Chocolate

You can tell the Christmas is approaching because I am becoming more and more willing to let the kids eat junk.  They were digging in the cupboard and found a huge Hershey's bar.  They asked if they could have it for snack and I said.. go for it.  I decided to get my camera out and just be a fly on the wall. This is what I saw...

Yes, instead of eating the chocolate, Pete rubbed it in his eye.  Why?  Who knows with that one. 

Winter has arrived!

We went from 50's to blizzard in 2 days.  We were out playing in the yard one day and the next we're snowed in! The kids like bringing their toys to the side of the yard where there is a little hill.  They can push off and enjoy the ride!

We went out in the snow 3 times yesterday! The kids were extremely lucky considering I really dislike the snow.  Emmie and Pete however LOVE the snow.  You can tell they were born in Nebraska-they aren't some wimpy Arizonan! Brenden even let me have a fire going the whole day... That was the only thing that saved me.

Emmie's Preschool Christmas Program

Emmie had her preschool Christmas program last week.  She did a really good job.  You could tell in the beginning she was a little unsure of all the people.  As the other kids were singing and doing the actions, Emmie's hands would slowly go down, she would stop singing and her eyes would get really wide.  By the end she was great!

Breakfast with Santa

We went to Breakfast with Santa last Saturday with our good friends Chris, Leah, Kate and Becca.   

  We had a pancake breakfast, listened to Mrs. Claus read a night before Christmas, sat on Santa's lap, decorated a mug, and went ice skating!  Even little Pete got his itty bitty skates on and tried it out!

Polar Express

We rode on Kearney's Polar Express the other night.  We got dressed in our pj's went downtown and rode a trolly around town while eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate.  They read the story "The Polar Express" and then we sang Christmas carols.  It was a really fun night.  They even had a live nativity set up with animals you could pet.  The only problem was it was set up right in front of the lingerie shop where you could go inside and get your picture taken with Mrs. Claus.   We laughed pretty hard about that one. 

Thanksgiving

Emmie's preschool class had a Thanksgiving Feast last week.  Brenden was able to go watch them sing their turkey songs and eat their delicious food.  The class got to choose what to serve and went on a field trip to the store to purchase all the items the day before.  Emmie's contribution was celery and peanut butter. By looking at her plate it seems there were more delicious items on the menu!

She even made her own Thanksgiving place mat.   I love how creative she is with spelling her name these days and how she included her favorite person... her babysitter Laura.

Here is her cute class.  I can't believe Brenden convinced her to wear jeans! It's a good thing we have this picture to prove it!

Thanksgiving Friends

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  Our friends John and Carla drove over from Colorado.  It was really fun having them here.  We had our actual Thanksgiving Feast with John and Carla our other Kearney friends.  Brenden made a delicious bird and gallons of gravy!  We ate until we were stuffed which means it was a successful meal!

Here is the "kids table".  It makes me a little sad that the only thing my kids ate were rolls.  Oh well... to each their own, right?

The adults played scum with a twist!  John and Carla brought jelly bellies along with their Beanboozled cousins.  They look exactly the same but one is a delicious flavor like pear while the other is booger.  It was hilarious!  Whoever became scum had to pick out of the pot. 

This is a picture of Brett's Thor hammer.  He brought it along with him and throughout the weekend Pete slowly ate it.  Yes, Pete is half animal.  Thankfully we sent him back with a new one.

Here is the gang... Taryn and Brett were so good and patient with Red and Little red.  They loved having them here!  I included all of the pictures because while Taryn and Brett look good in each and every picture Emmie tried really hard. 

Trick or Treating

Trick or Treat.

Carving pumpkins 2012

We signed up to host a couple Korean students (Min and Ray) who attend UNK.  We are supposed to have them over a few times a month and let them experience what life is like in America. It has been really fun so far.  The kids LOVE them.  We had them over for a hotdog roast... they had never eaten a hot dog or cheetos or smores! We invited them to Pete's birthday party and last month we had them over to carve pumpkins.  They had never carved a pumpkin. They were pretty ambitious and did some pretty detailed carving.  Brenden and I went the easy route with some triangles and circles.

Dad is the coolest

 When Emmie prays she usually will say... Thank you for daddy being the coolest and mommy being the prettiest.  I'm pretty sure it is confirmed that Brenden is the coolest. 

Fall leaves

It seems like all the leaves fell off the trees in about a day.  The kids had a good time playing in them for about 5 minutes while Brenden mowed them all up. 

Poor Pete, the target of a leaf bomb.

This kid has amazing upper body strength and I think he looks like Brenden in this picture.

Happy Fall!

Halloween 2012

Halloween might be my favorite holiday.  I have always loved dressing up.  I think it started with my grandma Clawson's dress up chest.  Then as I got older I would spend my babysitting money on costumes... and to this day they sit in my parent's garage.  So, if you ever need a costume, stop by my mom and dad's!

This year for Halloween we decided to go as Micky, Minne, Mary Poppins and Bert.  Thanks to my mom for the kid's costumes! Thanks to Brenden for playing along.  We actually found it funny that everything Brenden is wearing came from his closet.  The only thing we added was the scarf and chimney sweep!

Kearney is great during the month of October.  All the shops open up the last Thursday of the month and you can Trick or Treat downtown!  Here is "the gang".  I just wish you could see their costumes better.  They were adorable.  

 

Birthday Boy

 My entire family came out for Pete's birthday party (with the exception of my bro-in-law Rusty).  We had a camp themed party at a small little lodge at Cottonmill Park.  It was perfect.  We had a bug hunt, went fishing and enjoyed some chili and cornbread.  It was fun having all of our loved ones (family and friends) there.

Thanks to everyone who came!  We loved having you there!

On a side note, if you decide to make s'mores cupcakes, watch them carefully on broil.  We almost burned our house down due to 24 flaming cupcake mallows!

Parade

We had a great time at UNK's homecoming parade this year.  I like living in a small town like Kearney because when they have a parade the whole town shows up.  They even throw candy from the floats!  Both Emmie and Pete were much better at running out for the candy.    It was fun lining the street with our friends and neighbors.

Boating

This was officially the last fun activity of summer.  Our good friends Leah and Chris invited us out on their boat for one last boating hurrah.  It was fun to be on the lake with the lovely fall leaves as our background. 

 The kids had a blast but I know what you are wondering... did Pete jump in? Well, he did but with the help of Brenden.  He lasted about 30 seconds and then jumped right back in the boat.  The water was cold!

Brenden still has his wake boarding moves!  Apparently it is like riding a bike.  The only thing different this time was how sore he was after.  I guess 15 years really makes a difference.

We had a blast!  Thank you Chris, Leah, Kate and Becca for showing us a  good time!

Happy Birthday Peter

Today is Peter, Pete, Petester, Bubs, Bubba, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, Em I mean Peter, Buddy, lil boy's birthday! Pete loves to sing.  In fact, he sang happy birthday to himself this morning.  We are celebrating on Monday with all of my family rolls into town and when Brenden gets home from Denver. 

 Day 1

6 months

1 year

18 months

2 years

Pete's favorites: 

Spiderman

Thomas the Train

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Playing hide and seek

Wearing his Puma shoes

Drinking warm milk 

Jumping off of anything 3 feet or higher

Climbing on the kitchen counter

Playing with his favorite person in the world...Emmie