The Obligatory Pictures In Front of the Tree

We had a very relaxing Christmas at home. I love staying at home for Christmas and declared to my family that we weren't going anywhere, but everyone was welcome. And so they came. We celebrated early with Darren's family as they were going to International Falls to have Christmas with the in-laws. My parents stayed the longest ever arriving on Friday and leaving the afternoon of Christmas Day. We did family Christmas on Friday night. Reid and Anissa are at fun ages. Anissa just wanted paper and boxes and Reid loved everything and squeeled with delight after opeing every gift. Except the gift we gave him, which was a perfect Reid-sized backpack that he declared as being "just a little bit too big!" Eli and Sadie loved having their cousins over and were excited to watch them open their presents because for the whole month of December the kids have been finding toys and books that they declared they'd outgrown and wrapped them up for Reid and Anissa. Reid and Anissa had a lot of presents to open mostly because my kids loved wrapping up presents!

We spent Christmas Eve Day over at a friends house iceskating. I still can't get over how wonderful the ice is and how much I love iceskating. We let Eli open up one of his gifts early as he had a new pair of skates under the tree. Little did Dennis know that he also had a brand new pair of skates wrapped under the tree, but we made him wait. We went to Mass and both of my children fell asleep during the service which was at 5PM. We came home and had tacos for supper, which may sound a bit untraditional but it was perfect. Fast, tasty and my kids didn't complain! Then we opened presents and promptly went to bed as NORAD was telling us that Santa was in Illinois so we figured we'd better hurry!!

Christmas morning came early with the sounds of "Santa was here! Santa was here!" The kids opened presents and Sadie declared it a pajama day. We had Swedish Meatballs for lunch and watched the kids play wii which is what Santa brought for the kids. It was a nice relaxing, no stress kind of Christmas. Just the way it should be.

What I Got For Christmas

A local artist, Alice Blessing, painted this portrait of Eli and Sadie. The cool thing about Alice's technique is that she paints with her fingers! I'm so excited about how it turned out. I'm so happy with it. It's even better than I imagined. She captured Eli perfectly. She did give Sadie blue eyes, which she is going to redo into the melt your heart chocolate that they are. Then, I think Sadie will look perfect too. It's weird, I almost feel like they're teenagers or something.

Christmas Letter 2011

This free newsletter customized with Smilebox

Pond Skating

Growing up in ND, we would strap on our skates and walk down the gravel road to the coulee to skate. If we were lucky a dad had come and shoveled away the snow. The ice was always rough and the coulee small which left hardly any room for the girls to "figure skate" because the boys were hogging all the ice playing hockey. Not quite perfect but it was fun and it was all we knew.



When we first moved to MN, I'd heard on the local radio station about how rare perfect ice is on the lakes for skating. Usually because it's either windy when the ice freezes which makes the ice rough or because there's too much snow on the ice making it impossible to skate on. Well, this year the stars aligned and we have been given the gift of perfect ice for "pond skating" and we are so grateful. The ice is awesome: glassy, smooth and singing! We've been trying to take advantage of mother's nature gift and get on the ice as much as we can before it snows. It's actually quite nerve-racking. I know that the ice is a good 4-5 inches thick, but the ice is so glassy, it looks like at any moment you're going to skate right into the water. The kids are having a blast seeing through the ice and seeing the bottom of the lake along with frozen fish and all!

Sadie's Christmas Concert

The students at TLC pre-school put on a short Christmas program for their families on Wednesday night. It was funny and chaotic and cute. All of the things a Christmas Program should be. Sadie was very excited and wanted to wear her fanciest dress and have her hair done up like a princess. She wasn't feeling 100%, but I'd say she was way more involved than Eli was at his first Christmas program!! Here's a little hint of how the concert went:

Here is a cute picture of Sadie with one of her newest BFFs, Clara. Those girls have so much fun together. Not to mention that I love Clara's whole family. Clara's mom, Missy and I have become good friends this year. We spend a lot of time drinking coffee while the girls are at school!

Visiting Santa

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to visit the library this past weekend. We love seeing Santa at the library because somehow they always manage to get the real Santa not one of those silly elves that Santa sends to do his job when he's double booked. And Mrs. Claus, who really, let's admit, is the brains behind the operation always comes to help Santa out. The kids brought their letters just in case they forgot to mention what they really want for Christmas

What does Eli want? A wii with Mario Kart and sports resort. This is the first year that Eli has come home questioning Santa. Not because he doesn't believe but because he's heard things on the bus. I shake my fist at you yellow school bus!  Even when Caleb who seems to know everything in Eli's mind ("He can count to a million in one day, he told me, mom!") said that he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, Eli laughed at Caleb's lunacy.

What does Sadie want? Squinkies. The girl has hundreds of those rubbery things and the balls they come in. It's enough to drive a mom insane. But, apparently you can never have too many squinkies. Sadie's letter was quite humorous. She even promised to "leave a surprise" for Santa!

My niece and nephew, Anissa and Reid, were there too. Anissa could have cared less whose lap she was sitting on. Reid while brave enough to sit on his lap would not look at Santa.

We finished the day by going to the golden arches for lunch followed by selecting out Christmas tree. We didn't chop our tree down this year, but we should have. It was a balmy 30 degrees and there was no snow on the ground so it would have been much easier then in years past. But, we wanted to try another place. Pictures of our tree to come!!

School Photos 2011-2012

Sadie's Preschool Photo 2011-2012

Eli's Kindergarten Photo 2011-2012

Our "New" 100 Year Old Piano

After the kids started piano lessons and actually liked it we decided that we needed to upgrade from our hand-me down yamaha keyboard to an actual piano. At lessons, after having practiced on the keyboard, the kids had a hard time playing the keys as they are much heavier on an actual piano and the keyboard is so much smaller than a piano . They couldn't practice playing loud or soft not to mention that the keyboard sat where my sewing machine is supposed to go! It was time for a piano. We started the craigslist search. It seems that lots of people are getting rid of their pianos but it also seems like people think that their pianos are also worth a small fortune!! So, when we found this free one we jumped on it. We brought the piano guy out to the house so he could make sure that it wasn't a piece of junk and he said that it's perfect for a 5 and 6 year old. We called up all the guys we know and they gratefully moved this heavy beast into it's location where it will sit for the next 50 years! The kids and me and my sewing machine are happy to have this piano in our house.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!!

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving. We were going to go to Fargo for the day, but with the passing of my auntie Barb, my mom just wasn't feeling up to it. We hosted my parents and my brother and his family. It was a mellow day. We all ate too much, but I'm eating leftovers as I type, so obviously I'm a glutton for punishment.  The kids hung out all day and did a lot of art. I just had to share.

Halloween

It was a crazy Halloween weekend. First we had Sadie's Birthday and piano recital on Friday, Sadie's party on Saturday, a family Halloween party that evening, a kid Halloween party on Sunday, class parties on Monday and trick-or-treating. Can you believe I even had the time to get food poisoning and spent 36 hours straight in bed? (Dennis had to take the kids to one of their parties, but I managed to make it to the school parties and trick-or-treating). Here are a few of the highlights.

Miss A's Kindergarten Class

Eli told me he wanted to be a bat for Halloween, not Batman, a bat. So, I got all excited about making a costume. Luckily, I didn't get very far before he said that he just wanted to be a power ranger, the same one he was last year. I happily agreed.

TLC Pre-school Class

The only photo I got of Eli and Sadie together.

 

 What was Sadie? Well, she's a Chipette, of course. You know, the girl version of the Chipmunks. This was actually my mistake. Sadie told me she wanted to be a chipmunk, and I immediately thought of Brittany the Chipette, because they have watched the Chipmunk movie a gazillion times. Well, it turns out that she wanted to be the furry, big-cheeked forest kind of chipmunk, instead of the furry, big-cheeked rocker kind of Chipmunk. But, as soon as she saw the pink coat and plaid tie she happily agreed. Phew, I lucked out of making a furry Chipmunk costume.
The weather that night was perfect for trick-or-treating. We walked around with pals Abby and Ryan. The kids happily ran from house to house and they didn't even have to wear their coats! They got a ton of candy, but they both claimed that they loved the haunted house the best. The haunted house is built by middle schoolers in their garage. It was quite good and scary, but not-too-scary for the little guys. They even wanted to go again by themselves.

Sadie's Birthday Party

On Saturday, October 29 Sadie had her birthday party at the local gymnastics place. She invited all of her closest friends and they jumped and bounced and twirled and ran their little hearts out. They had such a blast and it was by far the easiest party I've ever done. We would all happily agree to do it again. (But, we'll wait until next year!)

 Eli and Ryan playing.

 Leanna jumping into the pit with Luis.

 Clara.

 Most of the kids having a blast attacking Dennis.

 The cake.

 The wish.

The Presents

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone knows Sadie very well. She got a gazillion craft project presents. We have steadily been working our way through all of them.

I don't know why I always forget to take a whole group photo. But, I did. Again.

The Last Birthday Hurrah!

After Sadie got her ears pierced we decided to celebrate. Can you guess where we went for dinner?
If you guessed "Mexico", then you're wrong. We went to Northern Minnesota's most authentic Mexican restaurant, Mi Rancho!!!

We all got to get in on the crazy birthday hat wearing action:

It was the perfect way to end a very long and exciting day. Happy Birthday to Sadie!! You are quite the girl and I truly enjoy every moment!

Milestone: Sadie Gets Her Ears Pierced!

A few months ago Sadie asked if she could get her ears pierced. Dennis and I had never discussed an age and truly neither of us really cared when she got her ears pierced, but we both felt she should have a wait just a little bit. We told her that she could pierce her ears when she was 5. We were both surprised though when she said that she wanted to do it on her birthday after her piano recital. So, after the recital we went to the mall so Sadie could get her ears pierced.
She chose sparkly pink flowers and was beside herself with excitement.



As you can see, she was so brave and did great!


After we left all she could say was, "I just can't stop smiling. I just love my new earrings so much!"
This morning she woke up early (really early, like 3am early) and all she could tell me was "I just can't stop smiling." I'm really really glad she loves them! She also reminded me right away this morning that we needed to clean them and turn them. Oh, and she told everyone that she just got her ears pierced!

Very First Piano Recital

Besides having a birthday, Sadie also had her very first piano recital. The kids started Suzuki piano lessons in September and have learned a lot in their 7 lessons! Ashley, their teacher, is a very wise woman and scheduled 4 recital times in two days so families could choose a time that worked for them and also so families didn't have to sit through 60 performers. We picked Friday afternoon at 5. The kids practiced earlier in the day so they knew what to expect. Sadie was very excited to play in front of a group. Eli on the other hand was very nervous and couldn't stop wiggling. He played through his song very very quickly while kicking his feet back and forth. I could just feel his anxiety, which just made me more nervous!

When it came time for the recital, Sadie was cool as a cucumber. She played Twinkle Twinkle Variation B or Ice Cream Cone:



Eli played Honeybee. He was so nervous but he composed himself pretty well.



I'm so proud of how well they did. They were awesome.
Here are Eli and Sadie with their teacher, Ashley.


Here's the group of performers for this recital. (It was the perfect number, the concert only lasted 35 minutes!)
The kids really like piano so I predict more recitals in our future. Eli is wondering when he can play cello or violin or guitar or the drums...

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Before you get too excited, I should tell you that Eli did NOT lose a tooth. Eli, in all of his six year old wisdom, found a shark tooth that we had laying around and decided to see if the tooth fairy would bring him money for the shark tooth. So, he put the tooth under his pillow and in the morning he was very excited to see that the tooth fairy did manage to make it our house. She left a note that stated that she does not accept shark teeth, but that it was worth a try and that she appreciated the effort. She also said that he will lose a tooth eventually, but it might not happen as soon as he wants to. Instead of money, she left him a book called "Throw Your Tooth on the Roof" which is about tooth traditions from around the world. Eli was tickled nonetheless. He'll keep on wiggling those teeth and he'll keep on eating apples until a tooth does fall out and the tooth fairy delivers some cold hard cash!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Sadie!!!!

To say that Sadie was excited about her birthday would be an understatement. That girl just couldn't wait. She turned five with a smile on her face and it never left the whole day. She gave a gazillion hugs and told everyone that today was her birthday.
She woke up bright and early for the traditional breakfast pancakes, but once she saw the presents she knew that pancakes could wait a few minutes. Eli made her open up his present first. He gave her a Littlest Pet Shop. One that had cars, of course.
She also got a very cute ice cream cone necklace. The necklace will make more sense in a later post, but she was thrilled.

Sadie is a huge Shel Silverstein fan so Dennis got her his latest book. She also got about 8 Biscuit books, since she is just starting to read and a sewing kit. Oh, and how could I forget the pink boots... You'll be seeing lots of pictures of her in her new pink boots.

There they are... the glorious chocolate chip birthday pancakes!! She ate a lot. She had to fuel up for what turned out to be a very busy and exciting day. Sadie will celebrate her birthday on Saturday with a party at the gym bin with all of her friends.

Jack-O-Lanterns

It's good to know that there are always routines and traditions that remind us of the repetition of the seasons . Carving pumpkins is a favorite tradition in this house and one that we do without fail year after year. This year we had to do our pumpkin carving in phases because Eli wanted to get his pumpkin weeks ago and could hardly wait to carve it, while Sadie wanted to wait until the last possible moment.

Sadie carved her pumpkin and made the little one as a craft project at storytime at the library.

Eli, apparently, has turned into a boy of many faces...

Woooooooo!!!.... Ya'll should come trick-or-treating at our house. Last year we got one family! It would be great to have at least two families come this year!!

Chicken Update

It's official: Sadie and I adore the chickens. You might think we're crazy, and 7 months ago I never would have guessed, but it's true, we're head over heals in love with these girls. We've been letting them out every day for a little free-range pecking. It's crazy how good they are at staying in the yard (ok, they do visit Jeff's yard too) and staying together. If one girl gets separated from the others she squawks as loud as she can until she finds the others or until Sadie goes out and scoops her up and carries her to the others. Mabel and Penny easily allow Sadie to pick them up, Brownie and Annie are a little more reluctant, but they're realizing that she's not so bad!
They all come running to me as soon as I say "come on girls" and they follow me back to their coop to be locked in. I love watching their little legs run. Sometimes they even manage to fly a few feet if they're really excited to see me and can't get to me fast enough.
The cat is only slightly curious and if she gets too close they all flap their wings at her and she runs away. We did see a family of raccoons out one night and we ran out as fast as we could to chase them off before they found the girls.
Penelope, Brownie and Mabel are laying but Annie just poops in her nesting box, the crazy girl. We're hoping soon. I can even tell which eggs belong to which chicken. Brownies are shaped like a torpedo, very long and lean. Mabel's are more stout and egg-shaped. Penny's are the biggest. I'm curious if Annie lays white eggs because she's all white or if hers will be pale blue/green like the rest?
It's starting to get cold and the days are getting short. It will be interesting to see how their patterns change during the winter season and how they tolerate the cold.