Uncle Greg

This post is for you, Greg. :) Ella and Jack got some magnetic hematite from the gift shop at the Michigan Historical Museum last week from Aunt Norma. They were having a lot of fun with them and seeing what they could stick to and around. Jace put some on his ears and then on Jack's ears and Jack said, "I look like Uncle Greg!" - who for a while had some earrings that did kind of look like this in his ears. :) Love you, Greg!

A Pink Party

For Ella's friend party, we had a pink theme. She invited five friends to come and to wear a little pink. They made their own personal pizza's with pink ham (or pepperoni if they preferred). They drank pink, sparkling punch in pink cups. And they decorated their own pink party hats! We finished off the night with pink, strawberry jello cake and strawberry ice cream. A lot of pink fun was had by all. :)



Pink table decorations.



The yummy, pink cake.

Celebrating 6!

On January 14th, Ella turned six. And we have been celebrating for days! :) Her big requests this year were dinner out at Applebee's and a friend birthday party.



We sang and ate these cupcakes as a family after Applebee's. The rest of these cupcakes, she took to school. Then on her birthday morning, she got to partake in a Connors' family tradition of opening some small gifts that are wrapped and tied together and hung on her bedroom door. She opened her other gifts at lunch time - Dad came home special. She got this great necklace from her friends, Maya and Olivia; they sent a birthday package.



I made these chocolate chip cookies and added the leftover frosting from the cupcakes to them so Ella had a birthday treat to take to church. We had a planning time that night and the kids played with friends while we planned so she shared and celebrated then too!

December This and That

I am finally posting some of our Christmas happenings. I started to do this on December 22nd, but I am just now getting around to finishing it. I am starting to feel caught up from Christmas!

So, here are some of the things that kept us busy last month. What a wonderful December we had. I love celebrating Jesus' birthday!



In Germany, children set out their shoes and St. Nickolas comes on December 6th and fills them with goodies if they have been good little children, and he brings them a switch if they have been naughty. :) Jack and Ella and Linc all got a few goodies.




Here we are making buckeyes. They are Ella's favorite holiday treat. Isn't she sweet in her kitty cat headband. You just never know what you might find my children wearing...



The bigger kids had the opportunity to sing a couple of songs at church with the other preschoolers and kindergartners. Ella even sang the angel part of one of the songs with a couple of her friends. She did a really great job! I really wanted to post the video, but it is just too large and it was taking forever to upload. Jack was also cute up there singing - he was wearing a new watch from his Great Grandma Ruby and he kept looking at it and waving at his dad. :)



These are pictures from Christmas Eve. We attended the family service at church where Ella sang the third verse from Away in a Manger with a group of children. Then it was just our family celebrating at home. We had birthday cupcakes for Jesus, lemon with jello-cake frosting. And the kids each got to open up one gift - their new jammies. Then Jace read Luke 2 and the kids used the Fischer Price nativity to show what Daddy was reading about. It was a fun night.



Of course there was lots of traveling and visiting. Lincoln was sick on Christmas Day, so that made things a little interesting, but we managed. :) This picture was taken at my parents. All in all we had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to the new year!

Time for the Tree....

Jack and Ella are so excited for Christmas this year! They can hardly contain themselves. Jack anxiously waited to be able to help put ornaments on the tree while Jace set up the artificial tree and then worked to find enough lights. Jace even had to go to Walgreens to buy a few lights before it was ready. It was all too much for the excited Jack. And so Jack waited and waited. At one point he said, "This is the worst of my life." Meaning this is the worst day of my life. :) But finally it was time to decorate and it turned out lovely and Jack made it through the worst of his life.

On the move...

So Lincoln has started crawling. He is not in a hurry though. He can get where he wants to go but he isn't moving too fast (thank goodness : ) ). I thought I'd post this video of him getting around a little bit and clapping a lot. He is so sweet and growing too fast. He was eight months old this week already!

Our Halloween 2008

I feel like Halloween is a distant memory (even though it was just Friday). Somehow it feels like we are on to the next thing already - thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. But wanted to share the photos of our witch, Larryboy (from Veggie Tales), and Lincoln Road (I know that is corny, but we wanted him to be Lincoln something and I didn't think Lincoln Log or Abe or a penny would work this year; he is too little for those costumes). Halloween was a week long event for us, with activities at Jason's work, Ella's school and actual trick or treating on Friday.

We had a fun time trick or treating with some of our friends, the Olsons and their three kids. And the kids brought home tons of candy! It is all Jack has eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner since Halloween. And there is plenty for Jason to eat too. :) Enjoy the pictures!