Mommy's Birthday

Celebrating mommy's birthday.  The kids worked hard to make mommy this special cake.  We ended up getting snowed in all day from a big snow storm.  We spent the WHOLE day in our jammies playing around the house. 

We woke up on mommy's birthday to over a foot of snow - some estimates said 18 inches.  The biggest snow storm in a decade.  EVERYTHING has been cancelled.  Hockey, gymnastics, church and even the Vikings game.  There is no way we are going anywhere!  Looks like mommy gets to spend her birthday at home with all her favorite people.  Although the temperatures were below zero (actual temperature) this morning that did not stop the kids from going out and exploring.  We couldn't stay out long, but long enough to snap a few pictures of all the snow!!

You can see that the snow is almost to the top of the
fence and is practically covering the slide.

Annual Christmas Tree Sleepover

Our 2nd annual Christmas tree sleepover.  The kids have been looking forward to this all year.  We snuggled in and watched "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", had popcorn, and talked about what we are thankful for this year and what the present that they wanted the most.  Collin was thankful for his family, Ella was thankful for playing with mommy and daddy, and Madelyn said her nukie and blankie.  Ella wants barbies for Christmas and Collin came up with yet another thing he wants the most, this time it was a new hockey stick.  We all snuggled in and around 11pm Madelyn finally ended up upstairs, she just couldn't stop bouncing around and go to sleep.  This is one of my favorite nights of the year.  I love all snuggling together under the lights of the tree and being so thankful just to have each other.

Advent Project

As part of our advent book this year we made wintery, white snow scene projects.  The kids had lots of fun making hills and mountains out of the snow.  They used tin foil to make the landscape and then a mixture of water and sea salt to make snow.  It was actually pretty cool, it really looked like snow!

Getting ready for Baby Nora to come!!

The girls are SO excited to meet baby Nora.  They have been getting ready and talking about her coming since before she was born.  We got out the car seat to wash it up and the girls spent a half hour "practicing"!  We can't wait for her to come to our house.

Ella at Dance

Ella is enjoying dance again this year.  We are trying a new studio and she is really liking it.  There are only 6 kids in her class and she is learning a lot and always has a smile on her face.

Collin at Hockey

Collin is having a lot of fun at hockey this year.  He got on a team with a couple of the kids from his team last year, and a couple kids that he knows from school.  He is among the kids who played a year of Mites last year and is hoping to be a leader for the team this year.  His skating has improved a lot from last year, and he is really starting to look like a little hockey player out there - doing cross-overs and everything!  It should be a really fun year.  We have white jerseys this year and although we are sad to see the purple go after a great year last year, we are looking forward to watching him excel and helping to teach him what it means to be a leader on the ice and off.

Ella at Hockey

Ella absolutely LOVES hockey this year.  We were not even going to let her play, but some of the other mom's talked me into it.  She asks almost every day "how many more days until hockey?"  And if there is a time that we are not going to be able to go she literally cries about it.  If you ask her what her favorite sport is...gymnastics, dance, soccer, hockey - she will for sure say hockey.  She is doing great.  From the first day she was able to get up - and down :) really fast.  She never gets frustrated and she is so determined to go fast.  The first few weeks she couldn't really glide and just more walked on the ice, but I will tell you after the first week it was more like running on the ice - she was just so determined to go fast.  She could go faster than I would have thought possible doing this.  At the end of one of her practices they played a round of "sharks and minnows".  She put it in high gear to get across the ice to win the game.  When she got off the ice, she said to me with a huge grin on her face, "so that's how fast I can go!"  It is really fun to watch her determination and enthusiasm.  

Collin wanted to have #9 again this year.  When it came time for the clinic kids to get their jerseys, by total random chance, Ella was given #9.  You can imagine how pumped she was about that!

Elizabeth and Ella

We went to the Slipka's for Jake's birthday party.  I figured it would get late so I packed some pajamas.  Neither Megan or myself had any idea that we had bought the girls the same pjs.  You can imagine Elizabeth's excitement when Ella got her pajamas on and she realized that she had the same ones.  They were SO happy.  There's no doubting that they are cousins, that's for sure!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2010.  Collin was excited to be a transformer again this year - especially since he didn't get to wear his costume to school last year because of pink eye.  Madelyn wanted to be a bug again, but it was too small so she settled for a princess - but only if mommy would do her hair in a bun like Ella's.  Ella INSISTED on being Cinderella.  After just getting back from Disney - there was no talking her out of it.  The kids of course had lots of fun trick or treating!









Cole and Ella







Madelyn and Carly