The Children's Program at our Church

The 2's and 3's did Jingle, Jingle Christmas Bells and Away in a Manger. (very cute!) Luke was waving to Daddy, who had to sit by his Sunday School kids. Jake and AnnaJoy sang a few different songs about Jesus' birth and Christmas day. It was great. From the pics, can you tell that Jake was being told (by his daddy who was right up front) to be quiet?) I am putting video on my facebook of the song that he was "getting bored" during!! It is pretty funny to watch! Anna had a speaking part and Jake had to hold up the letter R, just like in his preschool program. It was a great night, topped off by our little niece Calli Jo answering the all important question (asked to the 4th and 5th graders DURING the program), "Who was at the first Christmas" Well, naturally on cue like she had practiced with the big kids, CJ chimed in "ME!" the entire church laughed. It was perfect...and no one expected it! :) Merry Christmas! Praise God for the children who really remind us of the importance of this time! :)

Jake and Luke's Preschool Christmas Program

Jake and Luke's preschool had a Christmas program (a first for us). The boys did so well! I didn't have the camera in the correct mode, so most pics are not so great! I was nervous about how Luke would do!!! Of the 30-40 3 year olds, during practice only 2 were being "naughty" or cute however you decide! Of course one was mine! Luke and another little guy from his class took turns running up to the microphone and saying, "HELLO" and running back to the stands before the teachers could get after them...thank GOD neither one did it during the performance! :)

The First Snow.....

O.K. so I do not LIKE snow, but my kids sure do! I decided after dinner we should probably go out and play in it (just in case God answers my prayers and makes it all melt tomorrow). So at 7 pm we got dressed and went outside to build a snowman. Not my usual behavior, since I run a tight ship during the week and have all kids in bed by 8pm usually. Well, they were in bed by 8:15, no baths, but in bed. Being dirty for one day never hurt anyone, right????

AnnaJoy ~ Artist

AnnaJoy's elementary school had their art fair today. We were able to go see everyones hard work. She was very excited to show off her work. I took all three kids to see it, and AnnaJoy got to bring Daddy when he got home from wrestling. We sent the camera with Daddy, cuz, well I forgot it! :) Great job AnnaJoy! :)

It's officially Christmas time! :)

Happy Thanksgiving! When we got home from both of our family get togethers the kids were squealling! They just loved coming home to the house all lit up! Bonus for us, our neighbors also got in on the action! The kids think that is the greatest thing ever! :)

What we are thankful for...by AnnaJoy

Anna went around to everyone in our family (Reagan included) and asked us each what we were thankful for, since it's Thanksgiving. This is our list. I had to take a picture because knowing me, I will lose this paper eventually! It's so sweet! :) We are truly blessed! My favorite part is that she made the "J" backwards for Jake...hehe! And that she is thankful for her grandparents too! When I asked her which ones, she said "Every single one of them, and I have a lot!!"

Happy Halloween!!!!!

I was soooo sick with the flu on Halloween...poor kids! Daddy took care of everything. He brought them around the neighborhood (very short trip as it was freezing and the kids were begging to come home) and he brought them to Lowell for our usual visits to family and friends. They did great, and made out with TONS of candy!

The Kids School Halloween Parties

I was able to help at Luke's party this year. I had to settle for quick group shots of both Jake and Anna's parties. They all seemed to have a lot of fun. The boys classes didn't dress up, it was more of a harvest party.

Fall Leaves!!!

It was a beautiful day so I ran the kids over to one of the schools for photos in the leaves...I decided those weren't colorful enough so we stopped at a church for a few group shots before we headed back home.

Carving our Pumpkins!

Jake wasn't as "into" pumpkin carving as Anna and Luke were. But the kids had fun. They all designed their own faces with no help this year and Anna did a lot of her carving herself!

Jake and Luke's School Field Trip to the Farm

The boys went to Post Family Farm a couple weeks ago for their class field trips. Sadly, I had to pick just one boy to go with. So I didn't get great pictures of both boys. But, I was able to catch Jake a few times for some pictures. He had a blast and was a little annoyed everytime I found him...Luke really didn't enjoy himself until we got to the pumpkin train ride (which Jake got to do first...thus making my adventure torture....) They had fun, it was freezing cold out so we were pretty bundled up!

I wanna shoot a gun!!!

Jake has been all but begging his grandpa to show him how to shoot a gun. So, since we were at the farm, they got the guns out and let the kids try...the bee-bee (sp?) guns...they thought it was pretty sure. They were a bit "shocked" by the noise of the actual guns at first and everyone was in tears but after warming up there was no stopping them.

Our annual hay ride at the farm...

It was freezing cold outside, the kids really had no interest in me getting good pictures, so I retreated and decided we could just deal with having fun without the good pictures being involved...this year anyways!