Merry Christmas!  We haven't been on here for a while because we are out of picture memory.  So this will be short.  Here are a few pictures from our Christmas card and Santa time.  I'll add more pics of what's been happening soon.

We have enjoyed a wonderful November and December.  We went to MI for Thankgiving.  Nick, Emma and I were there for the week starting with a Zebrowski family Thanksgiving and stayed until Kris and Ryan met us on Thursday.  We enjoyed a lot of time with my family and took the kids to a old time town (in Flint no less) where they had a train ride with light displays and Santa! We all enjoyed our time in MI.

  We have spent December prepping for Christmas. The kids enjoyed making a list of all the things we would do for the season.  And we were proud when we crossed off the last thing - and even added a few new ones.
We stayed home alone this Christmas for the first time since we had kids.  It was a quiet and relaxed celebration - although the kids already asked if we could go to MI next year.

Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Patch

As is our now normal tradition, we go to a pumpkin patch for our friend Jackson's birthday party.  It's now 5 years running!  The kids always enjoy their time there.  There are animals to pet.  Emma and Nick love that part - they both had no problem hugging a sheep.  There is a small hay maze - Ryan's favorite part.  Plus a hay ride to pick a pumpkin and birthday cake!  We had a great time this year, even though it was cold.  

One picture below is from the corn maze/pumpkin patch that we went to with the Boy Scouts.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got, since my camera battery died.  Ryan went with the other boys, and Emma, Nick and I got lost and had to get help out.  That's what happens when you let 2 and 4 year olds make the directions!  It was fun day too!

Happy Halloween!

 I figured I better post these pics before Thanksgiving!!  We had a rainy cold Halloween here.  The kids were all very excited and got a ton of candy.  Ryan picked out the Hulk after seeing The Avengers.  Emma picked out her geisha costume from a catalog - surprised all of us!  Nick's Army costume was bought in last year's after Halloween sale.  He didn't really care!  Daddy took all 3 by himself this year (my neck was bothering me and I could barely turn it).  Nick was back home in less than a half hour - too cold and he was afraid of the fires people had going.  Overall, a sugary night!

Random Pictures (Sep/Oct)

 Here are some random pictures from my ipod.  Most of these have been on Facebook, so if you follow me, you've seen them.  But they give a good synopsis of what's been going on at our house.

Above, I took Nick and Emma to the Museum Center on a beautiful day.  This is one of my favorite pictures.  Above right is Nick at swim class - he loves to have his face in the water.

Right is Emma after her first bangs haircut - which was due to her second self cut.

 Left and right are pictures from taking Emma and Nick to the park one day.  They enjoy the swings too much - I wish they would run around more!

 The two pictures on the right are of Ryan.  The first one is from my birthday dinner.  The kids think bike racks are places to jump over and under while I sing the ABC's (to minimize time that I have to stand there).  The second one is of Ryan in his new robe - he doesn't use it a lot, but it's been too warm here to need it.

 The picture on the left is Ryan's rendition of Dancing With The Stars.  He and Emma's baby danced a very strange dance.

Right is a picture of Nick at Emma's gymnastics class.  He loves to climb up the wall ladder and stand there!

 Left is a picture of Emma's new winter coat with the new hat and gloves.  She was very excited.

Right is another gymnastics picture.  This time open gym and both of them climbed the rope ladder - this is Emma's favorite thing.

This last picture is from last weekend.  I took Nick and Emma to Michigan so I could run the Detroit Half Marathon.  It goes to Canada over the bridge and back through the tunnel.  I really enjoyed the race - my favorite so far.  This picture is what Nick wants to do the entire time we are at my parents house - namely, play Nanny's purple phone.

Zoo time with friends

Nick, Emma and I went to the zoo two weeks ago with Emma's (boy)friend from school, Ethan and Ethan's mom and sister (Megan and Leighton).  It was a little chilly in the morning, but ended up being a beautiful day.  I've never seen a penguin get as close to the fence as Emma had one.  We got to enjoy the day and all the animals we saw.  We didn't realize it when we were there, but one of the giraffe's was having her baby at the time.  So we'll have to head back soon to see her.

Go Blue!

 For my birthday this year, Kris and the kids got me tickets to see Michigan play Purdue.  4 tickets each with $5 concessions was incredibly inexpensive.  So my wonderful mom came down to spend the day with Nick, while the four of us headed to West Lafayette.

Purdue has a beautiful campus and at one point or another both Ryan and Emma said they were going to go to college there.  We said that would be fine with us!

 Since the game wasn't until 4:00, we spend part of the afternoon at the BWW watching the Penn State game with the Michigan Alumni Association.  We thank them for our face stickers!  We tailgated for the rest of the afternoon - which meant the kids and I went to the park while Kris watched the game on his ipod in the car.

We had a great time at the game and were happy with the outcome of the game!  Go Blue!  Ryan enjoyed it, but Emma was bored within minutes.  They liked the band and cheerleaders though!

 After the game, we watched the band and walked around.  We were so late getting out that we happened to walk by when the team was coming out to get on the bus.  So we waited there to see - Denard!  Didn't get his picture because Brady Hoke was so close and my camera is not that fast!  Oh well!

It was a wonderful present and I was so thankful to spend it with my family!

Random Things

 Here are some random pictures from September.

Here is Nick - my big kid.  He was running around all day and just looked so big.  Of course, he wouldn't slow down for me to get a picture of the big kid!!

 Ryan joined Cub Scouts this year.  It's the first thing since 2 year old soccer, that he has got to do that was fun and not therapy!  Thankfully, also not a sport!  He is enjoying his time - and getting some bonding time with Daddy.  He has a few friends from previous school years in scouts with him and is really enjoying it.  Here are pictures from his first pack meeting.  He got his Wolf Badge!

Emma, as everyone knows, is our little Wisconsin fan!  She's giving her big 'Go Big W' here!  God love her.  We wouldn't mind her going to school there.  At least it's not OSU.

The picture below is from our girls weekend.  Jodie invited Amanda, Brooke and I down to stay in Lexington with her.  We had a great time at the wineries and out with some of her friends.  I was so glad for a weekend with just the girls!