LODGETIME!!

It's one of the greatest weeks of the year for the Cryderman family: the infamous "LODGE."

That is all we call it when we refer to it all year.."see you at THE LODGE," or "have you planned your talent for THE LODGE yet?" The Lodge is all we need to say...and we know what it means to all of us.

It means five fun-filled days and nights of family. Cousins who run around laughing, parents who sit by the fire drinking coffee and also laughing, game playing, ice hockey playing...you name it, we'll be doing it.

There is also the night of talents where this year, the moms and dads took part...let me just say, there were tears involved. Memories from the past...it was so cool.


The newest edition to the lodge this year? Wi-Fi!! Was that a good thing? Undecided:






A flippin riot watching this: "Just Dance" a big hit of the week;





The rest of the week consisted of:

























These people are my beating heart...and they are all mine. Oh how I love you all...so much.

Just a few: Christmas 2010

I'm a bit late with the Christmas pictures.

My editing program that was really easy died along with our old hard drive in our computer.

So I'm stuck with using another one and I just can't get the hang of it.

That makes me not want to edit pictures anymore, because I am not a fan of change, OR learning new stuff.

These are just a few of many Christmas pictures taken. We had a wonderful day, and the girls got EVERYthing they asked for.

It started with Christmas Eve at Mark and Mary's (16th year and counting)...then onto home where Santa left our tree looking beautiful. And then of course...morning. The morning of all mornings!!

My pictures are all different shapes and it ticks me off. My awesome husband of mine will be taking care of that soon....because he takes care of everything for me! Lodge pictures...coming soon!

NEW YORK CITY! Thanksgiving 2010

You know what? I'll take my chances with Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwICAZLGmek

It was a dream trip.

New York City really was great....but you'll never know that.

Well, my husband made an incredible DVD of our family in New York City over this past Thanksgiving.

It was really great.

I wanted to show everyone.

But you'll have to take my word for it.

Maybe there will be a way I can post it, but for now, Youtube is busting me for copyright purposes, therefore I took it off.

I hate Youtube for that.

And now I am behind on Christmas pictures.

Oh well....

Happy Halloween....and somebody turned 5!

It's kinda weird how when your kids are really little, like 'too young to make decisions for themselves' little, you can pretty much dictate every aspect of their lives. And it's great! You forget you won't be able to do that forever.

Take Halloween for example. Years ago, Chris and I decided what the girls would be each year. We've had "Cinderella" and "The Pumpkin" "Dorothy from Oz" and "Scarecrow" and even 4 cool characters from the Star Wars movies...but over the past few Halloweens, we've done nothing but go out and get what they would need for the costume they had decided on. That is fine..it's just that the one thing no one ever told me, was that they would change their minds during the actual Halloween holiday.

Let me try and explain;

First there are the school parties, where Mylie decided she would be a granny. Naturally I thought this is what she would be for Halloween;







And then there is Darby who, while not yet in school, is very much allowed to dress up and go participate in the school parties. She declared she would be a princess...again, I'm excited her decision has been made for Halloween.





So, the school parties come and go, and the following night is Trunk or Treat at our church. Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, we had a bonus night! Getting ready to go was weird to me, as 3 out of my four children changed their costumes. I didn't really know you could do that.

Crisilee who, at school,was the "Charlie Brown Ghost", has now become a "Rock Star." 10 minutes before we head to church, she is scrambling around putting something together. What?







Then Darby decides to be a kitty.....huh?





And Mylie tweaked her "Granny" just a bit, while Sophie stayed a "Princess" her original costume. Thank you Sophie! (or so I thought...)




That took some getting used to. Seriously, Chris was out taking pictures and Mylie was freaking out about wearing either the mask, or the wig....it was NOT a relaxed few minutes. Anyway, we had a great "bonus" night.

Speaking of a bonus, we were blessed to have another bonus daughter come along with us trick-or-treating;

(our gorgeous niece Mariah)

Remember the special thanks I gave to Sophie? I take it back. She too changed...a "Rainbow." Yep..just out of the blue, "I'm gonna be a rainbow" (Are you keeping up?) Then Crisilee decided to change back into her orginal "Charlie Brown Ghost." My head is spinning just writing this.

There should be some sort of rule that says, "no changing costumes once you've decided on one."





It's ok. They had fun. I had a headache and couldn't remember who was what...but in the end it was a great night with a TON of candy of course!







Moving on to a less confusing topic: My baby turned 5 this past week! FIVE! She's awesome.

I love her.

We woke her up singing "Happy Birthday" with a piece of cinnamon toast and a candle!










I think she liked that.

Later that afternoon we had a nice family party with my parents. Of course Darby wanted presents first;

(Do I need to explain that she really wanted Moon Dough?)





After presents she signed the birthday chair. A chair that Chris repainted all funky, and every year the girls sign their name and put their age. Darby worked SO hard for about a month learning to write her name and the number 5...it turned out great!

Last but not least, the cake. We have this thing where we never let the girls see their cake until it's actually time to eat the cake. Oh the joy on her face says it all. Best picture ever coming up:

Happy 5th Birthday Darby! You'll always be the baby! I love you!

Funny Faces....Happy Fall!

Some beautiful DeBacker girls enjoying the season;

























Happy Fall to you...we are dreaming of what's ahead....the best part of the year is fast approaching! Savor every second. It will be over before you know it!