Dancin'!

I just had to do a Sammy post for everyone! This little girl is growing up so fast, and we just can't believe it! Her driven, determined, sweet, fun personality never fails to amaze us! As you can see above, she is the ultimate accesorizer with her snow boots and headband paired with polka-dot pjs, and below with her princess cloak! It's just a bit of a challenge when she wants to wear these to school!
We got to go into dance last night and watch! Typically, we just drop off, and can only watch through a tiny little cloudy window. The girls were so stinkin' cute! The best angle I could get was through the mirror, but it's still pretty cute! Now we just can't wait for the recital in June!

Great Wolf Lodge

The perfect Christmas gift could not have come at a more perfect time! After 3 snow days, we cured our cabin fever with a night at the Great Wolf Lodge, thanks to Mom and Dad. There is nothing better than seeing pure joy on your kids' faces, and laughing right along with them. (Even if you're 6 months pregnant and in a maternity bathing suit the size of a tent!) The best quote from the trip was when Will said, "I wish we could go back to the beginning yesterday when we got here." He just wanted to do it all over again! So fun!

Since I'm terrible at choosing just one or two (or 7) great pictures, as always, here are a ton!

Christmas 2009

It really was a magical Christmas for us this year! The kids are at such a fun age where they are amazed at all of the wonder of the season. I could never tell it all, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. From their great visit with Viv to the amazing Christmas blizzard and sledding, it was all wonderful!

Santa

The kids begged to go see Santa last weekend, so we loaded up and went over to the FREE Santa at Bass Pro Shop. They did awesome. Will took about 5 minutes to tell him all that he wanted, and Sammy just said a pony. Let's just hope she didn't mean a real one!
We're in the ultimate countdown mode. Countdown 'til we're out of school, countdown 'til Stacy, Kevin and Viv are here, countdown 'til Eddie's here, and of course countdown 'til Christmas! So exciting!

THANKFUL

This Thanksgiving was busy and mixed with all kinds of emotions. We were so excited to watch both kids at their Thanksgiving feast days at school the week before Thanksgiving. They made lists, shopped for, and prepared all of the food. Before eating we got to watch them sing all of the cute Thanksgiving songs they learned.

That same week we learned that our Great Aunt Doris was sick and in the ICU. Things weren't good, and finally on Monday afternoon she was sent home with Hospice. Thank God, she was able to be in her home among her family. She died early Tuesday morning.

We just keep thinking about how lively, fun, and loving she was. Every time we saw her she told us right away "I love you." Usually that was followed by her playing with the kids and handing over something yummy like donuts or her ever-famous cinnamon rolls. It was really hard to say that final goodbye to her. Her funeral was Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it was such a nice time to remember her, and see how many people's lives she touched.

While it was a really sad time, it was also time to be extra-thankful for all of the blessings we have in our lives. Just thinking about the tremendous love and support we have from our family and friends gives us such comfort. We are surrounded by such joy, and we thank God for that every day.

We ended this busy, emotional Thanksgiving with Grandpa's 83rd birthday party today! We spent the day over at Grandma and Grandpa's having a huge lunch, playing and splitting fire wood (well, the guys did!) I know Grandma and Grandpa had the toughest time all saying goodbye to their sister this week. I hope a great birthday celebration helped to add some joy to their lives.

I'm adding some pictures of the past month. We hope you were able to realize your blessings this Thanksgiving, too.

Halloween, Take 2

Friday was Will's turn to celebrate Halloween at school. They had a super cute little sing and parade, then a party in their room that the parents didn't have to stay for. BONUS!! (Yet one more reason I am a sped teacher: no more chaotic class parties.) Will was a fantastic Optomis Prime (sp?). He had a blast, and did amazing at his little program.

That afternoon, both kids dressed up to go to G&G Greats for a pre-Halloween celebration with all of the greats (minus Viv). As you can see, the two little boys weren't overly impressed with photo shoot time!

The real Halloween was a fun day, too. Will had his last soccer game, and then we were off trick-or-treating. First we hit Aunt Doris's for some of her home made doghnuts. (YUM!) Then it was over to "Aunt" Mandy's for some more spoiling. We went to my Uncle Stan's that night for Chili and trick-or-treating in his neighborhood. The kids had a ball, and now we have candy coming out of our ears!
Just a quick Will story....... the other day, my mom made the kids some left over clam chowder for lunch. Immediately, Will pushed his bowl away and said he didn't like it. (Of course, Sammy followed suit!) Mom told him he didn't know until he tried it. She said that he lit up and said, "I know, we can ask Jesus to help us to like this soup." Then he bowed his head and prayed, "Dear Jesus, please help us to like this soup." Then he tried it, and well, Jesus must not have thought it was too important for Will to eat that soup because he didn't like it! It was worth the try!!

Punkins

We're finally at the end of out countdown to Halloween! The kids had fun this weekend carving their "punkins". They each used a sharpie to design their jack-o-lantern. Do ya like Sam's face she drew? That was a tough order for us to carve!

Sammy broke out her costume last night for her dance party. She goes to the same dance place I went to; Leigh's School of Dance, and I totally remember the Halloween parties! They were a huge deal! Sam dressed up with all the girls, danced, did a little haunted house, and got a bunch of candy! Then we started bright and early today with another party at preschool. And it's not even Halloween yet!

Will's party is tomorrow, and then we're gonna go to G&G's to dress up and play with all the "Greats". Here's a quick preview of Sam's Ladybug costume. More to come after Saturday.....