Getting Decorated

The other night we finally got in the Christmas spirit - we put the Christmas music on and put up the Christmas tree. It's interesting to decorate with lots of little hands that are just dying to touch all the pretty things coming out of boxes that have been stored all year long. Eventually Olivia was given the assignment of official photographer. These are the pictures she took:



And I could continue. Lots of pictures of the lights! So Olivia was reassigned to helping with the lights. Noah also helped with lights.Noah also likes to make his own ornaments. This is a matchbox car on the end of a loop of paper.

The next day we decorated the kids' little trees for their bedrooms. Barbie helped decorate this tree.

We are now officially in the Christmas spirit at our house! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful time in MN celebrating Thanksgiving. We were able to see some relatives, and the kids had lots of time to play with their cousins. On Friday we went to the Mall of America - crazy! Actually, it wasn't so bad - we played at Lego Land and went on some of the rides. Saturday was my mom's 60th birthday, and we celebrated at a fancy restaurant. We were brave and took the kiddos too - they loved all the "extras" - the sorbet to cleanse the palate, the juice for toasting the birthday girl, the warm washcloths and the chocolate-covered strawberries at the end of the meal. Mmmm....yummy!

Fish and Giraffes Beware!

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Weekend Trip

We went last weekend to Sarah's (my sister-in-law) wedding shower. What a fun time to be with my sisters in law and my mother in law. We thought it was funny that we all ended up wearing brown to the shower.

Sarah's beautiful engagement ring says "For My Glory" in the Cambodian language, where she and her hubby will be missionaries.
Papa Ice has it all figured out - he had the kids helping him rake the leaves while we were at the shower!

Costumes and Candy

Last night we went to church for Family Fun Night. The AWANA directors offer this carnival every year on the Wednesday that is closest to Halloween, so this year it fell on Halloween. The kids get to play carnival-like games and win candy and prizes. They also have a contest for costumes, which have to be Bible-based.

Chloe was a frog - one of the Egyptian plagues.

A pretty good frog pose!
Olivia is into everything princess, so she was disappointed when she found out she was going to be a queen...Queen Esther. Then she started liking it and told everyone she was "Queen Esto".

Noah's costume was made about 30 minutes before we had to leave for the carnival. He is Paul in prison (see the ball and chain?), and he won third place for his outfit! (in his age bracket)

Noah was pretty good at this game.

Olivia just LOVED her butterfly hand.

Olivia and her friend Michael

Is she peeking?

By the end of the night my camera was sticky from all the little fingers touching it, so this picture is a little fuzzy. But I thought these costumes were pretty good - salt and light is on the left, Moses is in the middle and another Queen Esther on the right.

Carving Pumpkins

Continuing the Barn Theme...

We found a park this weekend that has a huge playground in the shape of a barn. It used to be an agricultural farm for a nearby college, but now it's a park with lots of picnic areas, hiking trails, an amphitheater, a sledding hill, a place to put canoes into the river, etc. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so we enjoyed our time outdoors!

Someone needs to put a barrette in her hair!

Mommy and Daddy had fun too. :)