Birthday Boy!!

This little cutie turned three years old today!!  I really cannot believe how fast three years has gone.  It also feels like 2-3 is such a big year...it really feels like the time where they change so much from a baby into a little kid.

We had a great time celebrating Landon this past weekend.  Since our evenings for the week are pretty full, we did most of his birthday stuff this weekend so we could fit it all in.  We didn't do any big party....just spent time as a family.  We were able to go swimming (one of his favorite things right now!) despite the FRIGID weather we are having up here!

Saturday night we opened presents....

...and of course, had some cake (which by the way, was pretty much the only thing Landon asked for when we would ask him what he wanted for his birthday!)

It was so fun to get to celebrate our favorite little guy with our family.  On Sunday night, though, we got to celebrate with Don and Cindy's family since Landon and his cousin Collin share a birthday!  We didn't do anything fancy, because it was a busy day with church, and church meetings that night, but we had pizza and root beer floats and they were so sweet to give Landon a toy helicopter.  He sure loves his cousins!

Today, on his actual birthday, Cameron is at work and Miley has school, followed by a quick dinner together and then dance class.  We knew it was going to be a crazy day, so we are glad we did everything this last weekend!  But we made sure to make it special today by getting balloons and making blueberry muffins for breakfast....complete with a candle and "Happy Birthday" (we must have sounded really off tune!).

We have loved life with Landon these last three years.  He is such a happy, funny boy that brings so much joy to our family!  I just wish time would slow down and he could stay my baby a little longer!!

Happy Birthday Landon!!

A Weekend With Snapper

This weekend was maybe the highlight of Miley's kindergarten career thus far.  Why?  Because she got to bring home their class "pet"....a plastic turtle names Snapper.

Throughout the weekend they have to bring Snapper around take pictures of him doing what they are doing.  Then at the end of the weekend they journal about it and present it to the class.  Sounds like more homework for me than anything, but it was fun doing it because Miley (and Landon) enjoyed it so much!

As you can tell, Landon was super excited to see this "pet" of Miley's...

We brought Snapper bowling, to Miley's dance class, and he tried to sneak into Landon's birthday cake!

We got all the pictures printed, and this was our finished result!  Miley is sad that she has to bring Snapper back to her class, but excited to tell them all about her big weekend with Snapper!

Day of Love!

We had so much fun celebrating Valentine's Day this year.  Cameron and I were able to sneak out a little earlier in the week for a date to grab some dinner, and to see the Timberwolves play the Denver Nuggets.  It wasn't a great game (don't know what is up with the Nuggets this year??) but it was great to just have some one-on-one time with my favorite guy.  :)

Miley didn't have school on Valentine's Day, so they had their Valentine's party the day before.  We whipped up these little guys for her classmates a couple days before.  I am always pleased with the end result of homemade valentine's, but man....the process of making them always seems to take way longer and costs way more than I remember!  Regardless, she was thrilled, and that is what matters anyway.

I got to spend all day on Valentine's Day with these cuties.  Since there was no school, we met up with our neighbor friends in the afternoon for some bowling fun.  Always a good time.

Since we had our date night earlier in the week, Cameron and I spent the evening in.  It was wonderful though.  He made us a delicious meal of steak, asparagus, and bread, with a yummy fruit tart for dessert!  It was the perfect night.

I love my three Valentine's so much, and was so happy to get to spend the day with all of them!

January Random-ness

Well, what can I say about January this year?  Not much besides the fact that I am glad it is over!!

Cameron spent half of the month in Brazil for a school class.  While he was soaking up the warm weather, we were caught in the middle of a polar vortex that brought -50 degree windchills and too many school cancellations to count!

Fortunately, my mom came up to keep me company and help out for a week while Cameron was gone, so that helped me keep some of my sanity.  :)  But with Cameron gone, the horrible weather, and me just avoiding public places in general to attempt to keep my kids healthy while I was alone, we spent a lot of time inside our house!  We definitely were going a little stir crazy!  Thanks goodness for lots of fun toys (especially new Christmas toys) and movies to keep us entertained!

After Cameron got back from his trip, the temperatures were not much better, but he was brave enough to get outside with the kids and do some sledding in our backyard (often in subzero temps...yeah, not for me...I was more than happy to stay inside!).  The kids were so happy to be outside, and Cameron was even a good enough sport to let them bury him in the snow!

I am glad January is over, although February is not shaping up to much better as far as the weather goes!  I cannot wait for spring!!

Christmas Day

Christmas just gets more and more fun as the kiddos get older.  Both kids were so excited this year and it was so fun to watch them enjoy everything so much.

The kids actually woke up at a normal time, and we made them suffer and wait to get a picture before going downstairs to see what Santa brought...

Miley was so excited to get her first American Girl doll, Julie.  And Landon was thrilled with his new Cars table!  They had fun looking through their stockings, and then it was time for breakfast.  Cameron made his family's traditional ebelskivers with jam and bacon, orange juice and hot chocolate.  MOST of us couldn't wait to dig in, but we couldn't pull Landon away from his new toys from Santa which let to the biggest meltdown of all time.  Not the best way to start Christmas morning.  :)  But he got over it after a bit, and ate after the rest of us were finished. 

Once breakfast was over, we let the present opening begin.  We were all so spoiled by our family, and everyone was so excited!  It was such a nice, low-key morning, and so much fun.

Later that afternoon, we headed over to Don and Cindy's for Christmas dinner with ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, jello, etc.  Cameron made pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.  It was all so delicious!  

It was a wonderful Christmas!  And phew, I think i have finally wrapped up 2013.  On to 2014!  What will this next year bring??

Christmas Eve

For the first time in our 6 and a half years of living here, we were able to spend Christmas with Don and Cindy and their family.  It was kind of nice to divide up the Christmas Eve/Christmas responsibilities.  We had them over on Christmas Eve, and we went over there for dinner on Christmas day.

Much of the day was spent just hanging out with our little family.  We did a Christmas Eve lunch at Chipotle, which is always yummy.  :)  Then the family came over at dinner and we made Hawaiian haystacks.  Afterwards, the kids performed the nativity (which was a little hard, because Landon was DISTRACTING!!).

After that, we swapped gifts with each other, and then they headed home so we could get our kids to bed.  But not before our kids opened their new Christmas pajamas and slippers, and put out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer!