Santa and Kay's Gotcha Day (sorry the photos or out of order, I cant figure it out....)

We are diving deep into the Holiday's this year and nothing better than a trip to Macy's to see the Day in a Life of an Elf, finishing with a moment on the lap of the Father Christmas (or known to kids throughtout the world as Santa). No last name needed, red coat, white beard and the ability to make kids dreams come true, Ah youth!

This year we headed out early mainly because we had spent too much time last weekend in the house and needed a break. Macy's was surprisingly not crowded and we were able to get through the display without waiting. The kids seem to like it, the animation was cool and you realise how busy an elf is. Up at 5 breakfast at 6 snack at 7, 8, 9, 10 and lunch at 11 followed by a nap, more snacks and then dinner and bed, not sure how or when they make the toys but as the song goes, "I make toy's but I have aspirations, girls and boys before you wish for what you wish for there's a list for, naughty or nice consider the price for an elf!" (yes, Kay dressed herself that day - moon boots, brown polka dot dress and pink leopard tights. nice)

They each sat on this lap and they want (in order) a skateboard, rollerblades and a skateboard (do you see a pattern?) Then, we were off to write it down in a post card to mail to the North Pole (in case Santa is forgetful) and dinner.

Kay's gotcha day was Tuesday of this week (she came home to be a Murphy 6 years ago Tuesday) but due to our busy Tuesday schedule (gymnastics, basketball and Grandma & Grandpas plane landing) we went out to dinner on Sunday night instead. To.......Mirror of Korea! Yum!! They kids all ordered their favorites without even brousing the menu and Kay made me promise I'd get her a little bit of everything. They (once again) ate like we havent fed them in 6 years. There wasnt a morsel left on the table and if I didnt watch it, Kay would have eaten my finger.

Then we headed home and watched the coming home video of Kay. She was WAY too cute, and chubby and it was great to see Seoul, her foster parents and all our Australian friends (at least on video).

On Kays ACTUAL gotcha day, aside from all the sporting activities, it was more movies of Kay as a baby and cupcakes with Grandma and Grandpa.

It was a really fun start to the holiday week!

A House Divided - aka Jimmy's new obsession

Ok, before I launch into my blog about Jimmy's new obsession. Here is a quick update on the kids week with Sue while we were in Mexico.

Billy "Mommy, I miss you and it makes my tummy feel funny"

Kay got a 100% on her 1st ever spelling test

Jimmy "Do you think Mommy & Daddy are having as much fun as we are Sue?"

I think that says it all...

So, as with the North & South Koreans, West & East Germany, Pakistan and India....The LoudAmericans are also a house divided. As good Minnesoteans & Wisconsonites, its the age old rivarly of the Vikings and the Packers. The boys have decided to be staunch Vikings fans, Kay and Nikki are even-ing the sides by declaring themselves Packer fans. Its a mess, a riot and very loud.

The 1st Packer/Viking game brought Jimmy yelling at the TV EVERY time the VIkings touched the ball. This lead Kay to yell at the TV EVERY time Kay touched the ball. Of course, Nikki didnt want to be left out so... every time one of the kids yelled, she coursed through the house at top speed. Not a relaxing way to watch the game but pretty funny. As everyone knows, the Vikings won and Grandpa Jim now owes Tom & Jimmy a cheeseburger.

Weeks went past and Jimmy dutifully studied all he could on football. I come home from work 4-5 days a week to find him watching football, by himself, talking to the ref's and cheering for which ever team happens to be playing. I have no idea how he decides who he's going to root for but he told me today that his favorite college teams are North Carolina, Central Michigan, Florida, Gophers, Badgers .... His 2nd grade class plays touch football every day at recess. You could call it an obsession. (an ironic obsession since neither Tom or I follow any organized sport, and our TV watching time totals about 7 min's a week)

So, the next Packer/Vikings game comes along and I decide to up the ante. A bet between Mommy & son. The wager? If the Vikings win, I'll buy Jimmy a Favre Vikings jersey. If the Packers win, he has to wear a Favre PACKERS jersey to school all day. Needless to say, the bet was on.... As the game was during our flight to Mexico, I was unable to watch my bet go south. No worries, Jimmy called the MINUTE we got into our house in Mexico screaming, "they won they won ... when are you going to buy me my jersey!?!" Then, he proceeded to give me a play by play of the game. (dont ask me how he figured out to call Mexico, I'm not sure I want to know). I guess in hindsight its a good thing he won the bet otherwise he'd be this kid....

I came good on my bet and as much as it killed me, Jimmy is the proud owner of Favre Vikings jersey. He wore it 3 days in a row and I had to peal it off him to put it in the wash yesterday.

Today we had tickets to the Gopher game- last game of the season in the "bank" (the new U stadium) They were tickets through work and we made it a mommy son game. It was SUPER fun. The Gophers won and Jimmy (along with his posse of 10 yr old boys) watched, cheered, discussed and boo'ed the game, the players and the refs. Fun was had by all.

I earned a TON of Mother of the Year points this week:)

TDNS 4

Like an old shirt the boat people reconnected in beautiful Mexico for a week of bonding, guacamole and sun.

This does not suck 4 began early Sunday morning with our 5:05 departure from Minneapolis to Puerto Vallarta Mexico. The Murphy's, Milbrath's, Petersens and the Fosters all arrived safe and sound and the party began. We had each submitted a 7 song play list for the evening , Ben created a play list and we had cocktails and reminisced about trips gone by and had a blast.

We stayed at a beautiful home that is part of an exclusive resort group that the Petersen's are members of. The place had 4 huge bedrooms, a living room, movie/TV room, kitchen and it's own pool, along with daily maid service and breakfast, pachcha!

Monday was Day of the Dead, a celebration of life so to speak in Mexico. We all hung around the pool, read books, napped, read more books and waited until 3:00 when the fresh daily dose of guacamole arrived. After about day 4 we put a stop to the guac as we had more than enough! We had our own cook come in two different nights and we had two Mexican Fiesta's that were out of this world. We had Mahi Mahi and this new fish called grasshopper, really it was red snapper but after a few glasses of wine the hearing gets a little fuzzy?

The group had a blast reconnecting, sharing life stories and forgetting for a few days that we all had kids, jobs and we concentrated on being on vacation. Tracy and I managed to get a work out in each day and speaking of work outs as any of you know from following this blog there was a competition between the guys and the girls as to which team could amass the most miles, the girls won, way to go!

We went to the Four Seasons Hotel for cocktails, appy's and the sunset which was beautiful. Then to really signify that we were on vacation, we had a party within the party. Mr. Foster had a birthday and nothing says happy birthday like a sombrero and tequila! Happy 40 something Terry.

Five days sitting around the beach , the pool, our pool finally got the best of Tracy, Terry , Marry , and myself so we got a cab into town and rented a sailboat to sail around the bay. It was awesome and of course we had to drag Foster back to the shore.

All good things had to come to an end and we all said our goodbyes with a plan of a return to the boat in February 2011!

The Zack Brown band had the song of the trip that went something like this' I had my toes in the water ass in the sand not a worry and a world of cold beer in my hand life is good today, life is good today"

Thanks to Sue for watching the kids and to the boat people for just being themselves.