Ballet Buddies and Big Boy Bed

Anne's friend Elsa and her brother Brahm came over to play one morning.  The girls found the dress-up clothes and decided to be ballerinas!

"Elsa, put your arms up like this!"

Operation Baby-No-More completed phase one when Sammy got a new bed!  We took the crib down and brought in a twin bed for him.  He LOVES it!  He lays in there, stroking his blankets, saying, "It's so nice!"

He looks a little smaller in there now...

Hockey Genius

Here is our boy, showing off his knowledge of the Minnesota Wild roster.  Opa has been training him since the season began in October.  Read the list before watching so you have a clue what he's saying!  Maybe soon we can show him naming all the NHL logos--his toddler speech makes for some funny pronunciations.

#7--Matt Cullen
#9--Mikko Koivu
#10--Devin Setoguchi
#15--Dany Heatley
#21--Kyle Brodziak
#22--Cal Clutterbuck
#32--Niklas Backstrom (the goalie)
#55--Nick Schultz (aka Schultzie)
#96--Pierre-Marc Bouchard (known to all as "P-Marc")

Old Stuff: Pumpkin Patch

 We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch WAY back at the end of September.  We very hastily went because Sam was potentially leaving to work out of state for most of October.  That ended up not happening, so we just had our fall fun early!  At least we had nice weather for once--we're always the dunce family who comes on the coldest weekend of the year.  The farm is conveniently located between our house and Will and Adrienne's house, so they met us there and helped us wrangle the kids.

Anne and Sammy enjoyed the petting zoo, train ride, hay maze, corn box, and "big bales" for climbing.  It was nice this year that they were both old enough to do everything and not get scared or cry at any point.

Riding the train--the only 2 kids there!

Playing with antiquated farm equipment--don't lose a hand!  You put the corn in the top, turn the crank, and the corn kernels are stripped off and the cob shoots out the bottom.  She thought this was hilarious.

How old does this boy look?!?!  Where is my baby?!?!

Sam loves to hide in the hay maze and make the kids find him.  Cheap thrills.  Adrienne had to help them a bit this year.

Plenty of spotters on hand for the climbing.

Riding the stick ponies through the grass.

Can you see their blonde heads in the grass?  They're in there!

He just adores his big sister...

Thank you, helpful aunt and uncle!

Christmas Lamb

I have pictures from Anne's first Christmas program (and many other things we've been doing), but here's a teaser from Opa's fancy new phone!  Anne was a lovely lamb in our church's production of "Follow That Star" on Sunday.  She and her preschool buddies made an adorable menagerie of lambs and cows.  They were so cute singing--they even learned some Latin!  Anne was quite proud of herself and did a good job as a "performer" for one morning.

I'm in so deep, I'm practically drowning

So, you know our family loves us some hockey.  High school, college, NHL; it's all good.  The kids have hockey books and hockey shirts and 4 (four!) little hockey sticks of their own to play with.

Part of loving hockey is finding others who share your enthusiasm.  Our goal today is to convert some of you into lovers of this great game.  The Minnesota Wild are red-hot this year and we have many ways for you to enhance your hockey experience.  Follow these steps and you will be just as smart (smarter, really) than any analyst on FSN.

Tonight the Wild play the Chicago Blackhawks at home.  This afternoon you can get your pre-game notes at Opa's hockey blog: WildGameNotes.com  Next, hop over to Uncle Travis' Wild blog: WildlyBiasedObservations.tumblr.com for a sassier take on the game (and many pop culture references). 

At 6:30 tonight, plop down on the couch and turn on the game.  Tonight's broadcast can be seen on Versus, a channel that shows 100 different fishing and hunting shows and an occasional hockey game.  While enjoying the game, log-in to your Twitter account and follow Uncle Trav as he offers live commentary.  He tweets @WildlyBiased

This multimedia blitz is sure to turn any lukewarm fan into a diehard citizen of the State of Hockey.  Now get reading.

Family Nap Time

This is what you will most likely find if we are all home at 5:30 p.m.  Dad sleeps, Anne sleeps, Sambo enjoys the snuggles while I make dinner in relative peace.  Most days, though, Dad is not home that early and the kids are grumpy!

More blogging to come soon--the Christmas season is upon us and we are quite busy.  Too busy for uploading photos, at least :)