Disney Show

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break together as a family and enjoyed lots of great food and company. Thanksgiving was different for us this year, since Amy and her family drove to visit Alli for the holiday. That left my parents, Molly and Nick, and us for a smaller version. My mom got the flu and contained herself to her room for the day, so I did the cooking. Everything tasted great, but we sure missed having our usual big to do. The quiet was just too quiet, and the simple touches my mom does cannot be fabricated.

I had a great time shopping with Mandy early on Friday. We loved the deals, the coffee, and the people watching. It was awesome to have some "girl time" together all the while getting things checked off our list. Thanks, Mandy!

We were also able to have a great time down in Bricelyn with Graham's side on Saturday. Sean had a blast playing with his cousins, probably drove them nuts:) The adults loved the eating, visiting, and game playing. Who knew "Apples to Apples" could be so much fun?! It was great having Ginger home for the week, so we were able to spend some good quality time with her, too.

On Sunday, we took Sean to "Disney Live!" What a magical time for him! He was able to see most of his favorite characters from his favorite shows. He sang and danced. He loved the "treat" his dad got for him; cotton candy that came with a hat and lemonade for the low price of $20. I took some pictures, but he had a hard time taking his eyes away from the stage. He didn't want to miss a thing! We are so glad that we were able to do this together. :)

Great Teacher Moment...

It happened on my last day of conferences, and it was the second to last student on my schedule. Our Phy. Ed. teacher mentioned to me that this student needed gym shoes, and she went on to tell me that someone made a donation of shoes to our school. She was wondering if he would be interested in choosing a pair. Well, at the end of conferences I mentioned that fact that he didn't have any, and dad just looks down and says that he'll work on that. I, then, piped in about this donation we received and how we would like his son to go to the gym to pick out a pair. The dad answered, with tears running down his cheeks, that would be great and my student couldn't wait to get to the gym.

It was a time that reminded me of why I love my job.

Of course, I couldn't help but tear up along with him. It was an awesome moment. I get to work with amazing people.

Santa!

What a fun weekend we had! First it started off picking up Graham in Faribault. He was able to hitch a ride with some buddies, 4 to be exact, as they headed to Iowa for the weekend. I think it would have been a funny sight to see, 5 guys in a little car...Graham being one of them in the back seat :)

Since we were over there, we headed over to some friends' house for a pizza dinner. I volunteered to bring the salad, which was made easy for me by my local Olive Garden! Did you know that you could get a "party salad" with all the fixings, a bottle of dressing, and a dozen bread sticks for under $17! I thought it was a great deal. Thanks to Mandy for the idea. We had a great visit.

Saturday was a fun and busy day. We got up and ready, and were heading out the door by 8:45 for pictures with Santa! We met my sister and her kids at Drummers and all piled into her van to watch a movie while we waited. Amy and I would rather get there early and be first in line, than fight the crowd and have to keep happy kids for who knows how long:) It all worked as planned. We were first in line! Here is how our Santa visit went:

1. Santa parked his white PT Cruiser right next to Amy's van for all the kids to see him as he got out!
2. He parked so close to the Handicap sign, it was bending over :)
3. As soon as Sean walked in the door, he started yelling Santa's name. Santa waved and smiled at him, and he continued doing it until it was picture time. Sean was so excited!
4. Emma put on the brakes as soon as she saw him and wanted nothing to do with him.
5. So, Sean went first. He walked up to Santa and told him what he wanted before climbing up onto his lap. He wants big trucks, of course.
6. We got some great pictures of Sean smiling and talking with him.
7. Next, we did a cousins picture. Amy was in the first shot pushing, coaxing, carrying Emma to her spot. Charlie was screaming, and Sean and Braeden were having a blast.
8. The lady was able to get some fun shots of all the moods. We can't wait to get them home and hung up! We will have many memories and stories to tell.
9. Emma came around when it was just her family shot, and was even caught smiling:)
10. Charlie's crocodile tears melted our hearts and as soon his mommy was able to hold him, they instantly stopped.

Look for the pictures to come! We, parents, had a blast watching all of this commotion. Love this time of year!

We spent the rest of the day at home hanging out with my mom, my aunt, and cousin. We enjoyed visiting and watching all the kids playing. I even was able to talk Graham into hanging some Christmas lights outside. He and I laughed so hard at what we call our "Griswold" lighting job, but had fun turning them on for Sean last night.

Now, Graham has left for Duluth in his car. We are excited to see him mid week for this long holiday weekend. Our time together is so valuable. A second is never wasted.

Out with the old...

Just last week we posted our cars on Car Soup. We needed to admit to ourselves that with our growing family, we need something a little bigger. Well, Graham's truck was a hot commodity! It sold fast! So that meant this weekend, we needed to find him a car. Not an easy task. Especially for a man who has always been a truck guy. It was hard for him to get excited about test driving cars...I really felt sorry for him. He said that the thing that makes him most sad is that Sean connects him with the truck. He has a toy truck that he calls, "daddy's truck." He loved to ride in it whenever we would go anywhere. So we took some pictures this weekend.

By the way, Graham did finally decide on a car at 4:30pm Saturday night. Right before closing time :) It is going to be a nice vehicle for us and will save us a lot on gas! I am proud of you, honey! He gets to pick it up on Friday. So until then, he is discovering the bus system in Duluth and hitching a ride with a friend down to the cities for the weekend.

Funny side note;

We searched high and low for the spare set of keys to the truck this weekend, as he was giving it to them Monday night. I told him I swore they were up in Duluth, and that he just needed to look harder. Well, he called last night and said he looked, with no luck, and could I please check my car one last time. I begrudgingly agreed, knowing they were not in there. Low and behold, I moved a CD in my console, and there it was...Egg on my face! Sorry, honey. They are now in the mail to the new owner of our beloved old truck.

Halloween!

I don't think Sean could have had any more fun! He was able to trick or treat with his cousins, he got to wear his Scooby Doo costume, ring doorbells, get candy from strangers, be outside in the dark, and so on. He was polite and kind, and enjoyed every second of it. I have the memories burned into my brain, but will share some fun pictures with you soon.

On Saturday, his Papa also worked so hard on the yard and made him a HUGE pile of leaves to jump in after his nap! He couldn't wait, he watched his Papa build the pile all morning, and it was hard to go to sleep. He woke up with one thing on his mind...leaves! He spent a good two hours outside running and jumping into the pile. Oh the fun he had! Thank goodness he still had energy to trick or treat!

Yesterday, we were able to enjoy a nice lunch at Grandma Darlene's house. We made tacos in a bag for the first time, and Sean ate every bite! We had a great visit, played with some fun toys, got to see some kittens, and a fuzzy caterpillar! He is our nature lover:)

Graham and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary yesterday, too! Hard to believe it has been 6 years. It seems like yesterday, but I don't remember my life without him. We spent a great day together and even had a date last night. It sure is amazing how much love we have and it continues to grow every day. We are so excited about the new babies and had fun talking/making plans for our future family of 5! :)