Checking it out

This cute girl went along to Charlie's dentist appointment.  The hygienist was very nice and explained everything while she worked on Charlie so Claire will feel comfortable when she needs to go there.  Claire even got to ride in the chair and have her teeth counted at the end.

Growing up fast!

Cozy Kids

Charlie got a robe for his b-day.  Then we saw a cute and super reasonable one for Claire at Costco, so we had to get one for her too.  They're used after every bath now.  So cute!

Snow!

Eight inches of freshly fallen snow is pretty fun to play in.  We've been waiting a long time for this much snow.

Vikings Game

We had A LOT of fun watching the Vikings beat up on the Giants (49-17)!

13 degrees is cold but not unbearable when you're bundled up and have hand/toe warmers.

Tailgating

Our view for most of the game

Our view for the last 9 minutes of the game (we found the rest of the group)

The end of a cold, but AWESOME, game!

GO VIKINGS!

Christmas

We had fun celebrating Christmas with the Vitse and Blaine sides.

A few highlights...

Grateful

I will be grateful (especially this time of year) that I have happy, healthy kids rather than stress about the constant mess they make around the house.  I will repeat this sentence in my mind when I look around and see clutter and chaos (no, I did not just twinge).

New Years Resolution done.  Also, don't judge me if you stop by our house.

More Christmas Treats

The kids helped make Chex Mix.  

Nick and I attempted Grandma Virginia's Peanut Brittle recipe.  This is "Take 2" on Grandma's old plate that made it through the fire.

Family Grocery Trip!

Usually Nick is our grocery guy, but today we all went.  We went to the new HyVee (which is really nice).  The kids had fun shopping (and not sticking to the list) with the kid carts that were there.

While Nick was paying Charlie picked out a bag of food to donate to the local food shelf and paid all by himself.

Breakfast with Santa

We went to Century High School for a fundraiser.  We had breakfast, visited Santa, played games and made some crafts.

Talent or cheating?

Making a wreath ornament

She did it!  She went right up to him and sat on his lap willingly.  My baby girl is growing up!

New House

Here's a little tour of the new house for those of you who live far away or haven't seen it yet.  

The main and upper level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeGKUYA2AJ4

The (messy) basement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMzp17Z9h4

Christmas Baking

We baked and decorated gingerbread cookies today.  Charlie did a great job decorating this year!

Family Fun

We went to check out ZooDazzle at Oxbow and then went ice skating at the Rec Center last night.

 

Claire Time

I took Claire to a Quarry Hill class for some one-on-one time while the boys went to the Peanuts movie.  The class was about winter trees.

We made a Cheerios necklace to put on a tree for the squirrels to eat.  She skipped over a lot of trees on our hike but finally decided on a small twig at the end.

Good work, Claire bear!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

We had fun decorating in the new house!  Besides the lights and a few decorations on top, the kids decorated the tree this year.  Lots of ornaments on the bottom :)

Shopping is close to being done.  Now we can enjoy the season (and listen to our kids ask to open a present every hour).

Love this time of year!

When Dad's Away...

Nick and Jacob are hunting (a.k.a. deer watching) so the kids and I went to the Children's Museum, did some shopping and had lunch at El Loro.  Charlie and Claire love chips and salsa but who doesn't?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOFQHskpxto 

Halloween

Charlie went trick-or-treating at Y-Tots on Thursday.

The kids celebrated at daycare on Friday.

 

We went to Jarrett and Taylor's fright night-themed birthday party on Friday night.  Charlie and I went through the "haunted house" and we watched some fireworks at the end of the night.

We went to Boo-fest at Willow Creek on Saturday morning.  The silly string game was the favorite!

We had fun making festive food and snacks all day Saturday (pumpkin egg-in-a-hole, mummy hot dogs, pumpkin taco dip, pumpkin Rice Krispie treats, spooky eyeballs, zombie juice and a pumpkin pizza of course)

The main event!  Trick-or-treating in the new 'hood.  It was fun!