Our Emma Is 6!

Emma was a little confused all day. She knew that December 5th was the day she was born, but couldn't understand why she was having her birthday party the next day. She kept telling people that her birthday wasn't until her party.

We always have a small party the day of their birthdays with just our family. That is when we give them our presents.
Emma was very surprised when she open up the big box and found Felicity there. She now has a new best friend, it has been so fun watching her take care of her new American Girl doll. She even tucked her in her own little bed that night.

{Note* Some of you might get a bit offended at my selfishness here, but...it is just the way it is here in our house :)}

We weren't able to get our tree today because Thomford's was closed when we went, which we thought was just DUMB! But the kids had the chance to still put up a tree and decorate! They have their very own tree that goes up in the library. This tree gets decorated with all the ornaments given to them and ones that they have made, this is their tree to decorate the way they want, and I don't say a thing about it.

MY tree however, is NOT decorated with any ornaments of my kids hands or feet or any other ornaments given to us. It is simply lights and balls with a few flowers here and there. Very organized and boring for some. But it is the way I like to have MY tree ;)

They had a great time and the tree turned out very nice.

Addisyn Lynn

Adam and Amber welcomed Addisyn Lynn to their family on October 10th.

I was thrilled to meet her and I have to admit, she seemed to like me the best;)
I can hardly believe that Adam is a dad, but Amber was definitely made for motherhood.

I have 4 of these tag blankets that I made for Creed when he was born. Now I love to pass them on to other newborns, because Creed loves his Ollie so much. My SIL Dawn embroidered Addisyn's name on the front to make it more personal. I loved the added touch. The highest compliment was when they asked where I had bought it, and I was proud to say that I had made it. Thank you, Suzanne for the wonderful idea, it seriously was the best thing I could have ever done for my Creed, he loves it.

You Wouldn't Believe Me, Unless I Showed You

I have been through this twice before with Emma, but I NEVER would have thought I would have to go through it with my Micah!

While he was in the shower he thought he would razor his head, I bet he thought nothing had happened. When he came into Creed's room after his shower I noticed immediately and at first thought that he was losing his hair. I was a little panicked until I realized what was really going on....



He later told Rob he was trying to "put hair on his chest"!

Well, needless to say, we have Christmas pictures scheduled for next Thursday.
He will have his Summer cut for his Winter pictures...GRRRrrrr...

I have to admit, I chuckled. Third times a charm :)

Christmas shopping...Check!

I am so pleased to announce that I am finished! I did most of my shopping online this year and only paid about $4 in shipping. I did make one trip to Target while I was in Alex to pick out something for Creed and stocking stuffers and I came out under budget :)
The next challenge will be the awful wrapping...I hate wrapping any presents, I am usually, for other occasions, a bag lady, but for Christmas I wrap. We will be getting our tree on December 5th for Emma's birthday. That has been tradition since she was 1, I think it was last year we asked her if she liked doing that on her birthday and she said "yes" so I think that is fun and special. I will be putting up the Advent calender and getting our Scripture readings prepared. Tonight we have the Advent Celebration at the Church that prepares us for the next 25 days. I can't believe it is this time of year. I can't believe Emma is going to be 6 and Creed will be 1! I know I am getting old, when I still feel like it should be March 2008!
Well, in the spirit of preparation I leave you with:

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high, Who ordered all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might, Who to your tribes on Sinai's height In ancient times gave holy law, In cloud and majesty and awe.Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem, From ev'ry foe deliver them That trust your mighty pow'r to save; Bring them in vict'ry through the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, O Key of David, come, And open wide our heav'nly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high, And cheer us by your drawing nigh, Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind In one the hearts of all mankind; Oh, bid our sad divisions cease, And be yourself our King of Peace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!

A Day Away

Yesterday I mounted up and set out for a day away with Amanda in Alexandria. Ahhhh, I had such a wonderful time. I even got a book on CD from the Library that I could listen to on my 2 .5 hour drive. Upon my arrive at the Luedtke's residence, I was greeted by on of the most handsomest 10 year olds ever, Issac. He, I am sure, was really only greeting me to make certain his mom wasn't pulling his leg when she told him it was only I coming and not M and E :( I stole a hug anyway! Such a warm house Les and Sue (Amanda's In Laws) have and every time I come they treat me like a daughter, thanks you two, you really are the best!
At once Amanda and I pick up right were we left off and didn't quit til I pulled myself away around 8 to head back home to my family.
While in Alex, Amanda and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at Bennigan's and then it was off to view Australia! Oh, I so recommend this lengthy film. I was moved more than once to tears by Nicole Kidman (I feel this is the best movie she has ever done). What kind of a day away would it be without some sort of shopping?! I finally found something for Creed for Christmas and I can't wait to give it to him! We headed back to the Luedtke's for some appetizers and games with neighbors of Les and Sue's that are the cutest and sweetest couple I have met to date. We had such a wonderful time visiting, laughing and joking around as if everyone had known each other everyday for all of our lives. I was so rejuvenated, what kindred spirits!
I arrived home at 11 pm. The roads were fine (it had rained and snowed in Alex and we were all wondering the condition for the rest of my journey) my book on CD is interesting and the Latte from Caribou Coffee worked it's magic for me and there was NO sleepy moments for me.
My kids were all tucked away for the night when I got home and now I can not wait for them to wake so that I can get my loves in on them :)

Bring on the Winter

Rob is DONE!!! He finally got the flowers off last night! Now, maybe, we can start the winter schedule :)

Photo Snappin' Fun

Last night E and I were just hanging out before KFC and so we started clickin the camera, here is what we ended up with.

I got to pose her and she posed me.

she must have taken this one herself

we were having so much fun

making faces

Creed Talking

Their little voices at this age is just so precious.

This morning, it was getting to be about nap time, but I wanted to go down and throw a load of laundry in before laying him down. I put him in the walker and he started to fuss, but then was fine until he got stuck and I had to come over and help him out, he started to fuss again. I asked him "is it time for your nap" he simply replied "yes". I am not kidding. I then went and laid him down without a peep, he is out.

The Party

Micah really wanted a Globe, he was thrilled and couldn't wait to read the "facts book." He and Rob have had a great time learning about all kinds of world facts that I don't even know to blog about.

Saturday was the real party. The boys started showing up around 10:30 and it was none stop from there. The boys played until the pizza showed up...


Then of course, the presents...I didn't mind him opening them up right away so then the rest of the day could progress without "mom, can I open my presents now?"
After the presents they headed out for the "Main Event" Football. Funny story that Mrs. Bohler, Micah's teacher, told me one day last week. One of the boys wasn't too excited that it was going to be tackle football so he suggested to Mike that it be flag, M told him "No, my mom said I can't change anything more about the party!" Stinker!

The highlight of the game was Isaac (Senior in HS) and Josh (8th grader, captain of the JV), M's cousins, came to be coach and ref for the boys game. They really made it feel legit. One huge "Thank You, Boys" you really made the day special for Micah!

After the game that ended in a tie (4-4) they came in to warm up with hot chocolate, birthday cake and ice cream.
Rob bought them all these huge balloons and it was fun watching them try to blow them up. In the end Rob was pretty exhausted, he ended up blowing them all up :)

This is how they thanked him:)


The Pinata that wouldn't brake!
We had to improvise!

A group photo

It was a great time. I would do it again :)

Micah turns 7

Micah has been waiting for this day all year :) Finally, the big day!

He asked for crepes for his birthday breakfast. I was thrilled because I don't make them, Rob does so I was off the hook, ha!

He asked me to come to sing along at school because they do something fun to the birthday kid, and he wanted me to see. So, Creed and I went and it was fun. I have a video of the special song they sang to him. After sing along they headed to the gym for P.E. and I had the chance to play "battle ball" with the K-4th graders. I still suck at that game :)

Micah wanted me to bring "Gushers" in for the birthday snack. How does he even know what they are, we have never bought them before?! I finally, found some and they were a hit!

It is just so hard to believe, my son, my baby boy is seven! How does that even happen! He is just grown up so nice, he is kind and gentle, smart and decisive, athletic yet still pensive. Oh, such joy he has brought to this world, my world. I never thought to begin with that I would be a mother, and to get him first...no wonder there is a second and a third.

Ok, enough of the ball bag!

Tomorrow, we are having his party here at the farm. He planned the whole thing out himself; he even made his own invites...he just forgot the little details like where, date and time. He got all the import things like that it was his birthday party and they were invited!

It is a football themed party because that is the main event, a big football game. He invited two of his older cousins to come and be coaches and refs, they are thrilled to be a part of it all!

Domino's pizza is on the menu and of course, the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!

Such be a grand time. I will blog about it tomorrow!

Creed at 11 Months...

This little ham wont sit still for a picture anymore. He instantly starts to go for the camera and I get so many pictures like #2. He is doing well, walking more and more steady everyday. He hates wearing his winter coat, it is so bulky that he can't walk around with it on. He is so in love with his bro and sis, he can even say "sis". He really is exploring his sounds, I can understand when he says "all done" he doesn't sign it ever, he just says it, it is cute. "Dog" is his favorite and, of course, "Dad" and I think he calls me "baba." He is a singer, he loves to make sweet songs in his crib, bath or just when he is sitting and playing with something. We have named is "lovey" "Oley" we were pretty surprise at how quick he picked up on it and now when we say go find "Oley" he heads right for it and brings it to his little cheek and starts sucking his thumb, it is so precious. I will be introducing whole milk to him next week, I am so excited about that, formula is so expensive! Then next month he will be 1 year old! I can't believe it!!!

girls and their shoes

On November 11th we laid to rest the beloved shoes of Emma.

She literally loved these shoes to pieces. From the picture you can't really tell that they were in tough shape, but they were. The tops were just frayed and she had played so hard in them they were just dirt colored. They were darling shoes and looked so cute on, but there is a time when we must let our precious go. She asked me if we could take a picture of them before we put them out of their misery and I said, "Of course." ( I totally know how hard it is to give up shoes I love.)

I actually was going to suggest the picture, but she asked first :) That's my girl!

Beet Party

I feel bad, but I was too busy to snap pictures last night. Everything went really well, we had enough food-which is always my biggest concern-and the fellowship was wonderful. Rob read a verse from 1Thessalonians and had a nice time sharing highs and lows of the very stressful harvest this year. I was so blessed hearing the crew thank Rob for being so calm and not crabby or mean during a time when everyone is usually crabby or mean. We had 2 guys that came in to work only for about 6 hours on the Saturday that was probably the hardest day of the whole harvest and Rob and Ethan had told them how "spent" they were, they were tired and crabby and those 2 guys said that they would never had known that R and E were running on empty. They worked hard and still had a spirit of love and it was felt by all. I couldn't help but be so proud of my husband as he was receiving such positive feed back.

We usually give a gift to the crew along with their pay and this year both Rob and I were so excited to give this years gift. I stumbled upon these very nice sweater jackets and brought them home to show Rob and he loved them. So, Dawn, Rob's sister did some embroidery work on them and they turned out wonderfully.

A Couple I Would Share

I know I am late getting these posted, but I wasn't sure if I should at all, I am just a bit self conscience ;)

My friend Lisa on the right of me was Garth from Wayne's World, her husband was Wayne, they really pulled it off! Alyssa was the "the cutest pumpkin" in her farmer husband's garden, that was pretty cute. I, of course, went solo so I didn't have to worry about the couple theme. I went as an 80's dancer (flashdance inspired). We had a load of fun!

I haven't had so much product in my hair since I was in the 10th grade. I couldn't wait to get home and wash it all out!

Happy End to October...

Beet Crew (Minus Chuck) 2008

October 25

10 PM

Tollefson Farms Shop

Chili Feed

Bring your appetites :)

I told Rob that having it out in the shop was going to be a great new tradition :)

I normally bring all of this out to the field they are on, but this year it was 10 pm and windy along with mud, yeah, not a good time for all.

Plus, the kids were all tucked away in bed and I figured 100 yards wasn't too far.

This is the only pic I took of Micah in his Indiana Jones costume.

Emma was a traffic light this year.

Here she is going thru the costume parade.

This year I hosted the fall party for the 1st and 2nd graders. It was a great time. I brought in one of our big pumpkins from our garden for the boys to weigh and measure. We played a game "Boo am I" it is basically charades with a halloween twist and the for a snack we made

"boo cups" I highly recommend this recipe for you to try with your kids.

3 1/4 cup milk

2 pkgs of chocolate instant pudding

8 oz of thawed whipped topping

20 crumbled oreo cookies

30 mini chocolate chips

Mix up milk and pudding; stir 1/2 of the whipped topping into the pudding.

Placed the crumbled oreos down in the cup first, layer the pudding mix on top, then another layer of oreo, sprinkle with chocolate chips and dab with a spoonful of whipped topping. Enjoy!

It is a good thing Halloween isn't in November or Creed wouldn't have fit in his costume, it was a struggle to put on .

He sure looked cute tho.

Goodbye October *waving*