Happy New Year!

Sometimes having young kids changes how your New Year's Eve is spent, but it can be such a wonderful and special evening to spend together at home.  The girls and I were very happy to have Jeremy home with us tonight!  Happy New Year from our crazy girls!!  We are looking forward to a wonderful 2017 together as a family.

This is an actual, genuine Audrey belly laugh caught just at the right moment.  I love it!

Merry Christmas!

Our wishes of "Merry Christmas" are coming a little late this year.  Overnight on Christmas night, much of my side of the family was struck with a terrible stomach bug, including Audrey, Kate, and me.  Luckily, the wonderful husband/dad of our family kept everything going for those 18 hours I was sidelined.  We are cautiously optimistic it is moving past our family now, as we are officially sick-free for 16 hours now! :)

Up until that point, we had a wonderful Christmas Eve spent in Elkader and Christmas Day spent in Dyersville.  Thank you to family for their generosity with the girls, and I will post some pictures of the girls with their presents now that we are all off the couch and out of bed!

Merry Christmas!!

Gingerbread House

For her birthday, Audrey received a gingerbread kit from her great-aunt Kris.  It was such a perfect gift for the girls because they love anything crafty.  A couple of weeks ago we spent a Friday night creating our house, and we had a great time.  The only problem came when the directions said to wait ten minutes two different times for something to dry.  Kate would wander off and find something to do until the timer beeped, but Audrey spent her time moaning, groaning, and waiting for time to pass slowly.  The end of a school week is when Audrey's normally low patience level is at its lowest. :)  It was a fun project, though!  Thanks, Kris!

For some reason, Kate wasn't immediately smiling for pictures, but Audrey's initial enthusiasm for the project quickly caught on...

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Our dear, sweet Kate...how can you be three already?  It's hard to believe how quickly time passes.  Your sweet, calm, agreeable nature adds such a loving element to our family.  We love your smiles, your giggles, and your funny thoughts.  Over the past year, your vocabulary has expanded, which does help you to insert your ideas and thoughts into Audrey's games.  It makes it harder for Audrey to always be in charge, but we love seeing your imagination at play, too.  You grew to love coloring and, if possible, are even more in love with reading books than you were when you turned two.  Thank you for all the love you add to our family.  We love you, Kate P.!

Here are Kate's answers to her interview questions:

Favorite Food: Noodles
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn: Girls
Favorite Color: Orange
Best Friend: Aud
Favorite Game to Play: Pop the Pig
Favorite Books to Read: Little Blue Truck
Favorite TV Show: Paw Patrol
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
Things I Do Well: Playing Pop the Pig
Favorite Place to Go: Lefty’s
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play a game
Favorite Thing about House:  The rocks on the outside
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Riding in the sled
Favorite Chore: Read books
Least Favorite Chore:  Cutting
Favorite Song:  All About the Bass
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Someone who helps mothers
Place I Want to Visit:  Grandma’s
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Playing games
Favorite Drink:  Milk and Water
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Soccer
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  My Letters….Letters are good for you.
Best Part of Your Family:  Mom and Dad and Aud

Sometimes...

Sometimes it's hard to tell who is having more fun when it's time to play in the snow.  Is it the little kids in the sled, or the big kid who has finally been reunited with his 4-wheeler?

Yeah, Aud!

Today Audrey was honored in her classroom with an award for displaying positive character traits.  Each grade's teachers had to pick seven students from the entire grade who display one of our P.I.R.A.T.E.S. traits of good character.  Audrey was chosen in the first round of awards for displaying good teamwork with her peers.  Since her class is the morning session, they won't be there for our school-wide assembly tomorrow afternoon.  Instead, our principal and guidance counselor went into their room today to honor the three children chosen from her class.  I was out of the building for a conference today, but Jeremy popped in to surprise Audrey and take her picture.  We are so proud of how hard she is working at school!  We love you, Audrey!

SNOW!!

Both girls were very excited to wake up Sunday morning and see our grass was covered in SNOW!  Audrey was ready to go outside at 6:50 in the morning, but we held her off for a couple of hours.  It was the perfect first snow of the year---enough to cover things, perfectly packable, and the day had warm temperatures.  After last year's love-hate relationship with snow, Kate declared, "I love snow, Mama!"  Audrey was shocked (and saddened) to see so much gone by the end of today, but I assured her more would be on the way soon enough.  Here are a few dark pictures of their fun!

Please note Audrey is kissing her snowman in both pictures!

Birthday Party

On Saturday, the girls were blessed to be surrounded by so many family members who had come to celebrate their birthdays.  Both girls were super excited to celebrate together, but Kate was also a little confused as to if she was still 2 or if she had turned 3 without knowing it! :)  The girls had a wonderful afternoon, and we thank everyone for the generous gifts.  It made for a fun rest of the weekend as the girls tried out new toys, tried on new clothes, played new games, and dried off with new towels!  Thank you!  Happy Birthday to our special girls!

As usual, I wasn't able to get any fabulous pictures at the party!  Someday I'll have to hire a photographer to do it for me. :)

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Wow!  How can our big girl be five years old already?  It is crazy to think how quickly these years have gone.  In just a blink, Audrey has grown to be a passionate, creative, "dramantic", loving, caring, brave, and intelligent little girl.  We are so proud of how she has become more confident this year and seems slightly less shy and uncertain in social settings.  Audrey transitioned to preschool like a champ and has amazed us with her grasp of the academic side of things.  We have loved you, Aud Ball, since we first found out about you, and we are so lucky to be your parents.  We look forward to continuing this birthday celebration on Saturday with more people who love and want to celebrate with you!  Happy 5th Birthday, Audrey!

Here are Audrey's interview answers for her five-year-old interview:

Favorite Food: Noodles with Sprinkle Cheese
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn: Play pretend with my dolls
Favorite Color: Pink and Purple
Best Friend: Lilly and Kate
Favorite Game to Play: Babies
Favorite Books to Read: Disney Princess Storybook
Favorite TV Show: Max and Ruby
Favorite Holiday: Winter
Things I Do Well: Work
Favorite Place to Go: The Play Station
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Give Kate hugs
Favorite Thing about House:  Charlie
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Play on my bike
Favorite Chore: Cleaning
Least Favorite Chore:  Picking up
Favorite Song:  Me Too and Livin’ on a Prayer
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Daycare Provider
Place I Want to Visit:  The Play Station and the Pool
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Going to School or Staying Home with Mom
Favorite Drink:  Chocolate Milk and Lemonade
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Soccer
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Read
Best Part of Your Family:  Mom and Kate and Dad and Me...Everybody!!

Paw Patrol

Thanks to an early birthday gift from Aunts Courtney and Kirstin and Uncles Justin and Eric, the girls were able to attend Paw Patrol Live last night, and they absolutely loved it!  They sat completely still and were amazed at seeing those pups move onstage.  It was their first experience with the live theater, and it was a complete success!  The only downside came when Dad wouldn't let them get a $15 bag of popcorn.  Thanks for the gift!!!!

The pictures are dark and not good, but hopefully you can see how excited the girls were! :)

WHAT?!

Things got a little crazy on our weekend away with Geeka!  Luckily, those are just candy....

Who knew they even still made those?  They tasted exactly the same as 25 years ago! :)

Taryn's Wedding

Yesterday we drove to Monticello to attend our cousin Taryn's wedding to Tanner.  It was a spectacular November day, and the wedding was just as wonderful.  The colors were perfect for fall, the dresses were gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the decorations were impeccable.  It was fun to spend the day with family, celebrating such a wonderful couple as they officially start their life together.  Congratulations, Tanner and Taryn!  Thank you for letting us spend the day with you!

To say these two had fun on the dance floor is a vast understatement.  They danced for an hour straight and could often be found going up to complete strangers to dance with them.  Throughout the night, Kate and Audrey both wore people's cowboy hats and danced in the middle of the Hokey Pokey circle.  At the end of our night, Kate had a lipstick kiss on her cheek, and she said, "I dunno know who tist (kissed) me.  It was some dirl (girl)."  Jeremy and I joked she had the wildest night anyone of us has had since college! :)

Aud was excited to get a picture with Aunt Jade!

Pumpkin Carving

As usual, the pumpkin carving experience proved to be entertaining.  It began early one Sunday morning with one patient Dad, two girls in pajamas, and beautiful October weather.  Kate quickly decided she wasn't going to have anything to do with the "goo" inside the pumpkins and entertained herself in other ways.  Audrey, on the other hand, dedicated herself to getting out the "goo" and was a great helper for her dad.  It must have been the pair of high heels she was wearing with her pajamas that made her feel more professional about working on the pumpkins.

Jeremy once again outdid himself with the Paw Patrol designs on the pumpkins, but he declared he might just go with a simple face design next year. :)  His girls appreciated the tremendous effort, though, and had so much fun admiring those beautiful pumpkins.  Thanks, Dad!

LOOK AT THIS!  Arms around each other, and two girls are smiling.  It's a miracle!

Happy Halloween!

Our Tinkerbell and Cinderella had a magical evening tonight!  Our little town is so perfect for trick-or-treating, as you see sidewalks lined with children, looking eagerly for lighted houses, while parents stand at the ends of driveways catching up.  Our two little trick-or-treaters started off very timid, but soon Kate was leading the way up to the doorways to get that "tandy".  It was fun to see so many smiling kids tonight and being able to walk around in fairly mild weather made it even better.  Happy Halloween!

Someone is DEFINITELY growing up too quickly!

We ran into Kainen, a friend from daycare, while trick-or-treating.

Alzheimer's Walk

A couple of weekends ago, our family participated in the postponed Alzheimer's Walk, in honor of our Grandpa or Great-Grandpa Jack.  The weather was cool and misty, and the walk was shortened because of sandbags from the flood in our way.  It didn't matter, though.  We had a fun time walking together in honor of such a wonderful man we were blessed to have in our lives!

Audrey was giving us all a pep talk before participating in the walk.

Eventually Kate did give the bouncy house a try, and she LOVED it!