Hanging in There.

Kenzie is hanging in there today!  Our Saturday plans were pretty much over as Kenzie still woke up not feeling very well.  We decided to take her to the walk-in to make sure she didn't have strep throat. The quick test came back negative but the provider said she had a pretty bad case of exudated tonsillitis.  Poor turkey.  She was really brave at the office so daddy had found a "Lil Sis" beanie boo for her (big sister had the other half "Big Sis" beanie boo.)   I guess that is one perk of having the walk-in clinic in the mall!

On a side note, poor Emma is awaiting a long overdue grooming appointment and she currently can not see.

I put a ponytail in her hair this morning and everyone thought it was pretty hilarious.  I mean, because it is!  At least she can see!!

Not So Happy Friday.

We had already spent a lot of time watching dance recital DVDs this week.  For some reason Kenzie has wanted to watch them every day and has been very excited about dance.  She could hardly wait all week to go to her Wednesday night dance class!

Unfortunately, she woke up with a fever today and had to miss her first day of preschool!  She was pretty bummed she had to miss because it was Kendra's snack day.  I guess when you're a preschooler it's a pretty big deal when it's your turn to bring snack.  Kenzie asked in the morning if she could watch the dance movies, so we did!

She reached a new level when she asked if she could start putting the costumes on while watching the dances and dancing along.  She loves her big sister so much and wants nothing more than to be just like her.  So, of course her first choice would be "Shake a Tailfeather" when Kadence rocked it.

 The little sweetheart tried every costume of Kadence's on and danced along to each dance.  She was really excited when most of the costumes fit!  She was sort of being shy and didn't want me to take pictures so I had to be pretty sneaky.  She caught me a couple times and was really upset.  But...how could I resist.  It was really one of the most adorable things in the world and since I was the only one here I wanted everyone to be able to see!

Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling very well after the ibuprofen wore off.  She had a headache and asked for the "mask."  The "mask" is one of those aromatherapy bags and it's stored in the freezer so it's nice and cool.  When she said she had a headache I offered it to her and when we went in to check on her about 10:30 she was still sleeping with it on.  She's so cute.

Kids Day!

 The kids had the day off of school for Martin Luther King Jr Day.  Unfortunately, Ryan headed to Fosston to work for the day/night so we had to have some fun without him.  It was kind of nice to have an extra day to recuperate after a busy weekend.

 I let the kids be lazy and lay around and watch tv and snuggle Bella this morning.

The girls had a lot of fun playing together and making Shopkin videos.  Ha!

 We headed to the gym to burn off some steam at the pool.  The three of them had so much fun playing together!  They were sad when we had to get out for the swim lessons to start.  After swimming I took them for an early supper at the Pizza Ranch.  They love eating there.  I think it's mostly the desert pizza and ice cream that gets to them!  Happy Day!  I'm so lucky to be able to be home with the kids!

Limmer Christmas 2016

We ventured to the other side of the Tundra for the annual Limmer Christmas celebration.  It was a great celebration as usual and so good to see everyone.  There was definitely lots of food, laughter and fun.  We played the tradition dice game and Aunty Casey brought a ball of saran wrap filled with goodies for the kids to play with.  We all had an absolute riot as usual.

Bella was the hit of the party.  I think she had more attention than she even knew what to do with!  Kelly liked her so much she stole her for a little while to bring her to a friend's house!

These two were trying to take a cute selfie-I totally bombed that one!

I had lots and lots of laughs with Christina and Kym!

Look at all those happy people!

 Sometimes boys get a little silly...

On Sunday we went and visited Jackie and her family at their house.  It was so fun to spend some time with them!  Even though it was pretty cold out the kids (and dads) still went outside to play boot hockey on their pond and go sledding.  The kids all had a blast together and I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the kids!!  Jackie and I were able to catch up a bit!  Another great weekend winter in the books!

The kids had a lot of fun, too.  This picture was taken a short 20 minutes into our trip back home.  Too cute!

Deep thoughts with Landon.

We have had some really chilly days here this week.  We have definitely been spoiled so far this winter and aren't really accustomed to these subzero temperatures.  Landon asked to wear his face mask to school and I thought he looked pretty adorable so I snapped this photo.  Ryan had taken Kenzie to gymnastics and I had Landon with me taking Kadence to dance.  He usually is with Ryan at basketball while I'm running the girls around so it was nice to have him as my sidekick for a change.  He chatted my ear off the entire time we were together.  It was pretty adorable and I loved it.  We somehow got on the subject of our wedding and he asks, "Mom, were you pregnant with me when you married Dad?" Well as you can imagine I wasn't really expecting that question quite yet.  I generally don't tell lies to the kids because I don't really believe in that, so...I just said, "YEP!" What he said next I could have never predicted in a million years.  He looked up at me with his big brown eyes with a big smile on his face and said in the most excited voice, " Mom!! God just knew!"  Wow.  You're right buddy God did know.  And, I left it at that.

Kenzie Talk.

I love the time I get to spend with this little girl one on one.  She really is the best company and she makes me smile.  I often forget that she is just five.  She can talk and act so grown up and her mind processes things ahead of where I would expect for her age.  I picked her up from preschool and decided we would get some warm soup on our way home because it was SO cold (also-soup is one of Kenzie's favorite lunch meals.) I guess we spend a lot of time chatting in the car and most of the time I don't really think anything of it.  Our conversation went like this:

Me: Kenzie, we are SO lucky.

Kenzie: Why Mommy?

Me: Well, we have a nice warm car, nice warm clothes and a nice warm house to go home to.  You, know not everyone is that lucky.  Thanks be to God for all he has given us.

Kenzie: Momma, did you know I have 2 daddies.

Me: Um...what do you mean?

Kenzie:  Well, I have daddy and I have my daddy in the sky.  You know Jesus.  I miss my daddy in the sky SO much.  I just wish he could come down to me so I could give him a hug.  I'm pretty lucky mommy.  I have 2 daddies.

Sometimes she honestly leaves me speechless.  I love her SO much!

Another Lost Tooth!

It's been awhile since we've had a tooth come out in the Strasburg house!  Kadence had been obsessing about her wiggly tooth for a solid week!  She finally let me pull it out tonight and was very excited to use her new tooth fairy box that she got for Christmas.  I sure hope the tooth fairy comes tonight... 

*I had a mom ask me why Kadence's tooth fairy often brought a toy when she came the SECOND night because she was too busy the first night.  The mom told me that her daughter had said she sure hoped the tooth fairy was too busy the first night like her friend Kendallynn's friend Kadence so she could get a special toy, too!  No comment.  

Weekend Fun.

 It was a fun weekend at home this weekend.  Everyone is finally healthy so we had a weekend full of fun.

We kicked off the weekend with some serious spy training.  Landon was very excited to play his new game.  I think we all had fun playing it!  Kenzie took this video of one of my turns and I thought it was too hilarious not to share.  Good times.

Saturday evening Clinton and Tara came over for some snacks and fun.  They brought their pups Charlie and Oskar which means we officially had more dogs in the house than kids!  We practiced some more spy training and they brought their Kinect over for the Xbox where we had a serious dance party!  The kids had so much fun!  The above picture was actually after the kiddos went to bed and we played.  This was me kicking Ryan's butt...amazingly.  We also saved the world in a game of Pandemic.  We are pretty awesome for old people.

Sunday after church we were all ready for the BIG GAME.  I really thought they had finally pulled off a play off win...what a joke!  I found this cute video on my phone and had to share it.  It was during the Vikings game.  It really shows Kadence's personality and when she introduces her baby "Clara" at the end it made me smile.  Her teacher who she adores is currently on maternity leave after having her first baby-Clara.  She just visited the class last week...

Kadence was so excited to see Mrs. Krumwiede and Clara.  I think Mrs K. was pretty brave to bring her newborn into school with all those germs!  She's such a great teacher and Kadence is counting down the days until she returns!

First Basketball Tournament.

Landon had his very first basketball tournament today and his team took 1st place!  He has had so much fun this season with this great group of boys.  They have all grown so much both individually and as a team.  They played three games and won them all by a decent margin.

 So proud of Landon and all his hard work!

Little sisters were pretty excited for big brother!  

 Landon was beyond excited to have his 1st place medal!  Pretty big deal when you are 9.  Congratulations West Fargo Bison!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday.  This post has no point other than to brag about this handsome dude.  Because after he got ready for school he looked grown up and handsome as ever.  Such a sweet boy.  GO BISON!

Gymnastics Update.

 Kenzie has been practicing hard at gymnastics all season.  I can't believe the progress she has already made.  She seems to really like it and have somewhat of a natural ability.  It is a lot of time at the gym-5 hours/week but she seems to handle it just fine.

I stay and watch most days but usually can not see a thing.  This place is insane in the evenings between all of the gymnasts and their parents.  I was excited they were practicing up front and I was able to watch a few things before taking big sister across town to dance.  I snapped the above video and it turned out beyond adorable with all the girls giggling.  I'm so proud of Kenzie and how well she's doing with all of her activities at such a young age.  

Emma is 11.

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Emma who turned 11 years young today.  Emma has had a rough couple months but seems to be back to herself and doing very well!  It was so nice outside that we were even able to take her for a birthday walk!  She was very excited and loved using her wooly mammoth coat for the weather.  31 degrees in January?!  We'll take that! 

We spoiled the princess with a cup of whipped cream and even sang her Happy Birthday...

 Emma had endless birthday snuggles...even Bella joined in.  I can't believe this sweet little pup is 11 years old!  She is SO loved!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2016 from our family to yours!  2015 was a busy, fun year for our family and we can not wait to see what the next year will bring.  Each year seems to be going by quicker than the last so Ryan and I are trying very hard to be present in our daily lives!  I explained what New Years Resolutions were to the kids and they each had one: Landon-to whine less -Kadence-to stop talking back -Kenzie-to not cry at gymnastics and dance.  I was pretty proud of their grown up responses! :) 

We decided to kick the New Year off in the pool!  We had a relaxing day and were able to spend most of the day with Ryan, too! May God bless you all in 2016!