Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Schienbeins!!!!

Santa Baby

Guess who has officially decided that Santa Claus is creepy?

I think this photo is all the hint you'll need!

Tayler however, thought he was pretty nice....but did question whether or not he was the REAL Santa. I told her I thought it was...or at least one of his elves.

On the way to go see Santa, Tayler told us all of the things she'd be telling him she wants for Christmas. NONE of the things listed were things we've purchased (our luck), but luckily we're not done! We also talked about what she could tell Santa Carson wants. I suggested she tell him to get Carson his own potty chair (because that is what Santa already bought for Carson) but she said that was gross and didn't want to ask Santa to get him that. So, she told him to get Carson a teddy bear. Such a good girl, taking care of her 'only communicates what he wants through crying and fit throwing' little brother.

I thought I'd also include the picture with Santa from last year. I can't believe how much the kids have grown. It's hard to believe that was only a year ago!

How Lovely Are Your Branches....

Oh, Christmas Tree. Oh, Christmas Tree. How the Schienbein's love your branches!

Tonight we went and got our Christmas tree. This is EARLY for us, but we were just so excited.

What is it about bringing a huge, live tree into your house and putting sparkling lights on it, that just makes you grin from ear to ear? I don't know the answer to that, but that's exactly what happened to me tonight. Brian does the sawing, and fashioning into the stand. Tayler and I usually do the majority of the actual decorating. It is so fun to go through all of our ornaments remembering where we got them, and what they mean to us.

And Brian and I did the lights. Well, Carson helped/made things 20 times harder, but his heart was in the right place. He's is a fan of Christmas lights for sure. And actually, I feel a little bad for being so certain that he'd all over the tree and ornaments. But much to our surprise, he was surprisingly well behaved while the decorating was in process. That didn't stop us from putting the gate around the tree. You just can't be too safe with a little guy like Carson around.

We haven't gotten our 2009 ornaments yet, but I did get a Hallmark catalog in the mail the other day and browsed some of this season's stuff. Oooooh, am I excited. And I think Tayler is going to have a tough time choosing. There are some good ones.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

this guy is ready for a tree hunt!

Brian getting the lights in order

the lights done, ready for the ornaments!

this finished beauty!

Reindeer!

Today we went to Beaver Bark (a local nursery with some of the coolest stuff ever) to see the REAL, LIVE, reindeer. It was great! They had two reindeer in a pen that were both really neat looking, but evidently not the friendliest animals ever. There was a warning sign letting you know that "Comet & Blitzen" do NOT like it when people pet them, that they do not like dogs, and that their antlers are very sharp and should not be touched. So, we just looked. But it was wonderful nonetheless. My sister had already been twice with the kids she babysits, and she knew that Tayler and Carson would really like it.

There was TONS of Christmas decor displayed there. I wish I could just go in there and decorate my house all over with things there. I bought the ornament I'll be taking to my work Christmas party while we were there too, and I think it'll be a hit. I really like it.

They had Christmas trees for sale at the nursery, and we looked a little bit. It's a bit early for us yet. But, it was nice to look around. Ahh, I love this time of year.

GOOD friends

Today was crazy. Actually, I'm not sure crazy covers it. It was NUTS. I had to work, and Brian had to be out of town for a hockey game. We'd lined up a sitter, but that didn't work out as planned, so at the last, stressful minute, my dear friend Mary agreed to watch C for the day. Her and her hubby had a day of errands planned, as well as a (much needed I'm sure) mommy-daddy date night planned. But she cancelled, rescheduled, moved and shifted EVERYTHING for us. I cannot say how much this meant to me. She is truly a lifesaver. I can count on her for anything. I hope that someday, I can return a favor this huge for her. For now, lunch will have to do. Along with a babysitter for their next date night.

Mary has a daughter. ONLY a daughter. So, the stuff for kids at Mary's house is prominently pink. Hence Carson's pink "Cutest Cowgirl" bib in this picture. And the pinker than pink highchair you see him sitting in.
And yes. The pink blanket he clutched as he slept, in Mary's arms I might add, because he cried every time she tried to put him down.
Here is Carson and Mary's daughter Amelia, playing nicely together. Mary has two HUGE but very friendly boxers, which Carson adored and snuggled a bunch while he was there too.
And lastly, this is Carson with Mary's husband, Mikey. Mikey was telling him about the fire being HOT as he was safely being held back by the "keep babies away from a hot fire" fence built lovingly by Mary's step dad.
All of these pictures were emailed to me by Mary while I was at work. It made a really hectic day feel better. I am so thankful for friends like Mary & Mikey.

Hair Cut Day

Today the Schienbein kids had an appointment to get hair cuts. But, this wasn't just any hair cut appointment. Tayler's Grandma Gwen gave her a gift certificate for her birthday to a place called Monkey Dooz. It's a hair salon for kids where they have movies playing while you get your hair cut, they have chocolate scented shampoo, you sit in a toy car or a cool glittery pink chair during your cut, and when you're all done, they'll put glitter in your hair if you'd like. So, it's a pretty special place. Tayler has been there several times. She even had her birthday party there one year. But, today was Carson's first time. Not his first hair cut though, since as you probably read in a previous post, Brian and I tried our hand at haircutting a few weeks ago. We decided to let a professional spruce it up a bit for us.Tayler was first to get her haircut. She's been begging us to let her get her hair cut short, to her chin short, and to let her get bangs cut. Now, that might not seem like too big a deal to most people. But, in our house, where sometimes dad is the hair stylist before school, it is very important that Tot's hair is long enough for a pony tail. Pony tails are what Brian does. Only pony tails. So, that was important. Also, Tayler has a bit of wave in her hair, so I was worried that if she got bangs, they wouldn't

lay well. I think she has an idea of what bangs should look like, and that is what she wanted. I was just worried they wouldn't be what she thought, and she'd be upset. But, the stylist did a

little playing around with her hair and said that she thought bangs would actually work okay with her hair type. And, she cut her hair as short as she possibly could, while still allowing enough length for a pony tail. It turned out SO CUTE! She looks so grown up! Unfortunately, after her haircut she was being a teeny bit crabby, so the only shot Brian got was a grumpy one, but it still looks great! We're really excited to do it for school tomorrow!

Carson sat in one of the toy cars while he waited for his haircut, and was basically having the time of his life. He thought it was so fun to turn the wheel back and forth, and to twist the buttons on the dashboard. He did have to get out for a little while because he would not sit on his bottom, and was scaring his mom to death. I really did NOT want the hair cut day to turn into an ER visit with a cracked head! When it was finally his turn, I told the stylist that I wanted him to still have a "baby" haircut, but it needed to be cleaned up. I didn't want to sound like a naggy mom, but I was just worried that he'd come out of there with a buzz cut, and he'd look like an 8 year old. The stylist was VERY understanding, and very nice about the whole situation. He was a wiggle worm the whole time she was snipping away, but she said

he was doing great. And she just kept adjusting her angle, depending on what he was doing. I think she did a fantastic job making him look so very handsome, but still like my sweet little guy. I couldn't be happier about the way the haircuts turned out!

Happy Birthday Tayler!

Today, our little Tater Tot is SEVEN years old. I can hardly believe it! It seems like it was just the other day that she was running around in a diaper, telling Brian and I when we got her up in the morning "I soaked!" She's grown up so fast! She's such a responsible, caring, kind, beautiful person. We could not be prouder of the young lady she's growing up to be.

We kind of celebrated her birthday all weekend long. Friday we picked up Tayler's cousin Maddy. (she's the girl in the middle above pic, and to Tayler's right below) I took Tayler and Maddy to the mall where they got to pick out matching earrings to wear. Then we went to dinner at Tony Romas. There were grandparents, aunts, and friends galore! And a special treat....one of the teachers from Tayler's class was our server! (As she so sweetly explained to Tayler, she doesn't get paid when she's a student teacher, so she works at Tony Romas so she can pay her bills!) Tayler of course got that "I can't believe my teacher actually has a life outside of the classroom" look on her face, but was very excited to see her outside of school!

After dinner, AND dessert, we went over to the Toyota Center for a little birthday surprise....Disney On Ice!! I have to be honest, I wasn't terribly excited to go, but it turned out being a great show! The choreography was amazing, and the costumes were beautiful. We all had a great time.

We came back home and the girls giggled until the wee hours of the night. Note to self....no more slumber parties the night before a busy day!

Tonight we had some family over for BBQ'd hamburgers (Birthday Girl's pick) and cake. It's basically been a party all weekend. Tayler got some great gifts, and got to see a lot of family and friends. We're all exhausted, but I think we all had fun!