Its in his blood....

Being outside that is!  Every chance he gets he is asking to go outside and play!  He loves it whether he's with friends or having independent play....he just loves, loves, loves it!  When winter comes around it's even more exciting as there is more 'work to do!' Of course, today it helped that he's just gotten a new 'outside' dump truck! :)

Sletto Cmas

We spent the past 5 days at my sister's house for my family Cmas.  It was a great time...but I gotta be honest...I am looking forward to a great nap today!

 

Highlights included:

24hr access to playing with cousins

Lots of time spent outide playing

Many meals of great food

Time with family, of course

Serving a meal at the Salvation Army

Christmas 'concert' by all the cousins except Kinley

Playing games and coloring

Marshmellow guns (not so fun on clean-up!)

Being close to a Starbucks :)

Did I mention great food :)

Sleeping on the top bunk

Celebrating cousin Sara's 7th birthday
Hearing memories (Cmas or not)
Zuba's (sp?)...who doesn't want a pair of these :)

Having LOTS of room to roam about and 'get into' many of Aunt Siri's things :)

There are many more...but those are the few that come to mind right now

 

A *few* pics of course

'Big' Newberg Cmas

Last Friday evening we gathered at Scott's aunts house for Big Newberg Cmas.  That includes, aunts and uncles, great grandma, cousins and girlfriends.

 

 Kinley was not so much into picture taking that evening!!



Preschool program

Yesterday, Soren's preschool had a Christmas program for the mommies. It was full of songs, rhymes, a treat for moms, a plaster handprint of each child and just some special time with all eyes on our kids!

Our family Christmas

This Tuesday we were able to celebrate Cmas...just the four of us!  We started out with our favorite appetizers by the Cmas tree.

 

 Then read the Cmas story and headed right into presents.....Kinley was NOT at all interested in opening presents...she just wanted to carry them around.

 Getting a light up toothbrush!

 Daddy bought Kinley her first car.....at 18 months!

 Soren was BEYOND excited about JD legos!!

 A Veggietale devo from good friends!

 Loving ice cream after presents!

 Soren got to stay up late to work on his new legos!

 Studying the directions.

A Cmas jammie pic before bedtime!

 

Winter fun

Looks like Kinley is going to be an adventure seeker like her big brother....I LOVE IT!!

 



How he adores her.

One of our advent 'lessons' was on the virtue of sharing/giving.  One morning Soren woke up to 5 $1 bills on the table.  He was BEYOND excited, I am sure thinking of ways HE was going to spend that money on himself.  Well, his thoughts were re-directed to our 'lesson' of the day.  He needed to think one how to spend that money on somebody else!  Whether it be donating it to the Salvation Army, church offering, buying something that would be appreciated to a friend or family member etc.  I told him he had to think about it for the next 24 hrs and to let me know what his decision was. The next morning came and he was beyond excited about buying Kinley a 'puppy!' There was not another option.  You see, Kin absolutely loves puppies.

 

Here's a pic of him giving it to her....SO excited

 

 

 

Kin loving the puppy...she now has two puppies to love on!

 



My girl

Today, I realized that Kin's hair was long enough for pony tails...I think it makes her look SO grown up!! So....I just had to share!

 

 

Proud Mama

About a month ago Soren's preschool had 'midterms!'  It is so fun for me to look at his reports from 2 years ago and compare to this year!  I think the teacher did a fine job of describing him....here's what she said.

Soren is very comfortable at preschool and he enjoys helpingthe new studens learn the rules! (do you think he's a first born:)) He is having fun with his good friend, Abram but has a great imagination as he pretends with his other classmates.  He learns quickly and retains what he has learned.  He liks to try new things.  He has matured and grown as he prepares for a great year in kindergarten!

:)

Laugh or Cry....We chose to laugh

This past weekend Scott & I had planned on getting away for a night to relax and renew our marriage....well due to a nasty flu bug our awesome friends were sick in bed and unable to take our kids!  NOT a problem...we decided that we would bring the kids with for a family weekend!  Well, by the end of the weekend my sarcastic nature had come out more than once (lovingly of course) and it wasnt the weekend we had planned at all!!

On Friday we decided to take the kids to the holiday parade downtown Mpls, before checking into or hotel!  Well, 2 hours of driving, inability to pass on winter storm like roads found us still NOT in the cities and we quickly realized that we were NOT going to make it in time! :(

SO....because our kids were starving and the food options were fast food or Pizza Ranch...we opted for PR.  NOT excited about that!  It's not that I mind PR...but part of the excitement of going away for a weekend for us is eating new food.....and we can get PR here!

By the time we got checked into our hotel it as bedtime......have you ever tried to share a room with your two kids....who can hear and see everything in that small space!! NOT fun!

Kinley got sick during the night....NOT fun!!

I had unplugged the clock due to its bright light!! NOT a good idea. At our house, Soren is NOT able to get out of bed until the clock says 7am! Well, that meant him waking me up several times to ask 'what time is it?' Because he was SO excited to go swimming

The pool was freezing and the hot tub was scalding hot!  NOT fun!!

We were unable to do the adult things that were NOT kid friendly! :(

Soren did love being on the 9th floor so he could look out at all the buildings and towers!

We did end the weekend going to see the Santa Train at our local YMCA..a huge hit with Soren.

Even though it wasn't the weekend we had orginally planned...I spent it with four of most favorite people! :)

Other than spending it with my family....Scott did surprise me with a 1.5hr massage at a spa I used to go to when we lived there!!  Thanks Hon! :)