Self-portrait

So way back when Sidney was in Kindergarten, she did a monthly self-portrait. The idea is to watch the children's drawings evolve, and see their concept of who they are emerge. It is so fun to see the details such as a neck, fingers, shoes, being drawn as the months progress. At the end of the year, we received her book of self-portraits to keep (along with a slew of other 'end-of-the-year' papers). This book sat nicely on top of the scanner for the last 6 months, waiting to be uploaded. So, although I feel really behind, better late than never............

Sidney's self-portraits, Kindergarten style: 

Christmas celebrations '15

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. Before it drifts too far from our minds, I wanted to recap our Christmas 2015. 

The days leading up, the kiddos were off from school and Ryan got to spend each (sometimes very LONG) day with them! They played at home and visited me at the hospital (always love their visits!) for lunch. The excitement in their bodies was spilling over, they could hardly contain themselves as they prepared for Christmas. 

This was a rare year, in that I somehow, with the power of some amazing co-workers, was able to get Christmas Eve off work. I cried when I learned that I would be able to spend the with some of the ones I love most. As per (new) tradition, I picked up some balloons to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Cheryl. We shed some tears, and held each other tight as we sang the birthday song through quivering voices. 

Hope admitted that having Lincoln around was the best medicine. You can't stay sad very long with his bouncy personality, and the giggles from the two of them horse playing in the family room were contagious! (blurry picture note: they were moving far too fast to capture on camera.)

We feasted on soup and chili and then drove through a nearby neighborhood that was lit with luminaries with each turn of the corner. They seemed to go on forever, really a spectacular sight! At one point, we pulled over to take a closer look at the candles and when I looked back to the road, there was Santa walking right towards us! Holy buckets timing was perfect. The kids were beyond excited! 

And before bed, they sprinkled their reindeer treats outside and set out cookies, which Santa obviously devoured during his stop at our home. 

Shockingly, we were able to sleep in until about 7am on Christmas morning. Sidney simply couldn't contain herself any longer (rule is 7:30 in this house on non-school days)! She leaped into our room, swearing that she had heard Santa making noises overnight. I don't doubt that she did; our ultra light sleeper doesn't miss out on a thing! 

With some prompting, they took a little longer to open each gift, trying to appreciate their siblings' presents too. Barbies, Elmo, make her own volcano and rollerblades are among some favorites from Santa. From us, we opted to give an "experience" instead of a toy and will be heading on a trip later this winter! We are all so very excited!, including Lincoln who proudly carries around his new wooden airplane as a reminder. 

We got all fancy to prepare for our next Christmas celebration, and I couldn't resist a family photo op.  

My parents arrived with a car full of love and presents. We had a great time spending the day with them, dancing with papa's "sing-a-long" Santa hat, and playing with new toys! 

I'm so happy that we had Hope with us this Christmas season again. 

I kinda love this girl...

...and our kiddos do too! 

The day after Christmas brought our final celebration, this time with Ryan's side. Shane decided to grace us with his presence and although Lincoln was initially nervous to see him in the flesh, he warmed up quickly. We had another great day of food and gift opening...now where to put it all! 

The outtakes of this set up are far better than the normal picture I finally got in the end. 

Here they were trying to hold their composure and do a "gaze into each other's eyes"....but no one could stop laughing long enough to snap the picture!

there is a lot of brother goofiness when these two reunite! 

Hoping that everyone had a most wonderful Christmas holiday. 

The Good Dino movie

The girls have been asking to see the latest movie: The Good Dinosaur. We debated whether to bring Lincoln along as well. Then this week, Regan brought home a poster from school with an advertisement for the  movie. Lincoln went nuts over the dinosaur and so how could we resist!? 

He sat so nice throughout the movie and was totally in love with all of the RRROOARRR'S! His little legs don't even reach the end of the seat, let alone hang over. At one point, the kid behind he/Sid was being a nusiance (kicking Sid's chair and being loud), Lincoln finally shushed the little boy! HA! I couldn't help but laugh. Another time, 3 little critters popped up on the screen and Lincoln screamed "THREE!". Ryan and I gasped, did he really just count them!? Probably not, but it was pretty awesome timing. I think it's safe to say this little boy of ours is hooked on movies like his big sisters :) We all really liked the show, with me and the girls tearing up several times. A bunch of saps we are!

Lights

Tonight we packed up some hot chocolate (water for Lincoln) and drove to Lake Phalen to take in their big light display. It's a bit of a drive, but always pretty spectacular.

I cranked up the Christmas music to help get us in the mood. With the lack of snow, it's not feeling super Christmassy yet. But we're getting there! 

They changed it up a bit this year so we each had to pick new favorites. We ooh'd and ahhh'd over each display and before we knew it, we were done. 

Off to making more memories! 

Lincoln says....

Taking a quick break from writing about the holidays to make a post about Lincoln's newest antics and life with a full blown toddler.

Oh the screaming. And the whining. And the new-to-temper-tantrums (which thankfully don't last long because one of us will start laughing at how ridiculous he is being and he can't help but start laughing too!). He is a lot of fun, and has a TON of boy energy!

He is a chatter box. And I mean non-stop talking! We climb into the car and I hear chatter chatter chatter all car ride long. A lot of it I can understand, but there's still some mumble jumble in there that no one can decipher. Sometimes the girls will question "how come you always know what he is saying?!"....but really I don't always know :)  Whenever we see an over-pass or a skyway, he wants to go "upee, upee, upee!". Those things are his favorite spot to watch the traffic below. I have promised him that we can go to the skyway near his doctor's office very soon and watch the traffic below. 

He still adds an "-a" to many words and it makes Regan and her friends giggle:

"sharpa" (to mean a knife that is sharp)

"sharka" (shark)

you get the pattern.

"ucky" (garbage trucks....and we talk a lot about all sorts of trucks)

"walker" (water....I don't know where the "-k" comes into play)

His newest debate with Ryan is over hockey or "foo-ball". More often than not, our TV flips between sports, and sometimes, many games at one time. Months ago, Ryan would try to show Lincoln the two different sports. It became a battle, and a teasing game, as to what we were watching. And now, Lincoln will walk into the ice arena and see a hockey game, only to giggle and say "foo-ball! no...hockey! no,...foo-ball!"! Stinker.

Hands down, his favorite word is MOMMY! Everyone is mommy. Everyone. You come around, and you too will be mommy. Ryan quit offering up "I'm daddy!", because there's no point. When he wants something, he says "mommy"to whoever is nearby. If we counted how many times he said that word in one day, we would be in the millions. I suggested it to the girls one day and Regan reached 20 in less than 3 minutes before she quit counting.

But his best word of all...he calls himself "bubble". It's always, "Bubble do!". We think that he might be saying 'buddy' but when we correct him, he says "no, bubble". Ok little man... sleep tight bubble. 

Santa Claus!

We loaded up the truck on Friday evening and headed over to visit Santa. Given our mall experience last year.....

I discovered a (new to us) place with reindeer and elves to complete the experience. It's an incredibly old house and while we waited for our name to be called, we were able to explore the rooms filled with old toys, new items for purchase and coloring to pass the time. Lincoln was, once again, not excited to visit Santa. He fussed and shook his head 'no' when we told him why we were there. Once our name was called, he clung to Regan and refused to let her near him! Thankfully, they have some experience with this kind of thing and we placed the two of them on a chair in front of Santa and Lincoln pulled out a semi-smile! Not bad :) We'll call it an improvement over last year!

 

Holiday baking

We did some holiday baking this weekend, and by 'we', I mean me and all THREE kiddos (Ryan tends to run from the kitchen because he can't stand the mess)! Yikes. That's a lot of chaos in our mediocre sized kitchen. But they each adore it so much and I couldn't resist their help. 

Lincoln was still in his jammies when we got to mixing up some cut out cookies Saturday morning. Baking with him in tow has produced a whole new challenge. Not only am I trying to keep control with a 2 year old (a challenge in itself!), but I need to be mindful of his allergies too (there happen to be eggs and dairy in every normal cookie recipe I can find). 

So we do a ton of washing utensils to avoid any cross contamination and in the end, his cookies don't taste too great and he's usually less than thrilled with them. 

But this face....how can I resist it!

Sidney was so sweet, as she meticulously cut out and decorated her cookies that evening while listening to Christmas music. She kept saying over and over how "cookie making" is one of her favorite parts of Christmas. That right there made my heart swell. What more could a mother ask for? Our little girl, telling me that the years of mess -making  memory making was all worth it! 

These two chatted the evening away while cutting and decorating. In all honesty, I let them do most of the work themselves while I just stood and listened in awe. (I did have to frost Lincoln's cookies because it required a whole new set of bowls and utensils). 

They made a mess, they giggled a lot and talked sweetly about the Christmas season. 

Lincoln couldn't wait for his cookies to cool before sneaking a taste. To appease him, I quickly plopped on a smile and buttons. As he said his"cheeesee" for the camera, the smile started melting away so it now looks like the poor gingerbread man has a bloody lip! 

I had so much fun baking all weekend long with these three kiddos: we laughed, we made a mess and we continued to make memories! 

St. Nick 2015

December 6th is known as St. Nick's day, and although most families probably don't celebrate this German tradition, he continues to stop by our home the night of the 5th each and every year. 

These little cuties were pretty excited to find their stockings filled this morning! 

There was a note on top of each stocking, telling the kids to hurry and get ready because they were given train tickets to pick up Santa from the North Pole! So after unwrapping each toy/book and present, we grabbed some breakfast and headed down to the Union Depot to catch our train! 

As we stood in line, we got to see our train and Lincoln was beyond excited. His arms were making a train motion all morning long as he "chugga-chugga-choo-choo'd" along. 

We found our seats and the train departed. It was a quick ride to the North Pole and as the train slowed down, we got to see a North Pole set up (side note: Sid then realized we weren't in the "real" North Pole "because there wasn't even any snow" and declared it a waste....she was quick to take back that comment as The Big man walked in!). 

The kids each took some time to write out their wish lists and then Santa visited with each child on board. What an incredible experience! They had some one on one with the jolly fella and handed him their list. 

Of course, Lincoln wanted no part of Santa and actually cried when he heard that Santa was on board (he preferred Choo Choo Bob who provided some entertainment with his guitar over the scary man we call Santa). But he did take a small token from Santa for a treat back at the station. 

We had a great morning riding aboard the North Pole Express and visiting with Santa! 

What a fun gift from St. Nick! 

Christmas-time

During this Christmas holiday season, we always look for some fun festive (family friendly) activities to partake in as we soak in and prepare for Christmas. This year, I took the girls on a 'date' to Stages Theaters to see Charlie Brown Christmas. We debated bringing the whole family, but just couldn't predict how Lincoln would sit for it so we opted against and Ryan eagerly stayed home (during nap time) to watch the Vikings game instead! 

The girls and I had a wonderful date; I love doing things with these two! 

Tonight we hopped aboard the Lake Harriet Streetcar for their Vinternatt. It was a magical evening of lights and luminaries down the entire track. Lincoln was in his glory to ride the train, Sidney loved that Santa was on board and Regan is working her camera skills with her ipod and realizing it's tough to capture a moving object in the dark! 

Ryan gave me a little grief that I insisted on getting down there a little early. We waited in line only 15 minutes before the first train ride departed and we got right on. Little did we realize, that by the end of our ride, the line was well over double our wait! 

I got the last laugh on my "early arrival" plans! 

At the end of the ride, Santa thanked us for coming and reminded us about the true Christmas spirit. His words resonated deep inside of me, as I thought about all of the terrible things that have happened in the last few months around the world. And when he offered his Love, Peace and Joy, in hopes of bringing true Peace on Earth, I snuggled in a little tighter to this family of mine. 

Looking forward to making more holiday memories together. 

 Merry Christmas! 

First snow-2015

As predicted, Lincoln is loving being outside in the winter just as much as he does in the fall. I joked with our neighbors throughout the fall that they would see me outside with him in the dark, cold snow and that is exactly what is happening! 

Regan took him sledding down the driveway while I shoveled tonight and their giggles were contagious! 

He built a snowman earlier in the day with Grandma Sheri and loves his little friend :) 

I will be investing in the warmest cold weather gear that I can find this winter!

O Christmas Tree

The girls and I have always enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree, something we do together each and every year. Sidney had to miss out on a part of the tree decorating (her social calendar is getting busier by the day!). So Regan and I got started early. As she gets older (and taller) she has been able to help with the lights in addition to the ornaments. Something I really appreciate! 

 Sidney was able to add many ornaments when she arrived home. Her placements were perfect and sweet Lincoln did great at just watching. Thank goodness! 

(Only lost 3 ornaments this year....so far). 

Seems that every few years, we have a good "tree story"....and this year we added another. 

The thing started tipping. Despite the mother of all tree stands I had to buy 5 years ago while Ryan stood holding up the tree waiting for my return (he still can't laugh at that story like I can!). 

After we had it all nice and decorated, we sat down for dinner and noticed "it's tipping"!
Crap. 

Ryan stood holding it, while I unscrewed the bottom in an attempt to reposition it. While still decorated (with only German glass ornaments!). I had enough smarts to take off the 2 most prized ornaments that I inherited from my grandmother. And snap a quick picture. 

With pine needles covering my head, I surfaced from beneath the tree and disaster was avoided! 

These three are so very loved and are our reason for celebrating this Christmas season! 

Black Friday fun

Well we didn't do any crazy early  morning shopping, but we did manage to have some fun today. 

It's tradition to head out this Thanksgiving weekend and buy our Christmas tree. This year, we headed to a local place that had a few surprises for the kids. 

They were mad when we asked them to bring hats and mittens, but it all made sense once we got to our destination. 

First up: Santa! 

Then it was a quick walk around to pick out our tree. I don't like to waste much time. Let's be real, I have a general idea of what we need before we get there (the ceiling hasn't gotten taller in 5 years). This year, within 10 minutes, I pointed at a tree and said: "that one"! Ryan doesn't have much a preference and is just happy the process is over :) 

And then it was over to ride in a wagon pulled by these two friendly guys! Lincoln was in his glory, although wasn't thrilled we stood next to them to take a picture. We went on a 20 minute ride around the lake, weaving around the trails and taking in the chilly sights. 

Tonight we ventured down to the new Holidazzle Village. The girls brought their ice skates and took a few laps around the rink while the rest of us watched from the sidelines. 

There were so many people at the Village tonight (opening night) that we didn't see any of the vendors and no one wanted to wait in line for food, so it was a bit of a let down for our family. 

Thankfully, there were some pretty awesome fireworks that lit up the cold sky and mesmerized all of us with their red, greens and yellows! 

It sure was a fun way to spend Black Friday with our little family of five!