Ice Fishing Fun

The Friday after Christmas we took the kids out ice fishing. A friend of ours has a fish house out on the same lake as the cabin, he allows us to use it if he isn't. I dropped Kevin and the kids off at the fish house to get it set up and so they could catch the start of the evening bite, then I ran to town and got pizza and breadsticks for dinner.

We had a great time fishing as a family. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, especially when the fish were biting. Once Addie caught her first and only fish of the night and she was growing impatient because the fish weren't immediately biting again, she laid down and fell asleep. We brought home some nice sized crappies and enjoyed eating them last week!

Paul seemed to have the best luck with the fishing, he pulled up several nice sized crappies!

Christmas

We had a very relaxing Christmas this year. It's not real often that I can say that, I feel like typically we are running around like crazy and we don't actually get to enjoy the time spent with family. Usually on Christmas Eve, we get together at Kevin and Mary's, then on Christmas Day we are home and Mary and Ron come for the day. This year we got together with Kevin and Mary on the Sunday before Christmas, it was nice to break up the holiday a little bit. We had Christmas with my mom's side at the beginning of December. On Christmas Eve we made homemade pizza for dinner and then went to Mass.. When we got home the kids had discovered that our Elf on the Shelf had left, she usually leaves on Christmas Eve when we go to bed, but she left while we were at Mass. She also left a note and a gift for the whole family. We all got a new pair of pj's, a big box of hot chocolate, 2 bags of marshmallows and the movie Despicable Me 2. The kids quickly changed into their new pj's and we settled in for a movie night. Shortly after I popped popcorn and they had their hot chocolate, they all decided it was time for bed so that Santa could come!

Christmas morning we woke up to very excited kids, or I should say we were woken up by four very excited kids! It was nice to be able to just hang out at home, we let the kids have a pj day all day! They opened their gifts from Santa and the gifts from us.  Mary and Ron came down on Christmas morning for brunch and spent the majority of the day with us. Christmas night we  checked out the Kiwanis Lights display in Mankato. All of the kids loved the light display!



4 of 6 kids having hot chocolate after we checked out all the lights!

Winter time.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend at my Grandparent's house. It was just our family and my Grandparents. It really was a nice weekend just to spend with them. We played games, had a fire in the fire place, had a movie night complete with homemade pizza and popcorn. I truly cherish every moment I get with any of my Grandparents, I think because I know someday I will no longer have them, so I'm soaking in every moment that I can now. This is after our game of Sorry!, in which Paul won, he came in from behind and ended the game in a win. He wasn't so happy in the beginning he was losing, but he sure was happy once he go to the end and had won!



Being crazy cats at Granny and Papa's.

Stella and Addie had a holiday fun night at school for all ECFE and Preschool kids. They enjoyed it, they got to make different crafts and projects, have a snack and they each got a gift to take home, a new book. It was a fun night to spend with them while Kevin spent the night at home with the big kids.

Silly Stella. She loves making tents out of blankets in the living room. 

Adeline in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle obsessed. Who would have thought a show from my own childhood would be so popular for my 4 year old tom boy? Rafael is her favorite!

Stella and her best buddy Ryan finally got their chance to go to Disney on Ice for their birthdays, just like their big sisters get to for their birthdays. 

We attended our last Vikings game at the Metrodome, and Pauly got to attend his first game ever! My dad took us to the game for our birthdays and ended up with an extra ticket, so he called me on Friday night before Sunday's game and asked if Paul would like to go. We had great seats, we were in row 2 on the 30 yard line on the Vikings side. What a great birthday present and I think we may have made a Vikings fan out of Paul, he sure seemed to enjoy himself, or maybe it was the fact that Papa Matt spoiled him at the game!

See how great our seats were? I didn't use zoom to take these pictures at all!

Likely the closest I'll ever be to Jared Allen.

December was a crazy busy month for us and it appears that January will be equally as busy! Here's to hoping that February will be a little calmer!

Fall catch-up.

Fall was very crazy and very fun! The whole family went to the pumpkin patch for Cub Scouts, the girls thought it was fun to tag along to Paul's event and to be able to pick out their own pumpkins too.

During MEA break, we had a lunch date at Dairy Queen!

We had a Sunday night dinner date with friends, 6 adults, 9 kids, yes, we're slightly out numbered. We strategically placed all the kids at one end of the table so that the adults could all visit and the kids could talk with their friends as well.

Halloween

This was the first year each kid picked their own costume, so that was kind of fun, usually we guided the younger ones or picked the costume for them, they enjoyed getting to pick out their own costumes!

I spend the bulk of my days with these two loves. They forever keep me entertained, even on my most trying days. They love to play dress up. 

In mid-October, I took a secretary job at church, it's just one day a week, but it gets me out of the house for a day and the girls get to go to daycare, Addie goes to daycare for the morning and then to preschool in the afternoon. Stella seems to love daycare, this fall was the first time she ever went to daycare. We are very blessed that we were able to have the girls go back to our old daycare, the last time Addie was there, she was 18 months old. 

First day of school

I am a little delayed in posting these pictures from the first day of school. Life has been hectic and I don't have as much time to update our blog as I would like to. Amelia started 2nd grade this year, Paul started 1st grade, Adeline is in preschool and Stella is doing ECFE. They all really enjoy school, which is a blessing! I just hope their love for school continues through the years!

We are very blessed that Amelia has a great team at school this year, with moving up a grade, she got a brand new team of educators and they have been a huge asset to our family so far. We really liked her team last year, but this new team is amazing. Her speech pathologist is very knowledgeable and is great at her job. Her special education teacher is one of the kindest ladies I've ever met, she has reassured me more than once that I'm not a terrible parent and that we are doing the best that we can for Amelia. She said not many parents are as involved in their child's education as we are. Her classroom teacher is awesome, sweet and kind, just they type of teacher Amelia needs. I don't have any complaints about how 2nd grade is going for our sweet girl.

Paul loves first grade and the work he brings home shows it. He is excelling, which makes my heart sing with joy. We have conferences next week and I can't wait to hear his teacher's perspective about how things are going. Adeline LOVES preschool. She goes 3 days a week in the afternoons. She's making friends and learning a lot of new things. Addie is excited to share what she learned at school and is trying to teach Stella the things she's learned.

Stella and I go to ECFE (early childhood family education) on Friday mornings, Addie goes to work with Kevin and hangs out at the station while we are at school. Stella loves going to school, there are 8 kids in her class, which is a huge improvement from the 3-5 kids that were in her class last year. We only have a few more classes left in this session, it's nice for her to get out and interact with other kids. She always looks forward to going to school and is constantly asking when she can go to "EFG" again.

Easter

We had a pretty low-key Easter. We went to Mass as a family, Kevin read at Mass. After church we went to Mary and Ron's for dinner. We had a nice relaxing day at their house. The kids were excited about the Easter Bunny coming and bringing them swimsuits and lake toys. Now if only our snow would melt (again), so that they'll get a chance to use their goodies from the Easter Bunny!

Recently overheard

It's been a while since I did a post about the things overheard at our house, sometimes the only way I remember these is by blogging about them, I have to write them down or I forget!

Out for dinner at a Chinese buffet, Paul loaded his plate with pizza, fried bread dough rolled in sugar, jello, chocolate pudding, cream puffs and a brownie. He looks up from his plate and said "now this is what I call Chinese". As he was eating his cream puff, he said. "This is heavenly"

Watching tv on Friday night, all of the kids were sleeping but Adeline, she is dancing around the living room and stops and says "ahhhh, diet coke, it just hits you". No one was drinking diet coke nor was there any diet coke in sight and she had water to drink. That girl! I don't know where she comes up with this stuff!

Stella is newly potty trained. A couple weeks ago during our first week of potty training, she insisted on going to the bathroom herself, she comes out of the bathroom with no pants and says "I wipe my butt, I flush the potty, I wash my hands" I said to her "did you pull up your underwear?" She looks at me with a puzzled look and says "where my underwear?" And she ran off to the bathroom.

Adeline is very observant and the other day we were getting ready to leave for ECFE and she looked at Gene and said "Papa Ron is losing his hair! I'm going to grow my hair and give some to papa."

One night I was tucking Amelia into bed and she was telling me about a classmate of hers that hugged her when he was passing out the folders at the end of the day. She followed it up by saying he kissed her hand one day at school and then she said "he sure is a funny guy!"

As you can probably imagine with four kids, there is never a dull moment in our house!

Halloween 2012

The kids got to wear their costumes 3 times this year! And for Adeline that meant 3 different costumes. The first time they wore their costumes was for Trunk or Treat at Grandma and Papa's church, we've never went truck or treating before, but it was fun for the kids, there were about 30 cars in the church parking lot handing out candy. Most of the parishioners handing out candy decorated their trunks with lights, as well as dressing up in costumes to hand out candy. The kids made quite the haul there!

Community Halloween party was held in our church's social hall.

Addie wore Amelia's super cute crayon costume that my mom made when Amelia was almost 4!

Playing ring toss

Dart game. Each balloon had a treat inside it.

We carved pumpkins this year for the first time since Amelia and Paul were real little. The last time we carved pumpkins was when we still lived in Montgomery. Paul was about the same age as Stella is now. None of the kids cared for the pumpkin "guts", but I think over all they had fun carving their pumpkins!

Halloween...before heading out trick or treating. This time Adeline was Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog.

They had a great time this year on Halloween and all of the extra festivities! We only went to about 6 houses in town and then I took them to McD's for a quick bite to eat as a treat and then we came home and passed out candy. Adeline is already planning what she wants to be next year!

cell phone unload

It's been a while since I hooked my phone up to my laptop. I came across several pictures that I had forgotten about. Many of them are from late winter/early spring, it's fun to see how much the kids have changed in just a few months.

Stella and Paul hanging out at the city office while I get some work done.

Addie is all set to swim in her new swim suit at the hotel for Amelia's birthday!

Swimming for Amelia's birthday

Vinny and his kid. 

Proud of his Lego creations

Stella and her many babies

Paul's post at Grandpa Kevin's 60th birthday. Paul enjoyed the "kidding cockentails"

Addie dancing with her daddy at Grandpa Kevin's birthday party

ECFE field trip to the Elk Farm. Stella loved the baby kittens.

So did Addie!

Checking out the goats at the Elk Farm

Sometimes Stella gets so tired she just crashes wherever she is. 

Bedtime!

Clearly she didn't care for Amelia's doll sling!

Zoo day!

Just a young man already.

Kindergarten field trip at Bray Park

Out to dinner at A&W.

Hanging out at the cabin.

First fish of the year. 

Turtle that found it's way into our backyard.

Hot Cocoa at the Mpls Half-Marathon

Before the half-marathon started.

Worm hunters

Addie Enjoying the "Piggy Place" with her friend Clare

Super Why

T-ball

Backyard fun!

Early morning run.

Lego man Paul

4th of July Parade! Sporting a Vote KAISER sticker for her friend Kaelyn's Papa!

Doing the "Ice Augur" after my cousin's wedding.

Henning Parade with Granny Sandy!

Swimming off the Pontoon.

Stella and her baby love the lake!

Ice cream break at the Waterpark!

So much fun at the Waterpark!

New (windblown!) Haircut

It's always fun finding these treasures on my cell phone! Until next time!