Happy 6th birthday, Skogen!

SIX things that automatically come to mind when I think of you:

1. You are an amazing little boy.

I love to watch the amazing YOU!  I watch you when you're patiently playing with Torsten, I watch you when you're sitting on your top bunk reading a book, and I watch you from afar as you unpack your backpack and put your things in your locker at school.  I also enjoy watching you as you play out in the snow, while you are skiing fearlessly down black diamonds, and I enjoy watching you play soccer, too.  You are constantly amazing me by just being you!

2. You have an amazing heart.

You're the first to offer comfort when Torsten gets hurt.  You have awesome ideas about  how to help others and a keen sense of need.  You truly feel bad when others are feeling bad and you hurt when others are hurting.  On the flip side, you can't help but smile if someone is smiling at you.  And your laugh!  It's contagious.  Along with this softer side of you, comes a more sensitive side.  You tend to cry a little more than your siblings and the littlest of things hurt your feelings in a big way. I value your tenderness.

3. You are adamant.  

Once you set your mind to something, you are going to do it and nothing will stop you.  Sometimes this is a good thing and I think it will be a blessing as you grow up.  However, since you're still a kid and have a lot of authority figures around you at all times, you have been finding yourself in a bit of trouble at school this year.  I know, I know.  It's so hard to mind someone when your idea might be so much better...  You're definitely stubborn and learning the hard way, but you're coming around.  :)

4.  You adore your Dad.

In your book, he's number one.  If anyone told you that their dad could do something, you'd argue that your dad could do it 100 times better.  You light up when he talks to you and your happiness sparkles in your eyes and through your smiles when you're with him.  You love to wrestle together.  You love to ski together.  And mostly, you love to do anything with your Dad that you feel will make him proud of you.

5.  You are animated.

From the time your eyes open in the morning, until you're fast asleep at night, you're moving.  You are constantly running, jumping, and spinning.  Not only that, but I can almost see the wheels in your head turning. With your mind constantly imagining, constantly creating, you are never bored and always coming up with ways of entertaining yourself.  Your creativity almost always involves a car or two, but you have recently discovered legos, which has been a good past time for you and that constantly-spinning brain of yours.  I love to see your new lego creations and I also love that you ask me to take pictures of them all.

6.  You are audacious.

Especially when you're with your brothers, you are fearless.  You take big risks, especially when jumping off high things.  It's always funny to hear the gasps of fear from others when I have you and the other two boys out of the house.  One minute you're climbing up a tree, the next your jumping out like Superman.  You'll scurry to the top of the bleachers at soccer and then swing down the backside like a monkey.  At the park, I find you on top of the tube slides, instead of inside them, and you're always trying to come up with a way to get on top of the entire playground structure, no matter how high.

This year for your birthday, you requested a race car birthday.  I think you enjoyed and appreciated what I came up with...

I got some Balloon Racers.  They are race cars that are powered by blowing up an attached balloon and then letting it deflate.  The boys raced these cars on a folding table that I made some tracks on with some duct tape.

After everyone arrived, we got right to work, each painting their own wooden car.  I didn't have enough paint brushes, so we painted with Q-tips!  This worked really well because then each boy could have a Q-tip for each color and I didn't have to worry about having cups of water for rinsing out paint brushes between colors.

After every car was painted, we moved onto the cupcakes!

Next came the presents!

Before parents arrived, we gathered around the table again, where I sprayed shaving cream all over the place.  I also dumped a bunch of cars on the table.  This was a big hit!

We had some extra time (these boys sure do move through activities quickly!), so the boys played in the dress up clothes.

Then they each took a goodie bag home with them!

Each goodie bag included a Balloon Racer, race car bouncy ball, race car bubbles, a rubber bracelet with race car phrases, and the wooden car they painted.

I also made a life-size race car driver with a cut out where the head would go.  The boys took turns posing for pictures with their head on the race car driver's body!  Over all, it was a great birthday party!  I really hope you enjoyed it, Skogie Bear!

Happy New Year! {2015}

Erik had New Year's Eve off and it only seemed appropriate to ring in the new year with a bang!  Four hours before dinner, I decided to put together a little party for our kids.  I dug around in our party supply box and pulled out everything I needed to make it special.  It was a frantic attempt, but successful.

 In preparation, I labeled eight balloons with specific "pop" times and filled each one with an activity.  The plan was to pop the balloon at the labeled time and do the activity that was in the balloon.  The kids went crazy over this idea and they generously took turns popping balloons at the appropriate time to get our next activity.

Balloon one : play musical chairs

Balloon two : eat dinner

We decided we'd dress fancy for dinner.  I let them choose what they thought was "fancy" and dress themselves.  It was fun to see what they chose to wear.

Halfway through dinner, Maida decided that we needed to eat by candle light, so we turned off all the lights and enjoyed the soft glow of the candles.  It was a great idea!

Balloon three : drink bubbly and make New Year toasts

 

Balloon Four : eat dessert

Balloon Five : make family New Year goals

 Balloon Six : take the last family picture of 2014

Balloon Seven : watch the ball drop

Netflix had a special New Year's ball drop for kids that you could watch at any time.  We played it for the kids and had a rocking dance party!  I had filled a balloon with confetti and streamers and hung it above the living room, so when the show counted down and got to "midnight," I popped the balloon and confetti flew everywhere!

Balloon Eight : have a family bedtime devotional

We ended the night with thoughts of God and how he has provided for us over the past year.  We prayed together and asked him to be with us as we started the New Year.

Christmas 2014

After Thanksgiving, I turned the calendar to December and I about had a heart attack!  Between Erik's work Christmas parties, class Christmas plays, class Christmas parties, and Christmas concerts, I was wore out just thinking about it all!  The month went pretty smoothly, thanks to my parents who were able to come and help me, but I couldn't help but think, how will I survive when I have four kids in school??!!!

Christmas Parties with Erik

Klaasen's preschool Christmas concert

Klaasen had been practicing his Christmas concert songs for weeks, but never sang one word of his songs during the concert.  He stood in the front row on stage, hands in his pockets, dancing and swinging to every song.  He was very into the music, not so much into the singing part.  

Maida's 2nd grade Christmas concert

 Maida takes her concerts VERY seriously.  Unlike her brother, she sang every word of the songs, with lots of expression and focus.  She was proud to have Bumpa and Grandma in town for the concert and enjoyed cookies and punch afterward.

Skogen's kindergarten class play

Skogen was a peacock in his kindergarten class Christmas play, "Who is Coming to our House?"

"I chose to be the peacock in the play because it was the most beautiful animal and I wanted to be beautiful for you, mom"

Unfortunately, Skogen decided to be very stubborn that morning and refused to get into his costume.  The boys and I, who had gone to watch, almost had to just leave him to the teachers to deal with and go.  At the last minute, though, he pulled through and did a great job!

Klaasen's preschool class Christmas party

I joined Klaasen's class for their Christmas party.  We decorated Christmas cookies, made beaded candy canes, and played Christmas Bingo!  I enjoy seeing Klaasen interact with his friends and it's great to see him excelling in good behavior in school, too!

Skogen's class Christmas party

I was in charge of planning and putting on Skogen's class party.  I did a snowman theme and then ended with a story and craft about Christ's birth.  I love that our kids attend a Christian school where they are taught about God and celebrate Jesus every day.  It is such a blessing!

Christmas cookie making

We made our traditional Christmas cookie cutouts!  Grammy was here to join in the fun of making them and Aunie Kimmy was here to help decorate!

The Polar Express movie night

Every year I give the kids an early Christmas present.  Inside this present is a pair of pajamas and a ticket to ride the Polar Express.  We drink hot chocolate and watch the movie with popcorn!  It's been a big hit for the past several years, but this year it didn't seem to have much magic.  The kids have lost interest in the movie and although it has a wonderful and touching story of believing, I think we'll try to switch things up next year.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and travels up north

We welcomed lots of visitors into our house on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  I really appreciate our family being understanding of a resident's life and not expecting us to travel away from home.  Through residency, it has been important to me to be with Erik on Christmas, even if we only get to see him for a few hours.  Because of my commitment to this, my family has volunteered to travel to be with us on several holidays over the past four years.  This Christmas, my parents came from northern Minnesota, my sister came from Arizona, and my brother and his family came from Kansas.

After Christmas, we traveled up to my parents' house for a few days.  There we met up with another one of my brothers and his family.  He has three daughters, who are very very special to my kids.  It was fun to be with them for a few days.

I had a really great time crafting with my sister while she was in town.  One night around 11pm, we went to Walmart for some things for a craft we were making.  While we were there, the store caught on fire!!!  Here we are with the smoke rolling down the aisle behind us.  At the time, we laughed at our luck, but after we took this picture and we went home, I was ashamed.  I was ashamed that we would laugh at someone else's misfortune.  I'm thankful that no real damage was done to the store.

Christmas 2014 was busy, but blessed.  My favorite part was receiving cards from friends and family!  I especially loved the picture cards.  We may just leave them hanging in our kitchen all year long!