February Happenings

It seems that yet another month has passed.  There really isn't any exciting news coming out of our household.  We have just spent this endless winter playing inside.  We have kept ourselves busy, just not with anything big!

Here are a few pictures of our munchkins from the month.

 

 

 

Boys, goofing around!

 

Our Tinker Bell

 

Complete with Tinker Bell Hair

 

Collin's first sucker today!

 

Eating Suckers together

 

Despite the need for a haircut, isn't he cute?!

Steve and I are the same old, same old.  Although we did manage to have a date night last week!!!  It was really nice to get away for dinner and actually talk together! 

The Most Magical Place on Earth

We just got back.....ok, it's been a week, from Disney World!  We had such a good time that it is all we talk about!  The 2 little kids took their first plane ride and everyone rocked it!  They did such a good job!  It didn't hurt that we had Grandma along and that she brought all of her fun i-things (iphone and ipad). 

We didn't get to our hotel until really late and everyone had a bit of a cold, so we were all ready for bed as soon as we got to the hotel.

The next day we headed to Magic Kingdom.  It was truly magical watching the kids discover this "world" that Walt Disney created.  Brielle got to meet 4 princesses and we got to go on a few rides before we headed to Beast's castle for lunch. 
Since we were all a little sick we headed back to the hotel, or "home" to get some rest.  Brielle actually asked when we could go and take a nap.  We returned later for some more rides and fun.  We finished the day with the Electrical Parade and Fireworks.

Day 2 we ventured to Epcot.  We took in some rides and sights before we dined with the princesses.  Brielle got more autographs and pictures, as well as be in the princess parade. 
After lunch we headed "home" to nap and swim and get ready for the evening at Magic Kingdom again. 

Day 3 we were off to Hollywood Studios.  This was the coldest day, due to the wind.  We visited the Walt Disney exhibit, which was fun since Steve had just finished his biography the night before. We got to see a Disney Jr. Live show which featured all of the kids favorite shows, the Little Mermaid Show, meet Sofia the First, and ride Toy Story Mania.  We played around in Honey I Shrunk the Kids and toured the rest of the park before nap time. 
everyone was over tired and needed some down time, so we took the rest of the day/night to hang out at the hotel.
Collin got his first stomach flu at midnight but by morning seemed ok.

Day 4 took us on a safari at the Animal Kingdom.  We saw so many animals up close!  A giraffe just waltzed by our van!  The kids had a blast on the safari.  We didn't stay long at Animal Kingdom because we wanted to finish the rides at Magic Kingdom.  We spent the rest of the day/evening there.   We caught the electrical parade again after Grandma and Collin went "home" for the night.  Steve, Isaiah, Calie, and Brielle stayed and went on a few more rides.  We finally called it a night after visiting the candy store!

Our trip seemed long, but looking back it went so quickly.  Unfortunately Brielle got sick just before we got on the bus to head to the airport and continued on the bus, the airport, the plane, baggage claim, and the car ride home.  She had it really bad.  Isaiah got sick half way though the flight and I, Calie, got it the day after we got home.  Steve is still the only one who made it without getting the stomach flu. 

We talk about Disney everyday.  Our house has flown to Disney, the Fairy Godmother has used her wand to Bibbity bobbity boo us to Disney, and we have had tears because we didn't want to leave Disney.  Needless to say the kids want to go back in the worst way and they are not the only ones. 

Enjoy the book that I put together of our trip.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuWbZi0atGzmA&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Happy Birthday Isaiah

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that it was already 5 years ago that we were on our vicarage and welcoming our new baby boy.  He's come a long way from the baby who was in the NICU for 5 days to the smart, funny sometimes annoying boy he is today.

We celebrated his birthday with a pool party.  He wanted the cake to look our friends pool, and I think that was accomplished!

 

 

Everyone was having fun!

 

Brielle really liked the chocolate donuts, or Life Savers

 

Havin' a blast.

 

New Diggers!

 

Collin loved them too!

 

This is what happens when Steve gets a hold of the leftover cake.



 

 

Carefully studying.....

 

Thank you Great Grandma

 

Trying it all out!

 

 

 

Isaiah's birthday was spread out over a week, which was fun for him, but I think the highlight was going to a water park and hotel.  We met some good friends there and had a wet and wild time over New Years.....well as wild as you can get with 3 kids. 

 

 

Now we, or maybe just I, await the return of school which was just cancelled for Monday due to the extreme cold weather.  

 

 

Christmas Accomplished!

Thanks be to God!  What a wonderful past few weeks.  We have had great family time throughout the Christmas season.  We are truly blessed with all that is most important; and are continuously reminded via news or prayer requests not to take anything for granted. From the moment our tree went up in early December and was decorated we were busy baking cookies, wrapping presents, shoveling snow, watching our holiday favorites, decorating gingerbread houses, looking at Christmas lights, reading Christmas books and so much more.

Christmas eve worship is always one of our favorite services of the year.  Candlelight.  Great music.  Lots of kids.  The church was jam-packed and the Christmas hymns were plentiful.    We have been blessed to be unofficial family members of a wonderful church family here in Sun Prairie.  Since we moved here they have overwhelmed us with their love and embracing.  It was here we spent a fantastic Christmas eve following worship which has become our tradition over the past 4 years.  We always have great food and company; it's a great way to spend the night before spending a quiet day at home with just our five on Christmas Day.

Because of a late night, our Christmas morning did not start until 8am.  Go figure!  Of all days for the kids to sleep in :)  Once the kids were finally awake, we emptied our stockings and got to see what Santa brought.  The kids all got what they were hoping for and were very excited to play with all their new toys.  Santa brought Isaiah a brand new scooter with wheels that light up; he brought a brand new dollhouse for Brielle; and Collin got a new hot wheels toy for bath time.  After opening our gifts from Santa and a break for breakfast and church, it was back to the tree for more presents.  Yet again, we were all spoiled by grandparents and great grandmas that sent all kinds of goodies.  The kids were very excited to open presents from New Jersey Grandma and Grandpa while talking to them on Skype.

We were then blessed to spend the following weekend with MN Grandma.  She came out to not only celebrate Christmas and play in the snow, but also Isaiah's birthday a few days earlier (more on that to come).  The kids always LOVE it when Grandma comes to play and so do Mom and Dad as we even got a free babysitter to sneak out of the house for a movie night!

Indeed, from start to finish our Christmas celebration was a great one.  We need to treasure these moments when the kids are so young and gift opening is an all-day event.  Christmas morning is just so much more exciting with little kids around.  We tried to catch many of our memories on the camera so here are a bunch of them.  There may be a lot of pictures but it's hard to narrow them down to just pick a few favorites!



Our two favorite little dudes snuggling under a blanket before a Christmas movie.



Working on their Christmas art projects--stained glass Christmas trees.

 

The final products!



Collin got his own gingerbread house (graham crackers) to build. 



Each working on their own side of the house.



Such precision...



Such concentration...



Such a mess...  Collin enjoyed eating his house instead.



Isaiah all dressed and ready for Christmas Eve church.  He's such a stud!



Our sweet little princess eager to pose and ready for church.



This kid is such a cutie; and such a ham for the camera!



Never an easy thing trying to get all three kids looking and smiling at the same time.



Christmas morning, surrounded by presents and in their new Christmas jammies!



Brielle got some new princess nail polish for Christmas and was very eager to put it on!

You can only tell a little bit, but she's all done painting her nails (and toes).



Collin got a new broom for Christmas and he has been sweeping ever since.



Reading his new book from Great Grandma in New Jersey.




Daddy and his little girl.



Mommy and her little peanut.
 

Isaiah playing with his new Hess truck and tractor from New Jersey.



A few quick stories and then bedtime after a long Christmas day.



Collin got a bubble bouncer from MN Grandma...

... and he LOVES it!



Isaiah hit the Fisher Price Imaginext jackpot this year. 
He got the rescue city center and a bunch of other cards to go with it.

SNOW FUN!



Isaiah working hard on building a snowman.

Although Grandma worked the hardest!



Love this picture of Collin.  If only we knew what he was thinking!

Our family of snowmen!

 



Hoping you and your family all had a wonderful Christmas.  In the end though, we remember that Christmas is not accomplished in gifts given, cards sent, relatives entertained, or in-laws surivived.  Christmas is accomplished only in what God has done for us and the gift of a Savior born 2000 years ago.  "At just the right time, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Galatians 4:4-5