Christmas Tour of Homes

Today I am on Tour with The Nesters. ( http://www.thenester.com/ ) It is a blog carnival where we are sharing holiday pictures of our home. Here are a few from our home.



Our tree! It is a real one we picked out of a field and cut down ourselves. We started this tradition last year and Micah and the boys love doing it! This year, Collin even helped saw. Notice the advent calendar to the left of the tree...the boys love putting up the day and pushing the star to hear a song. This was given to us as a gift on Collin's first Christmas.





Our tree skirt. Probably my favorite Christmas decoration I own. It was given to use from a good family friend who use to make and sell them for years.





Our nativity scene. This was hand carved by Micah's grandfather. It is durable so the kids are able to touch it and rearrange. I am sure this is Micah's favorite Christmas decoration.

Enjoy the carnival and check out other creative ideas people have at their homes! Happy Holidays.

Happy Birthday Collin

I can't believe Collin is already 5! It seems like yesturday he was a baby and we were living in our apartment in Illinois. How things have changed.


Collin had a party last week at the fire station. He loved it! We had all the boys from his class and our cousin Joven came down from Minnesota for the party. It will be a party he won't forget.




They set up the party table right in the mioddle of the station...firetrucks all around

Collin with coat on. (my camera was not taking good pictures this day)

Happy Halloween

The boys had a blast wearing their costumes. We went trick or treating with some new friends from church. Collin was the head of the pack at first. Shawn went to every door holding either my hand or Micah's. Maybe next year he will be running to each house like Collin

Of course Collin is a firefighter

If you can't tell, Shawn is a Tree Frog. He should have orange gloves but no luck finding them.

They both got a ton of candy. When they were given the chance to choose, Shawn always took peanut butter cups (they have an orange wrapper). I would have to say Collin was most excited to get Nerds because he knows I love them.

Wordless Wednesday

Who doesn't love a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

The day finally came. The boys' field trip to the pumpkin patch! It may have been cold, but they still had a great time.

Shawn with the smallest pumpkin he could find

Collin with the biggest pumpkin he could find

It is amazing how different every child can be!

You know you are just a vistor to Minnesota when...

• It is September and you wake up to frost on the car
• You dress yourself and kids in long sleeves and pants but their cousin is wearing shorts and short sleeves
• The city trucks are already equipped with their snow plow blades and it is ONLY SEPTEMBER!
• You left an area where the leaves are all still green and come here to find most trees fully changed in colors
• The Sun stays out later than you think it should

Have a great week to all! The kids and I are in Minnesota for the week! Stay tuned for other signs of Fall in Minnesota.

Quarry Quest

Happy 3rd Birthday Kyle!

We were fortunate enough to attend Cousin Kyle's birthday party at Quarry Quest. They set up the quarry for kids to sit and move the equipment....a boys dream. It was packed but I think everyone had fun.

Apple Picking

Every fall growing up I went Apple Picking. It was a tradition for our family and one of my favorites. I have to say it is still my all time favorite fall activity. When we lived in NJ, we always went to http://www.terhuneorchards.com/ .

Now we live in the Milwaukee, WI area. We went to the Elegant Farmer, http://www.elegantfarmer.com/ . This is known for its apple pie in a brown paper bag. We went with Gram's, who also loves apple picking (hence I went every year growing up). The boys had a blast! I think the big highlight for Collin was us letting him use the ladder to get a few apples. Shawn's favorite thing was having the frozen apple cider pop at the end. I think for Micah, Gram's and I it was the yummy hot donuts.

If you have never gone apple picking....GO!

First Day of School

Both Collin and Shawn started school last Tuesday. Collin is in 4K (it is preschool but known here as 4 year old kindergarten). This is actually through the school district so it is at no cost to us. He will go 5 DAYS A WEEK in the mornings. I can't believe by Big Guy is going to school everyday. It has been a week so far and he loves it. He talks about one boy in particular but I think he plays with other kids. He spends most of his time at the water table (at least that is what he tells us).

Shawn is also going to school. He is going to preschool two mornings a week. He actually goes to the same school as Collin so he would like to go the other days we drop off Collin as well. I am sure he will get use to not going everyday but for now he still asks why not. He has gone two days now and seems happy. I am not sure if he socializes with others, but I know he likes doing the puzzles when they have them out. He also likes telling me about snack, as every preschooler does!

I am enjoying some quality time with Shawn as well as some time on my own. I know the kids both love school and their teachers.

The End of Summer

Summer is coming to an end here finally. The boys both started school yesterday. But before we get to that exciting day, I want to share with you what we have been up to.

We took a trip down to see my cousins in Illinois. The boys love spending time with all of them. This trip, we went to Chucke Cheese. I don't know who had more fun, the boys or . . .

Micah and K.C.!

We spent a week with my mom and dad. Of course we also saw Kirk, Betsy, Kyle and Brooke. Betsy and I took the kids to the zoo one of the days. I think they all had a great time.

At the end of the week, Micah came up and we spent a day away, just the two of us. It was great to spend some time without the kids and appreciated my mom and dad watching the boys.

After we got back, we made another trip (the boys and I that is). We went to Wisconsin Dells with Carry, Elora, Ani, and Joven. We stayed at Mount Olympus and I think we all had a ton of fun. Everyone except Shawn went on a big go kart and a roller coaster at least once. (Shawn preferred the slow train) The first day, the kids played in the wave pool fully clothed. It was hard to stop them since they were having so much fun. Unfortunately I don't think Carry or I took a group picture of all the kids.

That is all to report for now. Stay tuned for a post about the first day of school.

Way Back Wednesday

Here is another blast from the past

Collin and Mommy

Shawn and Daddy

Boy have they grown!

Shawn's favorite morning!

Shawn holding his toad Madison

It is Sunday morning and we are getting ready for church. I am doing my hair and Micah is in the shower. Collin is picking out games for us to play and we assumed Shawn was downstairs playing with his animals (mostly being frogs today).

All of the sudden Shawn is running upstairs telling me that he found a frog in the garden and it went under the bricks. I asked him if he went outside, which he responded yes. He was then given a time out for going out by himself. But then I asked him about the frog. Was it a real frog or a toy frog. He said it was outside hopping. So since I was done, we went downstairs and outside to see his frog. He led me right to the garden and bent over to look under the lip of the wood border. "I see him, he is black and white." I saw nothing. I got a stick and poked it under the board and sure enough, out pops a toad. Shawn started jumping and yelling with delight "He is hopping!" I caught the small little toad. Of course Shawn had his bug box ready and we put him in to show Collin and Daddy.

He was so excited to have found a real "frog" in the yard. Once everyone was outside, he took it out and held him and carried him back to the garden. He named the toad Madison, after Kirk and Betsy's dog. He would let the toad go and recapture him just one more time several times,

Shawn's love for animals is very strong. He loves frogs so much. I guess we have to talk to him about going outside by himself a little more...

Way Back Wednesday

These pictures are from 3 years ago!

Collin is not even 2 in his picture.

Shawn is only 4 months.

Elora, Joven, Collin, Shawn and Davanika

We Miss You Guys!

Shawn loves letters!

Shawn has a love for letters. He really enjoys knowing all his letters and is currently working on letters sounds. Of course if you make it about animals he does great! Check him out.

Wisconsin State Fair

Now most of you know that Micah LOVES the Minnesota State Fair. He has gone since he was young with 4-H and with his family. We have also gone as a family several times (we did miss it one year while living in IL).

This year we decided to try the Wisconsin State Fair. It is only 30 minutes from our house and many people have said good things about it. The big thing in Wisconsin is the cream puff.

We did not try one

Shawn of course loved the animals. he was very animated while looking at the animals. Collin went down the big slide and even though he seemed unsure while going down, he said he loved it. One of the cool things we saw were the pig races. It brought a large crowd but it was worth the crowds, the boys thought it was funny. One of my favorite things we had to eat/drink was root bear milk. It tasted just like a root beer float! I think the boys all enjoyed the min-donuts.

All in all, I think we will be going to the Minnesota State Fair next year.

Only a month left

I can't beleive that summer is almost over! Collin starts school on September 8th and he will go 5 days a week! He is getting so grown up and so excited for school to start. Shawn will go to school 2 days a week. He can't wait to start school.

Here are some pictures of the kids.

Collin made a crane with Daddy. (Thanks Kerry for the spools) Micah wanted to cut the piece of wood but Collin wanted it to be big. It is now in his room and he loves playing with it.

We went to Touch A Truck. Shawn is in a mini digger. He was excited to touch all the buttons.

On another note, I am excited to share that I am done with my Masters Project! I am just waiting my degree in the mail.

Cousin Fun

We were so lucky to have some cousins come and visit earlier in July. Tori, Beth, Chloe and Liam all came for a visit. We stayed busy with them. We even made the drive to my parents and brothers for the day. Everyone had a blast on the waterslide!

We went to the zoo with everyone. Seeing the Bald Eagle was pretty cool!

Shawn having fun on the water slide.

Liam, Collin, Chloe, Kyle and Shawn sitting on the stairs of the slide (it is about 12 feet tall)

Chloe, Liam, Shawn and Collin after swimming at the local lake.

Better late than never...

It has been a busy month! I am working on finishing my masters which has taken away all my free time. I am sorry to say the blog has suffered. Here are a few pictures fro mthe start of the month. They are all from the fourth of July weekend.