Yet another Christmas

Last night we had yet another Christmas with my immediate family. We are so fortunate to have my brother home with us from AZ for a whole week! Hal, Sophia, and I made the 5 mile journey over to my parents house last night. First we exchanged stockings which was quite a bit of fun. The limit is $20 and you get a whole bunch of little things. Then we ate appetizers. There was so much food!

After eating, we opened presents. What a wonderful family we have! We all got such wonderful gifts. Sophia got a ton of new doll things and a new dolly which she was thrilled about. By the time we got done opening presents, it was 9 o'clock and time to head home. We got home and unpacked all of the gifts and then everyone including myself went off to bed!

Today we went to the MOA to shop and go on the rides. It was really fun to watch Sophia with her uncle taking him on the ride like she was an old pro. It was also fun to watch Ryan with her because he is quite a bit bigger than she is. Tonight I have to work at the Y and Sophia is off to play with Uncle Ryan over at Papa and Nana's house. I can hardly believe that tomorrow is New Years Eve!!

Here are some of the pictures from our Christmas:

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

After a busy day on Wednesday, I was looking forward to spending lots of time with family over the holiday weekend. Thursday was Christmas Eve and the day started out nice and relaxing. Hal and I did some work around the house to get ready for our company that evening as we were hosting for my dad's side of the family (the Juhl side). This meant 16 adults and 5 kiddos. It was quite the party! Our traditions on Christmas Eve entail that we do appetizers instead of a dinner and we play the dice game. There was enough food to feed any army. Every year we say we will make less, but it never happens. This year we did change one thing and that was that instead of the adults playing their own dice game, the kids just played. It was quite hilarious to watch the kids play! After playing for what felt like an hour, all of the presents had finally been snatched up and the kids opened. Once they all shared presents and exchanged the ones that they didn't want, the families started to pack up and head home. By the time that everyone left, it was around 11. Sophia was quite tired! We set some cookies and milk out for Santa and then it was off to bed for everyone.

Christmas morning we woke up around 8. We brought Sophia downstairs to see if Santa had come. Sophia was amazed to find that he had come and had eaten the cookies she left out. He also left her a full stocking plus her very own princess tent, sleeping bag, backpack, flashlight, and compass. She was so thrilled she didn't really care about opening her presents under the tree. She got several presents and she was very excited to open everything up! Hal and I got each other new touch phones. I just love my phone!! After opening presents, Hal went to attack the driveway because we got about 10 inches or more between Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day morning. I went upstairs to take a shower and Sophia sat and watched the Disney parade in our room. After everyone got ready, we went over to my parents house for Christmas Day. my mom's sister and her husband joined us along with my two cousins. We ate snacks and opened presents. Then we played a similar game to the dice game where you exchange gifts only it moves with a story. It was very fun and everyone loved the $5 gift they got. After doing the gifts, we sat down for a lovely Christmas dinner. When dinner was over it was 3 and Sophia still hadn't been down for a nap. We attempted and she slept for a short time. When she woke up it was around 5 and we headed home. We played in the tent and then everyone headed up to bed.

Today we had a great family day! Hal made puffy pancakes for breakfast. Then Sophia opened a couple more gifts. Then we played two of her new board games. After playing in the house for a while, we went outside to play. It was a beautiful day! We came in for some lunch and then I brought Sophia to the Y with me so I could run and Hal went to snowblow his dad's driveway since his dad is in Utah. We got home and Sophia went down for a nap. Now I have laundry going and we are going to get ready to go look at Christmas lights tonight. What a great weekend!

I had so many pictures I couldn't pick so I picked the best of and created a slide show. I hope you enjoy!

Macy's Christmas Display

Today Sophia and I got up early to head out to Minneapolis to see the Macy's Christmas Display. Hal and I took her to see it last year and we had such a good time. This year was quite different. Sophia was in awe the whole time we were there and wanted to go through a second time. Yes, I did take her through a second time. It was pretty funny! I think her favorite part was the cookie at the end. She tells me her favorite part was the singing Christmas trees. She also loved the puppy in the mail from Santa.

At the very end I asked Sophia if she wanted to go see Santa. The Santa was just wonderful and I think I got one of the best pictures ever with Santa!! Proof below:

Tomorrow we will be cooking and getting ready to host Christmas Eve for my dad's side of the family. Should be a great time with 13 adults and 5 kids!! Then we head to church in the afternoon. The celebration will start shortly after. Happy Holidays!

Busy Holiday Weekend

Last weekend was quite the holiday weekend. On Saturday we had our friends and family over for a holiday party. It was quite the turn out!! We had about 20 kiddos and double that on the adults. It was such a fun time. Sophia loved every second of being around all of her friends.

Sophia and her best friend Peyton

Hal and I also had a wonderful time hanging out with all of our friends!

Me with my girls!

The party got over pretty late and we were all quite tired on Sunday. Of course that didn't stop us from attending Ella Gutt's 2nd birthday. This is one of Sophia's closest friends. She had an Elmo themed party. It was so fun and Sophia was quite well behaved for being the only other child besides the birthday girl there.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend!!

Christmas Party at Corey's House

Last night was Sophia's holiday party at her daycare. Our provider Corey always does such a fantastic job. This party is quite the huge hit with past and present families. She provides everything for dinner/drinks and then Santa also comes and has at least one present for each child. It is pretty amazing. She also does all of this without taking time off as the party starts right at 5. Sophia had a wonderful time seeing Santa again last night!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This weekend we did so many holiday things it is hard to keep track! So to make it a bit easier on the pictures, I have a slideshow below.

Thursday night, Sophia helped me make 9 dozen Christmas cookies. She was quite the trooper. I was up pretty late cleaning up and was not looking forward to Friday morning.

Friday night, Sophia came to school to hang out for Family Fun Night. She made a bracelet with beads, watched the kids do cosmic bowling, had some popcorn, and made a gingerbread house. After doing all of those great activities together, we headed home. Then it was off to Bunco for me. We played our Christmas gift exchange game and then played Bunco into the wee hours! It was so fun. I got a Bunco and won two games!!

Saturday morning, we all woke up and got ready to have breakfast with Santa. My parents came and picked us up and we drove out to Tartan Park a private 3M event. Sophia had such a wonderful time and Hal and I thought it was even better than last year. While sitting on Santa's lap, Sophia told him she wanted a reindeer. It was pretty funny. After breakfast, we took some family pictures and then Sophia and I went our separate ways with Hal to get some more Christmas shopping done. When Sophia got up from her nap we played outside and built a snow fort. We were out for quite a while and she was pretty upset that we had to come inside for dinner. Saturday night we were all pretty tired after a super busy day! We hung out at home and watched some Christmas movies together.

Today we got up and had Sophia's 2 and 1/2 year pictures taken. They turned out really cute. After the pictures we came home to have lunch. Hal and Sophia watched the Vikes game and my mom came over to make some more cookies with me. We did a great job and we only have one kind of cookie left to make. It's like cookies galore in our house!! Sophia went down for a nap and I went on a run outside with my friend Molly. When I got home I finished up some laundry and woke Sophia up. Hal is making homemade pizza and we're watching Mickey's Christmas Carol for the second time. It's Sophia's new fav.

This week will be quite busy with my reading week at school and Hal out of town quite a bit. It's also Sophia's daycare Christmas party and our holiday party this weekend. I'm really looking forward to having everyone over.

Christmas Party at Dance

Last night Sophia had her Christmas party at dance. They were all so cute and all of the parents felt very blessed that we were able to sit in on this very special class. Miss Mary their teacher showed everyone what a typical class is like and then the girls did a special Christmas dance to the song "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". You can see from some of the pictures Sophia has her antler hands on her head. What a fun evening!

I am eager to have a date night with Hal this evening. Sophia is celebrating Parents Night Out at Corey's house our daycare provider. It is her thank-you to us at the holidays. She takes the kids until 8pm and parents are free for a night out. They make gingerbread houses, have a special dinner, make crafts, and cookies. It is such a wonderful evening for all. We are blessed to have her.

We are looking forward to making cookies this week and having breakfast with Santa too. It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.......

I heart Santa!

Last year Sophia saw Santa I think about seven different times and she hated him each time. She finally got close to him at her daycare Christmas party, but was distracted by all of the other kids. I have one adorable picture of her sitting in Santa's chair with him nowhere to be found.

This year however, he was the winner! Last night we attended a party in our community with Santa, live reindeer, crafts, cookies, and milk. It was such a wonderful night. Sophia loved every single second and so did we. We all had such a wonderful time. Here are a couple of pictures of Sophia with Santa:

Smiling all cheesy

Touching Santa's beard to see if it is fluffy

Sophia putting together her ornament craft project from the party

Tomorrow night Sophia has her Christmas performance at dance. I'm eager to see how it goes. Christmas is coming soon! Our paper chain countdown has now 19 days today.

Happy Turkey Day!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! Wednesday, I had a half day at school. Then I quickly rushed to get the pie from Baker's Square, home to set the table, and work out all before I went to pick up Sophia. Then I got her and we came home so she could have a quick bit to eat. Then it was off to teach at the Y so that Hal could get the house cleaned before our guests came for the day on Thursday.

Thursday morning I ran the Fast Before the Feast Race in White Bear Lake, MN. I ran the fastest 5K that I have ever run before! I think I knew that the reward in the end would greatly outweigh the work!! I could barely wait for all of the yummy food. I headed home and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Sophia and Hal. We also had a mini treat to celebrate Sophia turning 2 and a half. I can hardly believe that my little girl is half a year away from being 3! We had such a great time. Then we all got cleaned up and Hal's family came over. We had appetizers and then Sophia went down for a nap. After she got up we played a couple of games and ate our fantastic dinner. Hal did a wonderful job on the deep fried turkey!! Thursday night we watched a movie and everyone left. It was a wonderful day!

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to go Black Friday Shopping. Sophia was such a trooper and I got some wonderful deals! We had all of the shopping done by noon and were home just in time for lunch. The rest of the day was a lazy day. Last night we decorated the Christmas tree and put up the rest of the decorations. Hal also put some more lights on the outside of the house. Sophia just loves everything Christmas.

Today we met some friends in Stillwater to get our family photos taken. I can barely wait to see how they turned out. My close friend from college Kristi took them. She did such a fantastic job with my tired little girl who just wanted to run around. Her daughter Aubrey and husband Adam were there too so it helped to distract Sophia a bit. After our pictures we came home and Sophia attempted a nap while I worked out. Tonight Hal is out with the best man from our wedding Dave who is home for the weekend from California. Sophia and I are going to play toys and get a bit of laundry before bed.

I'm not sure what we are in store for tomorrow, but what a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I can hardly believe that it is December next week. Bring it on Christmas!

Our adventure to the Children's Museum

Today Sophia had a playdate with two neighbor girls at the Children's Museum downtown St. Paul. This was the first time that we had ever been there before, but the other two girls had been there several times before.

Sophia had such a good time. We started in the first room that had a fall theme. She listened to the bird sounds, raked leaves, and played in the treehouse.

She also made her very own tag out of recycled paper to hang on one of the trees.

After hanging out in this room, we went into the room with all of the water. Sophia had such a wonderful time exploring the different water toys and blowing these huge bubbles in the tub of soap.

I think her favorite part of the museum was the grocery store. She just loved pushing the carts around, putting the items in the cart, and checking them out using the cash register.

Sophia and Ava playing in the grocery store

Then we took a break and had some snacks together. All of the girls were getting a bit hungry.


The last stop was painting faces. When we originally got to the museum Ava and Emerson painted their faces and Sophia didn't want to. Then before we left she changed her mind. Here are the results:

Sophia's pretty little face

All 3 girls with their beautiful faces

Sophia the babysitter

Yesterday we had the opportunity to babysit a neighbor's kiddo from across the street. Baby Sawyer was the highlight of Sophia's day! She will make an excellent big sister some day. She wanted to help feed him and cuddle with him. She also read him one of her "big girl books" because she thought he would like the pictures. She can't wait to have him over to our house again some time soon.

Pottery at the U and Tina the Turkey

Saturday Sophia and I had our very own private pottery lesson with Brie the art teacher at my school. We had such a good time working with the clay and attempting to make pots. I threw a couple of different pots, but only one turned out really well. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure:

Sophia cutting her clay

Sophia intensely working with her clay

Sophia working with Brie to make her very own pot

Last night Sophia and I did a cool crafty project to get ready for Thanksgiving. She decorated her very own Tina (instead of Tom) the turkey. She had so much fun deciding what supplies to use and how to put them on the turkey. The finished product looks just awesome!

Sophia's First Gopher Hockey Game

Last night Sophia attended her first ever Gopher Hockey Game. She had a wonderful time watching the game, listening to the marching band, and watching the cheerleaders. I still think her favorite part was having popcorn for dinner! The game was really fun and all of the people attending gave us these cute smiles as we walked around visiting different spots during the breaks. Here are a couple of photos from this and many more to come hockey games!

Sophia and Daddy


Sophia and Mommy

Happy Halloween

Our Halloween weekend was quite the busy one! Yesterday we got home from school/work and carved our pumpkins. Sophia had a great time scooping the gook out of the pumpkins, helping us cut the designs out, and putting the seed that I wanted to save in the strainer. She loved the finished products when Hal put the candles in the pumpkins so she could see what they looked like in the dark.

Today I got up bright and early to do a Halloween Half-Marathon. The run went well despite the cold weather. While I ran Sophia had a Halloween breakfast with Grandma Jayne and Grandpa Hal. She had a wonderful time playing toys and reading books. After I got home we went over to my parents house so Sophia could trick-or-treat over there. She got a cute Little Pets set and a Halloween decorated sugar cookie. The cookie was quite the fancy thing! Great Grandma Erma and her sister Lillian also came over to see Sophia in her costume. Despite the fact she liked the costume, she wanted to take it off to play with her new toy.

We had some lunch and then went to get the pizzas for dinner. Sophia took a nap and so did the rest of us. Then we got up and got ready to go have dinner with the neighbors before heading out for trick-or-treating. Sophia wore her puppy costume and her friend Ava was a Barbie Witch.

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating together and came home with quite the load of candy! Roger and I were surprised at how far the girls walked and how long they lasted. They were the only ones left out when we came home.

Tomorrow we are going to hang out around the house during the day and then we are off to the Gopher Hockey game tomorrow night!

Halloween Cookie Playdate

Last night Sophia had a playdate with our neighbor Ava who is 5. Sophia just adores her and likewise with Ava. Amy and I had some time to chat while the girls played for a bit and then we got everything ready to make cookies.

The girls were quite eager to get started. Amy and I could hardly believe how much dough was eaten in the process of getting them cut out not by the mommies, but by the kids.


After getting several cut out the girls decided it was time to be silly and put flour all over their faces.

Ava showing off her flour

Sophia covered in flour

Once the cookies were all cooked the decorating began. The girls had a fantastic time decorating all of their cookies and trying the frosting too!

Ava trying the frosting


Sophia decorating a green pumpkin

The finished products were decorated so cute and the cookies were quite yummy!! Sophia can barely wait until Halloween!

Halloween Fun

This weekend we did several different fall/Halloween activities. Sophia attended her second ever birthday party on Saturday. It was for a little neighbor girl who turned 4. The party was at a pumpkin patch in Stillwater, MN. It was quite the chaotic place with it being the weekend before Halloween and the weather being nice. The kids got to pick out their own pumpkins and then decorate them with some paints. Sophia just loved this activity and really got into the painting.

After decorating pumpkins they went to this area and had a silly string war. Sophia didn't really want to do this so she watched. She was the youngest and smallest child at the party so it was a good idea that she chose just to watch.

After the silly string war, they got the kids all together for a group picture.


After the photo, we headed home and got ready for our next event. The Monster Mash was a 3M sponsored event at Tartan Park in Lake Elmo. Sophia was very excited about this and I was surprised at how well she was doing without having a nap. At the Monster Mash she played some games, went trick-or-treating, went on a hay ride, and decorated a cookie.

Trick-or-treating


My little puppy


Decorating cookie

Yesterday we had Hal's parents over for a bbq lunch. It almost felt like summer with grilling and having a fruit salad, but the weather was a quick reminder that summer is gone.

After they left we got some work/laundry done around the house and we all crashed. I think we had so much excitement on Saturday we were all tuckered out last night. We hung out around the house and didn't do too much. This week will be busy as always. Tonight Sophia gets to wear her Halloween costume to dance. Should be quite a treat!