LOTS to catch up on this time!!

It's been awhile, probably the longest lapse in posting since I starting doing this. I have been struggling of late to manage my time as there is so much going on! I want to try to keep up with this, though, because, if I don't, I fear I will forget what was going on all the time when my beautiful girls were growing up!!

Leah’s weeks continue to be filled with school, dance and gymnastics. She also started Girl Scouts this month!

Amber’s weeks are filled with learning her ABCs, colors, shapes and numbers! She loves to follow her big sister around, and usually wants to do “homework” when Leah is working on her homework! Amber also has been doing gymnastics (at daycare, she has class 1x/week).

11/6/12 – Leah and I had appointments to see the dentist. I was told to bring Amber along so she could see the process. Well, she wanted to try it out herself, so she had her first dentist visit and even let Dr. Breitbach poke at her teeth – which were given a clean bill of health!! 

11/9/12 – Leah, Michael and I went to see “Cat in the Hat” at the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre. I think the kids enjoyed the show!

11/22/12 – Thanksgiving with the Martin’s – held at Nonna and Grandpa’s house including – Nonna, Grandpa, Dan, Tiff, Thea, Delila, Joe, Andrea, Leah, Amber, Jim and Renate. The girls looked adorable in their matching dressing, they (as always) had a blast playing with each other, and there was lots of good food!

11/23/12 – Leah got to spend the night at her friend’s house. She was only at Hailey’s house until 10:30pm when we got the phone call! Leah had somehow managed to cut her foot on a broken Snow Globe. Poor girl had a very bad cut. Hailey’s parents felt awful, but as we know, accidents happen!! Amber was spending the night at Grama Mary’s house, so Joe and I went to get Leah and off to the ER we went. There we were, at midnight! Leah got her first stitches on the top of her right foot. She got 6 stitches to close up the jagged cut. She did very well, but she was very scared and said often, “I don’t want to get stitches.” She had them in until 12/4. Getting them out was almost as traumatic as getting them put in!

11/24/12 – Thanksgiving with the Renlund’s – held at Aunt Karen’s house- Karen, Chris, Grama Mary, Joe, Andrea, Leah, Amber,  Lance, Fran, Michael, Patrick, Maggie, Molly, Pat, Nikki, Cory, and Emilee. We started the festivities with a Baby shower for Baby Boy Nesheim and completed it with the Thanksgiving feast!

11/30/12 – Leah (yes, Leah) decided to stick a rivet that had fallen off a pair of my jeans up her nose! Not really sure why, but she did. So, after consulting my mom who had to calm me down (I was a bit – okay a lot – mad), I brought her into the doctor. Our appointment was with a nurse practioner who tried hard to get it out, but was unsuccessful. She then went to get one of the pediatricians who, thankfully, was able to get it out after about ½ hour!!

11/30/12 – Nonna, Leah and I along with Deb, Jaci and Kaylee went to see “Madeline’s Christmas” at Stages Theater. This was an adorable show! I really enjoyed it and I think the rest did as well. 

12/1/12 - Ralph, our Elf came to visit us again. Leah and Amber enjoy finding him every morning and giving him messages for Santa. Leah is now telling Ralph where he should be the next morning, and Amber wakes up asking "Where Ralph?"

12/1-2/12 –  Duluth

We went to Duluth for the “Polar Express” and “Bentlyville.” We meaning Andrea, Nonna, Leah, Amber, Dan, Tiffanie, Thea and Delila. We stayed at the “Edgewater Resort” which was CRAZY!! It is a hotel with a waterpark. It was very busy and we ended up with rooms on the outside of the hotel, so we had to walk outside to go to the waterpark. Luckily, we had abnormally warm weather for this time of the year, so it did work out. I am not convinced that I want to stay there again, but maybe, this will change after some time has passed to forget the chaos. I do need to remember to try to enjoy all that we are doing because with the craziness I get too flustered to really enjoy what we are doing! I know that the girls had a fantastic time and, in the end, that is what is important.

Meeting Santa and visiting the Reindeer at Fitgers: We got to Fitgers to eat prior to the Polar Express. Santa the Reindeer were there, so the girls stopped to see Santa and to visit the reindeer. Amber asked Santa for “suckers,” and Leah asked Santa for a “light up pillow pet.”

Polar Express: We boarded the train at Fitgers and rode the train down to the Depot where we took Polar Express to the North Pole (the kids sat on the floor while the story was told), then they got their bell and talked to Santa – again! The girls asked Santa for the same things they had asked for earlier. After the train took us back to Fitgers, they got hot chocolate and cookies! Yummy.

Bentlyville: Wow, did we luck out this year! Normally we are FREEZING as we go through this amazing display of lights, but this year, we had wonderful weather (well, for northern MN)! We didn’t even have to put snow pants on the girls! The hit of Bentlyville (besides the amazing lights), is Mrs. Claus. The girls love to sit with Mrs. Claus and get their candy cane! Santa is there as well, but the line is just too long. They also love getting popcorn, roasting marshmallows and getting more cookies and hot chocolate! We didn’t leave Bentlyville until shortly after 9pm, so needless to say, they were up WAY past their bedtime!

Waterpark: We did spend a few hours at the waterpark on Sunday morning. Leah needed to be bribed to go down a slide (which she did say she liked, but she did not repeat). Amber would not go near the younger child area because there was a huge bucket that filled up with water and dumped water over the entire apparatus about every 5 minutes. I could see how this is scary to a little person! So, my point, well, they spent a majority of the time in the large pool playing with the balls!! So, maybe we don’t need a fancy waterpark, but just a normal hotel pool and we could bring some beach balls with us?!!?

12/2/12: While we were away, Joe decorate the outside of the house! He did a great job! The girls love it!!

12/8/12: Krayola Kids Christmas Program – Amber was so darn cute up on stage where she danced and sang to “Jingle Bells.” I was too far back to get any decent pictures of her on stage, but here she is off the stage all dressed up! She even let me braid her hair (yes, I bribed her with a sucker, but she did let me do it)!

12/9/12: St. Patrick’s Church Program. Leah’s 2^nd grade class sang “We Three Kings.” She knew all that words and said she enjoyed it, not sure why she decided to stand with her arms crossed!

12/9/12: St. Patick’s Church – Breakfast with St. Nicholas. Amber was not a fan of St. Nicolas when close, but did admire him from afar!

12/10/12: Snow day. So, I worked the weekend (yes, along with all the other activities of the weekend). I was off today to try to get stuff done, but instead we have a snow day and the girls are home with me! I am getting some done, but not nearly as much as I hoped! We spent a little time outside today. Amber wanted nothing to do with the snow and Leah was complaining about getting snow in her boots, so they did not last long outside!

With this long post I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas as I am sure that it will not be until after Christmas that I post again!!