NYE

Another year has come and gone. Although Jeff and I would love to stay up and ring in the New Year like we have in the past, it is no longer in us. We decided to celebrate NY style and ring in the new year at 11pm. Unfortunately, our kids had other plans. At 10:59pm, Tyler woke up and stayed up until 2am. Then, Aubrey woke up and 11:45pm and stayed awake until after midnight. I guess our kids wanted us to see the start of 2011 after all! Here's to a great year ahead!!

December photos

Here are a few of my favorite photos from December...

Aubrey napping while watching cartoons

our attempt at a family photo with Santa

Girl time = refreshing break time

While back in Orion, we visited Aaron and Lissy's beautiful new house. While they still have some work to do and as well as some unpacking and decorating, they have come so far and it looks great! In fact, I might be a little jealous... maybe some day we too will have a nice, new house. :) When it was time to leave, we realized it was going to be a challenge to tear the girls apart, again. Lissy so graciously offered to let Aubrey stayed and she willing agreed without hesitation. That meant that Jeff and I could go back to my parents' house and have a breather as it coincided with Tyler's nap time and the Bears were playing. It was AMAZING! Who knew how relaxing a quiet house could be. Hopefully more of this is to come in our future.... On a side note, the girls had a blast and were as good as can be. They even got to play outside in the freshly fallen (and plowed) snow!

(photos and winter attire are both courtesy of Lissy)

Travel for the last hurrah

The Christmas celebrations came to and end today. I loved our time with my family but am also relieved that there are no more presents to open. I think the kids might even be a little burned out by now. We had a great time in Orion. This weekend was so much less chaotic than most trips back. We spent Christmas day at my parents' house with everyone. The next day we visit Aaron's house (see tomorrow's post) and everyone came over again for pizza. With the kids getting a little bit older, that means less watching and chasing by us. Thank goodness! Maybe next year I'll even be able to participate in games again?

As the Christmas season comes to end, I'd like to reflect on the year. We are so lucky to be surrounded by good health, love and laughter. The holiday season reflects all of this and for that I am grateful.

Santa visits

The kids woke up to find that Santa had visited our house! He left stockings filled to the brim and a tree filled with presents! We are so blessed to be able to spoil our kids and we love it! Seeing our kids excited as can be on Christmas morning is the best gift that we could ever receive. There may be a Santa after all.

I can't believe that Christmas Eve is already here. This past month has just flown by. It seems like yesterday we were putting up our tree and decorating the house.

Tonight we went to Jeff's sister's house to celebrate with the extended Sandberg family. The house was beautifully decorated and all of the kids were decked to the nines. It has come to my realization that the number of Sandberg girls severely surpasses the number of boys. You'll see by the pictures below.

Each year, Santa comes to visit. Last year, Aubrey sat on Santa's lap with no problems. Tyler on the other hand, cried...hard! We weren't sure what to expect but overall the kids did fairly well. Tyler was a little leery of the bearded man and his elf friend but by present 3 or 4, he was running up and grabbing his gift and running back. Aubrey was still fairly shy but agreed to see Santa if Grandma accompanied her. She, also warmed up and even gave Santa a hug before he left.

Let's see if Santa remembers and pays us a visit tomorrow!

smiling and serious....

crafting cousins

Sandberg girls cousins (12 with 3 missing) and boy cousins (4 with 1 missing)

Added vocabulary

Should I be concerned that Tyler now has about 15 words and 4 are Dora related? He can say Dora, Boots, Map and Backpack. Maybe we should watch a little less Dora and a little more Word World. :)

Sandberg gathering

Let the Christmas celebrations begin!

First up is the gathering with the Sandberg immediate family. The evening is filled with family, pizza and lots of gifts to open! The kids are so overwhelmed and in heaven at the same time. Ironically, with all of the new toys that Tyler had to play with, he still went back to Grandma's old toys. Oh well....he can play with the new toys in months to come. The evening was fun and the kids are blessed to receive so many toys and clothes. Now, to find room for everything in our house. :)

near matching shirts

Natalie styling Aubrey's hair---proudly showing off the new 'do

Preschool program

Christmas is coming! We had our first reminder today when Aubrey had her preschool Chrismas program. It's hard to believe that this is her last day of school until 2011!

First off, Aubrey was so adorable in her pretty pink dress. She seemed so proud wearing it, twirling the bottom around when she entered the room.

Second, the kids in her class were so cute! They sang 3 or 4 songs for the parents and did an awesome job. After singing, we had a little luncheon with the other classroom. We sat by Aubrey's friend, Tenley and her mom, Lisa. The girls quickly ate and then ran around and played. It is so precious to see her interact with her little friend. I can only imagine her with her best friend (whomever that is) in 15 years!

Lots to be thankful for

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and we have so much to be thankful for. I am personally thankful for my loving husband, my beautiful children, my wonderful family and my awesome friends. In addition, I am thankful for our health, our home and our happiness. I am blessed for all that I have and wouldn't trade it in for the world.

Each year we alternate the location of our Thanksgiving celebration. This year, it was time to go and visit with my family. Not only are we fed delicious food by my parents, but I also get to spend Black Friday (or the night of) shopping with my sisters and mom. To steal the words from my mom, shopping can be "exhilarating!" We decided this year to begin at 10pm and somehow managed to shop until 7am the next morning. I can honestly say that I haven't pulled an all-nighter since college. But, even though I was completely exhausted the next morning, I wouldn't change a thing. I had a blast.

In addition to eating and shopping, the weekend was filled with family members moving. My brother and his family moved into their beautiful new house. There is some work left to do but it looks great. I can't wait to see it again around Christmas time once they are more settled in. My Aunt Gail and family also moved into a new house. Jeff and I were able to help them with their move. Even though they have a lot of work to do as well to get settled in, I am sure they will be very happy with their new home, too.

Hopefully in the next couple of years we will be moving, too?

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls from the weekend. These two were inseparable. They are best friends now and I can only assume this friendship will build over the years to come. :)

My first order

Yippee! I just received my first order on Sweet Pea Bows! Thanks, Beth! I hope I receive many more in the days, months, years to come! :)

Sweet Pea Bows is open!

After two years of dreaming and several weeks of bow making, Sweet Pea Bows is officially open! I have been making hair bows for Aubrey since she was really little. Of course, this started very early since she was born with a full head of hair! :) I am so excited to start this venture and am so grateful that Jeff stands behind me with my desire. Hopefully it'll take off and my hobby will turn a little profit someday. To find out more information or to view some of my designs, look up Sweet Pea Bows and Accessories on Facebook and become a fan. :)

We just celebrated Natalie's 8th birthday with a costume birthday party. Everyone dressed the part and the costumes were amazing. Happy Birthday to Natalie!

Alice in Wonderland

The vampiress, coach and mermaid

Rainbow Brite

Cowboy and Angel

Cleopatra and the monk

Indian Summer continues.....

I can't believe it's November and the weather is still so beautiful! After preschool, I took the kids to Hidden Lakes for them to run around and for me to get more needed practice with our camera. Success! Here are my favorites...

Jump, slide, jump, slide, repeat....

Our niece, Natalie, turned 9 at the end of October. So, to celebrate she had a "friends" party at Jump Zone and invited Aubrey and Tyler. The kids LOVED it! For 90 minutes straight, they ran from slide to slide, going up, going down, in, out, water break and then some. What we already knew was also confirmed, Tyler is fearless. The slides say 3 and above and at 21 months, Tyler was in and out like a pro. He did need some help climbing the slides but it didn't slow him down too much. His favorite was the Batman slide as shown below. Aubrey also wore a permagrin. Maybe we need to go there more often just to burn some energy. :)

He came.... He saw....

He conquered!