tipi

Jonathan's Grandma made the boys an awesome present for Christmas. A tipi! They both love to play in it, it is so cozy. But Amund especially loves it. He and his puppy play in it every day.





And what I love about it is that, like the candy shop, it easily folds up to be stored when needed.

Thanks Grandma!

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.