December Happenings! (Warning, this is a long post!)

First of all, I want to congratulate Scott and Jen Elder on the birth of their second child, Jackson. I was trying to crochet a blanket for him, but it wasn't turning out right and family life and work life crept in on my progress. Here is a sign I made for his room though:


The girls began this Christmas season by decorating their own little trees they keep in their room. Notice Elyana's tree--all the ornaments are on one branch towards the bottom. : )






Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Nate's family. We made our traditional popcorn balls, made Doobas (a Swiss tradition), and read about the first Swiss settlers (which always brings tears to our eyes each year).




This week my sister and I surprised my mom with a different kind of Christmas gift, tickets to Les Miserable! I accompanied her to the Twin Cities on Thursday and she was simply thrilled.

Friday, Elyana had a special day at Kindergarten. She had been looking forward to for a long time-Gingerbread House day. They've been reading Gingerbread man books, eating gingerbread people snacks, coloring and writing about it. Each child had a parent come in to help them with the project. It seems like yesterday that I was there helping Mikayla with hers! They have such a neat way of going about the construction of it. They use empty milk cartons. You put some frosting on all four sides and then place the graham crackers on. It stays up perfectly that way. I had to laugh at miss Elyana and her creativity. She wanted to make a house for an Ariel Gingerbread girl. So, you will notice in the below photo the "hair" she put on top. Such a silly girl.




Ariel Gingerbread and an Animal Cracker cow in the pasture


On Saturday, Elyana had her first ballet recital. It was so sweet to watch her! She looked so much more like a girl than my little preschooler last year! Our family doctor has confirmed last week that she has moved into the 11th from the 4th percentile in height! She couldn't get over how much Mikayla has grown either!

Look Forward to Our Christmas Cards in a Few Weeks...

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Completely Elyana: Morning to Night

This blog post is dedicated to my quick humored Elyana, who in one single day cracked me up several times!

Breakfast: She was eating breakfast this week and I place her favorite box of cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch) next to her bowl. She exclaimed loud enough to wake up the rest of the house, "Holy Cow! Now with MORE whole grain! That's good, right mom?!" I love that she reads everything she can, even cereal box info.

Lunch: After eating lunch she grew quiet and asked, "Mom, why are you smarter than me?" I told her because I was older and the more you live, the more you learn and know. She said, "Wow! That means I'm smarter today than yesterday!"

Bedtime: I asked her why she was having a hard time falling asleep. She looked ever so serious and said, "I think it's because of the large bruise on my butt." Alarmed, I asked if I could take a look. She whipped down her pants, tossed me a huge grin, laughed really hard and said, "Ha ha! I tricked you into looking at my butt!"

It is never a dull moment with her! You never know what she might say or do! Where does she get that from?!

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Jones

Nate's sister, Nancy, flew home last week from New York. We spent our long MEA weekend back home (Oakdale, WI) to catch up with her and Nate's folks. I worked on November lesson plans and on my 37 report cards the whole weekend. I did take a break to watch a few movies and play a few games. Then, Nate's dad hooked up the tractor to a trailer and took us for a ride through the woods and around the block. It was a perfect day for it. We had a nice weekend.

Elyana on Aunt Nancy's lap


Mikayla blowing bubbles on our tractor ride.


Nate sitting by his mom. Check out his new knee brace...


Mikayla snuggling with my adorable niece, Alice (Micah and Jordan's baby). Did you know I was a Great Aunt?!


I wish this photo had turned out better, but this is what you get when using a cell phone camera... It is Nate and Elyana watching deer in the field each with their own binoculars.

(Nancy,can't wait to see some of the photos you took too! It was so nice seeing you again! I can't wait to come to NY and see where you live some day!)

Halloween Preparations

Elyana cracked me up this week. I bought her a new package of underwear. In the van she was reading the package to me, "100 cotton brefs and they are scratch and sniff." Did I hear her right? I questioned her and she pointed to the Fruit of the Loom logo. "Why is that there then, mom?"

It was one of those things I had to blog about so I wouldn't forget.

Mikayla received a Personal Achievement award at her school assembly this week. Because it was on a day I had to work, Nate took a half day off to be there for her. It was a surprise to her and we are very proud. After she accepted the award, she detoured over to the Kindergarten class to hug her sister before going back with her class. I'm bummed that I will miss another event coming up on Monday. Each of the girls have a costume parade led by their principal. Mikayla is sad that I will miss it and so am I.


Feeling guilty about my absence from their life lately with working, is probably what inspired me to carve a pumpkin for each of them. They choose their templates and away we went. Mikayla insisted on giving hers a bubble bath while she was waiting to get hers carved.

It's Raking Time!

Last week we raked up the leaves from just one of our trees. 4 more trees plus what the neighbors tree dumps on us left to go....Blah!

I always like to take a photo of the girls in the leaves each year before I rake. Here is this years!








Now, since I take their photos in the leaves each year, I felt like looking back at some older ones...

2006


2007




2008




2009




2010

Orchard Time

We like to go as a family to Northwoods Orchard each year. The girls enjoy the tiny Chestnut apples. Most of all, they enjoy seeing all of the animals. They really had fun holding the baby dwarf bunnies.

Flowers for Sale

One of Elyana's favorite books is Zinnia's Flower Garden. When last winter was finally coming to an end, she begged me to plant some zinnia seeds just like in her book. So we did and they grew tall. Of course, just like in the book, she wanted to sell them. Mikayla has always been scheming up ideas of things to sell and liked the idea also. So, before this colder fall weather hit and when I had a bit of down time, I helped the girls cut my zinnias into bouquets and tie pretty ribbons around them. Mikayla made the sign, they set up a table, and had a cow bell to help attract customers. I think the girls could sell almost anything at their location since we are one block from the city bus stop where everyone gets off from work at 4 and every 1/2 hour after. This location is probably what helped them sell ALL of the zinnias and make $6.50! They immediately split the profits. What I didn't expect and melted my heart, they each wanted to put $1.25 into a jar to save for the poor. Wow! I'm a proud momma!

Mac and Cheese

Elyana has taken a real interest in how to cook lately. Today, she proudly said to me, "I know all the steps in making mac and cheese in case I grow up." Priceless. I have no doubt that she won't grow hungry in college...

Elyana Trying On My Old Point Ballet Shoes

Ellie is starting to take Ballet lessons on Saturday mornings. I showed her my old ballet shoes with a hole worn through the toe of each shoe. She was delighted to play in them...