My Christmas play list is one of the kids favorite things to listen to this time of year. Last night we spent a good hour singing and dancing by the fire. It doesn't really get much better in life then watching children dance...so not worried about what they look like. Linc was running around like a mad man belting out the Ramones (who have some of THE best Christmas songs). He kept saying he was a rock and roll man. Ian was just holding a stuffed animal laughing and spinning in circles. Liv had some pretty great moves of her own.

Oh sweet Lincoln. Last night was his preschool Christmas program. Jonny had to work late so I took the kids in the pouring rain (thankfully it wasn't cold) down to the preschool for a night of sweet festivities. We started out in the gym and the little people all paraded in and stood in a line in front of us. There were a lot of people there and I would be overwhelmed...and I'm not 4. For the first song Lincoln wouldn't turn around, he was nervous.Liv got his attention so he could see us in the crowd....  then turned around so we could see him singing for the rest of the program. I'm so glad he did because it was the sweetest thing ever! It made me cry. I love that little boy so much, he is so smart and sweet. After the "singing program" we met in the basement for cookies and punch and a gift from Santa (books the parents had sent in earlier in the week)
Liv asked "mom, did you wrap this"? Lincoln informed her quite serious "These gifts are from the North Pole!" They ate way to many cookies...played around....then we came home and went to bed.
Sorry these pictures are so horrible...

                                                               Linc avoiding the crowd
                         

                                                                             

Olivia had some art she made in school displayed at the library....
here she is posing with it last night.
& as a bonus, cute ian playing in the tub:)

We fixed Christmas. It was sad to not have a pretty glowing Christmas tree. So Jonny and I took the kids to get a new tree. The boy scouts have a little tree lot set up in the next town over, so we headed over there to get a nice big tree in the 20 dollar range. The kids loved it and now we have a pretty glowing tree again. Louie cat also loves the new tree and spends a lot of time sleeping under it.

Last night was also Sinterklaas ...a Dutch/Belgian holiday we have celebrated with the kids for a long time. They put out a wooden shoe by the fireplace and in the morning it is filled with goodies and such.

I have also been trying to plan a bunch of things in preparation for our big car trip out west...do you have any games or activities or things you use on long car trips that I should know about??

We put our Christmas tree up on Sunday night. The kids (especially liv) love to help match up colors on the pole (aka trunk) and the branches. It's artificial. We got it all nice and pretty but Ian just couldn't leave it alone. He was climbing behind it and pulling the ornaments off. Yesterday we were taking an inventory of the candy canes and he pulled something and it fell right over on him. In the crash the plastic feet broke that hold it up...so I had to take it all down and put it away. Im feeling very on the ball...getting my Christmas tree put up and taken down before December even starts! Ian is fine by the way.

We had a nice Thanksgiving Weekend around here. Our friends swung by on their way to visit family...we had a really fun time. We met at the Museum of Science and Industry downtown. My kids really liked it, and I really liked it as well. ..very cool museum. The lobby was decorated with amazing Christmas trees...so pretty and festive:) They stayed the night and we all left on Thanksgiving morning. We spent the weekend in Bloomington and got back on Sunday. I was so surprised how many houses in our neighborhood decorate with lights for Christmas. Lincoln was so so excited and yelling about each one. I went to the doctor on Monday and he seems to think I have a throat infection...I know I have some sort of thing that I just can't shake...hopefully the medication will help. I feel like I have not been well since I got pregnant....so tired of feeling like this.
Less than 4 months to go until she gets here....I'm trying not to think about it so it goes faster:)

                                           
                                                      here is the new baby....at 22 weeks
                                                                           its a girl :)

Its been a house full of sickos around here lately. We all have these horrible colds, and coughs. liv has a full on sinus and ear infection...so so fun. luckily ian is doing okay which means we can sleep at night. And poor lincoln woke up yesterday with his little eye swollen shut. I think we are finaly on the mend and can all be healthy for Thanksgiving.
This is our new chair. We got it with our Christmas money from jonny's folks.(Thank You!) Its called a seat and a half...so we can sit in it together and watch a movie. Also all the kids fit in it at once...
Jonny and I(mostly jonny at this stage of wood work)are working on an ottoman to go with it...i'll keep you posted. 

These are some of ians first steps. He has progressed alot since this was taken, and now toddles all over the house. he always walks with his little fists up by his ears, i guess for balance. He gets so happy and pround when he makes it to where he is going.

we had a nice halloween...it started off with our wards trunk or treat on saturday, then costume parades and school parties, then the trick or treating. There are an amazing amount of kids in this neighborhood! The houses were mostly all decorated cute and spooky and the kids had fun and got tons of candy.

 two little skeletons and a vampire

i love this age....so sweet.

We had a fun weekend filled with pumpkins and mud and lots of friends. Lincoln and I went to the pumpkin patch with his pre-school class on friday. We rode on a hay ride and pet farm animals and stepped in lots of mud....and picked a pumpkin. Ian stayed with a girl in the ward and had a lovely time playing.

then friday night our friends from fort wayne came to visit...we had such a fun time. I think i saw olivia 2 times this weekend. She was so busy with her little friends hunting for wooly bear caterpillars and playing in the mud and riding bikes and on and on...it was so nice for her. And of course lincoln and his little friend played like crazy as well. The guys did guy stuff, ya know...building motorcycles, playing in the garage and beating us at cards. And I got some much needed girl time to just hang out and talk to my dear friend. so nice of them to come.

                       saturday fun.

 I just can't get over this amazing fall weather...we have had no rain, sunny skies and 75-80 degree weather for days and days....im not going to be able to say goodbye to this! here are the kids playing after school today.... And classic ian always going for a walk down the sidewalk.(minus the actual walking part)

five things that make me happy....no particular order

1..it's like fall in the movies. This weather is so amazing and the trees are so bright and lovely. I went for a bike ride the other day and the path was lined with wild flowers and the sun was shining and the leaves were   crunching...so beautiful.
2. I saw olivia riding her bike home from the park...she was struggling so hard and wobbling down the road working so hard to keep lincoln (who was also on the bike) and her going...so sweet.
3. Finding the nicest cutest moccasins in olivias size at the thrift shop for one dollar....and her loving them. She wears them to school everyday and looks so sweet.
4. Ian...oh that sweet lumpy baby.
5. I got to go fall camping & all day yard sale-ing with jonny....it really doesn't get much better than that.

              Lincoln wanted to make some Halloween decorations for our house, so he drew this family of ghosts and I helped him cut them all out (his orders). He said it was dad, and mom, and liv, and him , and ian.
"And that big blue one at the top can be Will". (his friend from fort wayne) he went on to draw some serious monsters, and a pretty great bat.
                                                   
                                                

I knew about this very nice family who had an enormous amount of grapes they had grown and didn't want. So I thought I may like to try my hand at canning some grape juice. I watched some you tube videos asked some friends, and read up a bit. Everyone seemed to do it a bit different....the point as far as i could tell was to make everything very very clean and very very hot. My juicer (which is amazing) didn't fit the bill for this type of thing so I borrowed a steam juicer and it worked great. I am excited to have some yummy grape juice for the holiday season...so yummy mixed with seltzer. Who knows I may even try this canning stuff again :)

                                          waiting for the school bus....

olivia has been trying to make these roller skates work for years. who would have thought some thrift store cowboy boots would be the thing to fit. jonny is helping her get them attached to her feet....because i have no skate key.

beautiful day for playing at the park

*Well...we are finally getting settled around here. We had a big weekend a bit ago with lots of family coming in town for livs baptism. We had a good time and liv was so happy that everyone was able to come.....thanks!

*Lincoln has turned a corner with preschool and told me that he likes it now, there is no more crying or holding on to my leg....he just says bye and goes....im so proud of him! At dinner he often talks about things they do at school, I can tell he is enjoying it.

*I have been enjoying wearing sweaters and making chili for dinner, and the other night we used our fireplace...the kids thought that was the coolest, and linc laid in front of it like a cat for quite a while. Now if it could just never get below 60 degrees during the day that would be really good.

*I got a new calling as primary secretary, no matter where i go i just can't escape primary :)  

* Ian has been sick for a while with a bad cold then the other night he was so fussy and couldn't sleep. Jonny and I had him snuggling with us on the couch while we watched a movie. He finally relaxed with the crying and was a happy little potato, then out of nowhere tons of puke.... all over jonny  Poor jonny handled it very well for someone who can't even stand when the kids drool on him. Ian had a rough couple days but is doing much better now....and his sweet old self.

Sweet little linc had his first day of pre-school. He left crying....but came home happy. We are going to try again today and hope it goes better. Here he is with his little backpack....so handsome.

I took the kids to the little children's museum they have near us. They had lots of fun playing and running around like crazies. We haven't made it to the city yet...but i hear they have some pretty great museums there also. we will see. So the rain gutters need cleaned out at our house....or rather they did last week. During the rain we would get this big waterfall by the front door. Ian was so determined to get into it to play, so as you can see....he did. After a while i brought him in kicking and screaming. Such a little water baby....just like the rest of them.

Liv turned 8! (a while ago) sorry about the delay. She requested pumpkin pie....here it is all lit up with her candles. She is growing so fast. We love you miss Olivia!

liv started 3rd grade yesterday.....

here she is on her first day of school!

Ian sat on the ground holding his fat little foot up in the air by the ankle...trying for a good ten minutes to get olivias shoe on. Never getting upset just sitting there holding that sweet little baby foot.
Lincoln asked me to dance with him yesterday....during a dance scene in a movie we were all watching.
we would spin and spin and he had this sweet little trying-not-to-smile-to-much face, cause dancing isn't suppose to be so fun when your a wicks man.
liv finally saved up enough money to order this doll she has been wanting forever...it came in the mail yesterday and has been going everywhere with her. She designed this sweet idea for a doll carrier she could wear on her chest made up of several compartments for her dolls to be carried around....very creative but honestly I probably won't be making that any time soon. :)

My new bike is so great. Its a trek belleville and is really really pretty (plus has gears for extreme speed :)

I love the details and the amazing thoughtfulness of jonny....who brought it home yesterday after work.

I had no idea he was bike shopping for me but he picked out a beauty!

I will be picking up a bike trailer( for the little ones )this week and we will hit the trails...this area has bike trails for days.

so fun.

north aurora

we are finally here. The boxes are almost emptied and we are slowly settling in. my goal is to have the house up and running before school starts...we'll see. I am trying to look at the good things....There are so many beautiful farms out here all around us...the grocery stores are better, the boys are loving their shared bedroom...they were playing cars in there together the other night, so so cute. liv is loving the ability to jump on her bike and go for a ride. have to make this short I have so so much to do....

 We had a fun filled weekend of camping on the 8th, 9th & 10th. We went with some good friends over to Ohio and stayed at Mary Jane Thurston state park. The campground was right on the river and the kids took full advantage of that... spending most daylight hours in the water "shelling". We caught fireflies, had some temporary pet clams, ate ice cream, rode bikes, read magazines, layed on quilts, made summertime family memories...good stuff. It was really hot, and we were pretty gross and dirty, and my eyes almost fell out....but I had a really fun time with really great people. I even had some yummy birthday cakes!

making some doughnuts...yummy.

I've been really looking into getting 2 new chairs for our living room set up. We have a couch that I love the design of...and now I need some chairs to go with. I am looking for something in a fabric...no leather or fiberglass for these. I am so in love with most stuff jens risom did...and would love to find a pair of these beauties. I'm going to start saving ALL my money so when the time comes I can snatch them up! Don't they look comfy.

I love the images of summer. I am lucky and on a daily basis get to see the cutest things I could imagine...
linc holding multiple toads, tan little bodies running around jumping in the pool, watermelon smiles and
outdoor naps, reading in the sunshine. And so many more..this is one of my favorite...little liv in a swim cap.

 Olivia and I got to have some girl time yesterday. I love spending time alone with just us girls...we need to have those one on one times more often. We have a busy, busy, overwhelming summer planned so I hope to squeeze some more quality time in. We are working on the yard sale together which will be fun..she will be selling baked goods...
Here she is getting a manicure at the salon. So cute.

So a couple nights ago I was awakened by a mouse in our room squeaking and carrying on....or so I thought.
We had a mouse in our house after we first moved in and Louie helped us catch it so this seemed possible, although there is no food in our bedroom so I was so surprised that a mouse would be in there. Anyway  we couldn't find it..The next night I woke up again, only this time Louie was on the case so we knew right where to look for it. There is was crawling on the floor...but it was a bat! A bat in our bedroom....how does this even happen. I felt like I was in scooby-doo. It started flying around the room and it was very funny to jonny who was laughing in amazement. All I could think about was that it was for sure going to get in my hair...and that I really wanted to go get liv so she could see it. After about an hour of bat wrangling we think it flew out the window that jonny had opened for it. Last night there was no noise so I think it is finally gone.

I love thursdays...my green bean delivery comes...which means yummy yummy food. Here is an example of this weeks box. I forgot to go in and customize my order and just took the stock shipment for the week. No complaints... all this stuff is awesome. I love the fresh/(local when in season) organic produce, but almost just as much I love the grocery store you can shop from and have added on to your order. I got the most amazing bbq sauce last week made with local indiana honey, grass fed meats for less than I can get them at my local store.And the best eggs from mobile hen houses. All this and no up front costs... they charge me weekly and I can tell them no thanks...im done at any time. And they bring it to my door! No wrestling babies at the farmers market...or old produce gross and wrinkled from the grocery store. I am going to seriously miss this when I move. a lot.

I think I can really start to enjoy summer now. Memorial day was a beautiful day..the sun was out, the air was hot, and no rain. We had our friends over for a pretty sweet pool party/cook out. The kids were in the pool from 2:30 until 7:30 having the time of their life. As Liv was dragging up to bed she asks me  "why am I so tired"? Kids are so cute...It's days like these that remind me of how boring my life would be without them.
Really whats a pool party without several tiny little swimsuit bums running around. Ian had his first ice cream cone. He would make these awesome faces (that I missed on camera ) of delight mixed with the pain from the freezing ice cream. Oh what a fun day.