Christmas with Friends

The Sunday before Christmas (Dec. 23rd) was a busy day for us.  We had church, Christmas with the extended Hahn family back at church, and then Christmas with the Davis' and Frye's at the Davis' house.  We look forward to the annual Friend Christmas every year.  The kids get to decorate cookies for Santa and then the adults get time together to talk and play games.  This year we played Battle of the Sexes.  Somehow the boys won (twice!).  I think the ladies may need a rematch!

And yes, I did HIGHLY recommend that that kids change into their play clothes, but they insisted on wearing their fancy clothes!

Amazingly, NO frosting was found on their "fancy" clothes!

Everybody concentrated so hard on getting their cookies just perfect!

Miss Kenna enjoyed just eating the frosting.  Look at that face!!

We had such a great time getting prepared for the Christmas season.  We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and kids who enjoy being together!

Christmas Angels

This year at church, the kids performed in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  They are both too young to have any speaking parts, but they did get to be in the small angel choir.  Landon and Emerson both did a great job singing and doing the motions.  Landon asked when he could say some words...maybe next year buddy! :)

Landon had a bit of an issue once his halo started to fall down.  He is super ticklish and did NOT like the tinsel around his neck! :)

Tyler did have some speaking parts and did a great job!!

 Great job to all of the kids (and adults) who put in a lot of time to make the CHRISTmas musical a success!

Christmas Posts to Come

Update: Well, I upgraded to Google + (I honestly don't even know what that is!:))  But with that I guess I have more storage for photos.  Because now instead of being at 98.9% full, I am only at 17.8%.  So, if you have the same issue, try upgrading too.  As far as I can see, nothing is different in blogger...

I am a bit behind in my Christmas postings.  Mainly because lovely Blogger told me that I had reached my maximum capacity in photos and I couldn't post any more.  And I figured, it's not that fun to share about Christmas without pictures.  So if anyone has any suggestions to me adding more pictures without paying a per month fee or deleting pictures from my older posts, I'd be happy to hear it!

Birthday Celebrations

We had the pleasure of celebrating 2 wonderful people this last week (and my mother-in-law today! :)). Matt turned 35 this year and we celebrated by going to Hacienda and ordering dinner and a mudslide. Yum! Then we came back to the house to open presents. Emmy is starting to become more aware of others and asked Daddy if he wanted some "dar woars dies" (Star Wars guys) for his birthday. She ended up picking him out some and I think she plays with them more than her Daddy, but it was a nice thought! :) 

Playing in the box with Daddy's birthday present from the Clark's!

For Jess's birthday, she had the awesome idea of going to a Wine and Canvas event at Papa Vino's.  We each got a canvas, paint, and an art lesson to create a "masterpiece"!  I think they turned out pretty good (although it does kinda bother me that my vase is not symmetrical!!).  We had a lot of fun and even tried out some peach bellini's!  Thanks for the fun girls night out!  I'd definitely do it again sometime!!

Thanks to Jessica bringing her camera, we got some great pictures of our work!

Happy birthday to 2 of my greatest friends!  We all love you both!

Christmas Traditions: Old and New

We LOVE going to search for the perfect tree every year!  This year, we had to change our venue since Wilfong's is going out of business.  We traveled a bit farther and ended up at Eby Pine's.  We were not disappointed.  There were so many trees to choose from, a horse drawn wagon, and popcorn.  We also got to visit with Santa.  The kids BOTH did a great job talking to the jolly man in red and sitting on his lap!  Apparently Landon wants a race track that he saw on tv and Emmy wants something that Mommy has: a jewelry box (even though she already has a jewelry box! :)).

Our tree is behind Emmy

Our new Christmas tradition has to do with a little elf the kids named "Tricky".  He is an elf on the shelf and he watches the kids during the day.  Then, at night, he magically flies back to Santa to report what he's seen.  Each morning, then, he appears in a new spot.  The kids, especially Em, LOVE trying to find where Tricky is hiding each morning.  So far he's been in the Christmas tree, wreath, the lights, and in a packing box (see below).  We've really enjoyed seeing the kids' faces light up when they find the elf.  They're at a great age to REALLY believe in the magic of the season!  They've also had fun changing the numbers on the days till Christmas chart and adding something each day to our Advent calendar until we finally get to Jesus on the 25th.

Winter Wreath

I'm ba-a-ack....after being down and out with the flu for a good week (well actually a pretty awful week), I finally feel almost back to normal.

Before I got sick, we had a lovely Thanksgiving.  It was our year to be at my side for Thanksgiving, so we spent the day at mom and dad's.  We had a nice day.  The little ones are pretty much able to play by themselves, so it's nice to be able to catch up with the adults and play a rousing game of "Logo" and "Trivial Pursuit."

I also worked on a project that Cathy and I saw when we visited House of Holly this year and thankfully I finished the morning before my first night of sickness!

I kind of combined two ideas and I think it turned out pretty cute.  The wreath I saw at House of Holly (not quite so over the top as this one:  tulle christmas wreath).  I originally wanted to do a red, green, and white one but I couldn't find those colors at Michael's, so I went with a winter theme instead of Christmas. The letter could use some more twine, but an H is a hard letter to wrap! twine letter  I think the secret is to really USE that glue gun to get the twine to stay.

How Do You Say...

We are so thankful for these two "silly birds".  Time to jot down some of their sayings before they grow up and learn how to say them "right."

Landon (4 yrs.)

• glubs-gloves
• Heavensville-Evansville
• aminals-animals
• dults-adults
• Pruhdue-Purdue
• His new thing is when we ask him how he likes something he always says, "GREAT!"

Emmy (3 1/2 yrs.)

• dough ojuh dare-go over there
• brekwist-breakfast
• peapod-Ipod
• one, two, fee, foar, fij,sik, sejen, eight, nine, ten, ewehjen
• beebee-baby
• tozy tote-cozy coat
• sheel-heel
• We really are working with her on saying /s/.  I'd say about 3/4ths of the time she uses /s/ instead of /f/. 

It is such a blessing watching these two learn and grow. We are so thankfully for the many laughs and smiles they've given us along the way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Fun: jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating, birthday, and more!

We took advantage of a warmer day in October to carve some pumpkins.  Emerson was all into the digging of the "guts" while Landon preferred playing in the grass!  But they turned out pretty cute!  

I also got to celebrate my 34th birthday this week!  I got surprised at school with a bouquet of flowers and had homemade beef and noodles with mom and dad.  The next night, I had a surprise dinner at the Chubby Trout with the fam and a night of "sparkly" presents.  Because, according to the kids, "Mommy likes sparkly clothes."  Where they got that idea, I don't know! :) 

 

Our little trick-or-treaters

We had two fall parties (on a very cold Sunday, as you can see!).  We went to Trunk or Treat at the Davis' church.  This was our first time at the event and we'd definitely go back.  The kids had a great time playing the games and trying to find their way through the John Davis corn maze.  We arrived at the same time as the Frye's, so we got to enjoy the afternoon with them.  Then, we went to our Sunday School party at the Schmucker's.  We had a great time decorating pumpkins, on a hayride, and terrorizing the cats! :)

And one more picture of a cozy time watching the Bears game!

He Grew Some More and Now He's 4!

Landon kept talking about his birthday and all the things he could do when he was 4. ("When I'm 4, I will like pasta."  I'm still not sure that was a true statement!)  We let him open gifts from us on his actual birthday (soccer goal, new church clothes, birthday book) and he always has to take a picture by his birth tree.

Then on Saturday, he had a Team Umizoomi Birthday Party.  It's his favorite cartoon to watch. The characters (Milli, Geo, and Bot) go on adventures and have to use math to solve their problems.  Really cute show! 

Grandparents Berger and Hahn, Davis', Fryes', Great Grandpa Stan and Shirley, and for the first time all Uncles and Aunts came to his party.  We started with an Umizoomi Scavenger Hunt and then moved on to presents.  He was very thoughtful and polite, except when he opened a game that he already owns: "BOO!  I already have this game!" he said! :P  Amos and Grace tried to do headstands throughout the present opening (I think Grace won!!).

 Then it was lunch and cupcake time.  Cupcakes are the way to go!  Much easier and quicker than decorating an entire cake!!

After the party, Landon introduced Tyler to Dinosaur Pop-Up (a clone to the game Trouble) and we COULD NOT get those boys to stop!  They played at least 5 games in a row.  They loved it and did so well playing together!

Landon is such a sweetheart!  We are so blessed to have him in our family.  He catches on to things really quickly.  He loves numbers, can add and subtract, recognizes several words, loves playing with cars, and throwing balls.  He tries his best and doesn't like to disappoint.  We are so excited for the wonderful adventures God has planned for him!

Sleepover Fun!

Well, apparently September has come and gone and I have yet to write a blog entry!  We spent most of the month trying to get back into a school routine.  We also managed to stick in a few fun things for the kids.  Since staying with their Grandmas again, both kids have been really good at taking naps.  So after they brush their teeth and get ready for bed at night, the kids have been each working on a quiet box (the tower of boxes behind Emmy in the 1st picture).  And every night they've been BEGGING, when they put their boxes away, to sleep in our room.  One Friday night, after "Charlotte's Web" and popcorn, we had a sleepover with the kids in their sleeping bags.  They were SUPER excited as you can tell by their faces in the pictures below! :)

This picture cracks me up! :)

Also, in the month of September, they had a "real" sleepover at the Frye's along with the Davis' kids.  They had a great time and LOVED every minute of it.  They keep asking when their next sleepover is.  I think we've created some sleepover monsters! ;)
And in an unrelated note....Emerson is POTTY TRAINED!  She finally decided that she could do it all in the toilet and we got rid of her Pull-Ups.  Congratulations, Little Miss!
We're still working on Landon and trying to motivate him by telling him that when everyone is potty trained, we can spend the night in a hotel with a pool.  All he has left is staying dry when he sleeps.  We're ALMOST there!

Chicago Weekend

I really wanted to get caught up on all my blogging before school started, but this last week has been pretty crazy with trying to get everything ready for school, cooking freezer meals, and getting caught up on housework.  So our fun Chicago weekend was really last weekend, but I'm just getting a minute to write now. :)
We try to go to a Cubs game every year.  It's a fun tradition and I have learned to ALWAYS bring a sweatshirt, no matter what the weather.  You'd think Aug. 11th would be a nice hot day...you'd be wrong!  But at least this time I was prepared! :)

We started the weekend by celebrating an 11 year anniversary with an awesome couple: Amos and Jess Frye.  Matt and Amos have been friends FOREVER and when Amos met Jess in college, she and I quickly became good friends.  We have been so blessed to share our lives with them and watch their 2 adorable children grow.  Because we were going to be in Chicago over their anniversary, they wanted to go to a nice restaurant and we were excited to experience something new.  We went to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab Restaurant.  Long name, but a delicious, expensive restaurant!  After spending a bundle, it was nice that our hotel offered a cocktail hour with free drinks.  I decided to go out on a limb (since I wasn't buying them) and try some new drinks.  Bloody Mary and White Russian I would not recommend, but a Tequila Sunrise is pretty delicious! :)  Then we met up with Jared and Jenn and got some dessert. 

Saturday, the Cubs had a late afternoon game.  We got to walk around Wrigleyville and eat at the Cubby Bear after our continental breakfast at the hotel.  Even though the Cubs blew their lead in the 8th inning!!!, we had a fun time at the game.  Jared, a Reds fan, didn't even rub it in our faces that his team won! :)  Thanks everybody for a great weekend!

1st Dentist Apointment...All Smiles!

On August 8th, Landon and Emerson had their first check up with the dentist.  Prior to their appointment, we really hyped up the dentist and how fun/cool it is!  (They're little and don't need to know the real truth yet! :))  We read books about going to the dentist and brushed really good.  We talked about all of the equipment and the big chair that they could sit in.  We even counted down the days to their appointment.
And thankfully, all that excitement paid off.  Both kids did GREAT!!  No tears or even scared look in the eyes.  Matt and Landon went with one dental hygenist and Em and I were with another.  I was so proud of them for being brave and talking to the people in the dentist office.  They did exactly as they were asked and didn't make a fuss about anything.

Landon with Dr. Yoder

Em helping her hygenist

They couldn't take x-rays because the kids' mouths are pretty small and even the small film wouldn't stay in, but from what they could tell....no cavities.  Way to go Landon and Emmy!!

Sibling Visit to Southern Indiana

We spent a week between Evansvillle visiting Uncle Nate and Bloomington visiting Aunt Tina and Bo (Uncle Steven was still working in Washington, D.C.).  The kids absolutely LOVE staying with their Uncle and Aunt and did a great job on the 6 hour drive to Evansville.  I usually keep the truck packed with snacks, small new toys, bingo games, and coloring books.  I've also done "Travel Tickets" with them, where every half hour, they give me a ticket and when all the tickets are gone, we're there!  That seems to help with the "Are we there yet??" questions!

In Evansville, we spent time at the Children's Museum, which was perfect for our kids' age.  They had a whole room devoted to getting a child ready for Kindergarten.  It was set up like a K classroom and had a video on what to expect the first day of school.  They loved exploring everything and it was nice to be inside, escaping the hot weather.  We also went disc golfing at a course in Kentucky.  The kids lasted about half of the course and then we went to the playground while the men finished playing.  We also went out to eat (Bar Louie's was a fav!) and swam at the apartment's pool.  We spent Friday night through Monday morning in Evansville.  Uncle Nate was a great host and we had a wonderful time!

Building a house

Digging up dinosaurs

Putting bricks in the house

Drive-Thru banking

Playing with a baby in the classroom

Then on Monday, we drove to Bloomington to see Kristina's new apartment. We walked around the IU campus (which is very pretty, but we had to wear some PU gear for protection :)).  We also went to a children's museum in Bloomington.  And really the only thing that was the same was digging for fossils.  They loved playing in the water and we got smart this time and took our lunch so the kids could play a little longer.  We went to visit Kristina's school, which is an adorable little classroom off of the main church.  At this point, she's got a roster of 6 kids! 
Then we spent the day at the most awesome public pool I've ever seen.  It was $3 for adults to get in and then $2 to ride the water slides.  So it cost $11 (Matt got a wristband for the slides) and it was well worth it!  There was a huge kiddie pool with water pouring everywhere.  Then the big pool had to be Olympic sized!  It was huge with a waterslide pouring into the pool, another one ending right before the pool, and a 3rd drop off one into the deep end.  The only thing that was a little tough was the kids couldn't wear their floaties ( a pool rule) so it was a little tough keeping constant watch, but 1 was almost continually on the water slide with Daddy.  They LOVED the slides and Landon didn't even mind getting water in his face!  I wish I would've taken some pictures.
We went out to eat at the Upland Brewing Co.  They had a unique and yummy menu, not very big servings, but that gave us room for ice cream!  We had fun with Aunt Tina.  We are SOOO happy that she and Uncle Steven are closer for us to visit!

Checking out the pulley systems

Experimenting with water

AWWW!  Girls by the flowers after dinner. 
Also took a picture with Landon, but it wasn't quite blog worthy! :)

Fair Time

We had a great time at the fair, as usual.  Matt and I worked at the pork building with our Sunday School class, which meant we got free tickets.  So, after our shift was over, we went back, got the kids and took them over for the evening.  We went to see the animals and they each got to pick 3 rides (with $1.25 a ticket, you have to be choosy! :)).  Landon picked the train, which he went on last year and cried the whole way, a car, and the ferris wheel.  He did MUCH better this year.  No tears!  And he absolutely LOVED the ferris wheel.  Emmy picked the swings, car, and the ferris wheel.  She was the only one on the swings, so she got an extra long ride.  I was proud of her for doing it all by herself.  She LOVED the ferris wheel too!  We also met up with the Fryes and Grace and Tyler got to do some rides too.



Then on Tuesday, we went to see Josh Turner in concert.  Todd and Cathy had 2 extra tickets and I jumped at the chance to go to the concert! :)  We were in the back, but could still see pretty good.  And I'm sure Aunt Holly was glad we went because she got another chance to babysit!

I can't post about the fair without mentioning the food: pulled pork, sirloin tips, pretzel, taco salad, ice cream, mini donuts.  MMMM!