It's time...

I never really wanted to do this, but I think it's time. The McLaws Family blog is going PRIVATE. We have had a few incidences that make me realize it would be for the best, and Matt has wanted to be private from the beginning. So please leave me your email if you would like to continue checking out our blog. I still have to take the time to figure out HOW to go private because I have no idea, so hopefully in the next couple of weeks it will be official. Thanks!

Who new?

Who new what a blessing our very own backyard would be? We LOVE it. It is the best feeling to say, "go play in the backyard!" The kids love playing out there and I love having at least a few minutes to myself! We are so lucky that it is totally fenced in so we don't have to worry about them wandering off. I can't wait to get a trampoline and a sandbox, but right now they are content exploring together.

Here they are making their own fun. They dragged these boxes over to the steps and jumped into them! They thought it was great, and Ella even blind folded herself while jumping:) Who needs a playset??

I spied on them while they were having a "picnic."

Hiding in the trees

This is my favorite part of the back yard. The SHED. It is so nice to have the extra storage space!

We also have this super nice jacuzzi. We just need to have someone come out and get it running for us. Then we can have people over for hot tub parties!

It will be fun to slowly add to the backyard and make it a fun place for the kids.

SLEEP OVER!

I have been promising my cute little cousins that we were going to have a big sleep over party once I had a house. Well, its been a few years since I made that promise... but better late than never, right? So I decided to take in FIVE extra kids while Matt was out of town. I know it sounds a little scary but these kids are angels and entertained Ella and Kash for me.

Here is Julia, Madeline, and Ella making homemade pizzas for dinner.

Lauren, Sydney, and Braden

Ella loved making everyone play dress up with her.

And in the morning while I was making breakfast I heard screams and squeals and found this: Everyone was trying to fit on the same chair. I believe there are 6 of them here...

It was fun and I think we are going to have to make this a tradition!

Here it is...

I have had a few requests for pictures of the house, so here are some of the rooms. I didn't go through the entire house but here are some of the main areas:

Entry

Family Room

Kitchen/Dining

Master(I couldnt get a good angle of this room so its all bed)

Master Bath

Master Closet...I am so in love with my closet...it is really big with nice built ins....ahhhh! I decided to just show you my shoes that I can actually find now!

Kash's bedroom

Ella's bedroom. You would think that I would have picked up her room before I took a pic, but no.

They share a jack and jill bathroom which is nice.

The playroom! I love being able to shut the door and not worry about what a mess it is. The closet is awesome too, it is all shelving for their toys.

And the laundry room. This isnt very exciting to most of you, but i had a closet for my washer and dryer in my old house! So, this is heaven. I love all of the storage and the deep sink.

Well, thats it more or less. I didn't want to show you the empty rooms that I can't buy furniture for! hehe And there is obviously a lot of decorating still to do. But if anyone wants to see it in person, please come by!! And don't forget I have a guest room for visitors!

Slacker

I have been slacking on the blogging! We have been super busy with the house and we have had company every weekend so far! Plus this past week the kids and I have been in California so we are trying to get back into our normal routine. I also have not been taking ANY pictures. So once again the word that comes to mind is...slacker. I am lacking the desire to get back into this blogging world but we will see how it goes.

My little monkey...

When this kid wants fruit snacks, he really wants fruit snacks.

All wrapped up...

Kash very much enjoyed the packing process. Every time I turned around he was curled up in bubble wrap!

An Update

Well, we are pretty much settled into our new house. Of course there are still a million things to do, and more boxes to go through, but for the most part, we are settled. The main thing I haven't done is the decorating. Matt forbids me to put a single nail in one of his new walls! So, I am waiting for my mom and Whitney to come next weekend to decorate. Hopefully by then Matt will realize that eventually, we are going to have to hang things up!

But we couldn't be happier. I am totally in love with this place! It was definitely worth the wait.
And we would love visitors....we even have a guest room for anyone who needs to stay the night. So let me know, we would love to have people over. And if anyone needs my new address just leave me your email.

Today: It is official

We closed on our house! FINALLY. It has been a long, drawn out process, but we are now officially first time home owners! I still can't believe it.
And no one told me what a PAIN packing is. You don't realize how much stuff you have until you have to move. It has been overwhelming, but hopefully we will be moving in this weekend so it will be SOO worth it!

Dance Recital

Ella had her very first dance recital this past month. She just started taking dance a couple of months ago and she loves it. But I was a little nervous for the recital. I was fully prepared for her to not even want to go out on stage....cry....freak out....whatever. They had 2 songs and the first song she came out smiling, waving, and did the entire dance without any major problems. Yay! The last song she came out and I was actually impressed that she was following the moves and seemed to be really into it.........until about half way she suddenly stopped....and started crying! and crying and crying. She cried the entire 2nd half of the song! I have no idea what happened. I don't know if she got scared, thought she messed up, I don't know! Everyone in the audience thought it was hysterical and yes, we have it on video! Well at least she looked cute, right?

Here she is about to leave for the recital.

Dancing away...

Her cute class.

And here she is after the recital, all smiles again!

Dance starts up again this week so we will see how it goes! I guess we will stick with it for now....

Christmas morning...

Christmas was SO fun this year! Ella and Kash are at such a fun age. They were so excited, it was really hard to keep them in their room in the morning! Here are tons of pics of our crazy Christmas morning:

Ella loves her kitchen, and Kash actually likes playing with it too.

Kash's "main" gift was a disaster! We THOUGHT we had bought an activity table with a train set...but when we went to set it up we realized it was just the table and no trains! 11pm Christmas Eve there are NO stores open( believe me, we tried!) So I whipped out this other gift and he never knew the difference!

Cute Nikki showing off her new jacket:

Matt got this really nice croquet set (are we nerds that we like to play croquet?)

Kar was pretty excited about this one...

Us sisters all got aprons with different things embroidered on them.

Kash LOVES his golf clubs!

And Ella was lovin her tutu.

Hanging out on his new cars sleeping bag! And that is a candy necklace on his face...he got it in his stocking and never put it down.

Nana needed her Dr. Pepper before the presents were even over!

Kash immediately gathered his cars and took them to a safe place.

Nana and Papa helping Ella.

These faces make it so fun!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2009

For Christmas Eve we once again went to my dad's cousins house in California. After dinner we always have the kids act out the nativity scene. Then it's performance time; piano solos, carols, etc. It's tons of fun...especially because the Roberts family is so talented and we Crafts enjoy sitting back and watching!:)

Ella was Mary again this year. I've never seen her be so quiet and listen so well as when she plays this role.

Kash was Joseph again..we were all laughing because his "turban" looked more like a "do-rag." sp?

Here is our little nativity: wise man, angel, mary, joseph, baby Jesus.
We even got all of the men to sing a song!

Papa and Ella....maybe this is where she gets her cheesy grin?

Kash entertained himself by jumping off of the staircase.

This was the only group shot I got:

Once we got home my mom decided to carry out my great-grandma's tradition. My great grandma Nona would always give all of her grandchildren their gifts on Christmas Eve. So this year my mom did this for Ella and Kash, and the rest of us got our matching Christmas pajamas.