Magic Moments

The house is FULL of excitement today. We went and paid a visit to Santa and the boys pooled their ideas and decided together to ask Santa for a puppy. For. REAL! Sage went right up to Santa and said, "Santa, I want a dog." To which Santa replied, "You do? Do you want a big dog or a little puppy?" And Sage said, " I want a DOG because a dog is a puppy." Duh, Santa. ;) Aiden, as you can see in the picture below, was a little shy at first but then made his very specific request. His exact words were, "Santa, I want a puppy Golden Retriever boy." Sage would settle for whatever kind of dog, but Aiden has his heart set on a male dog, specifically a Golden Retriever. So...they can hardly wait to see if Santa comes through. Aiden began the day with hesitated excitement but the suspense (and it's only been 1 day) is killing him. They both keep asking how long they have to wait to find out what Santa will bring. Tradition in our family ho...

We're about to start the 25 days of Christmas at our house, which means a fun Christmas activity/outing/etc everyday until Christmas. Technically we began our festivities a little early since we've already gotten our tree and on Wednesday we went to the Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a fabulous production with great costumes, singing, dancing, and merriment. :) Aiden had seen it before but this was Sage's first time and it was so fun to see him completely mesmerized by the show and hear him laugh out loud. No pictures are allowed during the production, but trust me, if you get a chance to go, you should.

Oh my sweet, sweet Sage! Where has time gone? I remember your birth like it was yesterday and here you are already three years old! Words cannot describe how you bless our family. Your sweet personality touches all of us everyday. I've tried to capture you at this season of your life in just a couple paragraphs and it's been difficult. There are so many things I want to remember about you at this age. A conversation I had with you a couple weeks ago seems to describe you perfectly... Sage: "Mama, what does Jorgen mean?" Mama: "Jorgen is your middle name. Jorgen was your Great Grandfather's middle name and he isn't alive. He is in heaven." Sage: "You mean he's dead?" Mama: "Yes." Sage: "Don't worry, Mama. If you die I will fix you." Mama: "How are you going to do that?" Sage: "I will fix you with my tools!" This simple conversation describes Sage well. He is a lover and shows concer...

We've been studying American History this year in school and we have worked our way through the American Revolution, so I feel like we've all gained a greater understanding of the sacrifices the Pilgrims made on our behalf. 100 brave people traveled on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth. By the time the first long winter was over half of those people had died. Our goal is not to worship the Pilgrims and what they did, but to give thanks to God for sustaining those early settlers, and giving the Pilgrims desire to want to worship Him and the vision to have a life of freedom in a new land. I've been trying to impress these concepts on my children. We have freedom to worship and we need to cling to and fight for that freedom. We give thanks because God provided and sustained those who sacrificed to make freedom possible. And maybe most importantly, the Pilgrims gave thanks in all things. They lost half their population in one winter, yet they gave thanks. This thought mak...

The author of this picture project is due with a baby anyday (!!!) so this week is "Freebie" week. :) Yesterday we went to get our Christmas Tree. Usually we pick one from the lot, but this year we decided we should cut our own tree. The boys were old enough this year to make cutting a tree seem manageable. Plus, it wasn't that cold. :) Anyway, Tom has wonderful memories of getting a tree. In my mind I visualize his family enjoying a beautiful sleigh ride through clean, white snow probably singing a carol. They find the perfect tree, bring it home, put it up effortlessly, and everyone stares at it in aw while they enjoy sipping hot cocoa. Getting a tree never happens like that for us. In the past, we've usually been in a rush as we've arrived as they are about to close. Or I have memories of standing in a tree lot with a tiny baby just having given birth and had a blood transfusion 3 days prior. HAH! So, this year I had high hopes. I put dinner in the crock po...

Sage turns 3 this coming Friday and so today we celebrated with our family. We can't describe how blessed we feel to have family that loves us and comes to celebrate our children with us. It means so. so. much! Sage decided on a John Deere Party so that's exactly what we had. Since we had just moved when Sage turned one, and since last year his birthday was on Thanksgiving, this was his first really official birthday party. He didn't quite know what to expect but when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" you could tell that Sage felt very special. Now it's late, I'm partied out, and headed to bed. This week I'll be soaking in every last drop of my 2 year old while I can. In just a few short days he turns 3 and I can't believe that's possible. I remember his birth like it happened yesterday and I desperately want to freeze time. Cupcakes in a wagon. :) Waiting for the party to begin. John Deere Lollipops. It had been WAY too long si...

The new routine around here each evening is take a bath, turn the lights down low, turn the Classical Christmas music up, and RELAX and read in the living room. Aiden reads until bedtime and Sage snuggles me in the rocking chair while we read 4 books plus just 1 more, and then I rock him to sleep. Aiden makes his way to bed after I've asked him 18 times to please put his book mark in and go. to. BED! :) So, here's Aiden in the middle of our nightly relaxing routine, and here's Sage doing some form of relaxing in the middle of the day.

The first snow fall of the season! To say the boys were excited is an understatement. And this year was glorious because Sage could go outside and play in it with Aiden and I could stay inside!!!! Wooo hoo!!! My favorite quotes today were from Sage of course,  because experiencing the first snow of the season when you are almost three is just so wonderful. He told me, "Mama! It even snowed in the neighbors yard!!" and "Mama, I LOVE scarves. They make me look like a pioneer." This video is more of a listening video than a watching video since it was early when they discovered the snow. They were outside by 8:30 AM. Had I been able to get out of bed it would have been sooner. I told Aiden he had to start school before he could go outside. I've never seen him accomplish so much in so little time. 20141110_070808.mp4 from Jenny on Vimeo .

Week 44: Orange...the pictures speak for themselves. No explanation needed.  Week 45: Homemade- Admittedly I wish I was more of a homemade mom than I am. I don't knit and I only sew if I have to and even then I'm not skilled at it. I count it a success just to make a homemade meal each night, so I don't bake often. Baking isn't my favorite thing to do nor am I all that good at it. Tom doesn't eat baked goods much (unless it's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies) so baking feels like a thankless job. The theme for the week did motivate me to make cookies tonight and the family was thankful and reaped the benefits. The dough is the best part of all if I do say so myself.

A little musical entertainment to start your day from my sweet Sage.... 20141101_160902.mp4 from Jenny on Vimeo .

The sweetest thing about reading to Dudley this time around was that Sage announced this time he was going to also read to him. All on his own he chose a book ( Tiger Trouble ) and when we got there Sage sat down and "read" each page to Dudley. It was so sweet. He took time to show him all the pictures, which I LOVED! Believing you can read and "reading" books is such an important step in beginning to read so I was thrilled to death that Sage had a desire to read to Dudley. Aiden read part of  The Mouse and the Motorcycle and he chose his book carefully because he wanted to make sure it was a story Dudley would like. ;) I probably won't ever tire of reading this dog.

We had Halloween. We had a time change. And then we had children who acted like it was the Apocalypse. I would tell you that trick-or-treating was fun, but really, it wasn't. I'm the Halloween Scrooge, and as soon as Sage has candy in his bucket he whines about wanting to eat it (RIGHT NOW!) the whole time. That child has such a sweet tooth. Anyway, Tom came home from work for awhile (THANKFULLY!) so he could join in on the the trick-or-treating. We went to Trunk-or-Treat that our church sponsored, which is the greatest thing ever...lots of candy in one safe, easy, and quick place. The best part was making Auntie Carol's house our last stop. Her house was warm and she had hot cider ready in no time. It made the trick-or-treating worth it. :) Because I couldn't resist. ;) Our puppy with a cheese face. Spidey! Making s'mores at one of the trunk-or-treat stations. My kind of trick-or-treating!