Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we visited with Wade's family at his Aunt Sherry and Uncle Den's. It snowed all day, and the roads made the commute a tad on the treacherous side. There were numerous cars in the ditches. It tripled our commute time, but it was well worth it.
By the time we arrived, the Crazies were so excited to see their cousins. Emma and Audrey were up from Texas, and Rylan couldn't wait to see Zoe. The kids are all getting so big. The holidays, and all family get togethers, used to be so work intensive. The homes you visit generally aren't baby proofed. And Wade and I would spend the whole visit chasing babies. Guarding the hosts possessions and insuring that the kids were safe in a foreign environment. But this Christmas, we were able to relax and chat with our families. It may signal the end of the baby years, but it is a welcome change.

Sofie getting Aunt Julie, the kids thought it was very funny...

Christmas Program

On Monday night, the grade school put on their annual Christmas Program. It was really entertaining. The Christmas songs were all well known. It made the performance really enjoyable, and the kids really seemed to get into it. I think this was the first program that Noah had actually participated in the singing. (I have photographic proof. It's below!) Rylan is our performer, and he rocked it out on stage and from the bleachers. The pre-kindergarten classes do not participate in the Christmas program. Sofie was content to watch from her seat. She was impatient to see her brother's. But, once they appeared, she happily waved from her seat.

Noah's Class - Noah's in the front row, to the left, argyle sweater...

Close up of Noah - The little elf (Mary) to his right is a Trapp too!

Noah and his friends in the bleachers

Rylan's Class - Rylan Back Row, Second from the left

Rylan impatient for the show to start...
Rylan in the Bleachers

After the performance, Santa was on hand to meet with the children and pass out candy canes. Sofie and Rylan love Santa and couldn't wait to visit with him.

Christmas Stop #1

Christmas has officially began. We had our first family get together on Sunday at my Aunt & Uncle's house. Beth & Scott have a wonderful home for a party, and the kids could not have been more excited to go. Noah has been asking when we would be visiting for weeks.

We even discovered we have two wedding coming up in 2011. My cousin Kyle and his fiancee will be getting married in July, and my cousin Keith on New Years Eve... It's amazing that we can live every day within 5-10 minutes of family, and have absolutely no idea what is going on in their lives.

Here are a few photos of the Crazies at their calmest.


This is Sofie's new face. She proudly grimaces for every photo. I haven't a clue as to how to get her to stop. Any suggestions?

Meet our New Danseur...

What's a danseur? You may ask? Why, the male equivalent to a ballerina.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballerina

Rylan has always wanted to take dance classes. But since Sofia's first day in dance, he has refused. He would talk about it non stop. Especially about the idea of taking hip hop. He even watches So You Think You Can Dance, and then puts on his own performances for Wade and I. During all of Sofie's classes at the dance studio, he watches from the viewing window. Sofie's dance recital video from last June, has only been watched by Rylan. Even Sofie doesn't want to see it again. But, not Ry he loves every minute of it. He even knows which dance is his favorite and requests to watch the girl in the black ballerina costume. So why not sign up. Wade and I have offered many times, even reassured him that there are plenty of male dancers. But he was horrified. It was all girls, and they were all in pink. He's a boy! But last week, at Sofie's dance class we discovered that there is another little boy in the the Monday 6-7 Combo class. And that was all it took. So we purchased some black ballet shoes, and some black tap shoes and we were ready. Rylan the danseur is here...

Decorating Christmas Cookies

Yesterday, after playing outside in the snow, we decorated a ton of sugar cookies. My friend, Shannon and her 1 year old son, Tristan came over and helped us decorate cookies. All of the kids were very excited. Each got to pick a color to dye their icing. Then they were set free to decorate. Noah was really into it. He made very ornately decorated stockings, Christmas trees and Gingerbread Men. Rylan decorated a few and ate many more, and Sofie barely decorated an entire cookie. It was completely backwards from what I had been expecting. Rylan and Sofia are our two who love to draw and paint. Noah would rather build, or play video games. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Noah so taken with something more on the creative front. As for Jamaica, she cleaned up the majority of the sprinkles from the floor, and even managed to sneak a few pieces of cookie.

Our First Real Snow

Yesterday, we had our first real snowfall of the winter. And as much as I personally dislike the snow, the Crazies love it! So I bundled them up, and sent them out. I thought they would only last a few minutes, but they played outside for almost an hour. I managed to sneak a few cute photos of the three of them.
Look it's snowing so hard you can barely see Ry...
For the second attempt, I had him stand much closer.

Christmas Photos

On Friday night, I got the kids all dressed up in their Christmas outfits, and we all agreed to try really hard to get one really good photo for Christmas cards. Pleas for sitting still were thankfully answered. But all the the begging for real smiles fell on deaf ears. Overall, the Crazies did really well and were rewarded with all Mommy's bribes in record time.
Overall they took better photos when they were giving each other goofy hugs.




Sofia's face made this photo, adorably funny. But no longer a candidate for the Christmas card.
Rylan accurately expresses everyone's feelings on Christmas photos...

And the Winner is:

Funny Story, by Noah

Last night, I was looking over Noah's homework after bowling. He had finished everything up, before we got home. The girls in the nursery had "helped him". His spelling assignment was to use all of his spelling words in sentences. He managed to squeeze thirteen words into nine sentences. Sentence number seven, was formatted as most of Noah's spelling sentences. Anyone's Name - is/has/was - Spelling Word. His spelling word, Easy. Noah's sentence - Lori is easy....

Rylan is Officially Six...

As of 3:43p.m. yesterday, November 21, 2010, Rylan Corbett Trapp was officially six years old. Here is a photo of the birthday boy with his new guitar. (Photo by Noah) It's our only birthday photo. I forgot the camera at dinner, and then the battery died immediately after this photo. Luckily Noah is an excellent photographer.

Rylan's Sixth Birthday Party

For Rylan's sixth birthday, he wanted a birthday party with his school friends. Rylan and I decided on a movie theater party through Wehrenberg Cinema's. He had originally wanted a roller skating party. Bad Idea! I haven't skated in years. Rylan doesn't know how to skate. I doubt many of his friends do either. And most importantly, I am saving my broken arm/leg for our snow skiing trip in February.

So we started planning. I bought all the Star Wars invites, goodie bags, plates, cups, ordered the cake. I even spent a few hours on an agenda for the party in case any parents were nervous about dropping their children off. And you know what, two RSVP's. Two! I expected few RSVP's, but with a decent turn out for the party. Only, two little boys made it. Thankfully, the Smith Family had agreed to come. Otherwise, I think Rylan's feeling would have really been hurt.

When it was all said and done, the party was a success. Rylan and the other children had a good time, and the movie theater put on a great party.

Tyler, Rylan and Braden enjoyed Megamind!

Tyler and Rylan

Colin, Noah and Connor

Camden and Sofia

Halloween 2010

Left to Right: Connor, Camden, Noah, Sofie, Colin, Carson & Rylan

So, my camera is still taking unfocused photos. I promise this will be the last post with blurry images. I just knew everyone wanted to see all of the fun we had for Halloween. We trick or treated around the neighborhood. It was pretty warm, so it was a great night for wandering the subdivision.

Haunted Trick or Treat - Magic House

Last Friday, Sarah and I took the kiddos to the Magic House for their annual Haunted Trick or Treat. The Crazies LOVE the Magic House. I like the Magic House too, as long as the crowds aren't to crazy. Luckily, it being a Friday, the crowds were pretty reasonable.

The trick or treat stations were few and far between, which kept the crowd from forming huge packs, and it allowed the kids to still play. The Magic House even kept it candy free.

Noah and Sofie at the Electrostatic Ball (Sorry for the picture quality!)
Rylan and Chloe at the Electrostatic Ball (Sorry for the picture quality!)
Noah (Banker/Soldier)
This little girl was trying to swipe Sofie's baby. She wasn't very happy about it.