Merry Christmas!!!

I'm sitting here watching the beautiful snow fall and reminising about Christmases past. I think that Christmas takes on a whole new meaning when you have kids of your own. The magic of Christmas is all different when you see it through the eyes of your kids.

Last week we had a visit from Santa Claus for a party that we had for daycare. Santa told a couple stories, sang some songs and handed out presents. All the daycare kids got hats that were knit specially by me. They all looked so adorable! When it was time for Santa to leave he went out to his PT cruiser and it wouldn't start. We looked out the window and he had the hood up so we sent the guys out help him. Nothing seemed to work including pushing the car out of the driveway to pop the clutch. So I was asked to call a tow truck for him and while all the moms watched from the house I tried to explain to the tow company that Santa needed a tow truck. At first the lady on the phone seemed really confused but eventually she decided to play along. When she asked where he needed it towed to I told her I would ask and she responded 'to the North Pole'! Avery had a solution for Santa....if he just would have brought his sleigh he could have just hooked up the reindeer to go home! If only...

Como Family Santa Picture.


Avery goofing off with Santa.


Boys watching Santa with the hood of the PT Cruiser up...


Santa watching his car be towed...


So tonight we celebrated Christmas with Mike's family. We always have so much fun and normally we have a family hockey game but with all the snow the ice wasn't in shape for that. So instead we just opened presents earlier and then played our Dirty Bingo game. The kids were so excited to play but the end of the game Avery melted down. The way the game works is we roll dice when you get doubles you get to pick a wrapped gift. Once they are all gone then everyone opens them and then we can steal from each other when you get doubles again. Well when the game was over Avery wanted the scarf that he got at the beginning. That ended our night! Time to go home and get two very tired boys to bed.

So now we are getting ready to put out some presents and watching a movie. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and has safe travels wherever you may be going!

Annual Checkup & Birthday Boy

The past week was a very eventful one around our house. Tuesday was avery's annual checkup with his cardiologist, Dr Burton. He was given a clean bill of health. Everything is looking great and we go back to see him in another year! He did so well with all the tests. So glad to have the appointment behind us. Afer the trip to the dr we went to the Mall of America. We took the kids on some rides and then to the Underwater World. You should have seen their eyes when we walked into the mall...they were both in awe. It was a great day!



Then Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with our first official Thanksgiving at our house. Everything went great and it was a great relaxing day.

Finally we celebrated Avery's 4th birthday! He was so excited for his birthday but he couldn't decide what he wanted for a gift. The only thing he told us he wanted was an Iowa Hawkeyes sweatshirt. I believe he has one coming from Grandpa & Grandma Berg but he hasn't stopped asking about it since Saturday. He is so excited for it. Mike asked him on Friday (while I was out Black Friday shopping) what he wanted for his birthday and his response was 'I don't know but I better figure it out because my birthday is tomorrow!'

We are hoping that him turning 4 flips the switch to make him act older and be more well behaved. So far so good on that front! Hoping that it continues!

Good Report

We had our first conferences with Blake's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Morrison, this week. We got a fabulous report. It seems Blake is in the advanced reading group and his testing scores were above the average for the school. Made me want to swell with pride! We know he is smart and a good kid but it is nice to hear it from someone else!

Next week is Thanksgiving and I feel like I haven't started Christmas shopping this year but I do have a few things. Did a little shopping today and then went over to do some more things at uncle Mark's house. We are still working on cleaning it out so it can be sold. Lots to do!

Tomorrow is hockey!

Halloween

I just realized that I haven't posted any pictures from Halloween yet! It was a fun time this year. The boys really got into it. Avery has really figured out what it is all about...the candy!

Jack-O-Lanterns


Hometown Heros


Directing Traffic

More October

We ended up getting tickets to the Vikings game vs. the Ravens at the last minute. So we packed up the truck and headed to the Metrodome. It is the first live Vikings game that any of us had ever attended. We were kind of worried about Avery as he doesn't like loud noises but he did pretty well actually. He covered his ears a lot of the time when it got loud but he still had a lot of fun! We all managed to have a good time despite getting bad news at the beginning of the game that Mike's uncle Mark had passed away. Here are some pictures from our exciting day!

Such a slacker...

Okay I know it's been an entire month since I've posted. We've had quite a month. We've celebrated two birthdays, started hockey, saw a Vikings game live and Mike & I took a trip to Vegas.

Blake turned 6 on October 11th. It was a fun time as we celebrated in a construction theme. He had a friend party at the local cheap theater where they got to have a behind the scenes tour of the inner workings of the theater. THe birthday boy also got to push 'Play' before we went to watch the movie.

More updates soon...

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

So Avery has always been our comedian but some days it come out more than others! He is so crazy sometimes. Sunday he was full of it. When we were getting ready for church he was putting some dress shoes on and I told him he looked handsome. He looked at me and said 'Some people say that.' I couldn't even hold back the laughter.

Then later at lunch the same day he told us that he 'doesn't want to be 4 1/2 but just wants to be 5 right away' ...could he be any funnier! The funniest part of that story is that we couldn't remember what it was that he had said so we asked him and at first he didn't remember but last night at supper he repeated the story because he remembered what he had said. Stinker!

Happy 60th Birthday

Over the weekend we had a surprise birthday party for Grandma Sue. It was a very fun time and a HUGE surprise to her. She had family come from Florida and Missouri and was very shocked to see them. It was a great time had by all! Our whole family was up until 2 am. Blake slept until noon the next day. Avery was up at 9 asking to go to Sunday school.

1st Day of Kindergarten

Blake started his first year of school on Thursday. He was so excited. Hoping to start a tradition we let him pick out supper on Wednesday night. He opted for homemade pizza (what kid doesn't love pizza). We got all his clothes picked out and into bed early. I don't think he fell asleep right away as he was so excited but he was up bright and early. He got up and dressed, fixed his bed and was ready to go by 7 am. We also let him pick breakfast so we had waffles. Then we had to get a few pictures before we left.

When we got to school we took a few more pictures. Then we got all lined up and ready to go inside. We didn't get to go inside with them so after the teachers taught the kindergarteners the school song they went inside. No tears were shed by mom or Blake. Thought for sure that I would be crying! He was VERY ready though so that helped. He has a buddy from hockey in his class so that should help. We are very excited for his first year!


Traditional Front Door Shot


Avery couldn't resist getting in on the action


In front of the Roosevelt sign

The tooth is out!

We finally got that tooth out! Just in the nick of time before the dentist on Friday! Blake was punting the football in the yard and somehow his knee hit his tooth and knocked it out. Apparently it fell right into his hand. He came running over to me with it in his hand. He is so excited. Can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings!

Wiggly Tooth

Blake has a tooth that is nearly out. It is barely hanging on but he is scared of us trying to pull it out. He has let us a couple times but the tooth is so small it is hard to get a good grip. We'll see how long it takes! He has a dentist appt on Friday so hopefully he will get it out before then!

Avery's Cut

We were back in the doctors office yesterday getting Avery's cut checked out. It looked like it was infected so we thought we better be off getting it checked. The verdict from the dr is that it is infected. She seemed very confused as to what to do besides giving him antibiotics. She decided to make a small knick in the glue to get the pus out of the cut. It came out easily although I am not sure that it was the right choice as I fear that more germs will find their way in. It does look better today after two doses of ammoxicillin and a warm pack. Hopefully it continues to improve.

Rough Day

Wednesday was a rough day for Avery. He decided that instead of taking a nap it was more fun to mess around in our bed. He found out quickly why his mom always tells him to stop jerking around and lay still! He fell off the bed and hit the night stand on the way down. I heard him hit the floor and went in. He had blood everywhere and a 3/4" gash above his eye. And let me tell you these head wounds bleed! I first called Grandma Sue to come sit with the daycare kids so I could take him to the clinic. Then called the clinic and they informed us to just come in and the dr on call would fit us in. When it was time to leave I couldn't find my keys...can we say panic? Turned out they were in the garage from the night before when I went for a walk.

When we got to the clinic we got right into the room. Dr Townsend checked him out and said we would need to get it cleaned up and then she would glue it. So the nurse came in and cleaned him up and then the dr came back to glue it. He was surprisingly brave and never shed a tear while they fixed him up! I haven't gotten a picture yet but hope to soon!

Pictures of Latest House Project

As I said before we were working on windows at our house the past couple weekends. Well they are finished! They went a lot smoother than last year and they look fantastic! I can't believe how much better the rooms look with new windows and trim. Some day we may be doing the rest of the trim but that isn't at the top of my priority list...maybe a new bathroom would be good first!

Kitchen Before


Living Room Before


Living Room After


Also, I have included some pictures of Avery's new curtains in his room. I have to finish the final two panels but they look great. Now it is off to shop for window treatments for the other windows that we just finished!

Weekend Project

This past weekend we worked on installing new windows. We replaced 5 windows last year and this year decided to do the rest....8 more! We actually got them all in in one day and the next day we got the trim measured for, purchased and cut. Now I am working on staining it all so we can put it up on Friday. I am glad that it didn't take as long as it did last year! I guess it helps to measure correctly!

Avery the Comedian!

Avery is always quite the the comedian but yesterday he was full of it! First in the morning he was shooed into his room to get dressed. He was throwing a fit about having the door shut but I cannot allow him to run around without clothes on. So he finally stopped throwing a fit and I thought he was getting dressed but had been in his room for quite a while so I went to check on him. The light was off and he was finally getting dressed. When I asked why he had the light off he said 'Well I was in my bed. I was going to lay in there until 9:30 but I don't have a clock!' I was rolling with that one.

Then later in the afternoon when we were playing outside he came over to me and told me that he 'doesn't like himself without his hat on!' Bahahahaha! My funny child!

Trap Shooting

Mike wanted to see if Avery could handle the guns shooting if he were to take him hunting this fall. Avery doesn't handle the noise well when we go to parades so it might not be fun to go out hunting with the loud noise. But he did fine! Mike had some ear muffs to keep some of the sound out and it helped him to relax.

The boys also got their first chance to shoot a gun while we were out there. If I remember right it was a 410 that they shot. Still a little big for them but they definitely thought it was pretty cool. Even mom got to shoot the gun and try to hit some of the clay pigeons. Didn't do too bad but nothing spectacular. It was the first time I have ever really shot at a moving target with such a big gun.

Here are some pictures from our adventure but of course there are no pictures of mom because I'm always the one behind the camera!

July...

Well here we are and almost 2 weeks has passed again! Things just keep getting busier all the time and we aren't even to school starting yet! Two weeks ago we took a camping trip to Bray Park. It was our first adventure in the camper on our own. In the past we have always gone with someone and had someone there to show us the ropes. This time it was just the 4 of us and it was a good time. The boys enjoyed it although Blake started out sick when we began the weekend but he quickly recovered and had fun. We spent lots of time playing baseball and playing with the old toys that are in the camper. We go again in a few weeks and we are looking forward to it.

Last weekend I had a garage sale with Jamie's girlfriend Elizabeth. Who knew two people could produce so much stuff! The garage was full! I got rid of quite a bit and came home with way less than we started with. After the sale we went to the Wow Zone for the first time. It is an 'entertainment' center, if you will, with lots of arcade games, bowling, laser tag, mini golf and food. We let the boys play a few games and then did some bowling. Mommy (myself) had the high score. The new lanes were pretty neat as the bumpers came up only for the kids to bowl with them. They even had shoes small enough for the boys...so cute! Of course I had to get a picture of that! They really had a blast.

We also had a family reunion of sorts for the Berg side of the family on Sunday. It is always so fun to see everyone again. I hope we can continue to do this every year. We had people from all over this year...Hawaii, Arizona, Pennsylvania. We had a great time and the kids got to know some of their cousins again. I'll post pictures of the reunion soon...

Busy Month...

So what can I say, it's been a busy few weeks and I haven't posted! I have lots to catch you up on. Let's see...after Father's Day weekend we spent the weekend at a softball tournament. Mike played with a bunch of his old softball buddies in honor of their friend Tim Voigt who has Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS). It is an excuse for everyone to get together once a year. Everyone had a good time and the boys really enjoyed watching their dad play.

4th of July
Then came the 4th of July weekend. The kids were especially excited to attend the annual parade in Elysian. The parade wasn't as good as in past years but it didn't matter to the kids! After the parade we headed to the lake to take the jet ski (Mike's uncle's) out on the water. After some fun at the beach we were off to watch the fireworks. The kids were quite tired by then but enjoyed it. If we could just get Avery over his fear of the loud noises...need to get some ear plugs for that kid!

Moondogs & Fun Days
Last weekend was spent with more fun at the Moondogs game and North Mankato Fun Days. Friday night we went to the Moondogs game Grandpa Bruce & Grandma Patty. The game was lots of fun and the first one we have gone to all year. Unfortunately the Dogs didn't win. Saturday was the parade. We were having a good time until Avery started to get sick. He started out whiny and then would just lay on Mike's lap. Eventually I took him inside where he threw up. He was pretty miserable but eventually decided he felt better and we went down to the carnival and did a few rides. He got scared on one of them and decided that he was done. After we got back to Grandma Sue's house he was not feeling well again.

Enjoy the pictures and I promise I will TRY to get better at posting things on here!

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a great weekend camping...after we got there! It was fun to see all the grandparents and to spend Father's Day with all of the dads in our life. We got some fabulous pictures. The boys really liked camping and can't wait to go again next month. We lucked out with the weather and only got a couple showers on Sunday before we left. It was hot at times but it was bearable. Hopefully the weather will be nice for the weekend we are going in July.

All the butterflies ended up opening before we left for the weekend. Here is a picture of what they looked like.

We have butterflies

All of our caterpillars have turned into butterflies. It is great to watch new life emerge and fly off into the big world. The boys especially thought it was fun that one of them decided to fly around the kitchen! I will post a picture of them after we get back from our weekend of camping.

Have a good weekend.

Caterpillar Farm Operation

Not really sure what is going on around our house the past few days but we have found over 30 caterpillars. They were two different kinds. We knew there was one nest in the neighbors apple tree just over our drive way. Those all came out on Sunday. We kept them but they didn't make it. Today we found a TON more (17) and we have kept them and put them all in cups with some grass and a stick. So we have 17 cups all set up with one caterpillar in each. Last year we found the same kind and they made their crysalis and turned into butterflies. It is kind of exciting to see what will happen. It will be our science experiment for the spring I guess!







The other news is that Avery has decided that he will not be taking the training wheels off his bike EVER again! He was all excited to go ride his bike again yesterday before supper. His second try he got a little wobbly and neither one of us was close enough to catch him. He ended up with road rash on his face. He was not pleased and refused to even eat supper because he was so upset. He said to me 'you should have caught me'. When I told him I was too far away to catch him and he then said 'well then daddy should have caught me!' Broke my heart. But we put the training wheels back on and went for a walk later after supper so he isn't too freaked out although he is a little more gun shy!

Exciting Times

Last weekend we ended up taking the boys to the MN Zoo. They loved it. Both of them walked the entire time and if you've ever been to that zoo, you know that it is a TON of walking. They did really well. The grizzly bear decided to give them an up close and personal look as they were standing at the window. I think that was their favorite part.

Thursday Blake started his first season of t-ball. They practiced and he had fun. He was so excited. His hockey buddy Tyler is on his team so that was very exciting for Blake. At home they are both trying enjoying playing baseball in the backyard. Blake hit a couple balls right over the tree and Avery is starting to get homeruns frequently too!

Today's exciting news is that Avery is learning to ride his bike without training wheels. He tried it one day last weekend and didn't do so well so he was scared and wanted them back on. Today we went for a walk and he was scared he was going to fall even with the training wheels on. Then at supper he told me he wanted to take them off again. So we took them off and headed over to the church with all his gear on. He got scared at first again but soon figured out that we weren't going to let him fall. So by the time we were done he was doing great! He isn't confident enough to want us to let go but he is doing great! He was so excited that he had to call Grandpa & Grandmas to tell them.