Christmas Break Down

We hope you had a great Christmas!  We certainly did.  Here is a play by play of our holiday.  On Wednesday night we gave Hayden his big gift from us.  We got him the train table below.  He LOVES it!!  Jason set it up that night and he played with it until had to be carried off to bed.  He then woke up on Thursday morning and went straight downstairs to play.  I was playing with it and he said, "Mom, I love choo-choos!"  That made me so happy to hear!  He has been playing with it non-stop!

 On Thursday afternoon we went to Marion and spent some time at the farm.  On Friday morning we all went outside and did some sledding.  It was a beautiful Winter day and Hayden loved it!  Lucy got to run and run and run in the snow!  She loves the snow! 

 We went to church in Marion and enjoyed the beautiful Candlelit service.  

Then we went to Jason's Grandma Piehl's for supper.  

 After we ate we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Enger's to open presents with Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Heather.  Hayden got so many fun presents and even got his own sled for at home. 

 On Christmas morning Hayden woke up to see what Santa brought him.  He brought him a SOCCER BALL!  Exactly what he has been asking Santa for for months!!  He was pretty excited!  We stopped over at Great-Grandma Piehls again to open up a few more presents and then we went home, repacked our cars and went to Forman to see Grandma and Grandpa Bishoff and the Boelke's

Santa came to visit and 3 out of 3 kids cried!  Good times! :)  

But once Santa gave them their gifts they settled down a bit. 

 

 We opened presents and ate and played and played with the new toys.  We stayed until Monday morning and came home in time for Hayden to nap.  He must have had too much fun during Christmas because he slept for 3.5 hours! 

Our house is now over taken with new toys, choo-choos, tools, a soccer ball, tonka trucks, a new Case combine set and so much more.  He is having so much fun playing with his new toys.  

We are planning on going to a friends for New Years Eve.  We are bringing Hayden so we don't know if we will actually ring in the new year there but we will have fun none-the-less.  As the long as the big Winter storm that is heading our way doesn't keep us from going!

Happy New Year and be safe!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you!  Hayden has been looking forward to this coming weekend for a long time.  I started wrapping presents last week and Hayden put them under the tree for me.  Since then he wakes up and asks about the presents almost every morning.  So then I have to explain how many days until we get to open presents.  Jason is taking Thursday and Friday off this week.  So we will be going to Marion tomorrow and then going to Forman on Saturday.  We are looking forward to seeing lots of family.  

On Sunday I will be attending my 10 year high school reunion.  Hard to believe it has been 10 years already.  I'm looking forward to seeing classmates that I haven't seen in a very long time.  

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you are surrounded by loving family and friends.  

And safe travels!

I don't recall sending an invite to....

the TERRIBLE TWOS!!!  Oh my!  We have had a rough few days.  I don't know what is going on with this little boy of mine but we have been butting heads lately.  We have had some struggles with listening and I have been trying to teach him that he is a big boy and that big boys don't wear diapers and aren't held all the time.  We have really been working on these things and one day he will say he is a big boy and the next he will say, "I not a big boy, I a baby!"  Each and every day we have a struggle specifically with these two things.  It's a fighting match to get him to change his diaper and if I suggest we go to the potty instead he has no interest in that.  He also wants to be held all the time.  Although it is very cute when he says, "Hold you" and as much as I want him to stay a baby forever, I also know that it is my job to be his mother and to teach him life lessons.  

So we will continue......

I hope this stage comes and goes quickly and I am hoping that maybe it's just the fact that it's a season change and he is use to going outside lots and going all the time and lately we have been sticking close to home.  

Who knows, right?!?!  

Last night, (or early this morning, rather) as I laid wide awake in bed, I kept going over the last couple days in my head and I just got discouraged.  I think as a mom we all want to be able to know exactly what it is our children want and be able to help them.  I am very lucky in that Jason is very supportive of me.  He knows that when it's been a rough day he lets me have a few minutes to myself, a night out with some girlfriends or like this coming weekend a weekend a away with the girls (he is also getting off the hook of helping Christmas shop!  It's a win-win! )

I guess it wouldn't be much fun or interesting if our lives just went the way we wanted all the time, right! :)

But if you have time, please say a little prayer for us all! :)

Thanksgiving Recap

I am quite aware that Thanksgiving was already a little while ago and I know I am a little far behind.  

I'm hoping to catch up here now.  

We went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving this year and ended up leaving Tuesday afternoon in order to beat the winter storm that was headed our direction.  So we packed 4 adults, one toddler and one dog into our car (along with a turkey, a roaster, a laptop, an air mattress and a few other things...you get the picture) and headed out on the 5 + hour trip.  We made it there without running into any bad weather 

and had a lot of fun while we were there.  

My parents got each of our families a Wii this year and so the boys (little and big) enjoyed playing each day, we made gingerbread houses, played outside, painted, played games and did a whole lot of eating!  

It wouldn't be a Thanksgiving if you didn't eat a lot, right?  

Here are few pictures from the weekend. 

All three on laptops! :)

Other updates -
* Jason and I went to Fargo the weekend before Thanksgiving to see Bill Engvale, Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy.  We had a blast and laughed so hard our cheeks hurt.  Hayden got to have a sleepover at my friend Jann's and he had a blast too.  I'm told they stayed up way too late and he didn't want to come home with us when we went to pick him up!  We are blessed with great friends!
* I have joined a Book Club.  It is through our library.  I try to take Hayden to the library at least every other week and they had signs up.  We had our first meeting last week and we read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  It was very good.  I am looking forward to our next meeting already. Now that I am at home full time I figured I better do something that would be social as well as stimulate my mind.  I love to read but don't really go outside my comfort zone when reading, so I think this will be a nice change. 
*Jason's cousin Tania passed away the Sunday after Thanksgiving after a long hard battle of fighting Huntington Disease.  She was a beautiful woman inside and out and will be missed by so many. 
*Hayden got to visit Santa this past weekend.  He didn't want to sit with him at first but came around and finally did.  He asked him for a soccer ball, which he has been wanting for a long time.  Glad he didn't ask for something that is impossible to find and really expensive! :) 
*This weekend I will be traveling to St. Cloud/Albertville to do finish up Christmas shopping.  Jason and Hayden will be going to the farm and celebrating Christmas with the Enger side.  

Showing Off

Hayden showing off some of the things he can do. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We had our first snowfall today!  So Hayden wanted to go outside and play in the snow.  It was super deep and fluffy!  We made snow angels and ran around in it.  Lucy even enjoyed it for a little bit until she got too cold.  Lucy LOVES playing in the snow.  She has wanted to go out all day!  Hayden even tried mowing the snow.  You will notice that he gave up on that very quickly!  We leave tomorrow for St. James for Thanksgiving.  We are leaving earlier that expected due to weather.  We come home Saturday. 

Have a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

Attitude Adjustment

When I went scrapbooking a few weeks ago one of the girls there gave this to everyone.  She said she has 3 boys so she hung it on the wall above the toilet so that every time they went to the bathroom they would read it.  I was going through some of my things this week and found it.  It definitely came at the right moment.  I needed to read it again.  So I thought I would share it with you all.

Attitude

By Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life, to me, it is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Picker Treat!!!

 

 Jason and I went out this past Saturday night for Halloween!  And we even dressed up!  I can't believe that Jason agreed to, but I think he had fun.  A few friends went out too and when he heard they were dressing up he wasn't so hesitant!  I had gotten my dress a few years ago for a decade party and resurrected it for the night.  I tie dyed Jason's shirt and my mom helped me make his bell bottoms.  We had a lot of fun.

 

Hayden trying on the mustache Jason was suppose to wear!

Hayden - our little golfer! :)  He was pretty excited about Halloween this year.  We went to the neighbors and a few friends in town and he walked up to their doors and said "PICKER TREAT!!!"  It was so cute!  I was a little worried the day before when I told him that he was going to be a golf for Halloween and he said, "No!  Superman!"  UGH!  Why do they get minds of their owns! :)  I told him maybe next year he could be Superman! 

Happy Halloween

 Now that I am officially a full time stay at home mom I am trying to find some fun projects for Hayden to do.  So tis the season for pumpkin painting (I don't trust Hayden with a knife yet to do any carving!).  So we painted a few for each set of grandparents and one for great-grandma Piehl.  Hayden loved it

 The finished products!!!

 Last night Hayden, Jason and I each painted our own pumpkin - notice they left me with the tiniest! :)  Hayden's was a little too oblong it wouldn't sit up but it works just fine on it's side.  We had fun (I think Jason even did! :)  We are looking forward to Halloween this weekend.  Stay tuned for pictures next week! :)

A couple weeks ago we met Jason's cousin Todd and his family, Sandy and Westin in Fargo.  We stayed at a hotel and did lots and lots of swimming.  Westin is only 6 weeks younger than Hayden and they had a lot of fun together.  

This past weekend I went to the Brainerd area for a long weekend scrapbooking retreat.  I didn't get much done in terms of scrapbooking, but I had a ton of fun.  I am still trying to catch up on sleep.  I'm not use to staying up until 2:30am or later.  Jason and Hayden went to the farm to help finish up combining and got to see lots of family.  

Updates on other things - We are trying to get Hayden interested in potty training and it is just not happening.  We even let him pick out some football cards the other day to see if that would motivate him (I told him he could get one each time he successfully went potty) NOPE!  that didn't work!!!  UGH!  I'm hoping someday (SOON!!) he will just walk up to me and tell me he needs to go.  

He has started saying the funniest things lately - the other day we were playing and he said, "Mom, what time is it?"  This morning I asked him how he slept and he said, "Good, slept for 2 hours!"  and everyday when Jason comes home from work he asks, "Daddy, how work?"  He is always polite and after every meal says, "Thanks for supper mommy!"  (even at breakfast!)  He's definitely a little boy now. 

It's storming today and we are suppose to get snow!  YUCK!!  None yet so hopefully it will miss us!  

Have a Happy Halloween!  I hope you all get more treats than tricks!!

I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver.....

We went down to St. James a few weeks ago and the boys helped Scott and John build a shed in their backyard.  All the boys worked very hard and we had a great weekend with them.  Sara is getting so big and can sit up all by herself now.

PUMPKIN PATCH

We went with our good friends Katie, Tucker and Carly to the pumpkin patch in Oakes.  The kids had a blast and I think both moms did too!  It was a great evening for it and we went on a wagon ride to the patch to pick out our own pumpkins,  they have a corn maze that took us a little while to get through (we had to wear the kids out!), a farm animal petting zoo and a hay bail pit for the kids to jump around in. 

Combining

Jason went and helped his parents on the farm for a few days so Hayden, Anna (our friend) and I went out to see how things were going.  Hayden got his first combine ride and watched with big eyes!  Jason is hoping to go again this weekend to help with corn and we are hoping to go and check it out again.