Merry Christmas!!!

We hope everyone had a great holiday. Nora had a wonderful first Christmas at home. Its pretty busy and hectic with 3 kids but we toned the activities down a bit so we could just relax and enjoy. The kids all loved their gifts, every single thing. Ry loved all his new legos but his favorite gift was his new Nintendo DS. He was so surprised he was speechless. Hes been asking for one for years but we told him not until he turned 10. But hes been such a good big brother this year and with our long Easter drive coming up we decided it was time to let him have one. Evan loves his WallE computer, his r/c car, and his pizza chef playset. I dont think he could pick a favorite as he thought everything was just "awesome"!! Nora was totally into opening presents which was cute. You would hand her a gift and her eyes would get all big and she would get a little half smile and just tear in. Shes 17 months old today and saying about 15 words.
Life is good. LOTS of pictures to look at. I took quite a few. Its very hard to get photos of kids though and trying to get multiple kids in the same shot to look at the camera was next to impossible so I think these are about the best we could do.

Snow storm

Ry has off of school today. Thanks to Uncle Cory the driveway got cleared this afternoon as Jim had to go into work. I work tonite again. The trio had to go outside of course when Uncle was over. Poor Evan kept getting stuck in the snow it was so deep. Nora thought eating it was tasty.
Im putting up some recent pics of Nora. Shes dressed up for a little family get together we had last weekend. Shes giving her signature diva glare that Nora is famous for. Then her riding poor ol' man River again.

Evan

Got to go to two birthday parties this past weekend. Both were friends from his preschool. One was outside at a petting zoo. Yes outside in Wisconsin in December. They got to feed ducks, chickens, goats, pigs, and even a llama. It was cold but it wasnt snowing or really windy and the kids had fun. Santa was there and Evan walked right up and plopped on his lap. His buddy had to quickly jump in though too. His party was the day before. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! Stay healthy and safe!!
Today also marks Nora's "Crossover Day". She came home on her 8 month birthday. She turned 16 months yesterday. Today she has been home with us longer than she has been with anyone else. We are very thankful for her and our 2 great boys!
(Will update with pics later. We are going to dinner at Uncles house!)
Nora woke up with a teething fever thus her face is really flushed in the pics. Her meds kicked in quickly though but by then none of the kids would sit for pictures.

First snow

Nora loves the snow! She didnt like that her boots kept getting icy though and she had a hard time standing. Evan thinks sledding is great. Nora was happy just laying there. Evan hopes the snow stays now so he can build lots of snowmen and do more snow angels!

Nora's first haircut

We got Nora's hair trimmed just a bit this week by our stylist Jilayne. She sat quietly in Jims lap and didnt fuss at all. It still looks the same but just cleaned up a bit.
The cake was Ry's addition to his Scout's sport/Olympic themed bake sale. Its our Michael Phelps cake with his 8 gold medals.

Cute kids

Had to pull out the winter coats, hats and gloves this week. The 70 degree weather from last week is long gone.
Finally got Ry's school pictures back. He has a bit of a goofy smile in it but its better than usual at least. Evans preschool did a professional photo shoot so we got those too. He's getting so big. Nora had her 15 month appt. Shes just under 31 inches tall (50% for age) and 21.4 lbs (25% for age). She only got 1 shot and didnt take it too bad. Shes trying to talk more which is cute.
Jim and I went to a costume party as knights. The boys thought us dressed up was pretty funny.

Trick or Treat

The kids get to go to 3 trick or treats. Grandparents time two then our own. We only do a few houses at the grandparents as 3 kids accumulate a ton of candy.
We did get to the pumpkin patch last week with Evan and Nora at least. They loved exploring and Evan was so intent on picking out a good pumpkin. We carved them this weekend. Jim did a good job.