We had a pretty fun and eventful past weekend, full of family, baking cookies which we love to do every year, Christmas parties, and presents. Yesterday we celebrated our Christmas with Mom E and Courtney then went to Len and Luann's annual Christmas party. It was a blast. I was kinda bummed that I had to miss my work party but we had so much fun at Len and Luann's house. Mom and Dad Vander Velde watched the kids so it was great that Chris and I could go and relax and not have to worry about chasing the kids around. We actually got to visit with people and I feel like I got to know everyone a little bit better as well:) In the am, we celebrated Christmas with Mom E. and it was fun. The kids got such great gifts, as always. She always knows exactly what to get them and what they will love. This year, Chris and I were surprised with a trip (plane flight and hotel) to Vegas. We are so so excited. Just the two of us, no kids, to Vegas. I have never been there before and cannot wait. She gave us a coupon to watch the kids while we are gone, and she also gave us some spending money and tickets to a show down there. YAH!! Vegas, here we come!! Also notice in the pictures, we all have matching PJ's. I just love it. Chris thinks it it cheezy but I think that it is so so cute. Today we went to the shop for a while and had a mini Christmas party there. Len and Luann had gifts for the kids and so did the Eustice's. Levin and Lily got to play and Nolan chased his new ball around, from Ben, Lainie, and Levin. Levin and Lily play so nice together. She absolutely loves him and talks about her "cousin Levin" all the time. Today, they were playing restaurant.

WOW!!

Ok, wow do I feel bad. I just realized that I have not been posting anything on here. Things have been so crazy and busy for us. And Christmas is coming up so fast. It seems like I have not had any time lately to keep things updated or do anything on the computer besides work :)

Chris has been working in Iowa three days a week so the kids and I have been spending lots of time together. They asked him to come down to help out for a while and he agreed. So we have not seen him too much this December.

I went up to Minnesota with some mommy friends at the beginning of December and had an awesome time. It was so nice to get away and enjoy the company of other people :)

Lily has been in dance class and loving it. She had her first recital type thing the other day and it was so cute. She has been sledding a lot, making snowmen, and enjoying making Christmas cookies and goodies.

Nolan is trotting around like crazy and getting into everything. He also loves to be read to so we spend much of our days reading books.

We saw Santa many times and Nolan is still scared of him. Lily just loves to sit on his lap. It is great because I think now that she is three this year, she is starting to understand Christmas, which is neat to see through the eyes of kids. We watched the horse parade in Oregon last weekend, as they had their winter festival going. Tuesday night, I had lots of mommies over for a holiday party. It was so much fun and we did an ornament exchange. We had wine, and lots of appetizers. We chatted and enjoyed each others company. It was great.

This week is filled with many Christmas parties. I am really looking forward to staying home with just the four of us on Christmas morning, though. That is something that is so important to me with the kids and now that they are getting older, I want our family Christmas to be enjoyable and at home with the kids on Christmas morning. We had to sacrifice attending the Erfurth Christmas but I really wanted to stay home with the kids so they could slowly open their gifts and we could enjoy the company of each other. So many times, we open gifts so fast and rush off from place to place. I am really looking forward to it this year.

Here are some recents of the kids.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Today

Today is my birthday and it has been a great day so far. I got to sleep in a bit, get up and work a while, and now Lily and I are waiting for Nolan to wake up from his name because we are going out for lunch. Tonight Chris is taking me to a place that I have been dying to try and I am so so excited. It will be a date night. Just the two of us. No rushing to shovel food in like usual, in case the kids start acting up and it is time to leave. I am so excited for a nice slow meal and I have been just dying to try this restaurant that some of my friends recommended :)

Yesterday Chris was off of work so we went out for lunch on the East side, then shopped the mall a bit and sat on Santa's lap. I still can't believe that Santa is out already but how can we resist when the kids see him. :) Nolan was so so scared of him. Lily hopped right up on his lap and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas. That girl has no fear :) No pictures yet.. I told Santa that we would wait until closer to Christmas time.
Mom and Dad VV and Mom E. came over for cake last night, which was nice and relaxing.
Here are some pictures of us from that.

Nolan is 1 year old !!!

I can't believe how fast time flies by. Nolan is one already, walking and talking, and of course, getting into everything. We had his birthday party over the weekend and it was a blast. He ate cake, tried to open presents ( those of you that were there know he didn't open his gifts to well) He got way too much stuff. Thank you all for the wonderful presents.

We celebrated his real birthday on Thursday night, although his birthday was on Friday. We knew that we were going to be busy getting house stuff done before his party, so we had it early. We went out to eat, he chowed down and did the whole cake thing, all over his face and in his hair. What would a first birthday party be without that :) So for his real birthday on Friday, we hung around the house, which is what he loves to do. He is a boy and boys don't like shopping so I didn't make him go run errands that day :)

Happy Late Halloween...

Totally spaced and forgot to post pictures of the kids on Halloween. We had so much fun and so did the kids. After making the rounds to the fam. Daddy pulled Nolan and Lily around in a wagon throughout the neighborhood for an hour. They had so much fun. It was a warm night, which never happens on Halloween so that was nice for the kids to be out in. After trick or treating, we went to Mom E's Halloween party and got to see more people, followed by more trick or treating from Daddy and Lily. This week is a busy week. Nolan will be the BIG ONE on Friday so we are going to go to a favorite place to eat. I am also going to take the kids out during the day on Friday and we are going to try a kids diner and cooking store. Nolan's big birthday party is on Sunday. Obviously he doesn't understand birthday's yet but we are excited yet sad that he is already one year old.
This past Sunday, Chris and I took Lily to Elmo Live. She absolutely loved it. We got Bradley to babysit Nolan and we had a Daddy/ Mommy day with Lily. It was so good for her to do that, and she really enjoyed the show.

Happy Halloween !!

Happy Halloween to Everyone ! It is like us to do things last minute so last night ,we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. It was great this year because Lily is old enough where she knows what to do and gets excited to do it. She wanted a smiley face and she told us that she wanted a " Nolan" mouth. Nolan has one tooth on the bottom of his mouth (that is his only tooth) so her pumpkin looks like a nolan mouth with one tooth on the bottom. Cute!! She was having fun digging for pumpkin seeds and scooping out the goop inside !!

Yesterday we also had Alex and the boys come over to play. We sure did have fun and we made mummy hotdogs for lunch. Yum!! It was great to mommy chat too :)

Halloween is tonight..Yeah!! We went for breakfast this am with Chris's aunts and his grandma, and my MIL Kim. We had fun. Then we ran some errands with Mom Kim and back at home now to get ready for trick or treating and then Mom Kims party.She has it every year and we always have fun. We are going to go trick or treating here, and then going out to visit relatives for a bit before heading to Mom Kim's house. Fun Halloween treats are on the menu here tonight at our house. I love Halloween.......

Anyways..Here are some pictures of the kids doing pumpkins and a picture of Lily's class at their Halloween party.

Our busy weekend...

We all have been sick with the flu here for the past week so it was nice to be back to our old self this past weekend. We had no play dates this past week, no school for Lily, no dance for Lily, no going anywhere . We were all house bound because all four of us were sick.
Saturday Auntie Coco came up to visit us with her b-friend Bubba. Lily loves Bubba (and Auntie Coco of course). He is such a great guy and the kids have so much fun with them. They visited for a little while then the kids and I went to the mall for the afternoon to shop for a gift for Great Grandma Janes's birthday party. Saturday we relaxed in the evening and Lily and I cooked some yummy fall time treats. Sunday we all went trick or treating at the zoo. It was a blast and we all had so much fun. It was cold though.... Typical for Halloween. Today we went to Great Grandma's birthday party. It was fun. We got to visit with everyone which is wonderful. Lots of talking and card playing :) My favorites.
Tomorrow is great Grandma's birthday and we are going Gambling...Just the girls. I am super excited. Out to breakfast then gambling..Let's hope I win big :)
Tuesday I am heading out with some lady friends then Weds is Lily's halloween party at school. Thursday Alex and her boys are coming over to play and then Friday is the big H-day!!! We love Halloween here at our house. Time for us to be a kid. The kids and I have things going on during the daytime and then when Chris comes home, we are taking them trick or treating and then off to a party later in the evening. YAH!!!! This weekend is also Elmo Live so Chris and I are taking Lily there. We got the tickets when they first announced the show so they are pretty good seats and up close. Hopefully she enjoys it :)
These are the kids costumes.... A puppy who just melts your heart and a fun loving Jo Jo from Jo Jo's Circus on the Disney Channel. (Thanks for the help with Lily's costume great grandma Jane)

Have a good week everyone and have a spooktacular halloween !!!

Sick Sick Sick !!

So.. The Erfurth household is sick with the flu. Yuck!! I have been lucky and haven't gotten it yet but I know that my turn is coming. We had the flu shots too, a couple of weeks ago so figure that. It started with Chris on Saturday and he has been sick since then. The kids started early this evening. It is going to be a long night for me :( This is Nolan's first time having the flu...poor little guy, and Lily's second time in 3.5 years...poor thing!!

Here are some pictures of the kids playing in our backyard yesterday and the ones on them in their jammies, are from a bit ago. They are sick but still have wonderful smiles on their faces. And yes... That is Nolan wearing a pink hat yesterday in the yard. It is Lily's old hat and it kept him warm. We wont tell him that he wore pink when he gets older :)

Oh..Almost forgot...We got our counter tops in and it looks great!! Pictures to follow when the kids are feeling better and the kitchen is not full of crackers and bottles of sprite.

Our weekend

We had a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful and warm. Saturday Chris had to work so the kids and I went to Dad and Mom Vander Velde's house. Papa raked leaves and the kids played and jumped in them for ever. Lily then wanted to bury Papa. Mom, Nolan, and I went shopping for a couple of hours and Lily got to spend the afternoon with Papa. She loved it. He takes her to the dump to dump off their trash and for some reason, that is her favorite thing to do. Papa has been helping us out at the house and gave us their left over rock that they used for landscaping around their addition. So he shoveled that with Lily and then took her to her favorite place, McDonalds.
Sunday, Chris was off so we all took our annual fall color drive up to Spring Green to Peck's pumpkin patch. Last year was the first year that we haven't gone since we were out of state, in all of the 10 years that Chris and I have been together. This has become our tradition and we enjoy the ride up there and the ride back eating all the fall treats we buy up there. It is a great place. Free horse and buggy rides, free train ride, free petting zoo, free inflatable houses, corn maze, playground, free haunted houses. It is great and FREE, except for the pumpkins of course!!!! It was about 76 degrees there yesterday so it was a beautiful day to take a ride and enjoy the Wisconsin fall colors. Now with fall here, I can't wait until winter and we can continue our winter tradition of taking the train ride all the way to downtown Chicago and spending a few days there. This was my favorite thing to do every year when we lived here and I can't wait to do it again.

Nolan will be one in a couple of weeks so we are planning for that.