"Who hears these words of mine & puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, & the winds blew & beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine & does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, & the winds blew & beat against that house, & it fell with a great crash."

Matthew 7:24-27

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

December Fun!

We had a nice Saturday at the end of November, so Erik took advantage of it to put up our Christmas lights.  We don't do anything spectacular, but it's still fun to have some lights on the house!

Grace watching Daddy work :)

We set up our Christmas tree the first week in December.  Everyone was very excited to decorate it and put "their" ornaments on the tree!  Grace was so confused about the fact that we had a tree in our house. :)  Erik kept asking her "where's the tree?" and she would point to the Christmas tree.

Helping Dad put the lights on

Around and around…..

All done!

Time for ornaments!

Putting them up high enough so Grace can't pull them off :)

What is this?! :)

All decorated!  We defiantly had to keep ornaments up high this year with Grace.  She also really liked to pull on the bottom rows of lights. :)

We took full advantage of all the fun that downtown had to offer on Thursday nights this year.  The first Thursday night that they had festivities, we decided to head down since it wasn't as cold as it has been in years past.  We got down there and decided to first stand in line for the trolley.  Well even though we were down there fairly early, we still waited about 45 minutes to ride. :)  But the kids loved it and it was well worth it!  After the trolley ride we decided to go see how long the wait was to see Santa.  It didn't look too long, so we decided to wait there and do that too.  Well, it was a lot longer than it looked!  But we stayed anyways, and I was glad we did so we didn't have to come and wait anther evening, we could just come and enjoy being down there. :)

Waiting in line...

More waiting…. :)

On the trolley!!

Waiting to see Santa….

More waiting…..poor Grace just wanted to get down!

Talking to Santa

With Santa!  Norah totally froze up when it was her turn to talk and told Santa she wanted a remote control Sleeping Beauty, lol!  She was then crying about it later because that's not really what she wanted but Kyler wanted something remote control so I think she went off of him. :)

After seeing Santa!

We helped my parents put up their tree too.  Kyler was so excited to collect the pine needles, lol (if that would only last….) :), so Erik told him for every needle he picked up, he would give him a penny.  Well this was great motivation for him and he collected well over 100.  By the way, we still have this bag saved at our house…….



Oh my, I'm embarrassed to even put this in here, but we finally had Grace open her birthday present from us!  (Only about two months behind!)  See, it didn't arrive on time, and since Halloween followed her birthday, we just kind of got busy and I forgot about wrapping it….sorry 3rd child! :)  So, here is Grace opening her birthday present!

What is it?!

Excited!

Hmmmmm

A baby!

Loving on her baby :)

We went back downtown on the last Thursday night of festivities to see the ice sculpting and the live nativity.  The kids really had fun seeing the animals at the nativity and Kyler was mesmerized by the ice sculpting.  He could have stayed all night!  We were getting cold though, so we took a quick trip up and down the street and then headed home.  Thanks so much to downtown for hosting all these fun events!!

Kyler petting an animal

Grace checking it out

A bit blurry, but Grace petting one of the animals

Kyler and Norah :)

The kids were dressed in coordinating outfits today, so I thought it would be fun to get a few quick pictures in front of the tree. :)  Then later on, my mom wanted some of them with their reindeer headbands on in front of the tree at her house. :)  And this is about the best you get with three kids, ages 5, 3, and 1!! :)






Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Grace is 14 Months!

Wow these months just keep flying by for this little lady!  I can't believe we are two months past her 1st birthday already!  Grace took her first steps this past month!  She still isn't walking but if you stand her up a couple feet away from you, and hold your arms out, she will walk to you taking 3 or 4 steps (before she dives at you!) :)  Of course Erik saw this for the first time, as I was down taking a shower and when I came up he (or one of the kids) said, "Grace was walking all by herself!".  I replied with "since when?!" and then they showed me. :)  So, we keep practicing!  She actually stood up a couple feet away form me and then walked toward me without any prompting at all for the first time towards the end of the month, but she still has a long ways before she switches over to "walking full time". :)  She of course walks around everything though and then drops to a speedy crawl when she wants to go somewhere else.  I have really noticed this past month how much Grace understands when you talk to her.  If you tell her to "stand up", she will usually do it for you unless she is being difficult. :)  She is also starting to follow directions and knows what different things are.  You can ask her something like, "can you go find your baby?" and she will go get it and give it a hug.  She also sings "more" and says "muur" if she wants a certain object or more of something.  She can also sign please and thank you, but hasn't quite figured out the meaning of those yet. :)  She also waves "bye-bye" and says "beee" when someone is leaving the house or driving by. :)  She loves to hug her babies and anything else soft and cuddly.  She is at such a fun age right now!  Just wish she would sleep the whole night… :) :)  Here are some pictures from the last month!

14 months!  (and best standing picture I could get!)

Pretty lady!

Hiding under the chair!  Grace loves to sneak under things and sit under them.

"Wearing" Kyler's fleece pjs.  Every day Grace gets these out and "wears" them, she loves the soft fleece feeling. :)

Hanging out on the drum :)

Almost there….

Yay!  I did it!

A lady and her "pretties".  Grace has a new obsession with these beads, and if she sees them, then she MUST be wearing them!

Someone got out all their toys! :)


Norah's Preschool Christmas Program

Norah had her preschool Christmas program the Thursday before Christmas.  She has been looking forward to this soooo much since they started practicing her songs at school.  For the whole month of December we frequently talked about how many more days were left until her program.  She was so excited to go up on stage and sing her songs for all of us.  When Norah got up there, she did such a great job singing along with the music and doing all the actions that went with the songs.  This was so different from when Kyler had his first program.  He was so shy, and hardly wanted to sing any of the words or do any of the actions up on stage. :)  It was so fun to watch her, as this was totally in her "element". :)  She was also very excited to have Grandma Deb, Grandpa Craig, Aunt Leah, and Grandma Nadene come watch.  We are so proud of you Norah!!

Singing "Silent Night"
  
Holding her candle

Norah's class

Singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"

Norah and friend Ahnie after the show

Norah with Kyler and Grace

Miss Norah!


Snowflake Express

We rode the Snowflake express again this year the first weekend in December.  This is the second year we went on it, and the kids were really excited to "ride the train" again!  Last year it left north of town and went north.  This year it left from Waterloo and went south.  Last year we rode the last time available, and it was so dark we couldn't see anything, so this year we decided to go at the 12:00 time.  Erik's parents, my parents, and my brother, Ben, were able to join us on the ride, so it was fun to have everyone along with us.  Kyler and Norah were so excited when Santa and Mrs. Claus came through, but Grace wasn't quite sure what to think. :) They were also looking forward to the bell that they would receive just like in the Polar Express book.  We all had a great time and look forward to doing it again!

Getting directions from Kimbo :)

Norah and her Grandmas

The guys (minus Erik) 

Erik and Grace

Kyler and Ben

Looking out the window :)

Our family

Norah with Grandma Deb

Grace checking out Santa :)

Norah shaking Santa's hand

Picture with Santa

In front of the train at the end