Oh My Cherrios!

It's been a lovely snowy day here today. The kids and I have been playing, they have been eating LOTS, I've been working on hats and blankets. I took the boys to the garage while I pinned some blankies. We were out there about an hour and in that time they completely trashed grandma and grandpas room. I got out a box of cheerios for Cole to snack on, and he thought it was much more fun to throw them all over than eat them. Jack then got the novel idea to just dump the whole (brand new) bag of them out. WOW! Can that entertain 2 kids for quite a while.Jack of course went right over and got grandpa's tractor and wagon and started loading it up with cheerios. Cole just continued to eat one, and throw 100. :) So much easier to make a mess, then to clean it up. Jack isn't very good about cleaning/putting away his stuff. It is a real battle! I've tried singing songs, making it fun....no such luck. :( But they did get cleaned up. Thank you vacuum cleaner! Here is a picture of the Cheerio fun, and a few others from today. Jack loves to make silly faces when the camera comes out.

ER

Well, what a way to end the weekend. Chris was the Steelers playoff game, my parents had Jack in MO with them for Karissa's birthday, and Cole and I hung out with Megan and Tess all weekend. Last night everyone came home, and Jack wasn't feeling too well, so he went to bed early. At midnight, Chris heard one of the boys coughing so he went up and thought it was Jack, but as we was coming down the stairs Cole screamed like never before, so we went racing into his room only to have him not breathing well and "barking" up a storm. It was awful to listen him. Chris ran to get my mom, and she tried to give him a breathing treatment while we got dressed to take him to the ER. Of course after being outside in the cold, by the time we got seen by a doctor he was doing much better. They gave him a steroid, and sent us home. Today is just really tired, but his breathing sounds better.

Coley

Thankfully the Lord gives us a new day every day! Just when things seem to be getting to the end of the rope, somehow He gives a renewed strength and purpose. For that I am grateful.

Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!

Happy Birthday Buddy! I can't believe you are 4 years old on the verge of 14. You grown so much this year. Literally, the pants I bought you this fall are already becoming high waters just halfway through the winter. You still love to play with tractors and help make recipes. You may look like your mama, but you are sure developing a personality of your daddy. You like to quote your favorite parts from movies. HA HA

This year you started preschool, and were very excited about it, until it actually came right down to getting dropped off. Now you don't really like to go, but you do. You are also getting better about going to Sunday school. You love to play tickle and chase! Inside or outside! You learned to drive the John Deere riding lawn mower this summer all by your self. Instead of playing and sledding in the snow, you would rather shovel. You did love to swing this summer, and started to learn how to pump your legs. Hopefully next summer you will be do it by yourself. :) You are recognizing numbers and some letters now. Your "l's" still sound like "w's". My favorite saying of yours is "just a witto (little) bit" :) You love to pray at the dinner table. Love to jump. Like to tell stories and dreams with daddy before bed. You are very polite and use please and thank-you all the time. Like round crackers not oval ones. Gag every time I try to brush your molars. Always try to take stuff away from your brother. Like to get in his crib with him when he wakes up and jump. Took 2 airplane trips this year (KC and Colorado).

You are such a joy and we are so blessed to have you call us your parents. Love you buddy.


For Jack's birthday, he wanted curious george. So I set out to make a George cake! It turned out pretty well. Grandma Joyce and Aunt Vicki were able to come up to celebrate his birthday weekend. We had a family party on Sunday, and all the kids had lots of fun playing. Then on his birthday on Monday we went out to IHOP for breakfast and to Bounce Town to play. Jack, Cole, and Tessa had a great time playing there. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but lots of fun!!!

Here Comes (and goes) Christmas!

Christmas! Magical, wonderful, snowy, time for rejoicing, thankful for our saviour's birth. Cookies, singing, cinnamon and mistletoe, in awe of every miracle big or little.

For weeks and weeks we prepare for this holiday. Well, not really just a holiday, but more like a season. Some start before Thanksgiving, some the weekend of, and some put off until right before they must. I will admit that I like to start before Thanksgiving. At least with the tree and outdoor lights(although we don't turn on the outdoor lights until thanksgiving weekend). This year, I didn't do a whole lot more than the tree. The boys had their little people nativity out, but I didn't even get out my demdaco nativity. The time flew by!! Cookies were made, stockings were hung, presents were wrapped, Christmas coffee cakes were made, candles were burned, Christmas movies were watched, carols were sung, hot chocolate was drunk, Christmas eve service was attended and was wonderful, and time was spent with family. I am thankful that in the rush of the "earthly" Christmas happenings, that we have a real reason for celebrating Christmas, and that Jack too is starting to understand that. I think he stills thinks Santa brought some gifts, but he knows the real "reason for the season" :)

We had many Christmas get togethers this year. It started with my dad's side of the family on the 23rd, our family on the 25th, my mom's side on the 26th, and my grandma's (on my mom's side) Thompson get together on the 27th.

Growing up, we always had Christmas in my grandparent's basement. A big potluck of food, grab gifts, and snitch bingo. ALWAYS snitch bingo. :) Here are a few pics of the kids playing around enjoying cousins they don't see a whole lot.

Christmas day brought lots of fun for Jack and Cole. Always with the stockings first, and Cole would have been happy with just that. As the Christmas tree cakes he found become his new best friend. Jack was every so thrilled with his new silos and auger, and Cole loves his new bouncing horse, and barn. We enjoyed a layed back afternoon waiting for Amy and her gang to arrive. For dinner that night we enjoyed Kumla. What is that? you may be asking. But as I grew up in a completely Norwegian family. We usually have some traditional Norwegian foods at holiday time. Kumla is as plain as it comes. First boil a ham in a large pot of water. Then you grind up peeled potatoes, mix them with flour, butter, baking powder and salt, then make little potato balls slightly smaller than the size of a baseball. Finally you boil them in the ham water. Amazingly, everyone who has joined our family has come to love Kumla. To eat it, you just cut it up pour a little melted butter on it, sprinkle with salt and enjoy with your ham and peas. We used to always have it grandma marge and grandpa ronnie's, but as the years have passed and families have grown, we now make it at my mom's house on Christmas day. It is usually finished off with a sweet treat, Lefsa. A dough that has been rolled out and cooked on a griddle until hard, then when you are ready to eat, you soak it in damp towels until it softens, spread with melted butter and sugar, fold and cut. Again, plain, but tasty.

The day after we headed down to Grandma Marge and Grandpa Ronnie's house (my mom's parents). The kids love to play with grandpa's tractors, horses, and pool table. Another yummy meal shared together. It was the first time in many years that everyone has been together. Josh has been home since he left Korea, Bekah was home from Dallas, Amy's family was up, and and all of around here were able to make it. Of course that meant taking a picture of everyone together. Here we are:

My camera died one pic into the Thompson gathering. So there isn't much to document. IT was good see cousins and family that we probably hadn't seen since weddings or the last Thompson Christmas 16 years ago when Great Grandma Mable passed away.

Now, I sit, with boxes by the door filled with the decorations that hung just earlier today. Happy to have the house back to normal, and trying to gear up for Jack's 4th birthday this weekend.

Cookies

Growing up, I always remember the tradition of making Christmas cookies. Really good cookies. Sugar cookie cutouts, peanut butter blossoms with red and green sprinkles, thumbprints, tortes, and many more. I have felt that since I have my own kids that tradition needs to be carried on. But as cookie time comes around, the perfectionist in me wants to do them by myself so they turn out just perfect. AHHH!! Hard being a perfectionist and mother :) A week ago we had a cookie exchange with the girls in our small group. Whoever came up with the cookie exchange was a genius. Take one kind of cookie and come home with 7 different kinds. Well, needless to say, my cookie making time wasn't the best mother/child bonding time in the world. And I have felt bad that we haven't really made too many cookies this season. So last night Jack (and Cole from the comforts of his highchair) made the rest of our snowmen. Jack helped dip the peanut butter balls in the chocolate and put the hats on. We had lots of fun. The best part is that Jack only likes the marshmallow hat, and I only like the peanut butter ball snowman. Perfect kind of sharing!!!