Waiting for Christmas...

While we were hanging out at my parents place...
The kids got in some cuddle time with Justin
Mom helped Jeff look at new cars

Aidyn & Nolan read books

And tried to figure out who each of the presents were for.

Mutton Bustin'

While we were in ND for Christmas we spent a day visiting Ty & Deb and their kiddos. One of the big adventures at their house involved visiting their sheep. The kids fed the sheep hay and corn. Both Aidyn & Nolan (ACK!!!) used a pitchfork!
Here is Kim, Nolan, McKayla & Aidyn in the nice warm pick-up which incidentally, we got locked out of shortly after this. That was not so nice and warm.
Now this is where it got interesting...The kids went mutton bustin' (for you city folks, that means they rode sheep). Kim did it first which was awesome. Then Aidyn & McKayla took turns sitting on the sheep. It didn't go much further than that, but it was so fun to watch!

After dinner all the kids decorated Christmas ornaments. They made some beautiful creations. Thanks Ty, Deb & family for a very fun day!

Our Christmas

The Friday before we left for ND we celebrated our own Christmas at home. The kids were so excited they could hardly contain themselves at dinner.

Here is Captain Insane-O opening her gift. She gets so excited about opening presents, it's quite hilarious!

The morning we left the kids were excited to see Santa had visited. Apparently he knew we'd be gone over Christmas so he stopped by early.

Oh Santa, always Mr. Practical...

Is it weird that this made me cry?

I have lots of posting to do to get caught up. But until I get organized (which could take another 33 years) I am just going to post the most important thing that has happened at out house. Here it is!

We have a very excited girl in our house. The tooth fairy visited last night which caused a whole new level of excitement this morning. Aidyn came barreling down the hallway, "I got money!" 10 seconds later Nolan came running "Give me money too!" Ah, the joy of children.

We got to hold a new baby!

Today we went to visit our friends Corey & Ana and meet their sweet little girl Claire. Nolan checked her out a little bit. Aidyn & I pretty much fought over whom got to hold her. She is a little sweetie pie and we are so happy for everyone. Congratulations Corey & Ana!!

Basketball

Last night was Aidyn's last night of basketball (until January!). Here's her team...

And our superstar with her medal. Next session Nolan will be playing too. Should be interesting...

Just for Ty...

This song is currently blasting from Ty & Deb's blog. Ty turns it on full blast to get his kids up and out of bed in the morning. How annoying would that be?? Anyway, while it was playing yesterday, Nolan got his groove on. I knew Ty would appreciate this, so here you go...

By the way, if you care to hear the song in its entirety, check out their blog.

Christmas Program

The kids had their Christmas program in church on Sunday. They both sang a few songs and then everyone sang together at the end. It was a very cute program and the kids did a great job!

Christmas Preparations

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas lately and I've been doing a poor job of keeping the blog updated. So here are some updates as to what we've been up to.
The kids made their gingerbread house (and ate half of the candy in the process).

We mixed up a big batch of homemade hot chocolate mix and even made homemade marshmallows to go with it. They are tasty, but a bit tedious to cut up. I don't think I'll be making those again.

We also visited the Macy's Christmas Display downtown and saw Santa afterwards. Aidyn had a nice visit with Santa, Nolan was more concerned about the gingerbread cookies he could smell baking in the bakery. Which we purchased and devoured. Good thing there is a Starbucks in Macy's so Mamma could have a little treat too.

Here's a little holiday cheer to get you through the day...

Nolan Newsflash

According to Nolan "Fruits and vegetables make you have handsome hair."
So all of you out there wanting to be a bit more handsome...eat up!

The boy's got moves...

Nolan requested we have some music on this morning while Aidyn was at school. He stood in front of the TV and got his groove on for about 20 minutes. It was so cute! Here's a little clip of him enjoying some Aly & AJ. Notice the rockin' arm move shortly into the show.
(Also, please disregard the pile of towels on the chair next to him...waiting to be folded. I have other things to do, like blog.)

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids were in charge of decorating the Christmas tree by themselves this year. I was there to supervise and place ornaments up high when requested.

They had so much fun. Can you tell how excited Aidyn gets about doing things like this? Her brother just gets caught in the love.
The tree looks just beautiful and there are a few presents under it already. The presents have created many questions such as "When can we open those presents?" "When can we open those presents?" "When can we open those presents?" "When can we open those presents?" "When can we open those presents?" You get the picture...

Quick Visit

The day we got home from Thanksgiving, Troy's family showed up on our doorstep. They came down to attend the Vikings game on Sunday night and needed a place to stay. So being the considerate sister I am, I locked the doors, closed the blinds and turned the lights off. But Aidyn & Nolan felt bad and let them in.

Sean read the kids books.

Kaitlyn spun Nolan in circles...
And then gave him Coke. At bedtime.

Even though it was a short visit, we enjoyed seeing them and had lots of fun hanging out with them.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family this year. Here are Craig & Brett getting in some cuddle time.

Donna read Nolan A LOT of books on Turkey Day. He was in heaven!
He did stop over at Troy's house since my entire family was there for Thanksgiving. Here are all the grandkids together.

And here is how the kids looked at the end of the day. A pumpkin pie induced coma...

Hoedown

Aidyn had a Hoedown at Kindergarten before Thanksgiving. She was supposed to dress in 'Western Wear'. Being a full-fledged city kid, her wardrobe was limited. We did manage to find this hat.

And this accessory which made the entire outfit. Yep, that's right...she went old school with her mamma's cowgirl belt. NICE!