Christmas #1

Our Christmas weekend of fun started on Saturday with a celebration with Jeremy's side of the family.  We shared great food, laughs together, and opening gifts.  We also really enjoyed a few rounds of Family Feud, which Audrey was surprisingly good at for only seven years old! :)  Audrey and Kate also enjoyed hanging out with Great-aunt Nancy's dog.  Compared to Sadie, this dog was an angel, so Kate gave her stamp of approval.  The girls again received some wonderful gifts, so thank you to all!

Merry Christmas #1! :)

We always love seeing Duh!

Living Nativity

On Wednesday at religious education, our little group of first graders (plus one preschooler) pulled off a pretty amazing living nativity scene.  With all the holiday excitement, we were a little skeptical this excited group was going to be able to stand still for ten minutes.  In the end, we were so proud of how the group did.  Minus Kate playing with her gift, there wasn't any wiggling for ten solid minutes.  It was amazing!

We were short on boys in the class for the actual night, so Kate was cast as a king.  She was so distraught that we told her she could be one of the three "Queens".  That seemed to make her feel better.

Little Audrey was SO excited when she was cast as Mary.  She brought Easton, her baby from home, to play the role of Baby Jesus.  I was so proud that nerves didn't overtake Mary, and it was pretty amazing how she stared at the little baby for those ten solid minutes.

We even had to have a female Joseph!

Winter Concert

Last Monday, Audrey participated in the school's winter vocal concert.  It was such a beautiful/adorable concert, and Audrey did so well.  She had a moment of panic where she wondered about everyone staring at her, but when the concert actually arrived, she did wonderfully.  She borrowed a fancy bracelet of mine to help her dress up, and we had to hurry home to wash her hair in order for her to wear it down and curly.  There is something so beautiful about listening to all the young voices singing together.  Way to go, Audrey!

Once again, a little sister also had to dress up.  Poor Kate, though.  She did NOT want to wear the white sweater because she thought her sleeveless dress would be warm enough.  Almost at the beginning of the concert, her sweater dropped beneath the bleachers, and from then on, Kate couldn't think about anything else but her sweater.  Poor Jeremy needed a drink when he got home!

One of Audrey's friends from school!

Kate's Interview

Here are Kate's answers from her five-year-old interview:

Favorite Food: Mac and Cheese
Foods I Don’t Like: Lettuce
Favorite Thing to Learn: Painting
Favorite Color: Orange
Best Friend: Kainen
Favorite Game to Play: Go Fish!
Favorite Books to Read: Bear Snores On
Favorite TV Show: Butterbeans Cafe
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
Things I Do Well: Coloring
Favorite Place to Go: Air FX
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play
Favorite Thing about House:  That we can live in it
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Ride my bike
Favorite Chore: Schedule Helper (Job at school)
Least Favorite Chore:  Scrubbing the floors...it takes FOREVER!
Favorite Song:  Wishy Washy Washer Woman (Song from school)
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Tooth Fairy
Place I Want to Visit:  Geeka and Grandma’s House
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Going to school
Favorite Drink:  Lemonade
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Hide and seek
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Skate on ice
Best Part of Your Family:  I love them.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Happy 5th Birthday to our sweet Kate!  How can it be that you are going to start kindergarten soon?  We reflected a lot today on your birth story, your favorites as a baby, and our cozy winter days in 2013.  It does NOT seem like it has been five years.  You get sweeter as each day goes by!  You have marched into this whole preschool thing with a ton of confidence and have blossomed socially and academically.  You do keep us on our toes, as you're definitely more bold than your cautious older sister. 

Inside of you beats a loving, kind, and sweet heart, and we love watching you dance your way through life.  You are our little ballerina, and we love you SO much, Kate Evelyn!  We wish you the best year yet!

Kate chose ice cream as her treat for the day, as we have already celebrated birthdays with cupcakes and cake.  A gummy worm custard sundae was perfect on this surprisingly warm December day!

Disney on Ice

For their birthdays, the girls were given tickets to Disney's Frozen on Ice, which was taking place in the Quad Cities.  On a very rainy, dreary December Saturday, we drove down to Moline and had a wonderful time watching the ice fill up with the girls' favorite characters.  They were amazed at everything, and even Jeremy admitted he thought the show was neat.  Everything was fun and went very smoothly!  Thank you, Kirstin and Courtney!

Jeremy was APPALLED when he found out how much these slushies cost.
 I told him part of the cost was the collector's cup. :)

Carriage Rides

Last weekend we traveled up to Elkader to take part in "Shop Small Saturday".  Not only did we have good luck at the cute stores, we were also able to visit with Santa AND get horse-drawn carriage rides.  It was such a fun experience for the girls, one I know that Audrey especially will be able to remember.  To top it all off, we were able to eat lunch at Johnson's, which allowed Audrey to get unlimited pickles and black olives at the salad bar.  What a perfect day! :)

No pictures of Kate with Santa this year.  She refused.  Audrey surprised us all by hopping right up on his lap and talking to him!  You never know what that girl!

Modesty

Both girls got pretty big haircuts last week, but this girl requested a picture be taken of her with my phone because she looked "so good".  No one was allowed to touch her hair for the rest of the day, for fear it would change how it looked.

She does look grown-up!

Audrey's Interview

Here is Audrey's 7-year-old interview about life:

Favorite Food:  Tacos
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn:  To be a Teacher
Favorite Color:  Black, Purple, and Blue
Best Friend:   Katelynn and Natalia
Favorite Game to Play: Playing school
Favorite Books to Read:  Owl Diaries, Wellie Wishers, and Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls
Favorite TV Show:  Fancy Nancy
Favorite Holiday:  My Birthday
Things I Do Well:  Teaching
Favorite Place to Go:  On Vacation
Favorite Thing to Do With Family: Play Barbies
Favorite Thing about House:   Everything
Favorite Thing to do Outside:  Play with Sadie and draw with chalk
Favorite Chore:   Help with Sadie
Least Favorite Chore:   Clean up Sadie’s Poop
Favorite Song: Low and Shania Twain songs 
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Teacher and Artist
Place I Want to Visit:  Pet store that has dogs
Favorite Part of Each Day: Daily Five (a routine at school) and Playing school in my room
Favorite Drink:   Pop
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play: Draw, Volleyball, Dance, and Basketball   
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Cartwheels, Handstands, and Gymnastic stuff
Best Part of Your Family:  Everybody and all the pets, especially Sadie and Belle

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Somehow our sweet and crazy big girl turned 7 yesterday.  The years have gone by in a blink!  Every day she amazes us, amuses us, entertains us, frustrates us, deafens us, loves us, and most importantly, fills us up with a tremendous amount of love.  Audrey has been able so far to celebrate with her class at school, my side of the family in Galena, a few friends at the PlayStation, her immediate family, and an entire wedding on her actual day.  She has so many people who love her, support her, and wish her a wonderful 7th year!  We love you, sweetheart!  Keep growing and believing in yourself!  You are amazing and strong.  Happy 7th Birthday, Audrey!

Corn Maze

In October, we stumbled upon a fun activity that may become a fall family tradition!  When Jeremy was in Florida for a wedding, the girls and I drove up to Manchester and met Grandma for a quick Pizza Ranch lunch.  After eating, we drove to a pumpkin patch/corn maze right in the town.  We had already picked out our pumpkins for the year, so we focused mainly on the corn maze.  We had such a great time!  We were in the maze for almost an hour and had to find certain stops along the way.  After 30 minutes in, Kate's excitement began to dwindle, but Audrey had a great time.  We also loved climbing on the equipment and going on a hay rack ride.  It was a really fun day, and we hope to go back next year, too!

Chef Audrey

Audrey is always interested in helping in the kitchen, and one night last week, she actually made most of the meal herself.  We had lasagna roll-ups, and she was able to put all the pieces together to make them.  Jeremy, Kate, and I loved them, but our chef did not.  She thought they were too cheesy. :)  It has been very apparent lately that this little girl is growing up quickly! 

Happy Halloween!

What a beautiful Halloween night we had!  The weather was gorgeous, the costumes perfection, and the candy was endless.  We traveled to Lori and Ig's house first, and then paradee through Alburnett for an hour and a half.  We were stopped quite often by people we knew, but that's what is great about trick-or-treating in a small town.  The girls looked beautiful, and again, we were reminded how fun it is to celebrate holidays with young kids.  Happy Halloween from our Tinkerbell and a beautiful Bride! :)

Colby's parents both teach with me at school, and we've often joked that Audrey and Colby could end up married.  If that is the case, we HAD to take a picture of Audrey in her wedding dress next to Colby.

Here is a picture of Audrey in the costume parade at school.  She had to have the friend behind her hold on to her dress at times, so it really was like a real wedding dress experience.

Pumpkin Kits

This year Great-Grandma gave each girl a kit to decorate a pumpkin, instead of carve it.  It was such a fun thing for the girls to do, and much to Jeremy's delight, it made only a tiny mess.  Projects like these are perfect for the girls at the ages that they are, and it's fun to listen to them actually help each other, too!  It's looking spooky around our house right now! :)

Kate's Kitty Pumpkin

Audrey's Monster Pumpkin

New PJs

There is no doubt we love our girls with our whole hearts, and yet sometimes there are moments that are so sweet and innocent, we find ourselves loving them even more.  As the weather has shifted, we have packed away the shorts and t-shirts for warmer clothes, and in this process, we came across these "new" Poppy pajamas that ended up being somewhat short for Audrey.  When Kate realized SHE was going to get these new/used pajamas, her excitement was priceless.  Even though practically everything this little girl wears is used, she is so appreciative, so excited, and so sweet about whatever it is she gets.  We love you, sweet Kate!

Pumpkin Patch

We are so thankful, for many reasons, that our weather has dried out.  One reason was that we had two very excited girls wanting to go to a pumpkin patch, and everything was SO muddy.  We were able to sneak a quick trip in last weekend, and we had fun, as usual.  The girls are so sweet while picking out the perfect pumpkin and so excited about all the little things that happen there.  We were outside the window of time for a pony ride, but we were still able to visit all the animals in the barn.  Now, the only problem is that a member of our family (who shall not be named) is chewing our pumpkins up outside.  We'll see how they look by Halloween!

Touching and not fighting?  Can't be our girls! :)