Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve is as busy as Christmas Day for us. We start out before lunch going to Nana's to spend the day with her and exchange presents. The kids have fun relaxing and playing with toys. We then head to the 5:00 Family Christmas Eve service which the kids usually have a part in. After service we are off to Mama and Papa's house to celebrate with the Rau family. This is also where Trey's Pig Deer made an appearence. He loves Christmas and made his own creation of Santa, the reindeer and the sleigh. This is also when we get our new PJs from my mom. The kids love getting into their new pjs before we leave. Darnel always wraps up the night reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Thanksgiving 2009

The Frost family loves to eat, so Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. We started off with lunch at Aunt Darcell's. We had lots of good food and had a chance to visit with Darnel's side of the family. We then headed to Mama and Papa's house for dinner. This is always fun with so many people and now 2 more grandchildren.

Girls Dance Shows

When Taylor joined the competition line at the Dance Studio we knew we were in for a lot of performances, especially around the holidays. Now with Laney on a competition line as well we have both girls to run to the performances which luckily are usually at the same time and place except for a few. This year the girls danced at the Train Station, a Retirement Home and a Nursery. We had a lot of fun watching them dance and show off all they've learned in just a few months.

Polar Express

We knew with Trey's love of trains we had to include the Polar Express train ride in our Holiday Plans. The Polar Express train was going to be in Monticello, Il. It was 3 hours away, but we thought it would be well worth the trip. The kids had no idea where we were going. We headed out around 2 pm the Saturday after Thanksgiving with our family in one van and my parents, Steph, Dane, Kara and Claire in the other van. We made one bathroom stop on the way and arrived in Monticello around 5:45pm. We were going to stop at a nice restaurant, but with our stop and traffic from an accident we had just enough time for Hardee's. We went in and ordered food and then told the kids where we were going. They were so excited. After we ate we took the kids to the car to get their PJs on for the train. The train ride was wonderful! They served snacks and hot chocolate, danced in the aisles and sang Christmas songs. At the end Santa made his way through the train giving each boy and girl a bell. It was such a great way to start the holidays.

Turkey Trot

Every year on the last day of school before Thanksgiving the students at the Middle school have a Turkey Trot. I still remember the first year Taylor was at the middle school. The students sign up to run or walk the event. Since Taylor does Track Camp every summer and loves to run I decided to wait at the finish line and get a picture of her finishing. As I stood there her teacher walked up and we started talking. I then said I was waiting to get a picture of Taylor. She said, "Taylor didn't run she walked". WHAT, I send her to track camp every year. Her teacher said if she would have known that, she would have made her run. She said the track coaches son tried to sign up as a walker since a lot of his friends were walking but she insisted he run. This year, she ran. She was totally embarrassed when she saw me standing on the side of the street taking her picture.

City Boy!

Today Trey came in my room dressed as a cowboy. He had a cowboy hat, jeans, his buffalo on a stick and cow boy boots. He looked at me and said, "Mom can you help me zip my cow boy SHOES." Only a city boy calls cowboy boots shoes.

Nutrition Lesson from a 7 year old!

Everyday when I pick Delaney up from school I ask, "How was your Day?" Today I got a lot more info than usual. She said, "According to the movie we watched in PE today, you do not feed me enough fruit." She continued to say, "You also give me too much meat, I should only have meat the size of my palm." Makes me feel like I lost the Mom of the Year Award!

Forest Park Forever

We were on a roll this weekend in October with no rain. It had rained so much already this month that you felt like celebrating every time the sun came out. Today was a great day with sun and fun activities in Forest Park. Thanks to Dad and Mom for donating to Forest Park Forever so we could enjoy all the fun activities. The kids rode ponies, took pictures, had snacks, took a carriage ride and did crafts. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Grant's Farm

Grant's Farm always puts on a great performance for Halloween. When our friends asked us to join them we knew the kids would have a great time. We bundled up and enjoyed a night of magic shows, carousel rides, feeding the goats and dancing the night away in the Garden area. The highlight of the night for Trey was when he saw a family that dressed up as the Wizard of Oz characters. The kids had fun, it wasn't raining for once and we had a great night with friends.

Pumpkin Patch

Wow! what a crazy month of October. It was always raining and cold, but somehow we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids had a day off of school so we headed to Rombach's. It was freezing, the kids were complaining and since it had rained all week it was a muddy mess which Trey loved. We stayed long enough to play and take pics especially since it was Claire and Dane's first Pumpkin Patch visit. When the kids had enough we headed to Red Robin's for lunch. Not an ideal year for the pumpkin patch.

Soccer

Soccer has begun for Delaney and she has two great coaches! Darnel and Delaney's best buddy's Dad are coaches. The kids are learning a lot and having a great time. If we could just keep the sun out and get rid of the rain we could play a game.

Taylor at the Tap Festival

Taylor's dance studio had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a Tap Festival held in front of the Fox Theatre. The day started off pretty well but as the time approached for Taylor to perform the storms rolled in. We stood in a parking garage on Grand and Lindell trying to stay warm and dry. We patiently waited for the word if we would perform. Two hours after we arrived the rain stopped and they began drying the stages. Many of the dance Dads jumped on stage with mops and rags to help speed up the drying process. The girls finally went on at 3:30. They looked great! It was a great honor to be selected to perform on stage at the festival.

Delaney Cheering at the Kirkwood Football Game!

Delaney loves doing the cheer camp each year with the Kirkwood High School Cheerleaders. Each year they participate in a cheer camp and then they cheer at the Football game. She loves going down on the track to cheer with all of her friends.

Tea Room

Delaney got the idea that she wanted to have a girls day and go to a Tea Room. If you know Delaney well you know that once she has an idea she will not stop talking about it until she does it. We decided to do it on a half day of school. Trey would be in preschool and Taylor would probably choose to hang out with her friends. My mom and I picked up Delaney and headed to the Tea Room. She was so excited she even wore a dress to school. She was such a young lady. She was amazed at the sugar cubes and was so cute sitting there sipping her tea. We had a great day with wonderful food, great company and the biggest smile on her face.

Train Ride

With nothing on our schedule today we decided to enjoy some of the beautiful weather. We've been trying for at least a year to take Trey to a train depot that offers rides on small trains. We ended up going with Mama, Papa, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Dave and Dane. We rode the train had a Grand Tour of the Roundhouse and then ended the day with a very entertaining ride through Lone Elk Park.

Just a piece of advice - Do not get out of your car when there is a very large Elk protecting his herd. Luckily we watched from our car as a man and many families got a first hand lesson on this.

Trey's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe the time has come for Trey to go to preschool. I was sad that he is already old enough to go to preschool, but excited for him. Darnel took the day off of work to spend some one on one time with our little guy. They went to one of Trey's favorite places, Whittle Shortline and then enjoyed lunch before heading off to school. Daddy took plenty of pics and then Trey settled into his room. He absolutely loved it. He has such a big smile on his face when I tell him he has school. Wouldn't it be great if that excitement lasted through high school!

First Day of School!

Well summer is over and school has started. Taylor is in her last year of middle school and Laney started 2nd grade. I can't believe the summer is over. The girls were so excited to go to school dressed in their new outfits with new backpacks and lunch boxes. They both had a great day - despite what Laney says and we celebrated with a back to school dinner at Red Robins!