Good Night Alicia.....

These photos deserve their own post. For those of you that don't know Brian snores....he does....BIG time. Well during our trip to St. Louis we stayed at a Comfort Suites in Fairview Heights. We (all 7 of us) shared one big suite. Ali & Abby in a bed, Brian & I in a bed, Ben & Beau in a sofa bed and Gabe got the cushions for the floor. Well when we woke up Saturday morning we find Ali on the floor of the bathroom under the cabinet (Photo #1)....Appartently Brian's snoring was just too much for her. Not even her I-pod could "drowned out" the noise!! I don't think it was that bad but she did not want to take another chance so on Saturday night she made a bed in the bathtub (Photos #2 & #3)!!! And Photo #4 our room.....I pity the housekeeping lady who has to clean our room!!! No really....we did clean it up a bit before we left.....

Weekend In St. Louis.....

We just got back from a long weekend in St. Louis. We surprised the kids with a weekend trip for Christmas. Brian and I wanted to go farther but with his treatment we thought we should keep it close and short this time. We left Friday and went to Hard Rock Cafe and celebrated Ben's Birthday (they sang to him and gave him some ice cream) then we went to a St. Louis Blues hockey game (they lost with the only score made the last 3 minutes of the game). We took the Metro from Fairview Heights into the City and it was great. I am so glad St. Louis now has a light rail system. It makes going in STL so much easier (and cheaper by the time you spend gas, parking and all the traffic troubles). On Saturday we spent the day shopping, swimming and eating! We had a great time. Here are a few photos (of the 200 I took...I can only upload 5 per post so I'll share more later).

It was nice to just get away for a few days. Alot on our minds lately....Brian had a PET scan done on Friday morning before we went cause "something" showed up on his CT scan the week before. They think it's just scar tissue but needed to make sure. We should find out results on Wednesday 1/2 when he goes for Chemo #5. Please send good thoughts and prayers Brian's way.

Happy 8th Birthday Ben!!!

Today is Ben's 8th Birthday!!! He is spending the day with his God Parents Leigh Anne and Jim and their kids in Champaign ice skating. We will celebrate his birthday as a family this weekend. Here are few favorite photos of Ben........

A Schuette Christmas...

We had a very nice Christmas. Santa was good to the kids this year. My Dad came over for a little bit to visit and see everything the kids got and then later that afternoon Bob, Jane and Carmen came over for dinner.

Christmas Eve Crabs!!!

We had a very good Christmas here at the Schuette house (I'll share some photos later). I have to share a tradition that Brian's family has on Christmas Eve. It's the "Christmas Crabs". For the past few years Brian has been able to purchase some great ones from work, although they have had some kind of seafood for as long as I can remember. This year was no exception and they were the biggest yet. Brian and Todd do the honors of cooking (and testing) them. They tell me they were great (I don't like seafood so I get my "Christmas Steak" instead!).

One Last Chance to Add to "The List"

We found Santa again Saturday afternoon at his house at the courthouse. The boys had to make sure Santa had their lists. They each added one more thing to their list....Ben wants a bell from Santa's sled and Gabe now wants another new dog! In the last photo do you see Santa standing in the window watching the boys? Neat.....

For Alicia.....

It was brought to my attention by Ali that she is lacking from my blog so here is a couple of photos of her (just to make her happy!)

A Visit with Santa and Comet.....

Santa and Comet made a stop at Martin's IGA today. Of course once the boys found out about this that is all they wanted to do. So off I go (being the good mother I am) and we stood in line for about 30 mins. in the mist only to find out that it was only a "photo op" and they were charging $15.00 for photos!! No way for me....that's what I have MY camera for (sorry). Well we stayed and I still took MY photos! The guy doing the photos was not really happy with me but oh well (I took them fast!!). My boys (and Abby) got to see Santa and Comet, however Santa did not get their lists so we still have to find him this weekend at the courthouse! I'll make Brian come with me that time. He really loves the annual trip to see Santa!

Gingerbread Houses....Again!!!

I spent the morning at Gabe and Ben's schools. I worked "centers" at Gabe's school and then went to Ben's school where we worked on Gingerbread houses. I am so glad I get to share this time with the boys. I know there will be a day when mom comes to school is not cool but for right now it is so fun for them for me to come and help in their classrooms. I also like to get to know the other kids. When I was leaving Gabe's class 3 little girls came up and gave me a hug! That makes it all worth the time......Here are some photos of Ben's Gingerbread House......I hate getting my photo taken but I told myself I need to be in more photos with my kids. That's Ben's teacher in the back with white on.

Snow...Snow...Finally Snow!!!!

Ben and Gabe are so excited that there is FINALLY some snow they can play in! They could not get out of mass quick enough this morning so that they could get right in it. I tried to stay out as long as them, but my old body just does not like the cold. I stood most of time watching them from the inside of the house looking out the window. I think we only got about 4 inches, which was alot less then they had predicted. The kids are still wondering if we have school tommorrow and we will have to see about that later. Here are a few photos of them enjoying themselves. Ben wanted to know what it felt like to place his face in the snow....as you can see by the photo it was quite funny! After a few seconds he wanted it off.

Ali got it in her head last night that "we" needed to make gingerbread houses. She went an got all the stuff and helped the boys with the project. I think they did a great job! My favorite part is the "campfire near the woods"! LOL One big problem...they placed it on my only good baking sheet.

9 more days until Christmas! This week is going to go by fast.

Poor Brian.....

Chemo #4 on Wednesday was not very good for Brian. This one hit him hard. I will spare the details but just to say that the bathroom was his BFF (best friend forever!). I felt so bad for him, and there was nothing I could do. :( He has been really lucky so far. He did start to get an appetite Thursday evening and did go to work today (Friday). He will have a CT scan next Wednesday and an Echo of his heart on the 27th. These are routine tests just to check things out. He only has 2 more cycles left. This photo was not taken yesterday but thought it would show him resting with Abby's big Purple Polka Dot blanket. Doesn't he look cute in it?? Abby's cute too!!!! :)

We are expecting snow tommorrow starting early AM. The kids (or I should say the boys) are really excited about the snow and keep asking to play in it. I am hearing anywhere from 1-4 inches. We have a pizza fundraiser in the morning (EHS Band) so hopefully we will get home before it gets really bad (I hate driving in the stuff). It's supposed to snow all day and into the evening. I told Brian we need to get to the store tonight to stock up on food so we don't starve.

A New Heart & New Glasses

On Sunday Ben celebrated his first Reconciliation (or Confession for my non-Catholic readers!!). He did great and the service was very nice. The "new heart" comes from after he came out of the confessional Brian and I placed his "new heart" around him. Of course as tradition we celebrated at home with any ice cream cake.

Beau got his glasses on Sunday too. He looks really good in them. He says it's amazing how well things look now!!

Gingerbread Houses!!

I went to Gabe's school this morning and helped the class make gingerbread houses. I have helped all my kids make these during their kindergarten time so this time was bitter sweet for me with Gabe being the last. It's alot of fun for the kids but it's also alot of mess!! I think Gabe did a great job with his and he was really excited about doing them. They are making all sorts of Christmas stuff to show off at the ELC Christmas Open House on the 12/19.

Abby's B-Ball Game Tuesday Night

Here are some photos of Abby's Fresh/Soph Game on Tuesday Night. They played T-Town and they lost to them (I can't remember the score but EHS was ahead most of the game and T-Town only won by a few points so it was close!). Abby had a hard night but she still is getting much better each time.