Winter Update

Time for an update...

I figured I would accomplish a whole list of "I'll do it over Christmas break" tasks and so far I haven't gotten many checked off the list. I guess there's always Spring Break, right? One of my items was to update the severely neglected blog...so here we go!

(I just may go back and do another post about Halloween, we shall see!)

This little diva LOVES to play on the iPad and it's not too often that she gets it all to herself...It's amazing how fast she has picked up on how to slide her finger across, press buttons, and maneuver from game to game. Incredible.

Our annual Christmas tree hunt was a huge success this year. We had beautiful weather, no snow to trek through, and found a wonderful 12 foot balsam fir tree. The kids got to see Santa, meet some reindeer, and enjoy some cookies and cider.

The finished tree...the first time. Let's just say that I put the tree up TWICE this year. Yeah, won't go into too many details to spare Darren's feelings...but whenever I see our new heavy duty tree stand from now on I will remember Christmas 2011!

The first weekend of December we ventured up to Fargo to do our Glur Christmas with Darren's mom, Susan, being home from Phoenix. Unfortunately I wasn't in a picture taking mood as I have no pictures of the annual limo ride or any family pics to share. Next year. I did, however, grab the camera to steal a shot of these two cutie patooties sleeping so peacefully. That's Landon on the left and cousin Sam on the right.

Landon gave Grandma Susan a lesson or two in how to use the iPad.

Gingerbread houses are so much more fun to make with a two year old!

The weekend before Christmas, we celebrate with Darren's dad and his wife. The kids were spoiled...again...with some really cool gifts. Landon got a full size hockey net for the driveway and Addison got her own pink four-wheeler. Darren and I were spoiled with a brand new Keurig coffee machine. Love it.

The lack of snow this month has been very interesting for playing outside. It's crazy when the kids can get bundled up and go to the park in December and play on the swings and slides. We have yet to see any snow piles to play in, but no one in the Glur houseold is complaining. In fact, it snowed a few flakes this morning and when Landon looked out the window and saw the snow he said, "Why is it snowing mommy? Tell it to stop!" I told the snow to stop and sure enough, a few hours later it had stopped and the snow was completely melted. Landon claims it's because WE told it to stop.

Once again, we spent Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's house and spent Christmas Day at my Aunt Susan's house. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. Every year gets crazier and crazier at my mom and dad's house as the grandkids get older. This year was especially crazy in the fact that Ashley, Loren, and Jackson moved into their new house on Friday and we finished cleaning and moving them out on Friday night. Now there is a nice big playroom downstairs at my mom and dad's which kept some of the craziness downstairs this year. Hmmm...wonder what next year will be like on Christmas? Crazier yet?

I'm sure my Grandma won't approve of this picture, but it's the only one I took. This year was especially hard for them as they had a house fire just a few short weeks ago. They lost the top floor of their house and are very lucky to have gotten out of the house safely. Right now they are living in a condo in Buffalo until their house can be repaired and restored. They lost all of their photos due to the smoke and heat damage and so each member of ouf family gave them framed photos to hang up to replace the lost ones. They were very touched.

Annual attempt at a kids/grandkids picture...fail...again...

Fred, our crazy little Elf of the Shelf, must have had good things to report to Santa this year, because the kids were definitely rewarded!

Before...

And, after...

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year! I am enjoying my last few days off with the kids and trying to get a few more things checked off my list. It feels good to have the tree down, decorations put away, and house clean and in order again. The office is on it's way to being reorganized and next on my list is to tackle the dreaded job of getting my Thirty One receipts, mileage, and tax info ready to go. Yuck. On a positive note, Darren and I decided that we need a little vacation away for a a few days and are headed to...

VEGAS! Can't wait! We'll be gone January 12-15 and looking forward to some sleeping in, nice meals without screaming children, shopping, relaxing, a few shows, and time together!

Fall Family Pics

I know...you don't have to remind me. It's been WAAAYYYY too long! I don't have a good excuse other than I've been busy. Plain and simple. I have a full time job and a part time job that consumes most of my time after my kids are sleeping. In fact, it has consumed most of my free time in October. However, I can't complain as it has paid for many nice things for my family. Also, I will be watching television on my nice new tv and holding my iPad in my hand, both courtesy of Thirty One Gifts, in a few short days. That is my excuse.

So, I'm not going to go back an update on all that I've missed because quite honestly I don't have a ton of pictures to show for the past few months (again, my life is busy). We did get the opportunity to take some casual family pictures a few weekends ago. My sister Ashley had found this nice gal from Howard Lake on Craigslist to take Jackson's four year pictures. They turned out great. She did a great job and was awesome with the kids. Here's a few of my faves:

I am really enjoying my time off for Education MN break this week. Yesterday I crammed in as many health appointments as possible. Today I have spent the day uploading hundreds of pictures to my computer an Snapfish account. Whew! Plus a few other minor projects that have been on the waiting list.

I am looking forward to spending much quality time with my sister's kids, Lilly and Blake, while Jess and Chad go on a late anniversary trip to Duluth. Hmmm...what will it be like to basically have two sets of twins this weekend? Ask me on Sunday night.

Addison's 1 Year Well Child Visit

First let me go back a few weeks...

We have made it our new family tradition to take our kids to Chuck E. Cheese on their birthdays. We celebrated Addison's birthday there on Friday night before her big 1st birthday party. Anyone who knows this little girl well, knows that she likes to eat! Pretty sure eating pizza was her favorite part of the evening. Who cares about the rides or the games, she was the last one eating by the long shot! While Landon, Mommy, and Daddy were busy playing games and checking out the little rides, Miss Addison was eating away with Grandma Susan watching!

And the little bitty pieces that Mommy cut up weren't good enough...she had to steal everyone's big pieces of pizza (cuz she's a BIG girl now)!

She wasn't quite sure what to think of the rides right away!

But LOVED riding the horsie ride with big brother Landon! Can you tell she's excited?

Playing games with Daddy and Landon:

Just like on Landon's 1st birthday trip to Chuck E. Cheese, we hit the jackpot on one of the games! Addison loved watching the tickets keep coming, and coming, and coming out!

Okay, so now on to Miss Addison's well child visit last week! I had forgotten what an awful appointment this would be for her. I quickly remembered Landon's 1 year visit. FIVE vaccinations, yes FIVE. And, a finger prick blood draw that lasted about five excrutiating minutes long! Let me tell you...what a heartbreaker to watch your child look at you as you hold them down to have blood drawn for a LONG time. It was almost as if she was saying to me "Mommy, WHY are you letting this MEAN lady DO this to me???" She is such a trooper and was her happy self just moments afterward. Dr. Fandel is pleased with her physical growth as well as her social and emotional growth. She is meeting and exceeding all of her milestones again! YAY baby girl! So for her stats:

~Weight...22 lbs. 8 oz...83rd percentile

~Height...30.5 inches...87th percentile

~Head circumference...47 cm...91st percentile
Now we just need to work on weaning from the bottle. We've successfully transitioned her from formula to whole milk. The bottle thing is another story. She is down to having a bottle when she wakes up and when she goes down at night, but we've cut out the in betweens. Only sippy cups during the day, which she is NOT happy about. She pushes them away if she knows there's milk in there. Smart girl.

Our Little Lady's Party

On Saturday we celebrated Addison's 1st birthday! I can't believe how fast this past year has gone...seriously! I have to admit that I have been so busy lately that this party came together very last minute. Besides gathering ideas and getting invitations sent out, I started everything last Sunday night when we got back from Fargo. So, here's what I came up with...

*Food: We had make your own deli sandwiches with all the fixings, pasta salad, beans, chips, veggies, fruit kabobs, and ladybug appetizers. I made a dessert table that included cupcakes, red and black licorice, cinnamon candies, almond bark dipped pretzel rods, and of course, birthday cake! For beverages we had personalized water bottles, pop, and lemonade.

The dessert table:

The birthday cake: (This was a cherry chip cake cooked in various sized bowls and then flipped over. Iced with canned frosting tinted and then accessorized with Junior Mints and pipe cleaners. Super easy!)

The "smash cake" for the birthday girl:


Cupcakes:

The ladybug appetizers: (Thank goodness my mother-in-law was here to help out. I made one of these and then passed the task off to her. They turned out great!)

The fruit kabobs:

The lemonade: (I made Schwanns raspberry lemonade and put it in mason jars with some fresh raspberries and lemons! So good!)

Water bottles:

*Party favors for the kids: I found these cute little boxes at Target and filled them with Gushers, stickers, bubbles, candy, and little pet rock ladybugs that I painted.

The ladybugs:

Party favors all ready to go:

*Decor: This part is always the most fun for me! Everything was black, red, and white to match the ladybug theme, but I also decided to throw in a little light pink to make it a bit more girly!

I was able to plan ahead enough to get Addison's 1 year pictures taken ahead of time so that I would have them in time to give out at her party! Here's one that I love:

Her birthday hat and matching high chair bunting: (as you can see I decided to use a lot of tulle rather than ribbon to match the tutu!)

The birthday girl attire: (My neighbor, Marissa, is a very talented and crafty gal so I asked her to make a tutu for the big day...it turned out so cute. The onesie was from etsy.com by a vendor named "To Be Stitched."

I couldn't resist these beautiful gladiolas to use as a centerpiece in the kitchen:

The eating utinsels:

The birthday banner: (Here again, I used a lot more tulle than I usually do for a softer look.)

Sign on the door:

To show how much Addison's changed this past year, I made a display of pictures of each month:

For centerpieces I painted some little pots red and attached some fun whimsical items to some wooden dowels (ladybug picture frame, pinwheel, and #1): (You can also see the invitation in the little frame there as well as the birthday hats again. One for Landon too! In the background I had the laptop set up to show off the video I made of pictures of Addison's first year!)

*The Birthday Girl: How cute is she in her little birthday get-up??? I also made her a little barrett to wear because I knew she wouldn't last long with the sequin lead band on:

Digging in to her smash cake: (She had a great time getting frosting all over everything...and feeding Sammie!)

Mommy and the Birthday Girl:

The only family picture we got all day: (I'm good at remembering to take pictures before the party, but then get too busy to take pictures during the party!)

Off to the tub:

Can we say spoiled...this little girl made quite the haul:

Digging in to the presents: (love the look on her face here)

More presents:

It was such a GREAT day! Thank you to all of our family for making her day SO SPECIAL!

After the party I joked about the fact that we just may need to add on to our house to accomodate for all the new toys...Here's what our playarea looks like now! Ahhhhhhh!