Santa's Visit with the Fire Department

Every year we wait for an hour in the freezing cold for Santa to come and visit the neighborhood. He is chauffeured around by the Fire Department, bringing candy canes and lollipops for all who are willing to brave the elements for his arrival. While the parents are usually grumbling and frozen, it seems to be a delight for the children so we do it year after year. And after it is all said and done, we always go home to warm soup and hot chocolate, discussing what a great tradition it is. We love our neighborhood friends and it is a great few minutes of chatting and hanging out, so although we are usually frozen and tired by the end, we really do love the tradition.

Christmas Card time!

Remember the days when I actually hand-made my Christmas cards? Actually, remember the days when I actually SENT a Christmas card?! I don't have my card-making stuff anymore is one excuse I have. Then I just don't have the time to design a great layout on Photoshop either. Well, I can officially say that after checking out the great designs and layouts that Shutterfly has to offer, I am out of excuses this year! They have hundreds of designs for anything from Christmas cards to address labels to photo gifts and just plain photo prints. I have used Shutterfly for great photo books but I am excited to use them this year for my Christmas cards. By the way, I need your current addresses, so if you've moved or you think I have forgotten about you, send me a note with your address so you can get a Shutterfly card from me! :) Maybe I'll use this one:

Or this one:

So many to choose from! I can't wait to dig in and narrow it down a little. So with that, I'm starting to come up with one more excuse not to have my cards sent on time this year: which one of their dozens do I choose?!!

Halloween at the Suttons

We ventured over to Heather and Jayson's for our annual Halloween visit and had such a great time! The weekend was filled with soccer and baseball games (guess who won?) and then Kevin met up with us just in time to get our pictures taken. A generous friend of Heather's donated her time in a photography shoot for Heather's family and we got to come along for a couple great shots too! They turned out amazing and I tear up thinking about how blessed that Heather has such a great relationship with her neighbors.
The neighborhood had the annual block party where all of the children dressed up, had a potluck dinner, pinata and trick-or-treating. We all had such a great time! During the party, the neighbors also unveiled a website dedicated to Heather and her "Journey of Hope." About two weeks ago Heather was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. Heather is an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have her as a sister. Check out her website at  http://www.heatherandjayson.myevent.com/ and see if there is any way that you would be willing to help. Even if you are not in a position to donate financially, a prayer on her behalf would be greatly appreciated!!

Here are a few shots taken by Deborah Saull Photography:

The cousins together



In the beautiful garden archway



Cutie cousins

My beautiful sister, Heather

Striking a pose

Not to be out-done by his brother...

My three treasures

Crazy Pianist

Cameron loves his piano and he goes CRAZY when he gets to play on it. He is a Beethoven in the making!

Touch a truck

On Saturday a friend told me about "Touch a Truck" sponsored by her township and it was a great activity for the boys. They parked every kind of truck and tractor you could think of and allowed all the kids to climb on, sit in, beep the horn and ask questions to the pros who use them. We even saw the helicopter land before the boys got to climb in and check it out. It was so fun!

Carson's dream come true: driving the garbage truck. You can just see how giddy he is!

Taking out the trash..

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

I just wanted a picture of the boys in front of the firetruck, but the fireman jumped in too! Tiff, does Jimmy do that too? :)

The helicopter after it landed:

Driving the school bus:

This was hilarious: the man working the tow truck would lower the hook for each child to grab, then he would swing them around for a minute. It was so funny!

So much fun!

Fun with Daddy!

Now I know why I had such a weird feeling about our original flight schedule and had to change it. We would have missed out on such a FUN week with Daddy!
The boys have been able to go to birthday parties, swim, play at the indoor rec. center pool, go to the Science Center, go to the zoo, go blueberry picking (and eating), Home Depot Day, re-paving the driveway (well not so much with the boys on that one...) and even a trip to Rita's for some Italian Ice, and the best part is that we still have TWO more days left with Daddy. The boys have loved every minute and I know that Kevin has too. I'm not sure he wanted to put all of that on his agenda for his days off, but I know that he has decided it was way worth it and so much more fun than watching Argentina get smoked. :)

I am a bum and don't have pictures of anything except today, but here are a few fun blueberry shots:

Even Cameron tried to pick a few...

This is so random, but on the way to the farm, we saw this family of turkeys in a neighbors hard. There was a Mommy, Daddy (in front but he's behind the house), and NINE baby turkeys. They were so cute!

Look alike: which one?

Is Cameron more like Carson:

Or more like Connor:

We can't decide!

Big Boys!

Cameron and Connor both had their well-checks last month and here are the stats:

Cameron at age 4 months:
18 lbs
26 1/4 inches

90% in height and weight

Connor at age 4 years:
39 lbs

42 inches

75% in height and weight

Big boys, although Connor is slowing down a little.

Cameron is now on solid foods and eating rice cereal twice a day and is enjoying the taste of peaches.

Connor had a great birthday and is thrilled to be 4!

Visit to Uncle Marc's!

Last weekend we made a quick trip up to Rochester, NY so Kevin could take his step 1 of the board exam (and to visit Uncle Marc, of course). While Kevin was enduring 8 hours of testing, Marc and I took the boys to the children's museum and had a great time. Here are the highlights:

A mini "Wegmans" inside the museum proved that boys really do like to shop (and now Carson has a new addition to the "What do I want to be when I grow up" list).

Connor shopping:


Connor buying:

Connor scanning:

Connor charging:

Carson was very picky. They gave you a limit of 5 items and only the best would do. His pick included salmon, melon and ice cream.

Inside the butterfly garden within the museum:

Watching intently:

Carson was thrilled that a butterfly actually landed on him. He thought he must be sweet. I didn't disagree.

Carson found his beloved "fake snow" and was thrilled.

Building a castle with Uncle Marc:

How did Marc get away with watching the baby while I squeezed into this thing? Going around once was fun. Going around 6 times was not so much.

Driving the taxi around Sesame Street:

Even Cameron had a good time.

After we left Marc's house on Saturday, we checked out the lilac festival:

Then we headed to the church history sights:

Too bad the boys were more interested in looking for caterpillars and blowing dandelions than they were about trying to make this a spiritual experience. Maybe next time.

We also stopped at Niagara Falls:

Before getting on the boat. Even the baby got a little poncho!

If I can ever get the video to upload I will post the video before and after. It's pretty funny.

Thanks again, Marc and Laura for letting us bum off you by staying at your place! Marc, it was great to see you one last time (sorry, but I don't think we'll see you much in Rochester, MN)!