R & R

After a quick trip back to IL for Christmas, the Finn's have been hunkered down like hibernating bears.  Well, not totally, but I haven't left the house yet today, so that's something.  We've tried to see friends and have play dates while we've had the time.  New experience during break: bowling.  We met the family of one of Aidan's classmates at the bowling alley and had a rousing game (set?, match?...whatever it's called).  The rest of winter break has been spent organizing, relaxing, and playing with all the new toys and games the kids got on Christmas morning.

Trying (and mostly failing) to get a picture of the cousins

Annual Christmas Eve photo

Christmas morning

Nerf Gun!

Captain America!

What's it going to be?

The ONLY thing Aidan wanted from Santa

Big girl backpack

Sledding with Uncle BJ;
Note that Aubrey is wearing her backpack AND carrying Aidan's
Captain America shield.  Silly girl. 

 

Little Performers

The kids had their preschool holiday concert last night, and boy did they have a good time!

I took a lick of a peppermint stick, and boy, it sure was yummy.
It used to be on my Christmas tree, but now, it's in my tummy.

*Aidan's favorite song because he got to keep the candy cane.

Jingle Bells

*Aubrey's favorite song because she got to shake the bells.

What?!?!  Christmas is almost here?!?!  I'm not done shopping!

Dear Santa,

I was hoping this year might be different.  I was hoping Aubrey would be nice to Santa.  I did not get what I hoped for.  Please excuse how awful I look.  I had just finished working out, and had not planned on getting my picture taken with Santa.

I call this picture, "You WILL see Santa!"
Look at the determination on my face.  Aubrey didn't stand a chance.

After I told Aubrey that Santa wouldn't bring her anything if she
didn't at least say hi, she warmed up a little bit.

Aidan had no problem asking for what he wants.
(New Transformers)

Not shy in the slightest

O Tannenbaum

We went Christmas tree choppin' last weekend and took the pictures to prove it.  Then I accidentally deleted all of the photos.  I'll leave it to your imagination to determine what expletives came out of my mouth when I realized I didn't have any pictures left from our first foray out to a Christmas tree farm.  Bottom line, the kids enjoyed it, Kyle and I enjoyed it, and the tree is now set up in our living room.  I do have a picture of that.

It Begins

Happy Thanksgiving!  The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes desserts.  Lots of desserts.  I started the season off with a pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and cute little turkey cookies.  No, I did not get the cookies from Pinterest.  This little gem of a recipe came out of a magazine almost 10 years ago.

The kids "helped" me make the cookies. (read: tried to eat the cookies and lick the chocolate frosting while I wasn't looking)  The lesson I learned from my dessert making today is that I enjoy baking, just not with my children in the house.  Kyle took them outside, then up to his dad's house, and it was SO much more fun by myself!  At some point between now and Christmas I hope to make a batch of cut-out cookies to decorate and maybe some candies.  We'll see how often I get the house to myself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween/Birthday

You may remember from years past, Grandpa Finn's birthday is on Halloween. Or as he likes to say, Halloween is on his birthday.  : )  We always get to say happy birthday as he fills the kids buckets with candy.  Good times.

We made it to the top of the hill and back down this year.  Farthest yet.  You know your kids are getting older the farther you get from home on Halloween.  (still needed the double stroller of the last half though)

Cheese

An owl and a bat

Ghosts, Owl, Bat, Bat, Burnsville "B"

A ladybug and a cowboy

October

We've been busy this month.  I've actually taken a decent number of pictures, so here we go:

We have a flock of wild turkeys roaming the neighborhood.  We see them at least once a week.
Kyle asked Aubrey what turkeys say.  Her response:  Yum, Yum.

Our neighborhood friend, Ada, turned 4 and had a bouncy house.

With a slide!

Look at how long her hair is getting!

Cousin Reese (and Preston, and Aunt Kali) came to visit, so we  took them to the Mall of America

Aidan rode on Diego Safari

Aubrey rode Blues Clues

And so did Reese!

Baby Preston is thinking about being a goalie. Aidan will show  him what it's all about.

Portrait from t-ball

Self-portrait.  I just love that he drew himself in his glasses!

Under A Rock

Did anyone else know that 2012 is a Presidential Election year?  I am not kidding you when I say that I just figured it out last week.  And, I had to think really hard to decide if it really was an election year.  In case you've been too busy with your own life, much like me, the answer is Yes.  We will be electing (or re-electing) a president this year.

Seriously?  How does that even happen? How was I so out of touch with life?  I know that MN has a "Marriage" law on the ballot that would limit legal marriage to a man and a woman.  I know that our state representatives are up for re-election.  Yet, I was not sure that President Obama had been in office for four years.  Granted, I've been kind of busy having babies and raising toddlers the last four years, but still..that's a pretty lame excuse.  I promise to be more civic minded the next four years.  As long as there are no more babies. ; )

Checking In

We're still here.  Just busy.  September was filled with trying to find a new routine.  I squeaked in twelve visits to the gym...don't know where I found the time, but I made it.  Just barely.

Aidan started playing t-ball on Thursday evenings.  It has been wonderful weather for it.  We'll get a taste of the cold tomorrow night when we sit outside, freezing, as we watch Aidan run towards third base instead of first. : )

Aubrey is still her sassy little self.  She has a lot of opinions, and they are usually the exact opposite of whatever the other person is thinking.  This song runs through my mind whenever I am battling with her:

(click on it) The Beatles

Kyle is finishing up the last course for his Certified Financial Planner certification.  He is still working three jobs, but only has to "go to work" in the morning.  I am loving that the kids are home, napping in the afternoon.  When the kids are happy, the parents are happy.  At least usually.  We get about one more month of this routine, then we will have to find a new one when hockey starts in November.

One day at a time.  That's my motto.

On the Bandwagon

Mommy/Son date night at the Twins game

Aubrey got to go along the next time, and quickly figured out its more fun to run up
and down the row than it is to sit and watch baseball

Aidan, on the other hand, enjoys watching the game

I corralled Aubrey for about two seconds to take this picture

Go Twins!

Dollar hot dog night at the Twins game=stomachache for Aidan at 4am.  Lesson learned.

There are no fair-weather Twins fans in this house.  Oh no.  In fact, we support the Twins MORE when they are performing poorly.  Why?  Because ticket prices are way cheaper, and people give us free tickets because they don't want to go! : )  Aidan has now been to three Twins games in the last month, and we haven't had to pay for any of the tickets.  How awesome is that? Aubrey even got to experience her 1st Twins game last night, courtesy of Kyle's boss giving him not one, not two, but SIX free tickets to Monday night's game.  We took the whole family plus Kyle's friend.  The best thing about free tickets is that you don't feel obligated to stay for the whole game.  Aidan and I went last Friday night and left at the bottom of the 3rd.  On Monday night, we stayed through the sixth...it was also 80 degrees outside, so it was a much nicer night.  We are having a blast supporting the Twins.  Next up, the Yankees.

You Know You're Not 20 When...

The Finn family headed to a wedding Saturday evening, and wow! I am definitely not in my early 20's anymore!

Examples:

1) Every single woman that was not over 40 (excluding me and the other mom of 3 kids sitting at our table) was in a skin-tight Lycra dress of varying shades of color that barely covered their rear-ends. Seriously.

2) After dancing a few songs in heels, I felt like a I had gotten a major work-out in my glutes.

3) Kyle and I were both ready and willing to head home at 9pm, even though Grandpa Finn had offered to baby sit the kids.

4) After going to bed at 10pm, I felt like I could have "slept-in" past 7:30am.  Alas, Aubrey was up at 6:30am, and I felt like a bad parent for leaving her in her crib for more than an hour.

5) You get 10 pictures of your kids and none of yourself.

Daddy and Aubrey

This little chickadee was Cuh-Razy

Me: Move Closer.
Me: Close enough so that you're touching.
And this is what I got. : )

Season Finale

Just like all good t.v. shows have a finale, so must my summer vacation.  Two weeks of relaxation left, then back to school.  I came crashing back to reality today when I signed the kids up for daycare.  Kyle and I have been going back and forth for a few weeks now...was he going to work at home and we would put Aidan in 3x week preschool?  Should we put the kids in a home daycare, which is half the price of a center?  Could Kyle possibly work half-days?

We got our answer this morning when Kyle met with his boss.  When I go back to school, Kyle is going to work mornings at the office and afternoons at home.  That still left the question of daycare, so I visited an in-home daycare not far from our house.  I left under-whelmed.  There were 11 kids running around a smallish house, one that sat in front of a video game the entire 30 minutes I was there, and clutter everywhere.  I'm all about saving money, but I knew instantly that this environment would not suit Aidan's constant need for intellectual stimulation.  After calling Kyle, we both agreed that the kids will go back to KinderCare half time.  They get preschool in the morning, then will come home for naps.   More expensive, but I am 100% confident that they like being there and will be learning academic and social skills.  Whew, I'm glad that's taken care of.

To cap off our summer, the kids and I are headed back down to IL this coming weekend.  We'll visit with my mom's side of the family on Sunday, and I have a reading workshop in Madison on Monday.  If my sister hasn't had her baby by Aug 20, she's going to be induced that day.  Either way, we should get to meet Baby Boy Montgomery before coming back to MN. A great ending to a great summer!

Dear God

Aidan has had a lot of questions and comments about God lately.  He attended Sunday School last year, and we go to church (almost) every Sunday...not that he pays much attention, but he's picked up bits and pieces. Here are some examples:

While out on a walk in the neighborhood, we passed a tree stump that had been carved into some sort of sculpture.  I didn't even notice it, but Aidan was startled and said, "Mom, STOP! They've got JESUS(!) in their yard!!"  I had no idea what he was talking about and he started to get really upset with me that I couldn't see Jesus.  I finally understood that he thought the tree stump looked like Jesus. (I still don't see it.)

On a visit to our neighborhood playground, we found a lacrosse ball. (hard, white, rubber ball for those of you who have never seen one...like me, before we found it).  I told Aidan what it was and that we could bring it home.  As we were walking, he looks up and me and asks, "Did God drop this from the sky when he was dying?"  Um, what?  Instead of laughing, which I kind of wanted to do, I asked him what he meant.  "Well, Jesus died on the cross, and this is a "the cross" ball, so is it God's?"  After a discussion about LAcrosse and THE cross, he now understands that God did not magically drop it out of the sky. : )

Road Trip

The kids and I made our annual trek down to IL last week.  We helped Reese celebrate her 2nd birthday, visited the merry-go-round, ate some yummy ice cream, did lots of swimming, atv, and tractor riding, and had a good time playing from the time we woke up until it was time to go to bed.  I bet Nana and Poppa are STILL recovering. : )

Perhaps the only time Aidan lounged the entire trip.  He is constantly on the go.

Again.  Again.  Again.  She loved the merry-go-round

She can ride it by herself!

Off for a ride.  See you later.

Aidan l.o.v.e.d. the slip n' slide

So did Aubrey.

Inspectors

Happy Birthday, Reese!

Surprisingly,  this did not end in tears.

ELMO! (and a very pregnant Kali)

Cheese!  (literally, since it is hanging out of her mouth)

Double Trouble

Cousins!