we think you're SUPER!!!

jesse and i dug deep into the creative vaults, trying to find a super awesome gift for the kiddos...and i think we did it:) one simple tutorial, a trip to the fabric store, hours up in the studio together (which i must say was pretty fun), a trusty sewing machine, a pinch of luck, and wah-lah! a super cape, for our kids and our super nieces and nephew!

december 25th 2011

twas the night before christmas when all the through house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....wait a minute, yes, there were, two little kids, who were way too excited for what was to come:) i believe they were up at midnight, 4am and then we were all up at 559am.

the first look at what that jolly man named "santa" brought us!

what is it......what is it????

o christmas tree

i prefer to get my christmas tree on a snowy wintery day....hearing the snow crunch beneath our feet, walking through a woodsy snow filled scene, trying to find the perfect tree, BUT, sometimes you just have to be content with just the novelty of getting a christmas tree:) and so we did! and it was still fun.

we are quite picking when it comes to finding the "perfect" tree. i think it takes us about an hour, and with this one in particular, we came back to it about 6 times, but still had to make sure there wasn't anything better out there...ha, go figure!

ryder did a great job cutting the tree down......timber!!!

time to drag it out....

ballet recital " the nutcracker"

quinn had her ballet recital, which was a performance of "the nutcracker", and it was so sweet! the little girls were all clara, and the costumes were just adorable. quinn had a smile on her face the entire time!

duet

we have been super obsessed with "the polar express" this year, so it didn't take long for the kids to learn a few of the songs! this one is so cute....love hearing their little voices!!

brooklyn, november 2011

when we got the invitation to spend thanksgiving with josh, sarah, and abby....we were like, hands down, a big YES!! oh, i am so glad we did it too:) the kids had such a great time, and so did we! i can't even remember everything we did but i will try: macys day parade, lovely turkey dinner (and i mean, yummers!!), jane's carousel, moma, fao schwartz (holy crowded!!), central park, museum of natural history (dinosaurs/solar system exhibits....amazing!!), brooklyn parks, shops, good coffee, good food, grown-up dinner out (babysitter for kids...they were still up at 11pm, but so worth it!!), lots of cousin time, and lots and lots of subway riding (who do you think loved that?) wow....my legs still hurt:)

kiddos out for a spin with the dads

girls having quiet time with sarah (i thought this was so sweet!!) i think this is when quinn started to fall in love with auntie sarah!!

urban playground! amazing how kids can turn anything into a slide, swing, trampoline....

ryder and dad's afternoon of riding subways!! that was ryder's favorite day, for sure:)

the girls! they were so sweet together....ah! love them to pieces:)

first round of mango madness

we got to hang with jake, polly, lily and ginny at the hotel in milwaukee (doin the park and fly!), it was short and sweet! lily is getting so big, and is quite the water girl (wow....fearless), and little ginny, oh what a doll:) i wish our visit was longer....i totally passed out at like ten (sorry polly, if you were awake....i am getting sooo old). love you guys!

november, where did you go?

ahem, so it appears my last post was a little while ago....whoops:) i honestly can't remember what the heck we even did, until thanksgiving, so i am going to say it went like this: school, play, laugh, argue, fit, hugs, school....a couple of birthday parties, visitors, and then....it was time for us to take off to nyc!!

halloween 2011

the kids drew the faces on the pumpkins and jesse carved them out (ryder on the left and quinn on the right).

old man, ryder!! ha ha ha ha!!!!!

part of the crew! love these kiddos;)

super fun weekend with tiera/cohen

after the birthday party extravaganza, tiera and cohen stayed with us for the weekend! we had so much fun;) lets see, we played "500" like 500 times.....thanks tiera (ryder wants to play that game every day after school....so cute!!). we went to a corn maze, and didn't get lost (well maybe a little lost), went out for pizza, went to ryder's soccer game (and cohen got to play too), made a huge and yummy brunch, played outside, bonfire and s'mores.....i'm telling you....we had fun!!! thanks tiera, for being so awesome!! we just love you guys to pieces:)

birthday party

quinn couldn't have asked for a nicer fall day! it was beautiful out, and such a wonderful group of friends! we had crafts, cupcakes, apple cider, and lots of giggling!!

happy birthday to you!

quinn tested out her new dress, from aunt tiera! oh, she made quite the haul with "dress up" dresses....a fairy dress (from us), ariel costume (from aunt tessa), and then this one.....she is such a lucky little girl, and i think her dress up bin is over flowing now:)

field trip to pumpkin patch

so, this is what the birthday girl decided to wear on the field trip to the pumpkin patch;) she is way too much fun!!

um.....seriously? these two are hilarious together!!

birthday breakfast for quinn!!

well, the day finally came when we once again got to reflect on the past year. so much has happened in one year, it was fun looking back and remembering all the events, and seeing the growth of our sweet little girl, from 3 to 4. oh, quinn....you are just a little stink pot! you fill our house with songs, giggles, dance, sass, imagination, color, grace, endless words, silliness, and so much love...sweet, sweet, love:)

oh, and the little mark on her nose was from a fall a couple weeks earlier. skipping with her hands in her pockets, and tripped.....fell right on her nose. (lesson #102: wear mittens when your mother tells you to!)

two amigos

ryder and his super good friend, oliver, walking home from school. we had the pleasure of taking oliver home with us for afternoon playdates, while his mother finished her dissertation at UW. he became part of the family, and truly one of ryder's greatest friends (like up there with toby). there were many adventures, slumber parties, pokemon battles, and hours of giggling! these two little friends will have to say adios at the end of the month, cause oliver's mother has been offered a wonderful opportunity in seattle, wa! boo hoo. we are just thrilled for them, and their new adventure that lies ahead, it will be amazing! but, ryder will be sad, so so sad:(

ballerina

ballet has started again.....and this girl, is in heaven!!!

apple orchard

love going to pick apples!! the orchards are just gorgeous...and we eat sooo many apples while we're there. we search, we pick (which we have a pretty good technique to get to the high ones), we sample, and sample, and sample, then we lay in the grass and digest......then pick more apples!

quinn's photo shoot

ride the drive

twice a year madison opens up its streets to bikers, and closes them to the other kind (motorized vehicles, that is). the kids love it;) they are finishing up the 3 mile loop, heading straight up e. washington towards the capitol...it's a hill, but's its nothing compared to gough street.

quesadilla? taco?

ryder was asked to be one of the servers for the open house at midvale, so cute! he got all suited up, had a tray of food, and then pretty much went to like 3 different groups, managed to serve his entire tray in about 30 seconds, and then he was done!! the fastest serving shift ever:)

pit stop

we had to stop at the pumpkin patch on our way out of town (birchwood that is), so grandmama brought us there and we got a few things....like 20 tiny pumpkins, gourds, and 2 super yummy carmel apples w/m&m's (yum yum yum).

my kids always love checking out the farm animals....quinny feeding the goats

and they had to hold the kittens....they were pretty darned cute...aaahhhhchew:)

relaxing in birchwood

the kids and i packed up the car saturday morning, and hit the road.....the long road to grandmama's and grandpapa's!! even though i really hate the last hour (a 3 hour car ride seems like my limit), it was sooo worth it:) there was no planned event, no parties, no holiday....just a quiet weekend with the grandparents!!

well, we thought we had leaves in our yard....but that was nothing compared to what was waiting for us here!!! leaves, leaves, everywhere!!! i bet that has been keeping grandpapa busy:)

we took the kiddos out four-wheeling (cause the weather was gorgeous), on some back country trails....to a nice lake.....where we had a lovely picnic;) i mean, it was perfect!!!

i thought this was hilarious.......pink, pink, baby, pink.....and on a 4-wheeler! so QUINN!!!

now this guy, ha ha! he was so pumped to drive this, i think his teeth had an 1" thick layer of dirt on them, because he was smiling the entire time he drove!! love it:)

foie gras or pb&j

it seemed like the trip to france was never going to get here, and the anticipation of leaving my family behind was agonizing! i built up all these fears and concerns, making myself question if traveling to france is even worth it (i know, can you even imagine!!). well, now that i am safely home and back into the swing of things (i feel like we are now just getting into our new routine),i am so glad i went! this was a "trip of a lifetime" and i still giggle at some of the memories i have. the kids had a wonderful time with jesse (what an experience for him, huh!!), and everyone survived, sans mom....whew!! but, i do think we were all ready to get back to reality:)

ryder's first day of school

our little man is all set for his first bike ride to first grade! and he insisted on wearing his tie dyed shirt we made a few weeks ago....to take a great summer memory along with him;)

our little first grader! a new year, a new teacher, new classmates, and a new classroom.....a lot on his mind in this picture. the anticipation of what is to come and the challenges of letting go of the sweet sounds and smells of summer vacation...ah, i am just so proud of him:)

quinn's first day of school

ryder got up extra early to make quinn pancakes before her first day of school. is that sweet, or what?

alligator pancakes, were the request (a tradition now started here, thanks to grandpapa). so when ryder made this one, quinn immediately looked at it and said, "aw, ryder! you made me a princess" ryder and i looked at each other shrugged our shoulders and smiled:)

what a big girl!!! quinn was so geared up for preschool. she was confident, silly and oh so sweet:) i can't get enough of her outfit....hello little miss cuteness!!

love these kids!

it's nice to be home.

mini-vacations

jesse finished his summer sessions with aau on aug. 17th. since then we had a studio opening party, drove to valparaiso, spent a day in chicago, registered ryder for school, switched insurace/doctors, and then packed up and headed to rhinelander.....whew!

our few days in rhinelander were so pleasant! we got to spend a day with the loes family, at their rental on squash lake (skiing, tubing, swimming, even bare footing.....nice work jesse!), and had a lovely cook out with them and also mimi and brian, and the fishing on the river with mark and bev.

here jesse is getting the poles set. see how much ryder is concentrating.....so cute.

not sure fishermen are suppose to be this good lookin!

quinn caught a fish. she was trying so hard to hold it, but it was just too slimy, and she was scared it may have teeth;) she is braver than me, that's for sure.

abby came for a visit!

amazing how much these two little girls love each other....cousins 4 ever!!!

silly face.....i think they got that one down:)

vermont valley cornboil

we are members of a csa (community supported agriculture) this summer and have enjoyed every piece of fruit and veggie that we've gotten! what a lovely way to bring the yummy produce for the local farms to our tables....love it!! and so do the kids!

our farm does an annual corn boil in august, where they invite all the share holders to come out and harvest some corn, and have a potluck dinner...featuring corn on the cob! we were so excited to go, i mean fresh corn, it's so delicious!

focused little farmer!

ryder found his piece....looks good to me:) oh, and we also ate some corn right in the field, raw (the farmers recommendation....and it was amazing!!)

say "corn"