Decorating the Christmas tree

I finished up my Anatomy and Physiology class on Monday night and will have the next 4 weeks off from classes. Hooray! Now on to some overdue and hefty blog updates!

To get things started off on a festive note, here are some pictures of the Christmas tree decorating. We decorate our Christmas tree the Sunday after Thanskgiving. This year, the kids really enjoyed hearing all the stories behind each ornament. Since there were so many stories and memories to share, the decorating took pretty much all afternoon.

This year, the kids made Perler bead ornaments (the plastic beads you arrange on a tray and then iron). The candy cane is one of their creations. They thought the ironing part was very exciting because it melted the beads and "glued" them together.

Mary Kate got hot and ditched her sweater before Mom could get a picture of her in it.

Tucker was eager to help. He must think there are pheasants under the tree, because he kept running under it and then jumping out from under the lower branches. No birds though. When the ornaments came out, mama put him in his crate. He was well behaved in his crate and I'm happy to report that after many reminders of "No!" he hasn't eaten any ornaments or knocked the tree over (yet!).

We finished trimming the tree at about 6 pm and the house was so covered in decorations and boxes, we had a hard time finding the kitchen. Since it was a school night and we needed a fast supper, we went out for a Happy Meal. Ethan was really surprised that Mom was going to allow a visit to McDonald's since she read the book The Omnivore's Dilemma over the summer and convinced the family to swear off fast food based on the horrifying ingredients contained therein! But we didn't eat the chicken nuggets (way too many petroleum products). We had hamburgers and french fries minus the salt. Poor kids...their mama is a little hard core when it comes to nutrition!

And finally, sibling love in front of the Christmas tree...it doesn't get any better than this!

Meet Tucker!

Many of you know that our beloved dog, Beau, died peacefully, but unexpectedly, at home on Labor Day. As a result, the past few months have been filled with lots of sadness for our family.

After Beau passed away, Ethan started kindergarten and Mary Kate started preschool. School activities, especially Ethan's full day kindergarten schedule, provided plenty to keep the kids busy...which was a good thing. At the end of September, Ethan fell while playing outside at our local apple orchard and broke his left collar bone. The following week, H1N1 hit our house. Only Ethan and Mom got it, which we were very thankful for. All in all, though, it was a pretty rough stretch.

Then we received some exciting news. An English Springer Spaniel field champion breeder whom we respect and trust had a litter of pups become available. Although the timing was sooner than Mom felt ready for, the opportunity for a puppy from Mr. Bannie is not something that happens frequently. So, Dad went out and previewed the litter. He liked the overall temperament, energy and alertness of the litter. We decided to purchase a puppy and told the kids. We all went to pick one out. Ethan and Mary Kate fell in love with the same puppy and pronounced him the "most snuggly."

We named the little guy Tucker.

And here he is, under the Christmas tree.

I can't say that potty training a puppy is my favorite thing in the world...but Tucker is extremely intelligent, and after several busy weeks filled with countless trips outside and utterings of the the phrase "do your business!" I am happy to say we are the proud owners of a beautiful, rambunctious, loveable, and house-trained puppy. Hooray!

Coyote Sighting

Last week, I walked into the family room and noticed this coyote out on the trail behind our house.

I think it was hunting voles, as it sat perfectly still right near their dirt piles for over half an hour.

First Hockey Practice

In November, Ethan started his first year of hockey. Last year, he learned to skate and loved playing hockey with friends and Dad. This year, he signed up for Mini Mites. His team practices once every week throughout the winter, and he is having a great time learning how to play the game with many new friends from kindergarten.

Here he is suited up for his first practice and waiting to get his jersey and go out on the ice. Mom was a little nervous, as his collar bone fracture (from a fall at the apple orchard in September) was only 5 1/2 weeks before the first practice, but our pediatrician assured me (several times!) that his bone was healed very well and he was perfectly fine to play.

Ethan says "Hi!" to a friend before the coaches rounded everyone up.


Ethan did a great job listening to his coaches. For the first practice, after the coaches explained a drill, they asked the kids to raise their hands to show they were ready to go. Here's Ethan showing his "ready" hand.


Skating...

I'll post some more hockey updates next week, after I upload the last batch of photos from the camera to the PC.

Three and A Half!

Last month, Mary Kate turned 3 and 1/2! She and Ethan had lots of fun in the kitchen helping bake and decorate her cake.

Ethan was eager to help blow out the candles, which was met with a fairly stern "No. I can do it myself!"

Earlier in the day, we made a trip to the library to get her very own library card and check out some new books. After that, Mary Kate spent about an hour outside pushing her baby around the driveway in her new doll stroller.

Halloween Fun

First off, my apologies for another two month hiatus from blogging. The Anatomy and Physiology class I am taking this semester is consuming a good portion of my free time in the evenings.

We had a fun Halloween week. On Wednesday, we carved jack-o-lanterns. We got these pumpkins at the end of September when we visited the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, so I was a little nervous about their condition. We carved the lids and looked inside. MK's was fine, but Ethan's 51 pound monster size pumpkin was a little mushy inside. Luckily, Dad scooped out all the goop out of that one.

MK and I drew the face on hers together. Notice that she's wearing Ethan's giant yellow rain parka. She insisted on wearing it to "keep the yucky stuff off."

Ethan drew and carved his (with a safety cutter) completely on his own. He decided to use a paint smock. What a couple of neat freaks. When did that happen? The two people who actually needed protective coverings were Mom and Dad, who did all the scooping.

The finished products. MK called hers a "smiley face pumpkin."

And Ethan called his a "staring pumpkin with lots of teeth."

On Friday, we attended the wedding of our neighbor's daughter Kate. We rate this wedding as the second most-fun we've ever attended...our own being the most fun, of course.

During the ceremony, MK kept asking "when do we get to the dancing part?" Ethan kept asking, "When do we eat?" At the reception, Ethan impressed our table with his "balance the spoon on my nose" trick.

Mary Kate then showed off her spoon balancing skills.

Then the nice man sitting next to her at our table showed her the bubbles. Lots of fun!

The dancing pictures are completely dark and blurry, as the kids didn't stop moving when they were out on the dance floor. We should have taken the good camera for some action shots.

On Halloween morning, we hosted a costume party. The kids each got to make a caramel apple, which was a big hit. Remember those flattened caramel sheet things that you stretch out and wrap around the apple? I loved those when I was a kid. I found some and we used those, which was fast, easy and fun for the kids.


Then we went out to the garage for the pinata. This year, we all helped with the paper mache. Then Mary Kate helped me paint the pumpkin orange and Ethan painted on the face, which he decided to make "spooky."

Here's MK taking a whack at the pinata.

Here's a picture of most of the kids and moms. One of the dad photographers told us to make monster faces. Ethan was apparently sick of getting his picture taken by this point and decided to stare at the ground in rebellion. A lot of the costumes are covered up by coats, but some of them included legendary soccer player Mia Hamm, a couple of ninjas, a couple of Darth Vaders, a Transformer, Luke Skywalker, Spider Man,Super Girl and three kids who took their costumes off before the picture.

In case you're wondering why poor Mary Kate and Amelia are incredibly outnumbered by boys, we did invite 5 other girls, but 2 had dance practice and 3 decided to stay away for precautionary health/germ reasons. MK came down with an ear infection and was running a fever on Thursday, so I called all the moms to let them know in case they wanted to avoid sick germs.

One of Ethan's best buddies, Ben, hung out for a while after the party. I'm not sure what MK's going for with this face. Ethan had recovered from all the picture taking by this point and his smile came back.

Then we went out trick or treating. MK lasted about an hour, then she Dad, and Tucker went home to hand out candy. Ethan was still full of energy after about 2 hours, when we completed our route. Our neighbor Kathy snapped a quick family picture before we left.

Luke and Super Girl show off some of their moves.

Nature Camp

Earlier this month, Mary Kate attended nature camp. The theme of the camp was Gardens Galore, and the kids got to work in the children's garden at the nature center. On the last day of camp, the kids got to run their very own farmers market.

Mary Kate took a turn running the cash register while mom and Ethan shopped for veggies. When we checked out, she told us that we owed her $21.

Here's Miss Mary Kate with her two teachers. She's holding a garden stone she made, complete with hand prints and sparkly beads.

Colorado Vacation - Denver Zoo

We are in the middle of our Colorado vacation and I thought I'd post a few highlights.

The day after we arrived in Denver, we visited the Denver zoo with Uncle Justin. We got to see lots of animals that we don't see in Minnesota, like hippos, rhinos, elephants and peacocks.

A fun pose on the hippo statue...

Mary Kate loved the elephants, so we got a picture of her and Uncle Justin in front of one. We're not sure why she decided to hold up ten fingers for the picture.

We also rode the carousel....

And found some bongo drums to play in the Congo.

Overall, we give the Denver Zoo a big thumbs up. We had a great time!

Ethan's Preschool Graduation

Last Thursday, Ethan graduated from St. Andrew's Preschool. We took some family pictures outside the Great Hall before the Blessing Ceremony.

Ethan gave us a wave when he spotted us in the audience.

The two classes sang several songs.

Then each child got to walk on stage, tell the audience where he/she would be attending kindergarten, receive a diploma, and be blessed by the pastor (these pictures turned out a bit dark).

After the program, we had cake and lemonade and took a few more pictures. By this time, MK was more interested in climbing on things than sitting for any more pictures.

Grandpa and Grandma tried to catch her for a quick picture. This is the best we got.

Then we came home, played outside in the yard, and watched the sunset. Congratulations, Ethan!

Mary Kate's Birthday Party

On the 16th, we hosted Mary Kate's 3rd birthday party. She chose a princess theme and wore a purple (her favorite color) ballerina princess dress that Uncle Justin sent as a birthday present. Before the party started, Kathy, our beloved neighbor stopped by with gifts. MK received an ultra-cute princess robe and slippers, which she enthusiastically added to her ensemble.

The girls dressed as princesses, made princess wands, and got their nails painted with glitter polish.

Here's one of the completed wands...

Princess Laura (aka Cinderella) gets her nails done...

The boys made prince shields. Here's Ethan working on his shield. He colored every scale on the dragon a different color.

I made a princess cake for Mary Kate. She chose pink and purple for the dress colors. I was thinking a nice lavender and pale pink, but MK had other ideas when we tinted the frosting. Mainly, "more purple-y" was her (strong) opinion. I don't think you can get more purple than this.

Blowing out the candles...

After lunch and cake, it was time for the (now a birthday tradition) pinata. This one was had ribbons at the bottom that each child got a turn to pull. Mary Kate like that idea when she picked it out at Target. I am now a big fan of this type, as I didn't spend the pinata portion of the party worried about someone getting cracked in the head by a mini baseball bat.

Gathering up the candy... I wonder if the kids would be just as excited if I filled it with soy nuts, granola and dried fruit?

One of John's coworkers offered their Little Tykes bouncer to us for the party, so after the pinata, we sent the kids outside to jump off their energy. Thankfully, no one puked!

It was a great party and we are thankful to have such a sweet, funny and joyful three year old daughter. Happy Birthday, Mary Kate!