What Does Santa Say?

Here is Keegan telling us what Santa says. The end is the best part. He was playing around in a laundry basket. Let me say that no children were hurt in the making of this video! :)

Camping out

Last night we went camping... camping in the living room! Magnolia had wanted to camp out in the backyard this fall and it just never seemed to happen. So, I told her over Christmas break we would camp in the living room. I made smore bars and got out the flashlights, lantern, and everything else to have a real camp out. Keegan had fun playing around in the tent before he went to bed. After putting Keegan to bed we shut off all the lights and made shadow puppets, ate our smore bars, played a game by the light of the lantern, read books with a flashlight and just had plane ol' fun. After such a great night David tucked us girls into the tent and headed up into our nice comfortable bed. Magnolia informed him that he should probably sleep upstairs so that he could be close to "Mr Cooper" in case "the little guy" needs anything. I must admit that I was kind of dreading the whole thing. In the end it was so fun and it was so nice just to hang out with my little girl.

First day on the slopes for the winter

The day after Christmas we packed up the car and headed into the mountains. Magnolia was itching to get on the slopes for the first time this winter. It is hard to believe this is her 4th ski season! She went out with David on the first day and then went to ski school the second day. She had a blast and is such a snow bunny.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas... we did! On Christmas Eve we had a movie night. We watched Polar Express in 3D with popcorn! Magnolia had a great time and was so excited to have red and green M&Ms mixed into her popcorn. After the movie Magnolia set out her letter to Santa along with milk, cookies, celery for the reindeer and crackers for the elves. Magnolia woke up at 7 am on Christmas morning beyond excited. The poor girl had to wait very patiently for her brother to wake up. Leave it to Keegan to sleep until 8 (a VERY rare occasion) on the one morning we were all up waiting for him. These kids must have been very good kids because Santa brought them a lot of wonderful gifts, including matching super hero capes for both kids. The rest of the day was very wonderful and relaxing. We didn't go anywhere. We didn't watch tv. We just played and played and laughed and had fun as a family. The highlight of the day for Magnolia was getting her "Saige the American Girl" doll and the highlight for Keegan was getting a new climber with a slide. My highlight was spending the entire day with my family. I love these 3 people more than anything and truly cherish my life with them. What a wonderful Christmas!

Ice skating

We took Magnolia ice skating right before Christmas. By "we" I mean David took Magnolia skating and Keegan and I watched. Before leaving to go skate Magnolia had to plan her outfit. She wanted to look like a real ice skater and did not like the fact that she had to wear a coat and snow pants. It didn't take her long to figure out that she could just wear a tutu over her snow pants. This girl of ours is always styling'! She did not get out ice skating last year so I didn't think she would catch on very quick. Wrong! This girl was born for snow activities! After just a few minutes she was a speed racer! She had so much fun but was very warn out and needed to lay down while David took her skates of.

Gingerbread House

I forgot to post about Magnolia's gingerbread house! I guess you could call it tradition since this is the second year of making homemade gingerbread and putting together the house. This year went so much easier and I might even call it enjoyable! :) Magnolia sat for hours decorating her house and took the whole thing very seriously. She did such a great job! Everything was planned out and she had a reason for everything she did to decorate. I can't wait for next year to see how Keegan decorates his. I have a feeling it is going to be very different than Magnolia's!

Momo and Grandpa

My parents came out a few days after David's parents left. Their trip out here started out wonderful the first 2 days they were here. They were able to go to Magnolia's school program and my mom and Magnolia went to the Nutcracker. After that the trip went downhill rather quickly. My dad ended up getting pneumonia while here and was hospitalized pretty much the rest of their trip. It was very scary but I can officially report he is back in Sioux Falls and getting lots of rest. Magnolia was very concerned about her grandpa so she thought we should throw him a party when he was finally released from the hospital. She made welcome home signs, we made cookies and she made up several games to play. Grandpa was not able to play the games but the rest of us were very busy learning all of the rules to these new games! I sure do hope the next time they visit it is a little less eventful!

Our Christmas Star

Magnolia had her school program last weekend. She was the Christmas Star. She was so excited because not only did she get to have a speaking part she also got to stand on a stool in the middle where everyone could see her. She did such a great job. She had been praciting her speaking part for 3 months and put a lot of pressure on herself to get it right. The line she said was "The animals recalled that night the star which appeared so pure and bright." She nailed it! She said it loud and clear and remembered every word.

Love this man

I have been so lucky this month... I have been able to go on a couple of dates with my husband! Having both sets of grandparents here allowed us to sneak away and enjoy one another. We were able to sit down at a restaurant, order drinks, appetizers, and dessert! We did not have to cut up anyone else's food or try to entertain a 1 year old who hates to sit. I love my kids more than anything but it was so nice just to get out and be a grown up!

The Grinch

Not only did the kids get to sit on Santa's lap but they also got to sit on the Grinch's lap as well! It was perfect timing to run into the Grinch because Magnolia and I had just watched the movie a few days before!

Santa

Magnolia and Keegan got to visit Santa at Bass Pro shop. They both did great sitting on his lap. Magnolia asked for a unicorn Glowpet and the American Girl Saige. Keegan asked for a remote of his own because he loves to play with (and eat) ours. Both kids have been beyond amazing so I sure do hope Santa is good to them! While waiting Keegan loved looking at the huge aquarium they had at Bass Pro. The picture of him with the fish is just so cool!

Grammy and Papa

David's parents came to visit the first week of December. We had a great time even though it was VERY VERY cold! We went down to Denver, went to a very fun candy factory, saw Santa, played, played, and played some more. Magnolia, Grammy and Papa even braved the cold temps and played outside! Keegan had many new tricks to show them and loved to keep them on their toes! I love the picture of Magnolia and grammy on the couch. They were watching that silly Papa and Magnolia's face is just priceless!