The journey to the North Pole is not easy

We attempted to make our way to the North Pole via the Polar Express Train, but a snowstorm changed our plans.  After driving over an hour the temperature dropped 9 degrees and the snow became a white out so we were forced to turn around.  In this picture the kids are dressed in their special Polar Express jammies, which were still put to good use, as we stayed in our jammies for the day watching Christmas movies and baking cookies.

What if Mary and Jospeh had Facebook

Letter to Santa

Finn worked very hard on writing his letter to Santa. He is beginning to sound out words and is able to usually hear a beginning, middle and end sound. We worked on this together and I really wanted to keep it, but we were unable to. It, of course, had to be mailed to Santa's workshop in the North Pole. Finn took it the Post Office himself to ensure it got sent. I wrote Lucie's part of the letter, but Finn reminded me to apologize for her pulling Santa's beard. He is a little worried she may be on the naughty list though I assured him Santa would understand.

Dear Santa, I have been a good boy. I would like a big green bike, big train road, stinky (as in Stinky the Garbage Truck)

Preschool Christmas Program

Finn had his Christmas Program with preschool. He sang in Church a couple months ago and was extremely nervous. This time around he seemed much more comfortable and did a great job. I knew he knew the words to his songs because he has been singing them around the house frequently, but you never know how they will do in front of a crowd. He sang the songs and remembered the motions. We were so proud of him. This was one of those parenting memories that you store and hope to pull out 50 years later.

Grandma and Grandpa (or Pop Pop and Mine in Finn speak) were able to come to his program and enjoy the treats afterwards.

See him on the far left?

There he is again, to the right of the little girl enthusiastically singing.

Finn and his wonderful teachers, who we are so blessed to have in his life.



Finn and Lucille ready for the big night.

Christmas Pictures

For Christmas this year I knew that I wanted to get the kids pictures taken together professionally. Trying to get one child to look at a camera and smile is hard enough but I knew I needed professional help for two. I have a friend from high school who has a photography business and is wonderful. She took pictures when Lucie was 2 weeks old and they turned out fantastic. Her name is Kristen Geerts and at the end of this post you can see a link to her studio. Lucie has learned to crawl a week before the pictures were taken so she wanted to show off her skills and not sit still. Finn did not feel like smiling or having his picture taken so it was a challenge. I think she did a great job and got some great shots!

http://KristinGeertsPhotography.com

A Poem That Got To Me

At my MOPS meeting this Tuesday a poem was read that really spoke to my heart. Actually I read it after the fact, because while it was being read I was running around like a crazy person trying to make sure there were teachers in each room for our children, but I did get to read it during the meeting. We always talk about how quickly our children grow up, how short a time they are babies or at home with us. I have been struggling with facing that Finn will soon go off to kindergarten and the majority of his day will be with someone else. At the same time, sometimes the days seem never ending with the wiping of noses and bottoms, the filling of sippe cups and bottles, making meals, feeding meals, cleaning up meals, picking up toys, etc. This poem reminds us to stop and realize that they will end someday and I don't think that we will be happy when they do.

One Of These Days

by: Erma Bombeck

One of these days you'll explode

and shout to all the kids,

"Why don't you just grow up and act your age?"

And, they will...

"Or, You guys get outside and find something to do...

without hurting each other..

and don't slam the door!"

And they don't...

You'll straighten their bedroom until it's all neat and tidy,

toys displayed on the shelf....

hangers in the closet...

animals caged...

You'll yell..."Now I want it to stay this way!"

And it will

You will prepare a perfect dinner

with a salad that hasn't had all the olives picked out

and a cake with no finger traces in the icing

and you will say,

"Now this meal is for company!"

And you will eat it alone....

You'll yell, "I want complete privacy on the phone! No screaming, do you hear me?"

And no one will answer....

No more plastic tablecloths stained,

No more dandelion bouquets,

No more iron on patches,

No more wet, knotted shoelaces, muddy boots,

or rubberbands for ponytails.

Imagine, a lipstick with a point!

No babysitters for New Year's Eve!

Washing clothes once a week!

No more PTA meetings or silly school plays

where your child is a tree, or a little dutch girl named Mena,

no car pools, blaring stereos or forgotten lunch money.

No more Christmas presents made of library paste and toothpicks.

No wet oatmeal kisses,

No more tooth fairy,

No more giggles in the dark, scraped knees to kiss

or sticky fingers to clean.

Only a voice asking,

Why Don't You Grow Up?"

And the silence echoes:

"I did"

Treasure your babies

Santa Clause Lean Your Ear This Way

We have already been to visit Santa. We were doing some Christmas shopping and saw that Santa was at the mall. Finn could not go by without making a visit. He seemed kind of shy and star struck, which was so sweet. He was able to get out his wish list in a whisper voice and made sure to say that his baby Lucie was here now. Lucie was not scared at all and managed to grab a handful of poor Santa's beard and give a mighty yank. This Santa has been the one Finn has seen every year since he was born. We can't figure out if he is the real one or a helper.

This was the first year of us decorating our tree in our new home and Lucie's first year decorating the tree at all. Finn was very excited to decorate and seemed to think that whoever got the most on the fastest won. Which means that the majority of our ornaments are at 5 year old level. Of course, they are not staying there very long because Lulu makes her goal to take them off as fast as she can. So after "helping" for a few minutes Lucie was confined to the exersaucer where she loudly protested over her lack of involvement. The tree looks beautiful and my favorite part is how it shows in the front window from the street. Finn helped Daddy put our angel on the tree. Our angel came from one of Mommy' students and I love it. My parents always had the same sweet angel on the top of their tree and this one reminds me of it. I just love Christmas and I love the decorating. Our tree goes up right before Thanksgiving so we can begin getting in the spirit. I am so excited to enjoy Christmas this year with two children.

One More Pumpkin Post Before Christmas

Here is Lucie in a pumpkin at 8 months and Finn in a pumpkin at 3 months. How I love my little pumpkins.

Making Trouble

Miss Lucille is getting a little mischievous lately. I turned my back for a minute to help her brother and she managed to get the puffs off the table, remove the lid and help herself to a little snack. As you can see, she is very proud of herself.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful Daddy and Husband. We love you!

Buzz and a Butterfly

For Halloween this year Finn wanted to be Buzz again and I wanted Lucie to be a beautiful butterfly. It was fun trick or treating in our new neighborhood and we also visited our old neighborhood. Lucie had her first taste of a sucker and Finn collected 19 reeses peanut butter cups, his favorite.

christmas card 2010

Snowflake Elegance Noir Christmas

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Pumpkin Carving Time!

Finn has been begging to carve pumpkins since July and convinced me to buy a couple the first of October. I remember when he was tiny and refused to have anything to do with cleaning out the pumpkin. This year he was totally into it and loved helping. He did most of the scooping, you can see how determined he is with his tongue sticking out once again.

Lucie had the same attitude Finn did when he was little about touching the pumpkin goop. She was not a fan and didn't touch it until she tried to stick a seed in her mouth and then her time of pumpkin carving was over.

The goop monster!

Lucille and her baby jack-o-lantern.

Finn and his great big monster jack-o-lantern!

This Little Light Of Mine

Finn sang in Church with his preschool class for the first time. This was his first time performing in front of any type of group. He did great! I was so proud of him that I had trouble not crying. He looked so sweet and nervous up there. He knew his songs and the movements. They sang "Rise and Shine" and "This Little Light of Mine".

Pumpkin Farm Fun

Every year since Finn was a baby we have gone to the Bloomsbury Pumpkin Farm. In fact, before Finn was born I went with my kindergarten classes on a field trip. It is a great place and every year they add more. Finn loves it and looks forward to it each year. I remember last year thinking that the next year we would have a baby with us, so it was fun to take LuLu this year.

Lucie is decked out in her pumpkin gear from head to toe. She liked sitting in the hay barn, watching Finn slide down the giant tube slide.

There is so much to do from train rides to mining for gold. The gold/rock mining was new this year and a big hit. Finn really got into it. There are also hay rack rides (of course), haunted barns, corn boxes, duck races, pig races, goat feeding, petting zoos, a huge inflatable jump on thing, and lots more. I like that it has a variety of activities for different ages. I hope this is a tradition that we can keep up for many more years.

Finn leads the way through the corn maze.

More Fall Pictures

Near our home there is a beautiful state park full of great picture taking spots but my kids were not really in the picture taking mode. I still got a few sweet ones. I love this first one of the two of them, Finn is sharing a leaf with Lucie and they are so absorbed in the moment.