Arboretum

Last weekend we headed out to the Overland Park Arboretum for their Luminary Walk.  Annika was so excited to see the lights!  Once the sun went down it was so beautiful.  As we walked there were carolers, a place to get apple sider and sit to sing, a play area for the kids, and of course Santa!  We didn't stop to see Santa because the line was so long.  This is something I think we will do every year.  It was great!

Shopping

 The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Annika and I went shopping with Jan and Ashton.  As we were getting ready to leave, Annika had to grab her sunglasses, baby doll, and her new purse.  She was all ready to go shopping!

 

Father & Son

I'm kind of a sucker for pictures of Derek with his kids.  I especially love when I get moments that are not staged.  I looked over one afternoon and saw this.  Derek is a great father and both of our kids are very luck to have him.  Love.  A lot.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was nice this year.  We went to Derek's grandparents and had a great dinner and a very relaxing day.  My friend Jody made these super cute shirts for the kids just for Thanksgiving.  I tried to get some good pictures of them alone and together.  The pictures I got of Annika are pretty funny.  She was loving making silly faces for the camera.  I love the ones of the both of them together.  

Lucky

When I was younger I always wanted to have lots of friends.  I thought the more friends I had, the better off I was.  But as I have gotten older, I have realized that it's not the amount of friends you have, but the quality of the friendships.  Throughout the years I have realized what a true friend is, and I am so very lucky to have some really great friends.  You know the kind that would drop anything to come to your house so you can cry on their shoulder type of friends.  I will forever be grateful for these wonderful people who are in my life.  

When Derek started coaching swimming at the high school I was worried we wouldn't fit in.  That worry lasted all of about 5 minutes.  Everyone was, and has been, so nice and welcoming.  In the six years he has been coaching there have been many families we have met.  All of them very nice.  Some of them have become more than just families on the swim team.  I'm not sure why you click with some people in a way that makes you want to stay in their life, but sometimes you just do.  This is the case with Belinda & Kris.  Derek only coached their daughter for two years, and I don't really remember when they became people we wanted in our lives and our kids lives, but I'm so glad they did.  We love going to visit them on Halloween and seeing them at swim meets.  They are just nice people who love our children.  How much better can it get?  Thank you Belinda & Kris for allowing us into your lives.  Our lives, and our children's lives are better for it.  

Thanksgiving Program

Annika's school had their annual Thanksgiving program last week.  For the program, each classroom got up and sang a few songs they had been practicing.  When it was Annika's turn she came out, stood on the stage, put her hands in her mouth, and nothing.  She looked around at everyone but didn't sing through the first song.  She did sing a little during the second, but never did the actions.  This is better than what I was expecting.  She is pretty shy right now so I was halfway expecting her to start crying on the stage.  So since she didn't do that, I consider this program a success!  After, her teacher gave her a sucker, which turned her mouth blue!  She thought that was fun.  Then we moved on to the dinner.  This is where all of her shyness went away and she ran around like a crazy kiddo with all of her friends.  She told us later that she had so much fun and that is all that is important!

Helper

We have been very fortunate that the transition of bringing Asher home has been so easy.  Annika LOVES him.  She says this many times a day.  We have to be very careful about not leaving her alone with Asher too much because she likes to be right by him.  Kissing him, talking to him, covering him up.  Anything she can to be close to him or help him in anyway.  One afternoon I put Asher in his new chair and set it over by the living room table.  I went into the kitchen to start dinner and when I came back into the living room and found asher right by the TV.  I asked Annika if she moved him and she said she did because she wanted him to see the TV.  Sweet girl.

Beautiful Day

One beautiful afternoon, Asher and I decided to sit outside and wait for Derek and Annika to get home from school.  Asher seemed to love being outside and was very happy so I decided to take some pictures.  Of course when Annika got home, she had to be right there next to her brother, which made for some super cute pictures of both of them.

Just Born & One Month

 We got these cute stickers to use to take Asher's month-by-month pictures.  We took the Just Born picture a few days after we got home from the hospital.  Since newborns don't really like to sit up, it was difficult to get a good picture.  But, after taking his 1 Month picture, I wanted to post them both to show how big he is getting.  His 1 month stats:  11.8 lb.  21.5 inches long.

Little Fibber

We have these magnetic letters that go on our fridge that go with a 'reader' that she can put them into and get the sound of the letter and it sings the Alphabet Song, which she now has memorized.  It was a hit for a while when Monica and I were cooking or washing dishes.  These have been a staple on the fridge door for the past year.
Last night, we noticed they were gone.
Today, Monica asked Annika if she knew where the letters were.  The following conversation took place.
Monica: Where did the letters go?
Annika: I don't want to talk about it.
M: Where are they?
A: (points to the laundry room)
M: In the laundry room?
A: (shakes her head) Thor.
M: (checks Thors' bag of dogfood, thinking she put them in there while she was 'helping' feed the dogs.  No letters there either)
A: No, Thor's mouth.
M: Thor ate them?
A:Uh-huh
M: Thor did not eat them.
A: Maybe Rynka?
M: Rynka ate 26 plastic pieces.
         (Rynka is our 30 lb Puggle, if I stacked up all the letters, I think it would be larger than she is)
M: Rynka did not eat them.  Are they in your room?
A: Uh-huh.
Which began a fruitless scavenger hunt through the house as Annika lead Monica to about 5 different places in the house where the letters turned out not to be.  Finally, Monica decided to look in our cooler in the corner of the living room.
M: Are they in here?  (shaking it, plastic rattling prominantly)
A: (shakes her head) No. (nods) Yes.
M: Did you put them in here?
A: Yes.
M: Why are they here and not on the fridge?
A: Just want to.

It was a pretty comical exchange.  I'm glad I was holding Asher and was able to laugh quietly. :)

Gymnastics

We signed Annika up for a gymnastics class back in September.  It is a parent-tot class and it is so fun!  I wasn't sure what to expect from Annika and I was pleasantly surprised.  It took her awhile to warm up to the class and the teachers, but once she did, she did great!  Believe it or not, Annika is a rule follower.  She will do whatever the instructor tells them to do, and, she is very good at it!  I love watching her during class.  They work on letters, numbers, colors, and shapes as well as the gross motor skills that go with gymnastics.  She loves to go and we will keep it up as long as she likes it!