Dear Santa,

This is the year we have been learning a lot about Christmas. So far we have dug into thoughts like "How does Santa know what I want?!" "How does he know I am being a good listener?"  I love how his imagination is growing and understanding all the magic that is Christmas. I can tell it is still a little hard to grasp but I can also tell he doesn't care and just loves all the excitement that goes into waiting for Christmas!

Today we wrote a Letter to Santa. It was easy for Bennett to tell him what he wanted because he just browsed through the Toys R Us "Big Toy Book" and he had a whole page filled.

He also had a few things he wanted to tell Santa and I helped him by transcribing it for him. We asked Bosco if he would please take it to Santa tonight at the North Pole and we will see in the morning if he did...

Meet Bosco our Elf on a Shelf

You would never believe who has showed up at our house this week. Meet Bosco! When we were gone for the weekend at Grandma and Grandpas Bosco came to our house and was waiting patiently for our arrival on the top of our microwave. We just could not believe it!

Later that day we also found a book with his picture on the front... So when we went to bed, we made some popcorn and dug into this book to see what Mr. Bosco was all about and to give him this great name picked out by Bennett ;) 

It turns out Bosco has been sent here by Santa himself to keep an eye on our house and everything we do. He flies up the chimney and to the North Pole every night to report to the boss (Santa). He comes back before we wake up and sometimes it takes us a few minutes in the morning to find him!

We have had a lot of fun having Bosco be here! This holiday season has been so much fun already and it isn't even December yet!!! These magical moments with my children is something that I will remember with a happy heart forever!

Bennett decorating his own little tree... we are currently down 3 Christmas bulbs and we have not even gotten our tree... We may be investing in plastic bulbs this year!

 Our little peanut girl just making us giggle... love her little tooth in front there

Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving 2012

What a great and busy Thanksgiving weekend!

We started it all off by packing up the kiddos and heading down to Capital Lake for our First Annual Turkey Trot. It was a 4 mile run we did with the girls (Teri, Pam and I) but mostly I was excited for the .5 mile Tot Trot. We had been talking about this a lot at home and Bennett couldn't wait for that promised medal at the finish line. Lily and Lexy pulled quickly in the lead with the older kids as some of the actual toddlers slowed to stops numerous times to take in all the action. Bennett got really excited as we turned that corner and saw the finish line. He kept yelling "look at me! I am fast like Diego!" and when we crossed the finish line he very happily yelled "I DID IT!" Too cute!

We jumped right in to more thanksgiving fun with the Olsen Family arriving at our house for my First real mommy prepared Thanksgiving dinner. It turned out great. The food was great, the family was wonderful and as I settled in with a glass of red wine at the end of the night I was so happy (and a lot relieved/relaxed) that it turned out so great. I felt a little excitement about the years to come and teaching Bennett and Annie how to make a turkey dinner with their future families. I guess these holidays make me sappy :)

Off we went down Friday morning to Grandma and Grandpa Jones for a weekend of fun. We had turkey dinner numero dos (which was equally amazing) and relaxed and played with all the kiddos. It makes me laugh that before we know it we will be looking back at that crazy decade where our kids ran around like crazy, out numbering and out witting us adults. Someday we will laugh but for now it takes lots of energy, lots of patience and a little red wine to get through another busy holiday weekend!

Us ladies even snuck away for some mani pedis to celebrate the newest little person to be in our family. We can not wait to meet you little Mr Petersen, You will be here before we know it!

 The Trotters!

 Our Tot Trotters!

 Kids table

Our Handsom Wine Server!

 Olsen... whoops maybe I need to be more careful about my camera setting next time, kinda blurry :) I blame the champagne!

 Jones

 Movie Night... watching Brave

 That Petersen baby loving some grandma time!

A Little Thanksgiving Prep

Five years ago Joel and I had been married for a year and we were happily settling into our new home. We invited BOTH our families to spend thanksgiving with us. We ended up having a beautiful day with 24 place settings, 2 turkeys and a lot of family memories before all the kids came around on my side. Since then we have taken a backseat to all Thanksgiving fun. This year we jumped in and I decided I wanted to cook it all by myself. You see, I took clear advantage of the 2 moms and grandmas here 5 years ago and althought I bough everything and had it all here ready to be cooked, I dont remember actually cooking anything. So this year I prepared. I googled, all recipied and food networked everything turkey dinner. I took notes, planned and shopped accordningly.

Although I have been to some amazing thanksgiving dinners I must admit that mine was pretty tasty... forsure feeling like twenty years from now when my kids or kid-in-laws want some thanksgiving help I will be a pro!

 The kiddos playing together with the napkin rings... hours of fun!

 This little ladies eyes melt my heart... even when I am up to my elbows in turkey broth and peeled potatoes



Impromptu camping at Grandma and Grandpas

As in any other weekend when my husband dons his camouflage and takes off as a great white hunter, the kids and I packed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Jones'... the difference about this weekend is that Joel and some friends were planning on hunting deer right near their house so we had a full house of hunters, great food, family and slumber partying kiddos.

It was a fun weekend that we had not planned out. I sewed most of the day on Saturday making the sweetest little snuggly for Annie and she loves it. We visited in the evenings and snuggled up for a viewing of Polar Express in the evenings in the basement. Made us all a little more excited for the family filled holidays to come.

 Helping grandma make some popcorn for the slumber party

 Those hunters and I playing cards until the wee hours of the morning...

Our sweetie at 9 months!

Our little lady seems to change everyday! She is now this busy little bee crawling everywhere FAST. She will be literally on my heels from room to room. She is pulling herself up onto things like the couch, her lion toy, the dog... even though we were a little worried that her tiny little feet wouldn't support her fat legs :)

She has fallen into a fabulous sleep schedule and sleeps 11 hours at night and taking two 1-2 hour naps... the second nap lands right when her big brother is going down for his afternoon nap and this mama is loving it! She still gets up with her dad around 6 to help him get ready for work and talk about their days int he bathroom and I still think it is adorable.

She has been going to nearly anyone and smiles all the time. I am amazed nearly everyday with how easy and content she is. She will play with Bennett on the floor with hot wheels or whatever for an hour without complaint. I can just foresee the table turning in a couple years as she is getting him to play barbies :)

I love this little girl more each day. I have been going to a moms running group in the morning and when I get home she is just waking up and she will squeal and scamper over to me like she hasn't seen me in years. It never fails to melts my heart.

We rock piggies all the time and I can usually see that little front bottom tooth poking through and it makes me smile that my girl is becoming a little girl! She loves giving hugs and she will play with a pillow on the ground for hours pretending to nap on it like a big girl, hilarious!

I love you sweet Annie J! Happy 3/4 of a year with us!

Tried to get a pick of her in this chair that Bennett kept "helping" her get into. She seems way more trusting in him that she should be.

 

Olsen Family Photos...

Grandpa Olsen is being recognized by the board of the orphan organization he grew up in. It was a great excuse for us to get the family together and try to get us all in a picture... Here they are :)

First Piggies!!

Annie's hair has been growing like weeds the last couple months and this last weekend at the Sewing Weekend her Aunt Emily and I gave her her first set of piggies!!

Could she be any cuter?!?

Those first piggies!!!