Testing

Just testing this to see if I can post from my phone...
Here is a photo from Christmas morning :)

Finally Christmas Morning!

The kids have been waiting and waiting for Santa to come for SO long. They were so excited for Christmas and were really happy with their gifts. Bella got a Leapster Explore handheld video game, a Tinkerbell movie and playset, a panda pillow pet, and some goodies in her stocking. Jack got a huge Thomas train set with motorized trains, a doggy pillow pet and a stocking full of candy! We had a great day with daddy's homemade french toast for breakfast and pizza for supper. The kids even got their own Mickey mouse shaped pizza! What a great daddy!

Christmas Eve

All of the "kids" posed nicely under the tree ;)

We almost forgot to put out the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots for Rudolph!

Jack is hanging the magic Santa key so Santa can get in and leave presents (since we don't have a chimney).

More cookie baking

They are cookie pros by now, especially Jack. He knew all about rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies. Lots of fun!

Lots and lots to share

I have been very negligent lately, so here are quite a few posts with our holiday photos from this year. The kids are at perfect ages and are able to all the activities like gingerbread houses, cookies, crafts, etc. We had lots of fun!

Jack's birthday

Jack waited so patiently for his birthday this year and had the whole thing planned out. He got presents and cake and blew and his candles and had a great time!

A few more from the farm

Bloomsbury Farm 2010

Our trip this year was so different than years past. Usually we are freezing to death and it has even rained on us occasionally. This year it was sunny and 88. Crazy! But very nice weather to enjoy the farm. Bella had a great time and wanted to try almost everything. She's at a really great age now where she can do most things and isn't afraid to try them. Jack tags along pretty well and does his best to keep up :) They both had a blast in the corn maze and on the jumping pillow. We've got our pumpkins picked out and will spend today carving them outside, to take advantage of this great weather again.

Blank Park Zoo Visit in August

We visited Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines at the beginning of August. The weather was really nice that day, not too hot, so the animals were all out. Bella loved the zoo, but Jack didn't have much patience for it. He likes to keep moving. The train was probably his favorite part, or the soda that he shared with Bella ;) We stayed in a hotel that night after swimming with The Wood family in the hotel pool. The kids thought it was cool to get to sleep together in the pull out bed. Mom did not think it was cool when Jack woke up vomiting at 6 am the next morning. Just the beginning of a long week of sickness for us all.

Old ones

These are from way back in July when we baked the anniversary cake for Gma and Gmpa Larsen. These kids love to cook, but I think they love to eat their mess even more :)

The Slumber Party

For her 6th birthday we told Bella that she could have a slumber party. She thinks that slumber parties are the absolute coolest thing ever :) So she had Paige and Claire Weber and Alex Peterson stay the night after school on the 3rd. They had so much fun and Paige told me that it was "the best slumber party in the whole world." Not bad for about 24 hours prep. However, Jack was very upset that "we forgot his birthday and he didn't get any presents." I couldn't make that up if I tried. So sad but so stinkin cute. They girls were pretty good to him and let him play with them for most of the night.

So much to catch up on

I have been bad at updating again, so I have a lot of photos to share from the end of the summer. Bella got a bike for her birthday so Daddy helped her practice at the cabin.

Back to School

Here are some photos from her first day of Kindergarten. She had a great day and asked if she could go back tomorrow. Daddy even snuck away from work for a few minutes to take her to school. She was pretty happy about that . P.S. By the time I was taking that photo at her locker, she was done with photos ;)

more...

More from the lake

We have been busy having all kinds of fun at the lake the past few weekends. Lots of photos to share so I will do it in a few posts.