One Christmas Gift

So, here are some pictures of the BIG PROJECT I have been working on for the kids for Christmas this year. I got the idea from a blog that I read (www.ikatbag.com). Of course my version is not nearly as professional looking...This picture was taken around 2 am this morning when we finally had everything ready for Christmas morning. I was able to use old sheets for the whole thing! Jonathan helped me make the frame for it.
"Amund and Islwyn's Candy Shop." The little door can go down on the floor like a welcome mat and the "Open" sign flips to say "closed."


Candies made by Aunt Becky (giant candies), Great Grandma Dickerhoof (bag of m and ms), Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Nathanael (donuts and m and m bags).

Aunt Mical (lollipops) and Nani (gingerbread men). I made the super lame looking candy canes.
A mail box like the one at our house too.

I am going to add more pictures of them playing with all their candies and of the other awesome presents they got from people this year. Thanks so much to everyone who helped. I could not have done it without you all who helped make the candy.

Elves

We have some elves at work around our house these days. Doing some woodworking....


Sewing.....
Nani Elf is hard at work on our missing stocking!
And the Christmas decorations are making us ready for Jesus' birth.
We have been reading from our advent calendar each night. And Jonathan does a little devotional prayer. We are excited about the Christmas present, but are most thankful for the present of Jesus' birth.

Minka, Grandpa, and Turkeys

The boys sure miss Minka and Grandpa now that they live in St. Louis. They were visiting a couple of weeks ago and we helped them get packed up and ready to move. Here are the boys attacking them before bed time...






Snugglies with Minka.
We also went to the forest preserve about a month ago to learn about turkeys. Islwyn got to make a contraption that when you blow into it sounds like an owl hooting. Not really sure what that has to do with turkeys, but it was fun to make! Here he is hooting like an owl, while we walk through the preserve.

Amund exploring a log that fell over.

Haircuts

It's a good thing my mom was trained in cutting hair! She always does Islwyn's hair just right and it is one expense I never have to worry about. When Islwyn heard my parents would be in town, he said he needed a haircut. So here he is....

Handsome Islwyn, all done. And ALL that hair on the floor behind him is his. He has so much hair!
Amund also had a turn. At 20 months, this is his first hair cut ever! We gave him some treats to eat while Minka worked on his hair. Big brother was there to help and reassure him too.





Big Boy Amund revealed. No more baby Amund anymore... :(.


THANKS MINKA!!! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU.

Halloween

We went trick or treating in our neighborhood last night. The boys had so much fun. We are lucky to live in a place that has a lot of people around and lots of trick or treating I guess. The boys walked about 6 blocks I think last night. It was perfect weather for trick or treating and everyone was in a good mood. It really made it a community experience. We were able to even meet some of our neighbors who we hadn't met before. Here are the boys walking to the next house. I had to get a shot of them with those huge old trees in the background.
Islwyn and Amund walked up many sidewalks together without Jonathan or me. They looked so big all on their own.

Home after all that trick or treating. Amund is asking for some M and Ms. The boys sat out on the porch for a while and handed out candy.

Park

On Sunday it was such a beautiful day that we took a trip to the park. Islwyn and Jonathan went fishing while Amund and I played on the playground. It was overall a really nice afternoon...except for the kids who were running around with toy guns shooting everyone and yelling at them that they were dead.....

Rainy Day

The other Saturday Jonathan was gone all morning for something for school. The boys and I were home on the rainy, rainy, Saturday. So we got all dressed and went outside to splash in the puddles. We have GREAT puddles on our street, and in the church parking lot next door. They splashed and splashed.

Amund kept finding rocks to throw into the puddles. And he loved wearing Islwyn's old yellow boots. You can see our house in the background with the pumpkins out front.


After all that splashing, the kids were wet and cold. So we went inside for a nice long bubble bath. Then they both got into snuggly clothes. Amund took a nap and Islwyn and I had popcorn and watched a movie. What a perfect fall day!

A Year Ago...

It has been over a year since we moved to Fort Wayne from our home in Maine. We just got copies of our facebook picture for the seminary.

This is the one taken around this time last year.

And this is the one from this year. The boys have certainly grown up in the past year. Although Jonathan and I look much the same....which is a good thing I think.

Apple Picking 2010

One of my friends from when I was in high school and I went apple picking today. She has two little kids just about Islwyn and Amund's age so they get along pretty well. We got 1/2 a bushel of apples! The boys had a lot of fun.

Islwyn found an apple with a giant leaf and twig still attached.
Amund was really into the wagon. He thought he could pull it, but it was a bit too heavy with 1 1/2 bushels of apples in it.
Another apple Islwyn found.

Amund did a great job picking a whole bunch of apples.

And eating them. I think he ate atleast 3 and one on the way home.
Islwyn picking.

Now what to do with all these apples!!?? Share some recipes if anyone has any.