Landon's Gymnastics.

After an entire summer of watching both of his sisters do gymnastics Landon finally had his turn.  He begged me every time we took Kadence to her class so we decided to let him do a class when his flag football was over.  He is in an all boys class on Monday nights.  There is a wide range of ages (6-14) which has been a good motivator for Landon.  The class is 730-830 on Monday nights so Ryan took him to class while I would stay home with the girls.  The last class of the session was parents day so the girls and I also went and watched.

 It was pretty cute to watch Landon show off all of his progress.  He was super embarrassed with me there taking pictures.  His face kept turning red and I could tell he was embarrassed.  It was kind of funny because I have never seen him that way with all the sports he has done-t-ball, flag football, soccer, basketball, tae kwon doe.

I couldn't help but think of my little almost 4 year old boy doing his first activity- a gymnastics class, in Sioux Falls.  How did he grow up so fast?  He looks so grown up now.

 Sioux Falls September 2010

Landon passed levels 1-6 and did an excellent job for his first time!  He wants to continue to do gymnastics so he is signed up for the next session in January.  He will also be starting basketball in January!

What a cutie pie he was!!!  I just can't believe he is already 7.  Tear...

Christmas Cookies.

We always try and do cut out cookies with the kids around Christmas time.  We most of Sunday afternoon baking and decorating the cookies.  Cut out cookies are quite time consuming and even more so when you let little people help.  It is totally worth it as the kids love doing it and are always so proud of their creations.

 They were the yummiest cookies EVER!

Hey Mickey!

Kadence had her Holiday Dance Recital at the NDSU fine arts auditorium and it was a great show.   Her class was costumed as cheerleaders and did a little ballet routine to "Hey, Mickey."  She did so well and was very excited to perform!

 We had to put pigtails in her hair for the show so of course Kenzie had to have pigtails, too.  Dance is just such a great think for Kadence.  It is a time where she truly shines.  She can be kind of shy and not always know how to handle her emotions but when she gets on stage she is the happiest most confident that I ever see her.  I really hope it is something that she continues to do!

Kadence was excited to have Aunty Holly and Mike come watch her!  She even colored a picture for Aunty Holly while she was waiting backstage!

I am so excited to for what the end of the year recital will bring!  So proud of our little dancing princess.

Miss Kenzie.

I have just been loving this little girl to pieces.  She is so fun and has so much personality I can hardly stand it.  Although it is no secret that sometimes Kenzie gets a little demanding, she truly is such a little ray of sunshine.  We have been doing Christmas projects and Kenzie just absolutely loves it. The only problem is that she is never happy with doing just one project!  I think I need to get some more craft supplies!

All in a mornings work!

A lot of times when we are riding in the car, she whines about the sun and asks for my glasses.  She looks better in them anyway.

My baby and her baby.  She loves playing with her babies so much.  She was "nuggling" her baby and patting her back on the couch for the longest time.  It was just precious.  I tired so hard to get Kadence to like to play with babies and she just never loved it.  Kenzie developed a love for babies all on her own.  So sweet.

What a good little helper!  Kenzie loved helping (and eating) cookies with me!  I made several different kinds with her help.  So fun!!  And seriously, could she get any cuter?

Singing in Church.

The kids had their first holiday concert in church today.   Last year we had the stomach flu during so the kids weren't able to make it.  Our church has a very large Sunday School group so there were a ton of kids and it was just the 9am Kindergarten/1st Graders.   Both Landon and Kadence were in the very back row and very hard to see.  Ryan grabbed a quick shot on his phone and Landon is quite visible in the back row right under the mountain.  There was a boy blocking our view of Kadence the entire time which was kind of disappointing.  She is 5 kids down to the left from Landon.  There's just something precious about the voices of little people singing Christmas songs.  Good job, kiddos!

Snow Fun.

 We have had a good amount of snow this year already so and the kids love to play outside in it.  I took Kenzie out in the morning before the frigid air arrived later in the afternoon.  We were outside for almost 2 hours making snow angels, riding in the sled and just enjoying the fresh air and time together outside.  I was surprised she lasted outside as long as she did but she was having an absolute blast!

Then we came inside and warmed up with some hot cocoa.  Yet another reason why I just love this time of the year!

'Tis the Season.

 It is officially the holiday season and time to decorate the house!  With Thanksgiving so late this year I feel like we are a little behind!  I generally like to get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving but Ryan was away so that didn't work this year.  We stopped by the local boy scout troop selling trees at a church near our home and picked out a gorgeous douglas fir.  It turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought but it sure was gorgeous (even though it took up half of our living room.)  The kids always like to decorate the tree with us.  I am not all about having a perfectly decorated tree so I let them decorate it themselves.  Landon probably enjoys the decorating the most but all 3 helped this year.

 Who doesn't love a picture of the kids in front of the tree?

This is a fun picture.  Kadence with her reindeer antlers and fake smile and Emma falling asleep.  Love it.

I am cherishing every year that the kids actually still like to decorate with me.  It will only be a matter of time until they are "too cool" for such a thing.  It was fun to have nice evening with the family before the hustle and bustle really sinks in.