Jingle Bells Bat man smells!

We have really been a festive household this month and are all in the holiday spirit. The kids are constantly listening and signing Christmas songs. Jenna has been singing Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is coming to town on a daily basis for the past few weeks. A couple days ago the Jingle all the way changed to the Bat man smells version. She knows her brothers love this and loves to impress the big brothers. The kids are also enjoying playing in the snow, baking, dancing, holiday crafts, Christmas books, wrapping gifts, Christmas shows and playing with their monorail and train that is brought out this time of year. All three kids had Christmas parities today. Jenna's was with our mom's club and the boys each had a party with their class. Jenna and I were able to visit both Joshua and Jake's party for a while. The kids all loved the parties and are full of energy this time of year. The boys both have wonderful teachers who really go out of their way to make sure the kids have a lot of fun on these party days. Jenna has one more Christmas party where the kids will be making gingerbread houses. I have my mom's club holiday party tonight and am really looking forward to it. The five of us will head downtown to Minneapolis this weekend to the annual Holidazzle Christmas parade and Animated display at Macy's which is the nutcracker this year. We will really miss seeing family and friends for Christmas this year. This will be the first year we will be in our Minnesota home for Christmas which will be nice.

Holiday fun!

We visited Mall of America and saw Santa earlier this month. The kids really enjoyed the rides at the Mall. We were all surprised that Jenna wanted to go on every single ride that her brothers went on. She was able to go on the airplanes and trains alone with the boys and then went on a small roller coaster, merry go round, and haunted house ride with Bob and I. Jake and sometimes even Josh were careful about what they went on so this was new for us. She actually just about had a fit when we told her she could not go on the roller coaster with her brothers but then was able to ride with me. Jenna was so cute running around and getting excited about all the rides. It was like this was her first time at Mall of America but she was just there for her birthday in August.

I wanted to post this photo even though you can't see Jake real well. Something about Jenna going on these planes with her brothers just hit me how much she has grown up in the past few months. For the past three years we have been holding her or pushing her in the stroller while the boys go on the airplanes and now she was running with the boys and got on the ride with no hesitation. The boys also loved all the rides but for Jenna it was a new experience so something fun to document. I have not been scrap booking like I used to so I am hoping that I can document some moments in this blog to use in my scrap booking once I get back to it.

Family Photos - Photo in header of blog

We just love our backyard in the fall and I try to get lots of photos around this time of year. This was a something that we planned on doing last minute. We just set up our tripod and the kids would watch with happy anticipation for the timer to go off and then run and see how the photo turned out. We actually saw four deer run through the snow while we were home eating lunch today which was very exciting for Josh and Jenna. It was such a pretty site with the snow covering the trees. I thought about trying to grab my camera but it was just one of those moments that I wanted to just focus on the moment and enjoy the experience rather than run and try to find my camera.

Bears tackle Vikings (oops)!

It was the other way around last night but Jenna does seem to tackle the boys in her Bears jersey quite often. The photo says it all! Bob and I have managed to keep our little girl a true Bears fan but there is no hope for the boys. They have had Vikings Fever since we moved here and are huge fans. They were not able to stay up for the entire game on Monday night but they watched the replays online as soon as they woke up and were thrilled that the Vikings won. I told Jake he had nothing to worry about because the Bears don't have a good record for Monday night games. It is tough for me because I will always be a Bears fan but of course like seeing the boys so happy about their team.

Christmas Cards 2007

I just received our cards back from the lab and will try to mail them out in the next couple of days. I am always so last minute but for some reason seem to always work better with a little pressure or maybe it just moves up in my list of priorities. We are enjoying all the cards, photos and letters we have received and love hearing from everyone this time of year and getting to catch up a bit. I knew I would never get my cards out before the holidays if I tried to do a letter and just took the photos for our cards at Mall of America on December 8th. We just added some highlights to the card and figured we would try to share a lot more on our blog. The last few months have been very crazy for me and I have not had any extra time to update this site but added some placeholders in hopes to go back and update it over the winter months.

A little about Bob and Shelly

Bob has been very busy at his operations manager position at Wilson Art. They recently implemented a new system which meant long days and some weekend work. We were both very spoiled our first ten years of marriage when Bob got home late in the afternoon instead of the evening. I should not complain to much because most days he is still home by 4:30pm which works out well with the kids activities and sports. Bob took one class this past semester and will be taking two next semester. It seems like a slow process but he will get there and family and work have to come first.

I started up my photography business which I have been in a lot of ways planning for five years. It took off a lot faster than I imagined. It has been such an amazing experience for me and a lot of fun. I photographed 50 preschool kids, 4 high school seniors, and more families than I can remember over the past few months. I also had the opportunity to do some sports freelance work and photograph a dance studio this year. My business site is http://www.LilliePhotos.com in case anyone wants to take a peak that does not have the link. I have always had this passion for photography and a desire to learn as much as I can. I was fortunate to be able to attend a seminar, a workshop, and a photoshop CS3 class this year and look forward to going to conventions in the future.

I keep really busy with the kids activities, sports and school responsibilities. We have a great neighborhood where we are all out quite a bit and can chat while the kids play. I do crave that adult conversation and have enjoyed getting to know our neighbors. I do manage to get out for some fun mom's night out evens and also some movie nights with neighbors and friends. I have not been scrap booking in a while but really hope to get back to it as well as working out. The kids really keep me on my feet and I will say there is never a dull moment around here.

Minnesota Snow!

We got hit with snow much earlier than last year and have had snow on the ground since the end of November. The kids love playing in the snow, sledding, and making forts. The boys have started to snow board with some of the neighbor boys and are asking for a snow board for Christmas.

Thanksgiving!

Halloween!

Family and Friend visits!

Happy Birthday Jenna

Jenna is turning 3!

It seems that I post quite a bit and then don't get back to it for a while so should start a quick birthday post for our big girl.

We went to toys r us the other day and let Jenna pick out her gifts. She really knows what she likes and went around just putting things in the cart. She picked out a doll house with two rooms for it, two different playdoh sets (wow they just get cooler each year), and a pink umbrella.

Jenna is very attached to her big brothers. Her favorite phrases are "Brothers" "Where are brothers? "I want to play with brothers" She cried just about every night when the boys went to bible school this month. We are hoping that she will adjust to the boys being gone at school a little better. She will do things to get a reaction from her brothers and loves to make them laugh when she is being silly. They all just feed off each other and have so much fun as siblings. She is very tough and will not put up with being picked on at all by the boys. Jake and Jenna get along without much conflict at all. There are times that Josh and Jenna have their moments as most brothers and sisters two years apart. For the most part Jake, Josh, and Jenna play together very well and really enjoy spending time together. Jenna really thinks she can do anything that her big brothers do. If they start to climb a fence, she is right there with them climbing away.

Jenna will be starting preschool in the fall and also starting dance. Jenna loves being outside riding her little pink trike, playing on the glider on our swingset, playing with chalk, bubbles, and just running around with all the neighborhood kids. She has the sweetest little personality and always has hugs and kisses to share. She is tough like the boys but her personality is all girl! She loves taking care of her baby dolls, playing with her ponies, coloring, and is starting to want to wear pretty dresses more and more. Jenna told us last week after a fun day at the zoo, that she wants a turtle, pony, kitty, and dog. She said that they will live in her room with her.



Pretty Pony is her birthday theme .. More to come....

Last weeks of summer and Photography

Well we are in the last stretch of summer and already planning fall activities and purchasing school supplies! We have all been enjoying the great weather here and actually have a rainy day today to get caught up on a few indoor projects. The kids want to always be outside and doing things all the time and are very active. Josh ran two more fun runs this month and Jake participated in his first run. We have been busy with festivals, visiting the zoo, parks, sports of course, moms club events, neighborhood night out, and vacation bible school during the past couple of weeks.

Jenna must watch mommy a lot because she is very good at following how I photograph! The boys also have fun taking photos and love using my camera.

I have been working on building up my photography business over the past few weeks and now have a website up and running. I have been planning this business for years now and just having a lot of fun with my photography hobby. Now that all three kids will be in school at least part time I am finally ready to really get the business going this fall. I was just asked to take preschool individual and class photos for Jenna's preschool and am really excited! I will also be taking photos of a new dance studio nearby. Jenna will be taking classes there this fall.
My site is http://www.LilliePhotos.com

Duluth Minnesota Vacation

We have lived in Minnesota for almost three years now and just took our first Minnesota vacation earlier this month. There are so many amazing places to visit up North so we look forward to more of these adventures.

We drove up to Duluth which is an industrial city right on lake Superior and about three hours from our home. It is home to the 4th largest port in the United States. Lake Superior is the largest largest, deepest, cleanest, and also coldest lake out of the great lakes.

We took a sunset cruise on Lake Superior, visited the popular aquarium, and took a 2 hour scenic train ride during our trip. We also drove up to Gooseberry Falls and Two Harbors Minnesota along the Northern shore of Lake Superior. We were able to see lighthouses and walk right up to the falls which was a cool experience. We also swam twice at our hotel and spent time watching the enormous ships go right past us under the Ariel bridge and through the canal. The kids loved watching the bridge go up and we were all amazed by the size of the ships.

Summer Time!

We had a fun weekend enjoying the nice weather and outdoor festivals. We went to the Aquatennial Days fest in Minneapolis on Sunday the 15th where the kids enjoyed swimming, sand, games, and the kids first canoe trip. Jenna paddled the wrong way the entire time so the boys had to work very hard. We all enjoyed this first experience!

There was about 15 very cool sand creations at the beach. They all got different awards but Jake liked this one the best. We thought that maybe we could trick people and see if it looked like Jake built this one. He did not enter but we may have to look into creating one down the line since the kids seemed very interested.






Above are a few from a festival we went to on Saturday the 14th called Maple Grove Days. They had tons of kids activities and rides, business expo, big trucks, and a .8 mile fun run that Josh participated in. Josh really likes to run so we will be checking out more of these fun runs with the kids. This is such a great way to keep the kids active and wear them out a little which is really hard to do with all their energy at their ages.






It would take me forever to document everything so here are some of the activities that have been keeping the kids busy this summer. They love playing with all the neighbor kids and spending a lot of time outside:

Nature Walks, Fishing, Tennis, Soccer, Baseball, Flying Kites, Swimming, Super soaker fights, chalk, sidewalk paint, swing set, parks, tag, bike rides, scooters, bubbles, parades, festivals, fireworks, light sabers, shopping, ball games, movies, moms club events, strawberry picking, rides, games, BMX jumps, sandbox, inflatable bouncer, slip n slide, running through sprinklers... and more....

Update

The boys started swim lessons today and love it once again. Jenna started taking off her shirt as soon as the boys started getting ready to go in the water. I told Jenna she could take lessons when she was bigger and she said "I am bigger mommy". I am sure we will need to sign Jenna up before I planned to. We also checked out a dance studio today and will look into that for Jenna for the fall. The top one is of Joshua and the bottom one of Jake. They both love the water and do so well with these lessons.

Soccer Season

Jake is on the purple team and #8. Purple used to be a girl color but now that we live in MN it is a cool Vikings color! Go yellow and purple! The kids hate green and yellow together. Everything is sports with the boys!

July 9, 2007 - I had to add to this post! Jake scored another two goals tonight and his team won 5-1 and remains undefeated. Jake actually received his first penalty tonight for tripping another kid. Now anyone that knows Jake knows that this is not something Jake would do intentionally so a group of us just laughed at the refs call. Jake and another boy actually went for the ball at the same time and the other kid tripped over the ball as six of us parents witnessed. Anyhow it was just funny because I laughed and said maybe Joshua or Jenna I could see them getting a penalty but not Jake. Anyhow we are just all having a great time with soccer season in full swing and Jake really enjoys playing. Jake has made six goals so far and reminded me that one of them was with a stiched finger. He hit his hand on the pool table with a pool ball and got two stiches in his finger last month. Never a dull moment around here as I always say!

Jake is doing great with soccer and scored two goals in his first game and one goal in his second game. I told him not to score any goals in his first game because I did not have my camera with so of course he scored two! This photo is the goal he scored in his last game. The goal was close but it did go in! Jake's practicing has really paid off and you can just see his excitement when he plays. He is actually one of the smaller kids on the team but this never intimidates him. He is always going after the ball and getting in there. They have referees this year and really actually play the game of soccer playing positions. Jake has two boys from his class and another two from his last years soccer team on his team this year.

The soccer goals were put out in the park behind our house in May. The kids are so excited to have the goals up again. We have been out there playing soccer everyday since the goals were put up. It is tough to get a goal against Jake but I actually scored one today. I will post some photos soon.

Josh turns 5 May 30th

Joshua is counting down the days until he turns five. We have been saying the past year that he is four going on seven because he just tries to do just about everything Jake does. Joshua started to read in March and can now read just about every word in "Hop on Pop" and "Go Dog Go". He just loves these books and will read them just about every day.

Joshua is such a fun kid! He is always do little silly things and making us all laugh. He loves to entertain and has such a fun personality. He can be such a goof but also has a real studious side. He loves doing workbooks, mazes, math facts, etc and wants to follow what Jake is doing in school.

Josh played his first year of team baseball and was so much fun to watch. He showed so much enthusiasm playing and would just get so excited every time he would get on base. While he was in the outfield Josh would play in the dirt, spin around, and take off his shoes to get the dirt out. We were on him about focusing in on the game and he did better as the season went on but those first few games were very entertaining. He technically was not old enough for this team baseball yet but really wanted to play after watching Jake all these years.

During the day on Josh's birthday we went to Jake's end of the year school picnic. Joshua was not real thrilled about doing something for Jake on his big day but did have a lot of fun at the picnic. Grandma bought happy meals and the kids played at the park overlooking the Mississippi river.

We celebrated Joshua's 5th birthday with Grandma at Dave and Busters. This was the kids first time there and they all really enjoyed it! Joshua's favorite games were the nascar game and the horse racing game. Joshua picked out a "Dave and Busters" kick ball with all the tickets he won!

We also had another party for Joshua over Memorial Day weekend at Space Aliens when the Maninis were in town visiting us. Space Aliens is the kids favorite restaurant because they have a lot of cool games to play. We drove up north a bit and went to a park reserve and the kids got to play in the lake. We also saw a bald eagles nest and a bald eagle flying around. We get bald eagles in our backyard now and then and are fascinated by them. We all had so much fun spending time with Vince, Lisa, Lauren, Vincent, and Kaitlyn.




Some of Joshua's favorite things now are Spiderman, Nascar, Star Wars and Cars. His birthday theme was cars. He loves to play outside with Jake and Jenna and all the neighbor kids. He is starting to practice riding without training wheels. He runs around a lot outside and loves playing on the swingset, playing at the park, super soakers, lightsabers, baseball, soccer, video games, plus a ton more... Some of his favorite gifts were his big lego airplane and other lego sets. Joshua is enjoying the summer and ready for Kindergarten in the fall!

Legos

The kids favorite thing to do inside is play Lego's. They would rather play Lego's than watch TV or play video games which is so nice. The boys were really into the Star Wars ones for a while and now are into the "City" series where you build airplanes, firetrucks, and helicopters. They just follow the directions and can build anything and then will play with their creations for hours. Jenna tries to build and take apart the boys legos so we brought out the big blocks to keep her busy.

Baseball

Jake and Joshua are both on baseball teams this year. They play at 6pm and 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights. They group the teams by neighborhoods so it is a fun to spend time with the neighbors as we cheer on the kids. Jenna just got her first pink glove and ball set and loves playing ball during the games.

I added some comments about Josh's season under his birthday post. He had a so much fun playing his first year of team baseball. He loved being on a team with a lot of his neighbor friends. After the first game or two he was able to always hit without using tee. There were no outs on his league so Josh enjoyed being able to run around all the bases and was so excited each time he scored.

Jake started the season out doing great! He had so many great games and caught his first fly ball in a game this season. He played first base during one game and did an incredible job. We have been watching Jake play tball / baseball since 2 years old and it is so exciting to see how not only the game changes as far as the competition but also how Jake has improved over the years. Jake's baseball season was cut short because he hurt his finger and had to get it stitched. This was very tough for Jake but the doctor explained that if it got hit at all it could very easily split right back open. He missed two games but did play in his last game of the year .
I will have to post some shots also from during the game but thought I would get these posted for now.

Concert & Earth Day Tree

Jake was a comet in his music concert which took place in April. Jake said he liked the concert but by his expressions you could tell he would rather be playing baseball. The girls were so much more into singing than the boys.


The kids planted a tree that all of the grade school students received from school for Earth Day. I always wondered why Minnesota had so many trees and now I know. We also planted flower seeds around the tree. Joshua also planted peas in a small pot at preschool that are growing well.