Santa Visit

 

Marie wants American Girl doll clothes, a trip to Disney World, and a Gizmo watch/phone. 

 Bennett wants an electric scooter, remote control airplane, and a compass.

 Brooks wants dinosaurs and more animals to play with.

Christmas Wishes for 3 special children!

Cookie Time

Christmas is coming which means it's time for yummy treats!

Our kids really enjoy taking the effort to make their own cookies so we make sure to do this every year.

The whole family was involved for every step this year and they are really getting very skilled in their cookie-making!

A few days later we sat down to decorate them...what a blessed mess that always is.  I noticed a huge difference this year with how helpful the older 2 are getting at decorating.  One of my favorite parts of decorating this year was how Bennett stuck candy eyes in almost anything just to make it 

look silly - a silly tree, wreath, you. name it!

Christmas Concert

Marie and Bennett participated in their annual school Christmas concert this week. 

They were both feeling the butterflies but of course they did a great job!

Marie was able to sing with a few other girls for part of a song up close to the microphone. She loves to sing and hopes to be a singer/farmer when she grows up!

Bennett was standing in the back next to one of his best friends from preschool. They socialized but also gave it their all during the songs. 

Thanks for the grandparents for all their support - these kids are blessed beyond belief.

Big Boy!

 This kiddo has quite the personality and stubborn nature.

After changing some clothes around, he noticed underwear in his drawer.  He decided he was done with diapers and ready for the adventure of potty training!

I am relieved to say that after only two days of stress and worry, he began to get it and ended up being accident free by training day 3!

 Enjoying his treat for a successful trip to the potty...no time like the present!

 Brooks has also taken on new responsibilities with baking. He loves to assist me with taste testing, mixing, and cleaning up too! 

After learning how to go potty, plus baking banana bread, it was also time for his first real trip to the dentist for a cleaning. 

He was a big boy for this too only whining a bit towards the end because of some of the scraping. 

It's hard to believe this guy will be 3 in 2 weeks!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was a full day of fun and family starting with some time in Spencer. 

The kids had a ball playing with Ryan and Allie, those kiddos know just how to get Marie wrapped around their fingers. 

A delicious meal followed by a walk on a the trail led to pie with lots of whipped cream!

Next we spent time in Sheldon with our family there.  The kids played, ate more, and even celebrated Micah's first birthday!

This holiday was a busy but what a unique way to see exactly how much we are blessed - so many homes we get to be welcomed into. We are blessed family for sure!

On Friday we decorated some of the house and trees in the morning.  After that we drove to Sioux Falls to enjoy the Christmas parade and Falls Park lights.  What a cool experience to have this year...we will definitely be back again!

Minnesota Weekend

Andy spent the week up in Minneapolis assisting his Aunt Tina while her husband, Uncle Brian, underwent a kidney transplant. 

Brian is still in the hospital at the time I'm writing this, but he is making gains and improvement day by day. 

The kids and I joined Andy for the weekend. 

Along with visiting Brian, we were able to catch a Gopher Basketball Game with Don, Jean, and Nathan and also visit the Minnesota Children's Museum. 

The big event was the Minnesota/Nebraska football game.  

Although it was chilly and not how we wanted the game to end, we had a great time giving the kids this experience. Nachos, popcorn, and hot chocolate helped us make our way through!

Fall Soccer 2017

 It was a loooong drawn out season due to very cold weather and rainy conditions, but fall soccer was still a great learning experience.

 We did a flip-a-roo so Andy could coach Bennett and I could coach Marie this time. 

Marie has now entered into a higher level so she played on a much larger field with positions and lot of competition...what a great experience!  I finally learned what "off sides" means....

 Bennett showed great improvements with planning his next steps and plans during the game, Marie worked really hard on positions and passing to her teammates.  

Overall, great experience that we will be enjoying again in the spring!