SLEDDING!!!

Today Nick took the boys and Parker's friend Jaxson out sledding!! There isn't a ton of snow out... but enough to go down the BIG hill at Moorehead park!! :)  Since I don't get to do things like sledding anymore (after my back surgery)... I was the photographer! Not many great pics... since I was sitting inside the truck!! ;)

Nick and Drew...



















Oh Drewby is getting BIG!! :( He even wanted to go down one of the smaller hills BY HIMSELF!! :(

Parker and Owen...

Parker...









Jaxson...









Owen...

Owen's Christmas Party

I have been so fortunate to get to attend so MANY of Owen's parties and events this year!!! His teacher is AMAZING and I am so grateful that I have been able to do so!! I feel bad that I don't have many pictures of Parker and his class... there haven't been as many field trips and such and his teacher (who is also amazing) doesn't always need the extra hands! So I will help when and where I can... and just be GRATEFUL that I am able to help at all! :)

We played MINUTE TO WIN IT with some FUN marshmallow games  Mrs. Meisner found on Pinterest!!! Then she had them make CHRISTMAS TREES out of their friends with streamers!!! Such GREAT ideas... everyone had a GREAT time!! :) Here are some pictures of the party...

Making CHRISTMAS TREES...

Each group got a roll of streamers to wrap their friend up in and try to make them look like a Christmas tree! :)

SNOWBALL FIGHT...

The kids got to throw marshmallows into a cup that their partner was holding... it was so much fun to watch them!! :) They LOVED it!! :) One team got 13 in their cup in just a minute!!!

MARSHMALLOW/STRAW GAME...

Each kid (and I) had a pile of marshmallows to pick up and put in the plastic cup using a straw and our mouths... and without touching anything with our hands. Chloe and I won... with 46 marshmallows!!! - - Leyton Rohlk's team was second with 38! :)

BUILDING SNOWMEN...

The kids had a pile of marshmallows and had 1 minute to build as many snowmen as they could (using 3 marshmallows stacked on top of each other)! Harlie Munsie won the first round with 5 and Emma Skrivin won the second round with 5!!

SNOW DAY!!!

Parker wasn't feeling well on Sunday so we went to the dr on Monday and they said he had Influenza A!! :( So I decided to keep all of the boys home this week and all of us have been on tamiflu trying to get healthy before the holidays!! Nick is in Des Moines and also has the flu... so he is on tamiflu and is trying to get healthy as well (while he works)!! On Tuesday night Drew spiked a fever... but as of yesterday (Wednesday) everyone has been fine! We had planned to get back to school today... but instead had a SNOW DAY!!! :)

Making SNOW angels! :)

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I have been in the holiday spirit this year since about November 24th... I was so excited to get to decorate our new home for the first time! It was not an easy task though... I will do many things different next year and have lots of NEW ideas to add too!! But here is what we have so far! :)

Nina Wilson gets the boys a Gingerbread house each year... and here they are making it on their own this year!! {sniff, sniff} 

The family room...

The dining room...























The front porch...













We made a few goodies... much more to come! If I could just keep Parker out of the peanut butter blossom cookies... those are his FAVORITE... and they usually don't last more than a day in our house!! :)

We had CAROLERS stop by on Sunday.... such pretty little girls singing wonderfully!! It was so sweet! 

Christmas Concert

This year Owen and Parker had their concert together!! They sang some super cute songs... and Parker even had a short speaking part! :) Nina and Papa Hamann came and so did Nina Wilson... it is so nice being near family!!! :) We had bad red eye... and I forgot to get one of the 2 boys together looking handsome in their ties... but here are a few pictures from the night!

All I Want for Christmas is My 2 Front Teeth!

ok... well not 2 front teeth... but 1 front tooth! ;)

Parker gets SO excited when he has a loose tooth... he wants it out right away!! :) So we wiggled and wiggled... and finally Mommy got it out right before bed!! :)













Owen on the other hadn thinks he has a loose tooth everyday... but he hasn't had a loose one yet... he keeps hoping! ;)

Oh how I love those boys!! ;)

Jolly Holiday Lights

We took the boys to see Jolly Holiday Lights in Des Moines on Saturday night! It has been a yearly tradition for us... load up in the van, hot chocolate and popcorn and off to see Christmas lights! It was WONDERFUL as usual!! Here are a few pictures...

Then we stopped in the "workshop" to see Santa! We all got our picture taken with him! Drew was a little nervous... he didn't want me to put him down! He told Santa what he wanted... but wouldn't sit on his lap!! :)

Parker wanted: Legos and Wii games
Owen wanted: books and an Ipod Touch
Drew wanted: a Lightening McQueen Potty Chair

It was a FUN night... afterwards we drove around our old neighborhood and looked at lights too!