Visiting Santa

We went to the mall to see Santa. Sam was timid, Laura was not. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Merry Christmas!

Thankful

We've started a new tradition at our house, during the month of November we each write down one thing everyday that we are thankful for and add it to our Thankful Tree. Laura has taken this very seriously and makes sure we don't have any duplicated entries. She also helps Sam out with what she thinks he's thankful for and my favorite one she has thought of is lights (he's going through a phase of turning on and off lights). I recently came across this quote and think it's so accurate "It's not happy people who are thankful. It's thankful people who are happy."


I have finally had a minute to get the pictures off my camera and onto the computer. Enjoy the pictures from Halloween (Laura was princess and Sam was Evel Knievel), Sam's 2nd birthday, and Thanksgiving.

The Scape Goat

Laura's found her favorite excuse lately. She'll say, "I need to take my blanket downstairs because I miss GG and Papa." After making a poor choice she'll sob, "Well, I just miss GG and Papa!" as she heads toward her time out. My favorite is, "I need to watch another George. That will make me feel better about missing GG and Papa." Oh dear.

In other news, Laura still loves preschool. Her best friend is a boy named Hudson. I asked her what Hudson looks like and she said, "He looks like a prince. I think I'm going to marry him." I'm still trying to figure out who this handsome, future son-in-law is when I pick her up from preschool.

Fashionista

Laura said the funniest thing this morning. I'm wearing my gray dress with leggings today and this was our conversation.

 

Laura: Mom, when I'm a mom can I wear a dress like that?

Me: Of course you can.

Laura: Okay, where did you get it at?

 

 

Laura's 4th Birthday

Laura celebrated her 4th birthday with a Beauty and the Beast birthday party. One of the party highlights was our balloon popping game that contained a piece of paper with a letter on the inside (I'm a reading teacher, I can't help it). Once all the balloons were popped, the letters spelled:
                             G-e-t G-a-s-t-o-n! 
That's when we cued the music and Gaston made a surprise appearance at the party. I can still hear the children's squeals as Eric lip sang "Gaston" and was chased out of the house to be nailed with water balloons.

There's no man in town as admired as you
You're ev'ryone's favorite guy

 

Ev'ryone's awed and inspired by you
And it's not very hard to see why

No one's slick as Gaston
No one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's

 

For there's no man in town half as manly
Perfect, a pure paragon!
You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley
And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on

 

Between the drawn on cleft chin and construction paper collar, I'm not exactly sure where this would fall in love languages, but my love tank was spilling over.

 

 

The birthday party was an overall success. Here are some other highlights to remember...

 

Cake decorating is not my specialty, I kept having flashbacks to the Lancer's Cake Auction when decorating this beauty.

 

Playing the game, "What time is it, Cogsworth?"

This game was a stretch. Remember when it snowed in the movie? This game involved wearing a shower cap with Cool Whip to use to try to catch pieces of popcorn that Eric was pouring over the deck.

 

Back to reality...

 

Sunday School

Laura's been going to Sunday School and she's been liking the weekly religious education. The other night Laura chose a bible story to read which sparked the following conversation.

Laura: Mom, I need to tell you something.

Me: What?

Laura: Jesus died and someone hung him up.

I think someone spotted the crucifix.

Bedtime

Sam's been going through this terrible phase of crying hysterically when I leave the room after putting him to bed. If Daddy puts him to bed he has no problems so for the past couple of weeks Daddy has been in charge of putting him to bed. Eric is out of town this week so tonight I solicited Laura to help me put Sam to bed. I can't even watch this video without crying...

Laura's attempt at putting him to bed didn't work either. It was well worth the try though.

Gymnastics

Laura had her first real gymnastics class tonight. When Laura left the gym she said, "That was funner than I thought."

First Day of Preschool

Laura had her first day of preschool today. She is enrolled at East Elementary (where I work) and her teacher is Miss Niki. Laura's been kind of hot and cold about starting preschool. Here's an example of Laura being excited about preschool. Miss Niki emailed parents asking for a picture. Laura had many different smiles she wanted to experiment with for the photo.

 

Here is an example of Laura this morning. Not feeling very excited about preschool.

 

 

After giving her a vitamin, she seemed to snap out of it and was excited to go.

 

After her first day, she came out of the school with a big smile on her face. I hope that continues the whole year.

 

Preschool

Laura's first day of preschool is tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Go Daddy!

Eric competed in his first half ironman this weekend. The kids and I did not go and cheer for him as it was in Cedar Rapids (2 hours away) and the race itself would take approximately 6 hours. We sent him a video before the race and I think it did the trick as he finished under his goal time in 5 hours and 41 minutes. We're very proud!

This is the video we sent him.

 

 

Family Vacation

We went to Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minnesota for our family vacation this year. We had a great time! Enjoy the video.

http://animoto.com/play/KhgGAp8Hih02aCdM3kKlTg

Beautiful People

In 1990 my Grandpa Green rode his bicycle from Seattle, Washington to Eldridge, Iowa. When he returned home he was interviewed by a local newspaper reporter. I have always treasured this quote from him.
"We were just coming out of Williston, N.D. and had targeted a campground 30 miles to the east. We were battling some strong headwinds and my companions decided to wait in town until the wind died down. Me, I like to get my work behind me. There were lots of hills and I was struggling up a pretty steep grade. All of a sudden a car passed me and when it got in front of me its brake lights flashed on. It then went on ahead a ways and stopped maybe 400 yards in front of me. It sat there for a minute and pretty soon the passenger door opened and closed, then the driver stuck his arm out the window and gave me a big thumb's up sign. When I got to the top of the hill there was a cold beer sitting right in the middle of the road. Talk about beautiful people." Gene Green

I am training for my next half marathon. In the past 3 days two different older gentlemen have given me the thumb's up sign. I think of my grandpa, think of beautiful people, smile, and keep going.

Summer Project

It all started with a dresser I inherited from my mom that she had as a young girl. It's an Ethan Allen dresser as Grandma Claussen would only buy the best. As young girls, Heidi and I had this dresser in our room and over the years the paint chipped and it started looking old and worn. When Eric and I moved into our first house we ended up getting this old, worn dresser and we had it in our bedroom. I had it on my list to refinish it, but it just never happened. When we moved into our new house, Laura inherited the dresser and I bumped up the refinishing project a little bit higher on the list as a 50 year old dresser sitting in a brand new room makes it look really old. This summer I finally did it. I finally refinished the dresser and I absolutely love it!


Before

Sanding



 



Water damage from a diaper pail.



Primer

Painted Light Hearted Pink

After...We love it!

Wednesday Errands

It doesn't even phase me anymore when Laura jumps in the van in dress up attire. Today she went to Sherwin Williams and Walmart dressed as a bride. Of course, Laura turned every head (which she loved). Meanwhile, I was definitely looking like the worn out mom wearing a snot smeared shirt with a hole in the arm-pit, a hair-do that will never be in style, and a makeup less face, Oh, and I was wrestling a one year old that didn't want to ride in the cart. Who knew the circus was in town!

Big Boy Bed

Sam figured out how to get out if his crib so he's now in a big boy bed. It's been a fairly painless transition. 

Wedding Weekend

Sam's first slow dance. If you're dance partner is sucking on a pacifier, you're way too young for love.

Sam wondering how to keep up with the big kids.

Laura and Liz rocking out.

Laura & Sam's second cousins had pizza with us on Saturday night. The kids were thrilled to have playmates.

Uncle Adrian performed a rap song for Aunt Emily. Mark Rose, Liz's boyfriend, played the guitar. Am I apart of the Von Trapp family?

 

We had a wonderful time at Aunt Emily's wedding. The "research" we conducted before going paid off as Laura rocked the role of flower girl! As she walked down the aisle smiling and posing for pictures, I felt so proud of her and I could tell she loved every second of it.

Laura and I made a wedding alphabet book for Aunt Emily. It was a lot of fun to make and Aunt Emily was touched by the gesture. Here is a link to Laura reading the book.
http://voicethread.com/share/2788682/