dearborn until January 26th. If you are really feeling the AVATAR vibe you can see the entire movie at the IMAX theatre right there as well. The Henry Ford Museum is open 7 days a week from 9:30 – 5pm (closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas). It would be a fun activity to enjoy during the holidays especially one of those cold days when the kids are driving you batty or won’t stop fighting with one another! They will have things decorated for Christmas with some cool trains and such starting November 29th. I’m not a big history buff myself, but there are so many neat things to see (9 acres worth) as well as interactive activities for the kids to enjoy.

And if you happen to live where we do, here’s a tip. We love stopping for a delicious sub sandwich at JERSEY GIANT SUBS in Woodhaven on the way home!

November 26, 2013 by Candi

blog

August & September Pictorial

Rather than writing out a whole long thing about how busy I have been since the kids have gone back to school, let’s just pick up where I left off. I thought I would share some photos from the past couple of months. So what’s been going on?… Andrew just filled out his college apps last week and has been thinking a lot about what he wants to major in. Blake is playing football for the junior high and doing amazingly well, making touchdowns and surprising me with how hard he has been working. He has had a lot of homework this year, but I keep him on track. Chase has been playing football as well and he has been a piece of cake when it comes to school. Just call him Mr. Independent. Karli is on her 4th year cheering at only 9 years old and her just started her 4th year of dance with this year being her first year dancing competitively. That means more time at the dance studio as well. I am so proud of her, she has really become a confident dancer this year. She needs a little more pushing when it comes to school so between her and Blake I feel like I am back in school myself at times. As for Ken and I we are happy to be back working all day without interruptions. I turned the big 4-1 last month and I tell you what, I have been getting to bed before midnight for the first time in a long time. 6:30am just rolls around all too soon and 6 hours of sleep just doesn’t cut it anymore. Getting old stinks :( Ken and I also celebrated our 14th anniversary earlier this month and we are now one of those couples who have been married so long we lose track of how many years it has been. We are lucky we can just take the year and add 1 to it since we got married in 99′. Other than work and kids I’ve been enjoying some of the new fall shows and reading Twilight again. Not sure why…I just had the urge to read the series again.

Some random photos…

Karli and Chase getting munched on by some camels.

We don’t do this often enough…A fun night with friends.

Our little cheerleader

Chase almost had to get stitches but was saved by Dermabond (glue) instead. He cut the back of his foot open while riding his Ripstick in the garage.

Blake had to dress up at school the day of one of their football games. He actually picked out a pink tie, I was surprisingly happy. He was all like…I’m not too cool to wear pink. Or maybe it was I am cool so I can wear pink? Not sure.

October 21, 2013 by Candi

blog

Back to School

It’s here! Back to school, which means back to work for me :( The kids were ready with their thinking caps on bright and early this morning. HAHA…not even close.
This year we have one son graduating high school, one son graduating junior high, and the other son graduating grade school. It’s going to be a busy year!

September 3, 2013 by Candi

blog

Diamond Candles Ring Reveal & Giveaway

It’s time for another giveaway! I was lucky enough to receive a candle from Diamond Candles and also give one away to one of my lucky readers. If you haven’t heard of Diamond Candles yet you are missing out!

Everyone loves candles right? Well these all natural soy candles have a special surprise inside. Inside each candle you will find a ring valued from $10 on up to $5000! And if you don’t believe that anyone would get a ring worth that kind of money, just check out the Diamond Candles Facebook page and there you will find people who have received rings of value. Plus it’s fun looking at everyone’s photos of their rings! The candles are available in so many wonderful scents such as Chocolate Truffle, Honeydew Melon, Sweety Pea, Watermelon Wedge and much more.

Of course I wasn’t one of the lucky ones, but jewelry is jewelry right?! Karli loves the ring and has been wearing it every since. I had picked the cupcake candle and it took about 8 hours for the candle to burn down low enough so we could remove the ring. The ring is in a tiny plastic bag and then wrapped in foil.

Just to give you an idea of what some other types of rings people have received…

Video: Ring Reveal and my thoughts on the candle

Giveaway information

To enter you must use the Rafflecopter widget below. There are several ways you can enter the giveaway and you are able to enter more than once by completing each of the options!
Giveaway will end on Tuesday, September 3rd at 11pm (EST). Winner will be contacted via email and will have 24 hours to respond before a different winner will be selected.
U.S. Residents only, 18+ please.
Feel free to share the giveaway with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received one Diamond Candle for review and all opinions are my own. I am not associated with Diamond Candles in any way. No purchase is necessary to enter. A credit card is required to claim your free candle via DiamondCandles.com. Your card will not be charged, but is required for processing.

August 25, 2013 by Candi

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