Merry Christmas!!!

As the holiday quickly approaches, I wanted to get one more post in!!! The kids finished up school this week with parties and a visit with Santa. It made for a very busy week but it was a lot of fun. They will be off now until after New Years.

This year we will be celebrating Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve and then we will spend Christmas Day with Jon's family. The kids are very excited about Santa coming and are equally excited that they will get to open some presents a day early! They keep reminding me of that when I tell them how many days are left until Christmas!

I have to admit that this holiday has been a lot of fun with them. They are getting to the point where they are old enough to really know what is going on besides just presents. They have been busy making me crafts at school to decorate with and they even went shopping for each other this year. So far, I don't think that they have told each other what they picked out but who knows what happens when we aren't around. I am glad that I took the presents and hide them or else they would both have them by know!!!!

We wish you all the very best during this holiday season! I pray that you will all be surrounded by the love of family and friends and that your hearts will be filled with happiness. We are thankful to have all of you to share our lives with! Merry Christmas!!!

"O Christmas Tree!"

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect afternoon to put ornaments on the tree! There is a light snow falling outside and I had two very eager helpers! It was really neat to watch the kids this year. They are both older and they actually are able to put the ornaments on the tree on their own. This was a real stretch for me, though. I kept wanting to move their ornaments from where they had put them because they were too "bunchy". I had to keep reminding myself that it was okay, they are having fun. But you can be sure that Mommy will be doing a little rearranging once nap time comes!!!!

Doing this kind of thing with the kids is what Christmas is all about. Watching the kids decorate the tree and talk to one another about their different ornaments. We are truly blessed to have two healthy kids and to be able to help them make these memories that they can hopefully carry with them throughout their lives.

We will complete the decorating tonight with Daddy. Emma has asked to put the star on top of the tree this year and we need him to help with that!

We hope that you are all experiencing the joy of the holidays in your house as we are in ours!

I survived "Midnight Madness"!

As we all know, the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. Last year the outlets and some other stores in Lancaster decided to open at midnight to begin the shopping early. My mom and my Aunt took part last year and had a blast! Not wanting to miss out on the fun, I decided to give it try this year. I was a little apprenhensive at first because I am usually a pretty early to bed type girl. About half way through I decided.......THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!!

Yes, it was cold and yes there were tons of people but it was so much fun hanging out with my mom and my aunt! It was definitely girl bonding time for the three of us. I am happy to say that we did come away with some pretty awesome deals and I was able to put a dent in my Christmas shopping.

By the time we arrived back at my parent's house about 12:30 the next day, I have to admit that I was pretty beat! But that will not stop me from going out again next year! We have invited my brother's girlfriend to join us and we are looking forward to another great time together!

Our Little Cowgirl

Emma has been learning about cowboys in preschool and it culminated with a day to dress like a cowboy or a cowgirl. Emma was so excited to dress up and go to school. So, with a hat and horse borrowed from her brother she headed to school!

She is was just too cute and I couldn't help but share her picture! She really loves going to school and Mrs. Stauffer says that she is really starting to make friends and to open up with the high school kids. Our baby is growing up!

Trick or Treat!

This year was I think the first time that trick or treating with the kids was actually enjoyable! They are both older now and they actually enjoy the event instead of it just being mom and dad dragging them out!

We went back to our old neighborhood to trick or treat because the houses are close together and they have sidewalks. Plus we know that our old neighbors give out good candy! It was nice to see people again and the kids really had a good time!

These are the moments that I want to hold onto because I can see already that they are going to go by way to quickly!!

Transformers...more than meets the eye!

Today was Ethan's halloween party at school. They also got to dress up and go trick or treating at the high school! He told me this morning that he was sure that his costume was going to be the best! When I picked him up after school, he told me that he had an awesome day at school and that his favorite part of the day was trick or treating!

As you notice his costume is a tad tight and the weather here has changed and gotten cooler. When I was getting him dressed this morning, I put an undershirt and pj pants on him and gave him specific instructions not to take his costume off at school! Needless to say, I learned a mom lesson today when I got to school and he was in his pj pants and undershirt! I shouldn't have said anything and he probably would have kept his costume on!!!!

The title of my blog comes from the original transformers cartoon that was on with Jon and I were little. It is so crazy how this stuff becomes popular again after twenty some years! Thanks to Nan (Jon's mom), Ethan has his own vintage transformers to play with that use to belong to his daddy!

Happy Halloween everyone! I will post our trick or treating pictures after tonight, so stay tuned!

It's a bird, it's a plane.....

It's Supergirl!!! Today was Emma's Halloween party at preschool. They got to dress up in their costumes and go trick or treating in the highschool. I think that it is awesome for the school to do this with the kids, although it does mean alot more unwanted Halloween candy!!! But that is what this is all about right?

Emma was very proud to be supergirl today and I think that she looks too stinkin' cute! I told Jon that today was a moment with her that I want to freeze in time forever. It is so exciting to see her getting to do and experience the same things that Ethan already has. It is also a little sad at the same time because it means that our baby is growing up!

Stay tuned for further adventures with Supergirl!!!

Parades Are Fun!

Each year with go with Jon's family to the Manheim Parade. It is filled with floats from local businesses, tractors, animals and marching bands. The best part for the kids is that most of the participants give out candy! Nan is always has bags for the kids to collect their candy in. The highlight for Ethan this year was seeing B.R. Kreider's John Deere 9520 tractor pulling the two pans and seeing his cousin Benjamin in the parade. The only problem being that once he saw these things, he was ready to leave! Uncle Brent, maybe you could pull some strings and make this the last part of the parade next year!!!

Emma loved the marching bands and marching along with them! It was so cute to watch.

We all look forward to the parade every year. I think it is so cool to have traditions with family like this that the kids can carry with them as memories as they get older.

Harvest Days

On a Sunday afternoon that felt nothing like fall, we went with Grandma to Harvest Days at the Landis Valley Musuem. Landis Valley is a working musuem similiar to Williamsburg in VA. They had all kinds of things for the kids to do like pumpkin painting, a sandbox filled with shelled corn, face painting and wagon rides. The sandbox with the shelled corn was a huge hit with the kids. They also visited the face painters and came away with spiders, pumpkins, candy corn and an acorn painted on cheeks and hands. The event was sponsored by Turkey Hill and they had brought along their huge cow mascot and free ice cream! The kids really enjoyed both the cow and the ice cream as you can see in the pictures. Thanks Grandma for a great day!

Ethan goes to School!

Today Ethan headed back to preschool for his final year! He has really missed his friends over the summer and has been looking forward to going back. He had his open house last week and he would have started that day if they would have let him!

He will have the same teacher this year, Mrs. Miller, and quite a few of the high school teachers are back as well. Ethan is also glad that his friends Daniel and Xander will be joining him again this year. Mrs. Miller has already told the boys that they will need to be her special helpers this year to help the newer students in the class. Ethan loves to be in charge, look out new kids!!!

We will keep you posted on all of Ethan's preschool adventures! Next year we head to kindergarten!

Emma goes to preschool!

Monday, September 17th, was a big day in the Wile household. Emma had her first day of school today!!! She was very excited to go, although she was a little concerned about the fact that I would be leaving her there. Ethan reassured her that Mommy always comes back to pick us up!!!

When we first got there, Emma checked in and put her stuff in her cubby. She left pink blanket and Froggy-Froggy there which I thought was a very positive sign! (For those of you who don't know, Emma doesn't do much without pink!!!) Then she went over to a toy that she had discovered at open house and began to play. She was very careful not to let me out of her sight! She got very frustrated with her new toy and things weren't looking good for me to leave. Emma loves rubber stamps and thankfully one of the art projects for the morning was making your name with rubber stamps. Mommy steered her over in that direction and was able to get her involved with that and get a quick kiss good bye!

Emma's teacher's name is Mrs. Stauffer. Ethan had her for his first year of preschool and we are so glad that Emma has her too! When I got to school to pick Emma up, Mrs. Stauffer was quick to tell all of us anxious parents that there were NO tears today!!! Emma came running out to meet me and said that she had a really fun time! She especially liked the cupcakes that she had for snack and was very proud of the fact that she peeded there!!!!

She is looking forward to going back on Friday and hopefully things will go just as well. We are also hoping that Mommy will be a little more relaxed! (Maybe we can skip the Pepcid!!!)

Emma's Big Day

Today was a big day for our little girl. We had her preschool open house today! She will be attending the same preschool where Ethan goes and she will have the same teacher that Ethan had his first year. We really liked Mrs. Stauffer and we are glad that Emma will have her as well. She is very excited about school and has been telling everyone that she is going. But she did get a little shy when we actually got there today! She did have a good time once she settled in and didn't want to go when it was over.

Her first official day is on Monday. Mommy is hoping for a tear free good bye for both of us!!! I will be sure to post all the details of her first day on Monday!

"Ethanism"

Kids are great! This morning I was in the bathroom getting ready and Ethan came in to say good morning. As he was stretching, he passed gas. He looked at me and smiled and said "That was just exhaust Mommy". I couldn't help but laugh! Knowing Ethan and his love for all construction equipment makes this a funny moment that a mom doesn't want to forget!

Summer Memories

I need to apologize because I didn't quite keep up my blog the way that I intended to when I first created it! Alot has happed since my last post and I hope that you enjoy the picture slide show. Here are a few of the things that happed in our world this summer:

1. Ethan graduated from preschool. They really go all out with cap, gown and diplomas. The kids look so cute! Ethan almost didn't make it due to an ear infection but he really wanted to be there even though he wasn't feeling well. The girl in the picture with him is his "girlfriend " from preschool. Her name is Abbey and she is all that he talked about!
2. In July, Ethan turned five!!! It is so hard to believe that he is five already! I am not quite sure where the time went. We celebrated with a Cars birthday party with family and a few friends. He had a great time and he said that his presents where his favorite part!
3. In July, we also had our vacation to Stone Harbor with Jon's family. We had great weather at the beach and the kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousin Benjamin. Ethan loved jumping the waves and Emma was much happier playing in the sand. Overall it was great because the kids were much happier at the beach this year!
4. In August, we went to the zoo. This has become an annual tradition for our family and this year Jon's sister and her family and Jon's parents went along as well. This was part of the kids Christmas present to Nan and Pop Pop. We had a beautiful day and a great time although Emma asked to go home after about an hour!!!!
5. In August, we also celebrated Emma's third birthday! We had a Go Diego Go birthday party. Diego and his cousin Dora are Emma's best friends right now! We had a great party and Emma enjoyed being the center of attention!

Overall, it was a great summer! Jon and I also celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary!!! We were able to go away over night to Baltimore which was a wonderful treat! Again, I have to say where has the time gone! We have accomplished alot over the last ten years and we look forward to seeing what the next ten hold!

Also, Emma is now potty trained!!!! Personally, this was the highlight of my summer! No more diapers!!!

With the coming of fall, I am hoping to keep with our blog on a more regular basis. Putting together the slide show for this entry, you realize how fast time moves and all that is happening in our lives. I wanted to be able to share all of that with all of you!

Love,

Jon, Becky, Ethan and Emma

Testing, Testing, Testing!

I just wanted to see if I could make this work and I can! More to come!!!

Welcome Spring!

For those of you who don't know, Ethan and Emma love to be outside! After Christmas, winter gets to be a real drag for them and they can't wait for it to be over. Unfortunately, this year, spring was rather late in arriving and that made for two very unhappy kids! We are happy to say that the warm weather seems to be here to stay and the kids are loving it! I hope that the weather has gotten nice for all of you as well!

Love,

Jon, Becky, Ethan and Emma

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!

I am so excited to create this blog! When my sister-in-law, Kristin, started hers I have to admit that I was really jealous. She had this great way to share what was going in their lives with all of their family and friends. I wanted to be able to do this too!

I am still learning exactly how this all works, so please be patient! I am going to try to maintain this so that you can share in the events of our families lives from the big things to the small. I hope that you enjoy it and I look forwarding to reading your posts! Here are a few recent pictures of the kids.....

Thanks for visiting and we hope you come back soon!

Love,
Jon, Becky, Ethan & Emma