Tree Farm

Today we went to our friend's tree farm in search of the perfect christmas tree. This is the first year that we brought the girls. While Mike and I scoured the rows of beautiful trees, Natalie and Amelia spent time with Mike's parents exploring farm animals, viewing Santa (from afar), taking a hay ride and of course enjoying some cold weather treats.

cold weather gear fashion show

sharing apple cider with grandma

Amelia licking her cider lips

Natalie looking cute

Thankful for..

I am thankful for so many things that listing them here would take me forever. Even though I don't say it enough I am so grateful for the wonderful people in my life that have supported and continue to support me and my family everyday. Yet, ultimately my thanks goes to God for all that he has given me. I am so thankful for Mike in the loving husband and wonderful father that he is. And of course, I am beyond a doubt most grateful for the happy, healthy, funny and irresistible daughters I have. Considering how their lives started how can I not get down on my knees and thank God for them?

Lastly, I am thankful for God's grace and peace that I did not completely lose control when I found this 20 minutes before leaving for our Thanksgiving Day festivities.

The bare shelves in my closet.


The completely still-in-our-pajamas-and-
not-ready-to-leave-the-house-in-our-thanksgiving-day-outfits
culprits and the pile of clothes to prove it.

Blowing Smoke

On the way to daycare today...

Amelia: "Hey look Mama, a volcano!"

pause....while I am trying to figure out what she is talking about.

Natalie: "Oh, I have never seen a volcano before."

pause....as I am trying not to laugh as I realize what she IS talking about.

Me: "Amelia, what is coming from that volcano?"

Amelia: "air Mama, air."


Care to guess what she was looking at?

Fruit Snack Folly

Setting: Our basement family room

Main Character: Amelia

Supporting Cast: Mom, Dad and Natalie

Props: Barrel full of monkeys


While playing with a newly rediscovered old toy that had been forgotten for months....

Amelia: "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the docto...hey look, a fruit snack in here!"

You can guess what happened next.....yep, she proceeded to pick out the VERY old snack, pop it in her mouth and chew for quite a while to get it down.

All I could do is laugh. I know I should have been concerned but as Mike pointed out it is not like there is anything natural in those things anyway. I am sure they have a shelf life of at least 5 years or so!

Story Time

Amelia: "Natalie, please read me a story."

I thought this was the sweetest thing ever. Too bad Natalie couldn't read Amelia a story with a pacifier in her mouth. (For the record, Natalie is only allowed to have her pacifier in bed however somehow on this particular morning she managed to get it into the living room.) I just couldn't resist the wonderful sisterly moment.

The Bright, Bold and Beautiful

Here is a sneak peak into the new color of the "Baby Brother's" room. It is an eye-catching room that will be perfect once we get the furniture, rug and wall decor in place.


And no...we are not Packer fans! So don't even think about suggesting that they were our inspiration.

Evidence

You know you have kids when your sink looks like this...



and your fridge looks like this.

Snowy Cars

We live in a state blessed and cursed by many months of winter. Today was the first morning we woke up to snow accumulation on the ground. The girls were fascinated by this and on the ride to daycare this morning they loved to point out everything that had snow piled on it.

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the trees"

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the grass"

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the street"

Amelia: "and snow on the cars, we need to use soap and a sponge to clean them off."


Where do they come up with this stuff?

Quote of the Day

Student: "Hey, you are starting to look chunky!"

This is what you get when you are 21 weeks pregnant and teach in a middle school.

Just in time...

for the big football game.

(That is not a shining star of magnificence in the middle
of the t.v. just the flash from the camera.)

At the counter...

I wanted to show you where the girls would prefer to eat. These pictures were taken one morning during breakfast. We do not have an island for eating at so the girls have improvised a new eating spot. Usually we only allow snack time at this favorite location but this particular morning I decided not to fight the battle.

Keep in mind we do have one of these.

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere!

I love fall. The colors, the smells, the food...everything about it. The girls love it too. Especially the fun all the leaves bring to our yard. What I don't love is the 40 large bags of leaves we have to rake along with the 5 trips to the compost site.

Natalie

Amelia filling her wagon


Uncle Kevin giving the girls a ride on the leaf tarp

(This was their all time favorite activity which I
refused to do but Dad and Kevin did alot.)


Here the girls are watching the cars pass by on the nearby street.
This photo reminds me of one taken last year about this time.


Watching the street and passing cars Fall of 2007

Happy Belated Halloween!

So, I am a bit late posting Halloween photos. Please forgive me. The girls had a great time even though they were running on "no nap" energy. It must have been the excitement of the day that kept them from resting before the big night.

Pre-trick-or-treating jack-o-lantern fun

Trick-or-treating penguins

Waddling Amelia


Natalie examining her loot

Excitement and Disappointment

There is a sense of excitement in our house today as we had our hour long ultrasound and got to see so much more of our new family member. Everything about this little one is perfect and we could not be happier.

Profile view


leg

There also is a sense of disappointment in our house as the girls want the new baby to be a sister. If you check out the anatomy the arrow above is pointing to you will understand why the girls are feeling a bit down and out. Needless to say their disappointment was fleeting as they soon were curious to look at photos of their new baby brother.