Getting Ready for Christmas...

We are slowly, but surely getting around to getting in the Christmas spirit around our house. We finally have the tree up. BIG accomplishment. I think the kids thought we would never do this.

I took a picture of the boys playing their games while having to try and focus through the branches of our fake tree. They do this a lot, sit together and play their games. It's one of the times that they are together and it's quiet while they play.

And Maura proving that we indeed do have lights on the tree too. All of the ornaments happened to get put on the other side of the tree, and I'm not one to care how the tree really looks. I figure this way they won't want to move every ornament to where they want it if they get to choose right away. So far its worked.

Yesterday I decided that we needed to wrap the presents that we got for some of our family. Harrison wanted to help wrap the presents, but decided that he would be the perfect labeler for the gifts. He embraced it with true enthusiasm! Like with the tree, I don't care if I use address labels for tags, and then have my 5 year old write out the names in his learning penmanship. I knew that I probably would like to have this documented to show how he wrote at a young age, so I paused to get a picture. Don't mind that I wrapped a present for my father-in-law that is for his wife. This time Harrison decided to use their real names instead of Grandma and Grandpa, because that would have been too much work. Plus, it really is more fitting this way too.

Praying that in the busyness of getting ready for the holidays you can stop and remind yourself the real reason we celebrate this special holiday. Be thankful that God would send his only Son to this earth, to live a perfect life, and then die on a cross to save us from all of our sins. Truly the only gift that we would ever need. EVER.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

In the Kitchen...

I think the kitchen tends to be one of the places that families hang out.

I mean, there is food there, right?!

Our family is no different, and whether it is for a meal, snack, or just visiting, we seem to chat often at the table in the kitchen.

I just love this random, crazy picture Harrison while he is eating his oatmeal for breakfast. I'm pretty sure that he is trying to tell one of the youngin's to do something specific, and they aren't listening. It happens often in our house.

I know I've already shared with you the love that Maura has for the pantry, but here is a picture description of what she does. She brings random items from the pantry to the opposite side of the table, sits and does random pouring/shaking/pounding/whatever with them, then returns them politely to the pantry (most of the time). I never tire of seeing her play like this, and most times it happens while I am cooking in the kitchen.

This is classic Maura silly face. She says "eeeeese" for the camera whenever she sees it, and just brings out the funniest side of her.


Emmett was too serious this day, and didn't' want to be involved in any pictures. Oh well...

The Christenson Wedding...

This past weekend three of us had the privilege of being in a friends wedding!

We really had a fun time, and was such a special occasion. Kristin, the bride, is almost a sister to me, and occasionally wonder if there was anyway that we could be. However, our birthday's are only 4 months apart, so biologically would be very difficult.

Here are a few fun snapshots of the day!

We had to endure some gusty winds and cool air while outside taking pictures.

Harrison and Emmett did a great job as Ring Bearers, and loved every minute of the day.

Here Kristin is getting them pumped up to walk down the aisle. They did a great job, by the way.

And of coarse, we had to dance most of the night away. The boys were pretty tired, any myself too, so we slipped away earlier than some for our beds at the hotel.

Congratulations again Kristin and Josh on your new venture in life together as husband and wife! We are so excited to watch how God uses you two and the ministry that will happen from your team!

Oy, it's been busy...

Our household has been on the fast track the past few months, and I really haven't been able to get my brain wrapped around all the aspects of it. Seriously, some days it feels like I'm losing my mind!

It all started a few months ago when I started working more for a medical leave in my department. In many ways it was an answer to prayer, but a complete change in daily routine for all of us. I am now officially off of that coverage and back to my sporadic random days.

We, the little boys and myself, are part of a friend's wedding this weekend! Last night started the festivities, and we will be going strong through Sunday. Come Monday, I'm hoping that things will start to settle down some, and I can work on getting caught up on some of the things that I've had to let go of since the beginning of September.

One of the things that we've been working on is shingling the house. We are 2/3 rd's done, and just have the roof above the garage left, which Kevin is going to tackle by himself without the aid of a friend that helped us with the other sections. I think he'll do a GREAT job, I just hope it is done before snow. :)

In true firstborn fashion, Harrison was the only one to get his picture taken for Halloween. And I didn't even take this one! I'm pretty sure that this was taken before his party at school that they got to dress up for. If you can't tell, he went as a doctor. And I didn't even buy anything for his costume! I'm pretty proud of that being I'm not very creative with stuff like that and rely on stores to help fill those gaps.

Lastly, the kids (mainly the boys) didn't believe me that there was a bed in our couch. So in true "prove you wrong" attitude, I did just that and pulled out the Hide-a-Bed. That created some really fun entertainment and near death experiences for them. Oh, the simple things.

Have I told you yet?

We now have a big 5 year old in our house!!!

Harrison couldn't wait to turn 5! And honestly it seems like quite a milestone to celebrate too!

We had a fun little party with family and a couple friends. For the 4th year in a row, he requested meatballs, mashed potatoes, and corn! This boy is so much like his mother. I know I always requested turkey and the fixin's for my birthday every year. It had been 6 months since Thanksgiving, so turkey seemed to sound quite tasty.

Back to the Birthday Boy... here he is with Emmett, Ruby and Chloe.

Everyone was so generous, and gave such thoughtful gifts, perfect for this grown-up boy! We've been operating, and feeding hungry hippos recently.


Harrison also requested a Rainbow Cake like his brother's, but I just didn't have the time like I did this spring, so I talked him into a Crazy Rainbow Cake. Thankfully it worked, and he loved it! Super fun, and super easy!

It is so crazy to think that we've been parents for 5 years already, and that we are at the beginning of a somewhat new stage in life with children. Now that one is starting school, it won't be long and they all will be. I guess we just have to enjoy them to the fullest while they are at home with us now!

First Day of Otter Preschool...

Harrison has been having a blast at Otter Preschool these past couple of weeks!

This week starts week 3, and he goes every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.

Here he is putting his backpack in his locker.

Emmett got to go with Kevin to bring Harrison to his big, first day.
It's pretty cute how they are walking down the sidewalk together.

This was at home before leaving for school; however, I forgot that the pictures upload backwards.

And now this big boy is going to be turning 5 in less than a week!

The time has flown by, and loving this new stage that we are entering.

I will be missing this in a few months...

We are officially done with summer, according to some sources.

Labor Day is considered the end since school resumes in Minnesota the Tuesday following.

I have to admit that this summer was a good one, and enjoyed it more than others.

Here are a few pictures from one of our last days of summer.

Maura became an expert at walking, and always attempting to walk up or down steps, because she thinks that she is that good. You can see where this independence could cause some issues in the future, right?

Harrison loved working in the shed. And ever since they built a work bench in it, he has been "working and building" in there a lot. He doesn't like it when it's too hot, so the shade of the shed is great for him.

These two LOVE the water, and anything to do with it. Plus, they seem to cause the most trouble too.

We were watering the garden and some water was leaking from the spigot which Maura immediately gravitated towards and would get her hand wet, then suck the water off of her fingers. Always something with this one!

Spunky smile licking that water up! Have I said how much personality she has recently? LOTS of personality!

Yes, come January or February I will be dreaming of these days, only to look outside and see white. Soak it in now!!

Oh, Marza!

Seriously, this little ham has quite the personality!

Spunky, sassy, sweet, and simply silly.

I made a little shrug for her to wear this fall, to help stretch out some of the use of her summer clothes. I thought it was pretty cute how she stood there, just perfect, for her picture to be taken. Usually she is bee-lining it straight for the camera to get her hands on it.

One of Maura's favorite spots in our house is the pantry. She can't get enough of the stuff in there, and seems to have an affinity for the spices on the inside of the door. What is her favorite, most sought after spice, you ask??

Cinnamon sticks!!

Obviously on two separate occasions.

And the white on the upper part of her lip would be cream cheese frosting. Yup, that's my girl!
She's a crazy one, this girl. But she can melt your heart in a minute and gives the best hugs, including pats on the back.

A Drencher...

A couple of weeks ago we got a massive pour down in town, that came right at the end of our supper. Kevin somehow got the boys to take off their shirts and hoisted them by their arms and took then outside to run in the rain! It was pretty hilarious, if I do say so. Emmett was pretty appalled by the whole thing at first, but then had no other choice but to take off running after Kevin in the rain. Maura was slightly ticked that her boys were outside with out her, and made sure to let us know what she thought about the whole situation.

Since we live on a hill, we had quite a rapid river running at the end of our driveway. They loved standing in it and feeling that push from how fast it was moving.

This was also a really good cleaning up service to the sticky syrupy fingers and faces we had after supper that night! Yay, to less clean up by me!

Reading Time...

Harrison is "reading" a book to the littles. He has 95% of our books memorized, so it is quite deceiving to the general public. Either way, they loved listening to the story and was super fun that Kevin took this picture of them all together.

What Happens When...

a mosquito bites your eyelid??

For Emmett, this is what happens...

I saw the small bite the previous evening, and wondered how it might bother him; however, he wasn't bothered by it at all. Not itching or rubbing it. I think he was just having and interesting time adjusting to what life was like with vision out of only one eye. It was still a bit swollen the next day, but was almost completely back to normal in the evening.

It was pretty comical getting used to seeing him with that eye swollen shut like that, and would find myself chuckling to myself occasionally. Thankfully, he was a good sport through the whole thing, and handled it like a champ!

Maura's Party...

We had a little birthday party for the 1 year old this last weekend with family and friends.

There were a few presents (and leftover food on the table)...

Some Root Beer Bundt Cake...

And a great time with family and friends!
(This picnic table was a gift for Maura, and we have been loving it!)


Thanks again for all of the sweet birthday wishes for Maura Girl!

Some Sillyness...

Some days are just super silly in our house.

Kevin always is willing to wrestle with the boys and get them going.

And Maura gets in on her own action by making a little bridge.

Happy 1st Birthday, Maura!!!

Here's our sweet baby girl waiting to get out of her bed this morning.

And then I just needed to throw in a funny picture of her from a week or so ago.
We love you Marza girl!!!

A View by the Front Door...

It's amazing that the front door can be such a great place to hang out.

While sitting there I managed to sneak a boy peaking over the chair,

a little girl looking at me,

AND looking outside.

These two are quite the pair and manage to be near each other much of the time.

One of the many blessings of it being nice out is that we can have the front door open a lot and watch everything that is going on in the neighborhood.

Back on Mother's Day...

Really? I'm that behind?!

Oh well... these were a few pictures taken from Mother's Day.

I just love they way that she looks so sneaky in this picture.

The boys really do enjoy being this close to her, most of the time.

And she allows it amazingly!

It is so hard to get a decent picture of the 3 of them together! Argh!

Doesn't Maura look massively huge with the boys!! How did she get that big?!

It was really fun having a relaxing day with the kids and Kevin.
The simpler the better in my book.

What Mommy is Up to...

I'm pretty sure that most of you realize that I've picked up knitting in the past couple of years (thanks to Kevin's aunt Mary - who has been knitting for 40+ years).

This is my sanity in the evening after the kids go to bed, or when we are at the lake, or driving in the car. It's something that doesn't pertain to being a mom, and something that makes me happy.

Here is one of the latest things that I have finished.

A friend of mine asked me to make a baby hat for a friend of hers and showed this yarn to her. Thankfully she loved it, and was easy because I already had some on hand from a hat that I made Maura in it.

As a thank you gift she bought me another hank of it, and told me to make a sweater for Maura with it. I did have some left over from the first hank, and thought it would be close, but when I got going realized that I probably wouldn't have quite enough.

My birthday came and my sister-in-law gave me some cash for the yarn shop, which I then doubled and bought some certificates from the Bargain Line. I then went and bought another hank (for basically half price) and finished the sweater.

It is a 2 year size and will be great for this winter. I can't wait to put her in it!

The yarn is a Misti Alpaca yarn that is variegated in color (obviously), but also a thick and thin yarn, which adds a really fun and cute uniqueness to it. It went together so quick and easy that I may need to make it again!

Some Time Outside...

Obviously you can tell that these pictures were taken in the same day as the previous post, but we got a chance to go outside that day and enjoy some spring weather. If you catch my drift, these aren't anything new or recent. I'm just slow.

All of these are the precursor to the "climbing up the stairs" girl that we now.

And she's pretty proud of herself for doing it too.
This irritated Emmett a bit, as I wouldn't let him go down the slide with Maura standing right at the end. He is pretty careful, but I know that he would potentially slam right into her in this circumstance. That was what I didn't want to have happen. Thankfully, he obliged, and waited until I moved her.