Zander's Christmas card

Zander is in a very giving mood this Christmas. Plus, it seems overnight he has learned how to draw and color pretty darn well, in my humble opinion! This intricate picture above is drawn especially for his friend Sammy at daycare. It is a picture of Batman and Robin. There is rain coming from above and that thing on the left is the rain catcher. There is also an airplane up in the sky.

Zoey's First Piano Recital

Santa Claus is Coming to Town. . .Then and Now

Our Shining Stars

Both our kids got a chance to be in the spotlight today. It was St. Mark's Christmas program today. Zander was a sheep with all of the preschool-Kindergarten kids and Zoey was a talking sheep. . .Bah Bah Lou! She sold all two lines! She also sang a duet in one of the songs. We were so proud of both kids today. This was Zander's first extended time in front an audience and he sang and did actions and everything. Zoey has reaffirmed her love for acting today and told me after the Christmas program, "Next time I'm in a play, I want MORE lines!"

Then later on in the day we got ready for Zoey's very first piano recital at the historical Fillebrown House in White Bear Lake.

 Zoey's fan club consisted of Nana, Poppa, and Auntie Tammy, Grandma and Grandpa Nyhlen, and of course Zander, Mom, and Dad.

 Zoey and her teacher Ginny Gadbois Green (also her 1st grade music teacher)

Then of course, there's Zander. . . .

Letters to Santa. . .Ready to Go!

Zoey's Self-Portrait

Zoey did this as part of her Media class at school. I think that it is perfect and embodies almost everything that I love about my daughter!

Happy November (and early December)!

 On Thanksgiving Day we went over a few bridges to Nana and Poppa's house to celebrate with the family. It was a fabulous day of relaxing and letting other people play with my children, while I read through all the Black Friday ads. :-) The kids enjoyed teaching Nana and Tammy how to play Sorry and they played dress up and went outside (for of course more lovely weather) to play.

Both kids are still addicted to Star Wars. They turn EVERYTHING into a star wars reference. (If you use the words force or darkside--you will be sure to hear about Star Wars!)

Their other obsession at the moment is Wizard of Oz--due to the most recent outing with Nana and Tammy to the Children's Theatre performance.

Zander is all about dressing up and creating these elaborate costumes--that really don't need to be anything all that special--but make sure to follow his lead. When he wanted to be a magician, he told me that we needed a costume. "We can make a hat and I wear black shirt and pants, ok? Is that a good idea?"

On the morning of Thanksgiving, Tyler and I were taking advantage of sleeping in a bit and I heard the kids out on the couch getting all excited about their weekend. Zoey said, "Zander, do you know what day it is? It's the day BEFORE WE DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!" Yep, not Thanksgiving, but Christmas Decoration Eve. Friday is always a fun day for us. We thoroughly clean the house (more fun for me than the kids), put out our decorations, then cozy up on the couch as a family and watch Elf for the first time of the season. Great memories!

Here is another one of Zander's costumes. Can you guess who he is?

 (Tin Man)

Zoey had a double dose of playdate with her friend Anabel last week. Two playdates in a row! What a deal! These two girls have more creativity and personality in their little fingers than I have in my whole body! I love watching these two get together. Of course my favorite thing was when Anabel was coming over to our house on Friday, Zoey leans over to her and says, "My brother Zander is SO annoying!" (She neglected to tell Anabel that she absolutely adores her brother and plays with him almost all the time.)

Boo! It's October!

 Spiderman is climbing the walls again!

And apparently singing in a band.

This year, as tradition goes, we took the Plumbs and the Livingstons off to McDougall's Apple Junction down near Hastings. It was a rare  80 degree fall day--making looking for pumpkins and enjoying the activities a little harder to bare in the heat. It was, as always though, a good time for all. You can see from the pictures that the kids are growing like weeds. I give it about two more years and Zoey will be at the top of this sign--Zander not far behind!

Zoey kind of loves her Auntie Tammy--can you tell?

In October we also went to the Mahtomedi Halloween Ball at the high school. Again, it was a beautiful evening and the kids left on a hayride around the area as part of the festivities.

We out to Perkins (I know, suprise, right?) after the Halloween Ball and while we waited for the food to come, Zoey drew a great picture of me. (Make sure that you read the directions above her picture.)

Zoey was estatic the day she was picked to be the VIP for the week in her classroom. She went to town on her poster and knew exactly what she wanted to share with the class. The highlight of the poster is the picture of her very own 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Marshall, holding her when she was only 2 months old. Apparently, the whole class got a kid out of that one.
 

Over a long weekend in October, we took the kids up north to see Grandma and Grandpa and then stopped by to visit the cousins and Uncle Robby and Aunt Nicole.  I am always so happy to see how the kids get along so well and enjoy being together.

We went to our friends' annual Pumpkin Carving Party--it was on Oct. 29th and would you believe that it was yet ANOTHER gorgeous day? Of course, as tradition goes, the kids helped out with the pumpkin carving for-oh- about 10 minutes and left the rest for Tyler and I to do.

Halloween night--the menu included cooked mice (my favorite) and brains. Yum!

Then FINALLY it snowed a little and the kids were able to go out and play in some white stuff. Or maybe I should say that Zoey was finally able to go out and EAT some white stuff. She loves her some snow! :-)

Zoey's Halloween Song--The Hungry Spider

Zander's Ghost Song! Don't Be Scared!