The Unexpected Christmas

I love this take on Christmas.

We watched it with the kids last night at WOW Worship, which is the family-geared worship service that happens before their small group at church. It was a Christmas theme, clearly, as we are only days away from our favorite time of the year.

What I love about this, is the way the angels suggest things to God about how the person should act or who the person should be. Instead he says it should be a regular person born to regular parents. That's it. Plain and simple.

If only Christmas was that simple "these days." I mean it could be, but we don't let it. Watching this reminds me of the real reason we give, we prepare, we share our hearts…it's all because of Him.

And rightly so!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from these two babies,

 and these two toddlers,

and these two preschoolers,

 and these two goofballs!

We hope this Valentine's Day brings you all sorts of love. From those you love, to those who love you; from those you love from afar to those who you love close. It doesn't matter where you are or who you are, just as long as you are loved, can love and feel loved. We love you!

6 more weeks of winter

It's inevitable. There are definitely 6 more weeks of winter here. How could spring even think of coming when it is 0 degrees outside. Yes, ZERO.

Phil didn't see his shadow in Pennsylvania, but here I see a glimmer of sunshine, meaning more winter here. I always wonder how people think a groundhog is really going to predict the weather. But then again, I hope they know he really doesn't do the predicting. It's fun to watch though!

The kids were really hoping for spring to come early, but I had to break it to them...in Minnesota, it doesn't really matter what Phil says. It's just the way it is here!

Merry Christmas a month later

Merry CHRISTmas!

A month late.

There is no excuse...only my hope that you enjoy this post even though it's a bit late. You know what they say...better late than never!

Christmas started off with a celebration that began a string of 4 days of celebrating. 

We were with the Herll family...some of our favorite people! 

There was a Lego set, a remote control truck and a Star Wars set for C.

A guitar, a Rapunzel doll and American Girl doll things for A.

Needless to say, everyone was happy!! We opened, played, ate, watched (a little White Christmas, which is now a favorite for everyone-even the kids!) and laughed. It was a good start to the holidays!

Then it was on to Mom & Dad's the next day for a little celebrating-just the 6 of us. I love that because it's small and we get a lot of quality time with each other. Sometimes life is so busy with dropping off here. Saying hello and goodbye there. It's nice to just stop and pause, spending the day with each other.

There were movies to watch, books to color, CDs to listen to...

 But the best gift was a new pair of ice skates for A & C. Yes, we've been ice skating around these parts and loving every minute of it!

On the third day of Christmas...are you singing? Yes, the third day, we did the regular Christmas Eve things. The kids are in the choir again this year at church, so they lead the congregation in some songs at the beginning of the service. Then it was time for the living nativity-one of my favorite parts as the kids have grown up. This year we had an angel

and a shepherd.

 

 This is one of my favorite because of the innocence of the kids and their faces as they stand up there. This picture is one of my favorites because A is standing still while everyone else is still moving around her. 

I spied him looking for us while he went up with all of the shepherds

 After church it was on to the Herll's house for some more family fun! That is another fun tradition of pulling everyone together for one night during the year. Poor dad...he had to work so late! I really think it is the latest he's ever had to work on Christmas. They didn't get there until 7:45. Yikes! But, he and Mom were there and had fun as always.

Upon returning home we made sure to write a note to Santa and leave some cookies for him. We were VERY excited for him to come!!

We also put out some reindeer food for Santa's reindeer.

They ate it up, too! You can imagine that reindeer are hungry after a whole night of flying. There were Santa tracks to be seen on the steps, too! 

Christmas morning came with much excitement!

A got her Barbie Dreamhouse...

 C got his Dino Trapper and Wreck it Ralph DS game.

Needless to say, Christmas morning did us all well as we tore through the gifts under our trees. We are so blessed!

As Christmas Day continued...the fourth day of Christmas...we ventured to Mamma Sue's & Big Papa's house. There we celebrated with Lisa & Greg, Jake, Lindsey & Liam, and Dan, Denise & Aaron. We were so lucky to see everyone and spend time with everyone-even though poor Liam was so sick!!

 Mamma and Papa were very excited to be with all of their grandkids. As were they...

A was excited with her Pillow Pet that had been on her list for birthdays and Christmases of the past. She found herself in the midst of Legos, DS games, clothes and crafts. She was one lucky and happy girl that night!

Aaron loved A's light. I think he wanted one of his own!

 C was excited too! After all, what boy wouldn't be excited about getting 3 or 4 new DS games in a 30 minute span of time?!

 Our 4 Christmases came and went. We are forever blessed with wonderful memories with family from all over. It is a busy time but a treasured time. Here's to many more years of laughter, food, good company and goofy faces!!

30 Things I'm Thankful For

It's November. You know what that means, right? Yup. It's my birthday month! No? That's not what you were going to say? Right. It's November. That means everyone thinks about what they're thankful for, which is great. But it's a lot of pressure too. That's because there are people out there who are posting their things of thanks daily on Facebook. There are people who are blogging daily about what they're thankful for. I should be able to do it too, right? Wrong. Not this month. 

November is also the month of crazy in our world...the world of teachers. Conferences, benchmarks to meet, not to mention regular every day things. And at home-the ins and outs of "just being"- made it a bit difficult for me to get in the routine of writing daily. Yes, it's an excuse, but it is the truth for me this month. 

So instead of letting the month pass by without acknowledging what is happening tomorrow, I thought I would compile my list of 30 things tonight. So here it goes...in no particular order, of course.

30 Things I'm Thankful For

1. My husband, who loves me more than I can express
2. My house
3. Warm fall days when I can play outside with the kids
4. My kids
5. Moments when my kids are selfless and do things for others without being asked
6. Laughter
7. Ice cream
8. No schedules on the weekend
9. My friends
10. Little boys who love to snuggle
11. Little girls who love to sparkle
12. Mammas and Papas who live close
13. The beach
14. Healthy kids
15. Smiles
16. Shopping
17. Doctors that give you good news!
18. Ours kids' singing voices-both at home and in church
19. Calm-no mater where we are
20. Sparkly things (you know where A gets it from!)
21. Music
22. School-going to school to learn, teaching at school, going to my kids' school-all things school
23. Comfortable shoes
24. Vacations-vacation days, summer vacation, family vacations, couple vacations-all sorts
25. Food
26. Confidence in myself, my kids, my husband, my family
27. The ability to write
28. Flowers
29. My parents who support and love me unconditionally, as only a mom and dad could
30. Jesus

These are my 30 days of thanks, condensed by being written all in one day. But it's not about the way you do it, it's about the fact that I did it. Taking time really think about the things I'm most thankful for-no matter how big or small-taking the time to make my list here and now; it's the best thing I could do today!

Halloween 2012

Trick-or-treat!

Smell my feet!

I would love to have something good to eat!

say the fairy

and Captain America!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

My Funny Valentine

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I know. I know. It's a "Hallmark" holiday. But I still like it! J and I have always done something for each other on Valentine's Day. Flowers, a picture, dinner, dessert (cake from Wuollet's!)...you know, the normal things. This year was no different!

Well, maybe a little different with kids. No, J and I did not get each other a furry monkey for Valentine's Day. Those would be for the kiddos. I loved them immediately because they reminded me of the monkeys I had as a kid-the one with velcro on the hands. A & C loved them too.

Valentine's Day was also crazy hair day at school. Smart! The kids are wound up anyway-why not have crazy hair, too?! We celebrated this day by taking the kids to the mall to go on some rides. J and I knew we wouldn't get out, just the two of us, for dinner, so we embraced the day with the kids and had fun!

 Crash!

 The log ride is a favorite for all of us. Luckily, even with switching positions, no one got too wet.

Being that it was a Tuesday-Toddler Tuesday-kids eat free at many places in the mall. We ended up with a very nice dinner at Tucci Bennuch!

To most, this day is just another day. It is, really, but opening valentines with the kids at home and hearing them read the cards from their friends is so much fun! They get excited and love seeing what their friends pick out for them. Truthfully...I like seeing what they get too! It really is just another day, but another day of saying, "I love you," and spending time with the ones you love isn't a bad thing at all!



Dance! Dance! Dance!

"Mom, is the Valentine Dance in the afternoon?"
"Well, no, not really. You'll come home first."
"Oh good. Then I can change into my Valentine clothes."
A girl after my own heart.

If you know much about me you'll know that I love doing things with my kids. Especially things related to holidays. Friday the kids had a dance at school. Not just a dance but a Valentine Dance. Excitement was all about our house that afternoon as the kids got ready in their Valentine clothes.

There's something about being with your kids and their friends. Especially when they're only 5 years old. Kids are always so apprehensive at first. They're not too sure about coming into a situation where they're just a bit uncomfortable. It didn't take long though. After filling our bellies with some wonderful hot dogs (ahem), Cheetos and a cookie we were ready for some dancing.

And dance we they did!

With friends from last year.

And friends from this year.

They are so lucky at age 5 to have a school that supports kids the way they do in the academic ways but just as importantly, in the FUN ways too!