It's coming to an end

We have spent our Christmas vacation together. Just us for the most part, no extra kids. Just our family together. We have enjoyed our more relaxed schedule going to bed a little later and sleeping in every morning. We aren't rushing to get anywhere and some of the days we spent in our P.J.'s all day. Mike & I have put countless Lego sets together, helped put princess dresses on and off, played with dollhouses and played many new games. But even doing all of that we have had a blast. I have loved this last week and a half. I wish I could freeze time and make this last forever. I don't want my a babies to be a year older & for our schedule to become crazy again. I never make a New Years resolution but this year I am going to, it is to try to slow down take in more and enjoy more. Hopefully I can do it! So I am going back to enjoying my kids while we have a few days left of vacation. I will post our Christmas day activies sometime next week.

My boys have the greatest gift

I think of this subject from time to time. It comes up when I think of my kids growing up and having kids of their own. See my boys have been given the greatest gift. It is a long story but I can shorten it. My family has a genetic disorder in our family tree. It is called Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome. It is a condition that affects many parts of the body and occurs primarily in males.  The most severe cases are life-threatening. 

At least 130 people worldwide have been diagnosed with this disorder. My family has 5 cases. My brother & cousin are the only two still alive with it. In my family it causes major learning disabilities. My brother is 31 yrs old and test at an 18 month old level. He does talk or walk. It is passed on by the mothers who are the carriers and the sons can be affected.
  So the best out come is having a healthy boy. Which we are very blessed to have 2 of them! So that is my boys greatest gift. They will never have to worry about this when they have their own kids nor will they have to worry for their grand kids. Even though I loved being pregnant with all 3 of our kids I was always worried. It was something that I always had in the back of my mind. Now they will not have to do that.
   As happy as that makes us it also makes me worried for Sophie down the road. She will have to worry cause she may be a carrier or maybe she will NOT be a carrier...that is what we hope for. Also maybe by than there will more testing.  But worrying now won't do us any good. It fills our heart to see them all run, smile, laugh, jump, swim, learn and sing. What more could we ask for!!

Here are all that we are blessed with! Mason 1yr.

Parker 9months

Sophie 5months

 

What I have been up to

Every Christmas I add to our decorations. Most of the time it is something I made or that the kids make. This year I have made one Christmas thing and one thing to hang in our kitchen all year around. So I thought I'd share them.

Cookie jar, lights and ornaments

It adds the perfect glow in the corner of my kitchen!

Our hand prints...and I LOVE how this turned out!

Cookies

It is that time of the year again where we make yummy cookies. This year my kids wanted to frost sugar cookies instead of cut out cookies. So we did just that. The kids and us had a blast. They aren't the prettiest cookies but they taste so good!

Parker put frosting on his nose!

Sophie had to copy!

Christmas pasts

So I saw this idea on other blog and just loved it. It is Christmas pasts. It is a

time to remember the past years of celebrating. I chance to see how your family has grown.

Christmas 2005

 2005

 2006

2006

2008

2008

2009

2009

2009

2010





2010

2010

2010...a family of five

Family traditions

So this time of the year is filled with many family traditions for many people. That is one of the reasons that I adore this time of the year. Some of the traditions that I have filled me with great joy are the following. My girls in the family (Angel, Jenni, Natalie, Aunt Terri and mom) go Christmas shopping to  Gurnee Mills every year in November. Us girls have done this for over 11yrs. It is a day of just adults. We stay so long we have lunch and dinner. It is also a day that we get most of our gifts done. We also fill the day with lots of laughter, drinks and fun. I look forward to this day every year.

The next one I love is my day with my mother in law, Jean. We go shopping for the day. The weekend after Thanksgiving. I usually get all my gift buying done that day. I also help her with her gift list. I love this day cause it is a rare thing for her and I to spend a day just us. We laugh almost the whole time. I am one lucky girl to have such an amazing mother in law.

I of course have many more traditions that I hold dear but in time they will have there own posts!

Celebrating my mom today

Today is a day that I get to celebrate a very special person in my life, my mom. It is her birthday. She continues to support us kids. She didn't turn her back on us when my parents got a divorce. She has been the only caregiver for my brother for 31yrs. and she still does it with love. Everyday she wakes up and has taken care of Shawn first. She changes his diaper, feeds, dresses him and has done it for 31yrs. It was all left on her shoulders the day my dad walked away. And while dealing with doctor appointments and many surgeries she still was the best mom to us girls. She still cares for me when I get sick. She is a great grandma for our kids. I am lucky to have her as a mom and a friend!

Happy birthday, Mom!!

She hates her picture taken but a have a couple good ones! Here is mom & Parker.

My mom & Aunt Terri. Their birthdays are 11 months apart.

Christmas has arrived in the DeGroot house

So I did it...I put the tree up. The kids were begging and I love it all up anyway. We bought a new tree this year and it is gorgeous. We have the whole inside decorated but not the outside yet.We will do that this coming weekend.We have four trees total, the kids each have one in their rooms. I know I have said this before but I love Christmas time.

Our new tree

Our tree in the kitchen

Celebrating a day that started it all

This week marks the first steps that began our wonderful journey. We went on our very first date 15yrs ago. Mike was a senior and I was a junior.  We were kinda forced to go on that date. Our 2 best friends were dating at the time and wanted us to become a couple. We went to a Brooks and Dunn concert and out for supper. It was a group date with about 4 other couples. Either one of us was thrilled of being set up but we both went anyway. We ended up having a great time. We went on our second date the next night. We dated each other for about 6 months til we both knew that this is where we wanted to be. And there is where our story begins.

If you ask Mike he says he is the lucky one but I am the lucky one. We laugh everyday with each other. He calms me down when I am over reacting. He makes me smile even if I am mad or upset. He is my soft place to fall. Mike is also given our kids the greatest gift (a gift I never had all the time) the gift of being an amazing dad. A dad that is present, listens & knows how to have fun!

I love knowing that everyday with each other will be filled with laughs. I love knowing our story continues to grow. I look forward to many more chapters.

More of our family pictures

Monica Ninnemann took our family photos last Sunday and she gave us a sneak peak. I am so anxious to see all of them. The five she sent us are perfect. The kids did a amazing, ok so did the adults! So here are the rest of the pictures...I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!!

Papa and Nana with all the grandkids

Sophie Jean

Can't wait to shake the presents...

So as many people who know me know how much I love Christmas time. I am so excited for this year that I want the tree and decorations up now. I love buying presents, the smell of Christmas, the kids excitement, spending time with all of my family and the feeling you feel this time of year. We bought a new tree this year and it is beautiful! I soon will be changing my blog page to Christmas. I am so excited for next week Wednesday, it is our girls annual Christmas day of shopping. Can't wait, hurry up Christmas!

Family photo shoot

We had our families photos taken with Mike's family. The kids did great and the pictures turned out awesome! This is one of my favorites. Monica is still up loading more. So more pictures to follow.

Fall and pumpkin farms

We love fall and can't get enough of it. The weather is cool and the colors are beautiful. Parker's class had a trip to Swan's pumpkin farm and I was lucky enough to go with. It was a nice sunny day and we had a blast. We also went to the pumpkin farm with Nana & Papa (everyone expect Mike) cause he was out of town. Maybe we will get a chance to go with Mike this weekend!

Playin' in the backyard

Parker's field trip

Jerry Smith's pumpkin farm with Nana & Papa... oh and mom

Face painting

Mason wanted to be scary looking

Sophie adored her painting... And I love this picture

Nana & Papa with their grandbabies

Us

Door county and Our 10yr anniversary

We were lucky enough to get to go away to Door county for our 10 year anniversary. I still can't believe that we have been married for 10 years. We got to stay up there for 4 days and 3 nights. The weather was perfect the whole time. We stayed in the same place we honeymooned, Cornerstone. It is an awesome place! We ate out at yummy places, shopped, went to State parks, saw old buildings, went to a candy store and mini golfed. It was nice to just be a couple and focus on us. We had a wonderful time and can't wait til the next time.

A few great pictures of great places in Door county.

Driving to a state park...love this picture

A view from the state park

Us

Our view from our place at Corner stone

Great fall colors