Butterflys and Christmas Trees

On Tuesday we bundled up and set out to get our Christmas Tree

Brrrrr....

We found the perfect one and strapped the excited kids and tree in the car!

Meanwhile the girls picked out special ornaments and decorated the little tree in their room all by themselves!

Claire loves handing Emily the ornaments!

It turned out really nice. I didn't change a thing on it!

She was so proud! Tomorrow we will get out their stuffed nativity and talk about the true meaning of the season. It will go under their tree for them to play with.

I am still missing a few key decorations that got left in Lafayette but here is our tree so far!

The kids loved decorating this tree too and even Chris was home to help I was just apparently too busy to take pictures....

What a wonderful start to the Christmas season.

Fall Fun!

We went to the fun 1880's farm for their fall festival. We enjoyed cookies...

Face painting, hammering, and a mini-feast-like gathering. It was lots of fun!

Christy, Jonah and Gene met us at the huge cow farm at Fair Oaks and the kids had lots of fun playing!!

Jonah is such a cute little boy!

Collecting a "leaf bouque" at the zoo

I found a FREE pumpkin patch with a corn maze and sand box.

Claire and Emily LOVED it!!

This is Claire's face when she sees a dog and tries to woof at it. It usually sounds a lot like a gorilla!:)

My little monkey!

We have had such a fun fall so far with lots more to come!!

Meeting Thomas!

Mandie stayed the night after the funeral of Anne's Dad and the next day we went to church and then to Meet Thomas. We even got to meet Sire Topham Hatt as well!

Emily showed Thomas her Percival tattoo she had gotten earlier and both girls waved at him!! Amelia was also super excited to see him!:)

Thomas in all his glory!:)

Renaissance Faire

We decided to take a Sunday and visit the Renaissance Faire in Bristol, WI. Thanks to my brother who scored us some free tickets!! Emily really wanted to see an elephant since our zoo currently doesn't have any and she was super excited to actually ride on it!!We met a princess and had a chat....
....and rode on Dad's shoulders so we could see everything! Emily and Claire loved cheering for Sir Gregory in the Joust tournament!
The pony rides were super fun and long... (complete with the llama they named Osama Bin Llama:))
Claire loved waving as Emily came around and around!:)

Claire's First Birthday

We enjoyed celebrating Claire's First Birthday on vacation in Lancaster, PA with my Mom and Dad, and brother and sister's families. Claire loved her cake!

This is good!!

She couldn't wait and stuck her finger right in the cake!

The ballons kept popping so she wasn't thrilled about that!:)

A happy little girl at the Hershey chocolate factory that morning!

I am ONE!!!

Crazy Eights, Eating and Homeschool!

Emily got crazy eights for her birthday so we tried it out. She was good and beat me twice!!

On another note she picked her own outfit after her gymnastics class today...stylin!:)

Claire discovered she loves baked beans at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Such a sweet pretty girl!

Emily has learned A and M and is now starting math. She LOVES it and so do I. It is so fun to watch her learn!

Emily's Third Birthday Party!

Well until I can figure out how to upload pictures easier here is a little overview of what you are seeing. The decorations were up, the table was set and the bear themed food was made. The porridge (overnight steel cut oatmeal) with "bear"ries, honey, brown sugar, and crand"bear"ries was actually delicious! The guests arrived and the birthday girl was ready all decked out in her custom designed Goldilocks birthday shirt. (Thanks Mandie) Claire loved hanging out with her Godmother and Godfather. The kids enjoyed their table set specially for them with bear cups and bear napkins and plates.Grandma did a wonderful theatrical reading of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Emily loved singing "Happy Birthday" although it did throw her for a loop when we sang her name. Greatmaw made a beautiful Bear cake and cupcakes. After the presents were opened, it was piñata time! Emily gave the piñata love taps and it was cousin Ethan who finally broke it open! Emily asked later why we broke it and we had to explain to her it was meant to be broken. Fun was had by all!