Christmas

We had a fun Christmas celebrating with friends and family. The kids couldn't have had a better time with all the excitement and 4 straight days of presents where ever they went.

It was nice to go North to snow.

Wouldn't be the same without snow.

Campbell wanted to go Church, so we went Christmas Eve with my grandparents.

Then rushed to Gabe's parents for the best dinner of the year (prime rib) & presents.

A 'mote control truck' was they only thing Blake wanted for Christmas. He opened one up from Uncle Garet first thing & wasn't interested in opening any more presents the rest of the night. He just wanted to play with his awesome new truck.

Uncle Garet knows just what Campbell wanted. Campbell squealed and screamed with excitement opening every present. Her best quote of the night was: when someone asked her if she liked her present & she said, 'Like it!?!? I love it!!!!

Christmas morning at Nana & Papa's. Now Lucy has a big sister!

Blake's picture of his new pillow pet. He kept saying 'pillow pet! pillow pet!'

Christmas Day dinner in Melrude at Ginia-mom & Papa Stan's.

Tired kids from a big weekend.

Santa came to our house while we were gone!

Merry Christmas!

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season & a very Happy New Year.

ECFE

We're officially done with ECFE in Hopkins, which makes me sad. Blake and I drove once a week back to Hopkins to finish up the semester with our class and our friends P & S, but it's a long drive and since Blake will be starting preschool soon, it doesn't really make sense any more. These good-bye's for various things have been spread out, which is a bit like pulling a band-aid off slowly and making the transition (for me at least) to our new home harder.

Saying I've learned alot from ECFE is a gross understatement. The teachers and other parents I met provided a wealth of information and I'm extrememly grateful and certainly a much better parent because of what I learned from everyone involved. 

Blake loved to line up the Little People and him & S were always found playing with the trucks in this corner.

Holidazzle

Garet, Anna & the boys came down for the weekend to hang out, shop and go to the Holidazzle. Poor Caleb got the flu on Saturday, so Garet stayed back with him and made dinner while the rest of us met Jen, Lanny & their 3 boys at the Holidazzle. Afterward, everyone came back to our place and enjoyed a gourmet dinner (how does Garet make food taste so good?!?) and lots of laughs.

The kids loved playing with their beloved cousins.

We got a great spot on the curb right under the Target Building.

We've been meaning to take the kids to the parade for a few years now, so we're happy we got to share it with a bunch of family.

Blake is scared and yelling at me to get out of the street.

What a great night for a parade!

Santa

We went to visit Santa today with my friend, P, and her little guy, L. Blake his buddy L are so funny together. They really get each other wound up when they see each other & they always have a blast running around full throttle. (The other week when they were over for a play date, we hear them roaring laughing. The boys are in Campbell's room throwing everything out of her drawers. I walk in to Blake hanging off a top dresser drawer and throwing her underwear all over the room. Campbell is standing there very calmly scolding by saying, "boys, boys") I have a feeling we'll have to watch those two when they are teenagers!

Thanks Mariah & Aunt Sherrill for the adorable dress & shoes! They fit perfectly!

Campbell went right up to Santa and him that she wanted a remote controlled Strawberry Shortcake car. Blake yelled excitedly at Santa in line, but when we got closer he cowered behind me. He sat good for the picture though, but he didn't want to tell Santa what he wanted, so Campbell chimed in that "he wants a remote controlled truck, but Blake says 'controlled truck' because he doesn't know it's called a 'remote controlled truck'."

Santa side note: Good thing I checked the website before we left, because Eden Prairie mall banned personal cameras this year. I always get suckered into buying their ridiculously overpriced pictures anyway, but so lame! We boycotted and went to a different mall and bought their ridiculously overpriced picture.

Random cute thing Blake said when we saw a house with red Christmas lights: What the heck? The house is shining? I don't even get it! 

Princess, Princess

Campbell & I attended 2 birthday parties on Saturday, both girls were turning 4 and both had princess themes. What are the odds? Maybe pretty good since it seems that most 4 year old girls love their princesses. Campbell had a great time at both parties....how can you go wrong with princess games, princess crafts, and cake? It was fun to see all the little girls dressed up in costumes and fancy, girly dresses.

Just enough time in between parties to stop for lunch. Snow White got a Snow White party favor.

Snow White rockin' out. Campbell sat for a long time playing this kid sized guitar and making up lyrics. I think Santa might have to leave a guitar under the tree this year.

While we were parting, the boys went to the 'work store' (aka Home Depot) and worked on some projects around the house. Not quite sure why so many curtain rods and towel holders are ripping out of the walls, but they are, and they are leaving huge holes in the sheet rock from the anchors. Arg! And did I mention our grill blew across our deck, down some steps, tipped over, and the propane tank was hanging over the edge of the railing? Grill parts were scattered everywhere. It's windy out here on the prairie! Geez! Luckily, only some minor pieces broke and the grill is still usable.

A Slient Night for Peef

Gabe has been working long hours, so it was nice to spend a night together as a family. We planned on going to Pizza Luce and then to A Silent Night for Peef at Stages Theatre. Since the wait was 45 minutes at Pizza Luce, Daddy took us to a "super-secret" pizza place. Secret it was, as we were the only diners. Blake told the waitress he wanted the "Pizza Luce" so I'm pretty sure he got his pizza spit on. He didn't seem to mind as he easily polished off his ENTIRE pizza.

Onto the show, which was a cute story about a boy and his beloved bear named "Peef" who was given to him by Santa. It was fun to watch Blake stare in amazement at the production and occasionally blurt out something. He said, "they're so happy!" when the elves were singing their opening tune. And "where's his hat?" when Santa had a costume change.

 

I don't know how we lost our ability to say 'no', but we ended up buying the kids 3 Peef bears. We started out only getting a small bear for the kids to share. Then Campbell started crying because she wanted a big one. Gave in to that. Then Blake suddenly got up in the middle of the show and headed to the lobby saying he was "going to get a big bear too".  Literally spending more on the bears than the tickets themselves. Geez!

Peef! Peef!

 At home Campbell loves to put on plays/dances and then give out autographs to the audience (Blake & me), so as much as she loved the play, she was ecstatic about seeing the actor/actresses up close after the show. Campbell jumped and squealed through the line getting autographs from the actors.

I noticed which reading the program that there was an actress named Livia in the show. So while Campbell was getting autographs, I introduced myself to the Check the Elf & she excitedly said, "not even with an O?!?" She was super chatty and so cute. We were talking about how few Livia's we each knew. She knew two, 1 of whom lived in London. And I said I knew 3 people that had named their daughters Livia. I must have been a little star Livia-struck because I didn't put it together later until in the car.....could we know the same London Livia?!?!?

2 Livia's