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