Jayden & Natalie singing Rudolph

Jayden and Natalie (my niece) both got microphones for Christmas this year. Here they are singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on Christmas Eve. :)

Merry Christmas!

I know it's been a long time since I posted anything....but it's been so busy! Corey started coaching varsity wrestling at Boyceville (where he teaches), so he is gone most weeknights and Saturdays for tournaments. I have been holding the fort down by myself.....which isn't easy with 3 little kids! :) We had a wonderful Christmas with our families. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my family and Santa stopped by too! We then had Corey's family at our house on Christmas Day.....and Santa stopped by again! The kids were very lucky to have Santa stop by two times and give them presents. The kids got SO many presents.....Cars race track, footballs, Cars pillow pets, puzzles, microphone, make-up, jewelry box, etc. I could go on and on.... :) They were spoiled! Anyhow, I thought I would share some pictures of the kids from Christmas. Enjoy!

Surprise 30th Birthday Party

Corey threw me a surprise 30th birthday party last weekend and I had NO clue. :) He actually made up this whole story about a "Teacher of the Year" award banquet that he got invited to, since he was one of the finalists. This was put on by the Chippewa Valley Teachers Association and the letter he showed me looked very real. He did a great job at writing the letter and contacting all my friends and family to plan the party. I can't believe everyone was able to keep it from me for so long. I guess he has been planning it for months. It was held at Loopys and I didn't catch on that it wasn't an award banquet until we got there and everyone yelled "Surprise!" He got me good. :) The kids had a fun time playing in the sand volleyball courts - it was like one giant sandbox! Here are some pics.

Halloween!

The kids had a lot of fun this halloween. They were able to wear their costumes 3x for different parties. The first one was a Halloween party at Jayden's school, then we went to a Halloween party at the Hallie town hall and then finally trick or treating on Halloween night. :) They had a lot of fun trick-or-treating and this year the boys were able to participate a lot more. They said "trick or treat" and "thank you". It was nice when people just handed out the candy, rather than letting the kids pick out candy, because Peyton likes to take 5-10 minutes to dig through all the candy before deciding which one he wants. He is very indecisive.....where did he get that from?? ;) Jayden was a witch, Peyton was a dragon and Landon was a cheetah. The boys were getting really good at letting out roars for people. Here are some pictures.







Here are the pumpkins Corey carved: Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater (from the Cars movie)

We got a new puppy!!

Jayden has been asking us for a puppy for over 2 years now and we always knew we wanted to get one for the kids, but just wanted to wait until the boys were a little older. Corey and I both grew up always having dogs, so we know how much fun they are for kids. I have been looking for older dogs for sale on craigslist and at the humane association, but usually found out they weren't good with small children. I finally found one on craigslist in Eau Claire that was 5 months old. She is a beagle terrier mix and is so cute! She will probably only get to be about 20-25 lbs and is so cuddly! She lets the kids pick her up all the time, licks their faces, and doesn't seem to mind the kids being rough with her. We named her Camie. Here are some pictures.

Pumpkin Patch

We brought the kids to the Pleasant Valley pumpkin patch last weekend and they had so much fun! They had a ton of fun activities for the kids, a petting zoo, bouncy house and even a hayride! We went with my Papa & Grandma Karen, and my sister & her family. The kids really enjoyed it and we had beautiful weather.

Boys in 3 yr old Preschool

I am a little late on posting this, but the boys started 3 yr old preschool last month and seem to really be enjoying it! They are learning their letters and numbers and are talking so much more! They love wearing their backpacks, because they feel like such big boys. Here are some pictures from their 1st day of school.

Jayden's 6th Birthday Party!

Jayden had her birthday party this past weekend (even though her actual birthday isn't until Sept. 14th). I can't believe how much time flies and my little girl is 6 years old already! She is definitely growing up fast. We had a nice party with both of our families and friends, and she even got to have 2 friends sleepover after the party. They had a blast! She got a lot of nice presents, such as dress up clothes, jewelry making stuff, craft stuff, her own camera, baseball helmet, packer jersey and more! Here are some pictures from her party.