Happy Thanksgiving!

Truly we have much to be thankful for this year. We are extremely blessed to have each other and our friends and family. I appreciate how special this time is, right here and right now. So many things could happen without warning, so I don't take it for granted.

I love this holiday. We eat traditional food and catch up with our extended family. Football is on the TV, but people are still social. I got to see relatives I haven't seen for a while on both Daddy's and my side and it made the day extra special for me. I loved playing with my girls and seeing the local Z family, including my aunts and uncle.

This year Papa grilled lamb to supplement the turkey and meatballs. It was yummy and I was sure to compliment Papa. Grammy and I irritated each other (I swear she started it intentionally and knows me better than anyone!) and in our typical fashion ended up giggling about it! I loved playing with my niece and nephew who are growing so fast.

My 2nd Art Adventure

I got to do another art presentation at Samantha's school yesterday. I've got most of the kid's names memorized, which is nice. One of the pieces I talked about was 2 cups in a gold tea service that tell the story of the Fox and the Stork. The class and I talked about telling a story with art and they all got to color their own tea cups. Then if they chose to, they got to stand in front of the class to share the story of their drawings. That alone was amazing to watch. The kids who didn't want to share with the whole class had to option of telling just me, though most told everyone. The kids are all special and it gave me insight into their personalities to listen to their stories.

I really appreciate that I'm able to do this and Samantha has demonstrated repeatedly that she loves that I come to her class!

Kindergarten Special Person's Day

Samantha's school had a "show" for all the kindergartner's special people. Grammy, Nana, Papa, Daddy and I all went to show our love of Sam. The kids all sang songs (with applause after each song), then went to their classroom for treats and Thanksgiving themed bingo game. As usual, Sam was a leader. She then went out to lunch with Daddy and they spent the afternoon baking for Thanksgiving.

Samantha has a lot of special people in her life and to her credit, she's very grateful!

Sofie's 3rd birthday party

We had the family over today to celebrate Sofie turning 3. She wore a "new" party dress and loved being the focus of the day. Sofia requested an ice cream cake and got it. How do you like the pattern she chose? Sofia loved her gifts and said again at the end of the day that opening her presents was the best part of the day.

(Kudos to Samantha for handling all the festivities extremely well!)





Sofie with her daddy, who was very proud of his baby girl and had a ball with celebrating!

This one was so cute I couldn't resist adding it. Not to mention that it's another example of Papa's obsession with hats and a moment between the birthday girl and her Papa.

Sofia turns 3!

It's incredibly difficult to believe, but Sofia is now 3 years old! Daddy and I celebrated by taking the day off from work to spend Sofie's birthday with her. We went to the Aquarium and rode some rides at the Mall of America. Sofia was worn out by the end of the day, but she had a great time! At bedtime I asked her what the best part of the day was and she said, "Opening my presents". I'd say that is a fair and honest statement. She was exhausted by the end of the day, but it's all good!


This is the birthday girl at breakfast wearing our new hat:

Playing at the aquarium...

Riding some rides...
Needless to say, she enjoyed herself very much! Daddy and I appreciated that we could spend the day with her!

My 1st visit to Samantha's classroom

Art Adventure is a program through our local art museum. It's designed to give kids access to some pieces around a theme (Animals this year) that they haven't been exposed to. I signed up as a volunteer and today was my first presentation to Samantha's kindergarten class. It was more fun than I expected it to be! The kids all did well listening and talking. I thought they all did well participating and I didn't see too many kids fidgeting from boredom so I've got that going for me!

After "art time" was over, I took Samantha and 3 other boys to work on some math puzzles. These 4 kids are all readers and fairly advanced, so I volunteered to spend some time with them. Out of this group, Sam is the only girl and I found it fun to watch her in that dynamic. It was interesting to get to know her classmates today too. I hope to keep doing it, but we'll see about the frequency.


Side note: The teacher today asked me if I would tolerate some of the behavioral and listening issues the boys have. (Of course, I didn't see much of it today.) I know it's tempting fate to say it wouldn't bother me, but I think we will just see how it goes. Usually I can get other people's kids to listen to me, but we'll see.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Poor Daddy. He's the only male in the house with the exception of Fonz and I just don't see a lot of solidarity between them. One thing that makes Daddy special is that he's a strong enough man to handle his wife and two daughters. Daddy is the model for what the girls probably will accept should they decide to get married someday. He works hard, loves to play and is the guy that does the right thing just because it's the right thing to do. He sacrifices himself at times, but he takes care of himself. We are all very proud of him and very blessed to have him as a central part of our family!

First snow of the season

It started snowing last night and hasn't stopped yet. The girls and I went out to play this morning. Sofie loved eating the snow, which is fine because we discussed that yellow (or any colored snow) is not okay to touch. I shoveled a bit and pulled the girls around in our sled. When Daddy came out to start the driveway, the whole family had a snowball fight. That was hilarious and fun even when Daddy got me in the face! Oh well, better me to get hit than the kids!

This afternoon both girls went to a friend's birthday party with a princess theme. They had a blast! Samantha was commended as the most polite and Sofia actually went potty on the toilet! It's always fun to hear good things all around!

Tonight we honored another tradition: a meal consisting only of finger food. It's a nice contrast to all the sugar the girls consumed at the party today!

Bartering

Both girls are great at negotiation. They use their skills with mostly Daddy and me (not to mention their grandparents), but yesterday Samantha used her skills at the mall. We met Nana and Papa for rides and ice cream. On our way to the car, we passed by a face painting station. I didn't have enough cash to pay the posted price and I was honest with Samantha about that. I told her she could ask the lady if they could do something else. Sam was very polite and of course got herself and her sister sparkling pink hearts. Way to go Sam! I was so impressed! I told her that I was very proud of her.

Thanks to Nana and Papa for a great afternoon!

Conferences at Samantha's school

This morning was Samantha's initial parent / teacher conference. She is doing great in school! That isn't a surprise to us, but the validation is nice. Apparently whenever there is a substitute, they are instructed to ask Samantha if she has a question. That's quite a feat! We love her teacher and more importantly, so does Samantha. She is one of four kids in her class that's reading and I'm hoping to volunteer weekly at her school to work with that group. We will see what happens!

Here's one of Daddy's favorite pictures of her. It was taken on a "Daddy and Sammy" day recently.

Autumn 2010

Autumn has flown by this year, so I thought I would show some highlights that didn't make it to other posts.

There was the open house showcasing all the things firefighters do. The girls put out fires and climbed on nearly every truck out there.

A quick trip to the arboretum with Grammy. We all had fun running around the stick house, playing in the "tornado" house and exploring the maze.


50's night at Samantha's school with Nana, Papa and Grammy. Both girls wore their Halloween costumes which worked out well. Samantha was giddy when she found Naomi and didn't leave her side most of the night!

We got to celebrate Mitch's brithday early with him and the family. Now that Jordan and Dylan are mobile, things are even more interesting and fun!

Behold, Dylan and Jordan are mobile! They are growing so fast...

Visits with Auntie She usually involving games of, "Red Light Green Light".

Dinner at the Gorilla house. Sofie got to hang with a baby (another S) and Samantha got to hang out with Kira.

It has been busy, but we're extremely fortunate to have the friends and family we do!

Happy 50th Birthday to Bill!

Amazing, isn't it? My big brother is 50! Even his surprise birthday was a success! Kudos to Leana for making it happen!

Here are the kids singing to him...