The 2012 Christmas Tree

Gettin' in some 'Grammy book time'

Kennon, Uncle Bill, and Maddox. So I guess he would be Great Uncle Bill to the kids. 

a little smooch from KTK

Maddox and Kennon got their official personalized letter from Santa. Super cool...well really more cool to Mom at this age but in time......

Decorating Grammy and Papa Dick's tree 

So with the warm weather today we decided to venture out to pick out our 2012 Christmas tree.  The farm we normally go to ( since 2004) was almost out of trees last year so we knew we'd have to find a new farm this year.  We went to Trees and Traditions in Leclaire, IA, as recommended by my friend Megan.  We LOVED it and really enjoyed the farm more than our usual. Unfortunately we found out, as the worker boys were tying our tree to the top of Sienna ( yes....they do it for you at this place.....!!...they have this completely cool car loading station that you pull your car in between and they step up on the stand and tie on the tree.....) that this is their last year. The owners are retiring. Total BUMMER.  The kids both had a ball wondering around and looking at the trees.  Maddox kept calling the saw a 'sweep'.  She found her own 'sweep' ( a long stick) and kept trying to cut down her own trees. It was super cute.  Everyone was really friendly and there were TONS of photo spots. Kennon even got to sit on a TRACTOR...he is sooooo into tractors/construction equipment right now. This was a 1956 Oliver and apparently Grandpa Orville used to have one on the Kies family farm. Eric wasn't too far off when they asked us to guess the year of the tractor.  Kennon loved sitting up on the seat and attempting to turn the steering wheel.  They still use the tractor despite it's age.  Maddox was too afraid to get up on it, for fear it was going to start up....still fearful of loud noises even in her old age :) So the tree is up in the tree stand, slightly crooked and we are thinking Blake the Elf is going to put the lights on tonight. Kennon is really oblivious to Blake and I really thought that Maddox was going to start behaving a bit better since Blake's arrival this AM but she promptly threw a huge fit when we got back from the Christmas tree farm wanting to watch cartoons.  Eric and I have decided we are going to have to develop some sort of visual chart to ration out her cartoons as she is literally ADDICTED to them. The other pictures are from our visit up to Grammy and Papa Dick's for our belated Thanksgiving and Uncle Tyler's birthday celebration. We had a fabulous time seeing the Denver clan and Grammy was in tip top shape!!  She cooked up a fabulous Thanksgiving feast fit for a king.  Carter and Maddox played like they were best buddies. It was really cool to see, given the fact the Knowles family will be midwest bound very soon.  The kids helped decorate Grammy and Papa Dick's tree and spent time playing with the toys. We were sorry we didn't make it down to Washington to celebrate Thanksgiving with Grandma Jean Grandpa Jim and Great Grandma Reta.  We all got the terrible stomach flu the week of Thanksgiving which completely turned our plans upside down.  Luckily before we got sick Grammy and my Uncle Bill were able to come over for quick visit to see the kids. Uncle Bill had flown in from California for Thanksgiving. He looked great and is battling back at his Parkinsons with a good medication regime that allows good functional mobility and quality of life. Kennon totally loved him....you can see he is giving him a kiss in one of the pictures.  So nice to be able to spend time with family. We are so blessed.  Have a good week and enjoy the pictures. I managed to get some great shots at the tree farm.  Our babies are growing up.....they look so old already!! 

Carter James  putting some finishing touches on the tree. We are so excited to meet your new little brother in February Carter !! 

Uncle Tyler reading to KTK 

Aunt Brooke and Maddox 

Whooo Hooo!! Cake. See how close Maddox is to the person with the cake. Happy 32nd birthday bro!! Nice shirt.....  :)

Maddox and Kennon on the antique sleigh at the tree farm. 

Eric and Kennon on the 1956 Oliver

You can't tell but we told Kennon to give the Grinch a hug....he has his cheek plastered up to the statue. Super cute. 

We took a tractor ride to the spruce section and then walked back to the fir section. I'd probably be considered a tree snob. I like firs over spruces. Just my opinion :) 

'Oh, trees!!'

This was my best attempt at getting a picture of the kids in front of 'the one'!!  This beauty is now residing in our den.....slightly crooked :) 

Maddox and her SWEEP!!

How completely perfect are these 2 shots!!  So happy boy....!! 

Maddox getting ready to cut down her tree...with her sweep

Mom says 'Don't poke the decorations Maddox'!! 

Maddox spied a Lion King book in the kids area by the fire. 

Odds and Ends....(title borrowed from my friend Megan)

So I just have some random pictures from my iPhone. It seems our regular stand alone camera is a bit on the brink and has been un-usable the last few photogenic opportunities.  This weekend was great weather wise and family wise. We went to the Festival of Trees parade in downtown Davenport. It was a beautiful day which really brought out the crowds but we still had a good time. The kids enjoyed the big balloons.  Then today we did some more work outdoors on the yard and put up some Christmas lights, taking advantage of the warm weather.  Kennon is now taking the place of our old cleaning lady. Well, she was barely old to us as we had only had her come two times before her helper was arrested for stealing some jewelry from one of their other clients. Luckily WE didn't have anything stolen but unfortunately we are now on the look out for another cleaning lady!!  Kennon is doing a good job helping me in the meantime :)  We are looking forward to seeing everyone during the Thanksgiving holiday.  

mmmmm....yummy donuts from Hyvee....an oddity around the Kies house

It was 'All About Maddox' last week at church school.  We got to make a poster and I got to go to her class and read her favorite book. 

Kennon 'helping' me clean. 

Action shot...

'Whoa...did I do that?'

'I sure did and I'm proud of myself too'

A stop at McDonald's on the way home from the parade!!

mmmm....yummy fries.....

Halloween Happiness

I think he kinda looks like a Sasquatch here

I love the depth of this picture. Kennon looks twice the size of Maddox!! 

So I uploaded this pictures over the weekend and never got back to writing the text.  So, all my funny little sayin's I had formulated in my mind while I was cataloging the pictures are now gone. So this time I"ll let you formulate your own. In a nutshell Maddox and Kennon had a ball trick-or-treating. We got to go with Hannah and Charlie, Jody and Aaron our neighbors up the road who are moving to Minnesota....as I type this....Kennon and I are actually watching Charlie so Jody can help the movers load up the semi.  We are sure going to miss the Stegemanns!!  Watching the two boys interact together is really fun. Quite different than Maddox and Kennon.  They are both slapping the toys to see who can make the loudest sounds. Charlie turned 1 on Maddox's birthday so he is just slightly younger than Kennon but is not walking quite yet.  It would be cool for Kennon to have a little brother!! Anyhow Kennon got a neat light stick from our neighbor Lori to the North of us on Halloween night and after that he really could have cared less how much candy he did or didn't get. He LOVED that light stick and literally just sauntered from house to house following Maddox and Hannah arriving at the doors in own sweet little time all the while pushing the light stick on and then off about every 30 seconds.  He was mistaken several times as a BEAR instead of a monkey which kinda became a funny joke between Jody and I.  As the sun went down it got really chilly so we retreated home to homemade pizza.....and a feverish Maddox.  Maddox woke up at 2am with a fever keeping her home from school the next day. We were lucky Grandpa Jim came to the rescue and was able to stay home with Maddox while Eric and I worked.  Thank you GRANDPA JIM....this retirement of yours is really coming in handy!! Just a 24 hour bug or something as she was able to go back to school on Friday.  Last Wednesday Maddox went for her  3 yr check up. She is up to the 74th percentile for height at 38.5 inches and the 54th percentile for weight at31.8  pounds.  Dr.  was happy with how she looked and even took her blood pressure which was 110.60 if I remember right. She didn't get any shots, which was good since it was Halloween.  Dr said we are able to move her to whatever type of milk we want, even skim.  Both kids are sort of alternating sleeping through the night. So it seems like forever that Eric and I have gotten a full nights sleep, I guess that is just Murphy's Law when you have two kids.  Actually Eric takes the brunt of that as his sensitive ears allow him to hear the kids much more timely than myself.  Well back to entertaining the boys.  Have a good week.  

Kennon and his light stick....slightly mesmorized!! 

Maddox's first sucker.....a purple blow pop

Hannah and Charlie

Maddox Hannah Aaron and Charlie

Check out the mask on the candy giver.....a little scary for the toddler aged kids in our neighborhood!! See Maddox is keeping her distance.  It was a really scary mask....I didn't even go to the door. 

Jody captured this shot....perfect smiles and Halloween Happiness written all of their faces.