Lessons in Fishing

Alan LOVES ice fishing and has fished almost every day of our break. He convinced me to tag along today by deeming it "family bonding time." So, I got a few lessons in fishing. Some from Alan. Some from Thomas.

Step 1: Use the ice auger to make some holes. (I found out first hand that this is not as easy as it looks).

Step 2: Scoop the slush out of the hole. This is Tommy's job. He scoops everyones slush and scoops it often.

Step 3: Put your line in the hole and wait. This is where patience comes in handy. I got bored before Thomas did. He lucked out and caught a fish last week. He wasn't so lucky today.
Step 4: When patience pays off, pull up your line.

Step 5: Pose for pictures with your 19" Bass.

Step 6: Bring home some little fishies for dinner (but not the huge Bass-yuck).

Wordless Wednesday

family + food + fun + photos = Christmas

As one might guess - I take a lot of pictures at Christmastime. We celebrated with 4 Christmases this year. Thomas with Grandma Pam, Grandpa Dale, and Koda.
Thomas's favorite firefighter- Uncle Mike and Aunt Bri.

Thomas and GrammyGetting ready to leave for Christmas Eve service at church.

The whole shabang. The Asiala clan.

us again

For us Christmas brings many celebrations. These celebrations are cause for much food and drink, photos, and fun. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Holiday Nights

thomas and i met up with our good friends- the bodine's at binder park zoo this week. they were having a special holiday nights event. the zoo was decked out in lights, santa was there, and the kids could have unlimited carousel rides. the highlight was that thomas and sam both sat on santa's lap.

yep. even the elephant was all decked out for the holidays.

kris and her kids- taylor, sam, and jack

thomas and i

Wordless Wednesday

Man Stuff

Thomas is finally old enough to go ice fishing with the guys. He was really excited to go with them today. Thomas went out with Alan, Matt, and Nate for about an hour. They take their fishing pretty seriously and stay out for way longer than Thomas would have been able to handle. When I got there to pick Thomas up he was pleased as pie with himself. When I asked him what he was doing his response was "man stuff."

The guys had pretty good luck today. Alan has some work ahead of himself cleaning all the little bluegills.

Mom Time

After a chaotic kids book exchange at McDonald's last Tuesday, the mom's gathered at my house for some good old fashioned mom time. The focus of the gathering? Our annual cookie exchange. As you can see from the picture below- cookies aren't the only thing we enjoyed. I love hostessing this fun night!

I feel truly blessed to have such a fun group of friends. They are some of the sweetest, most caring women around. Oh yeah- and one of them just found out she's pregnant...

Me, Beth, Laura, Rachel, Vicki

Kristine, Senice, Jennifer

November Catch up Part 2

This post is almost a month over due - whoops. We celebrated T's 4th birthday in true Spartan style with a tailgate on November 6th. As a little bonus, I made each of the kids a 'jersey' with their name and number (age).
Our little QB
Brett aka-future linebacker

Billy Sias. Yes, it was cold out. The kids were in constant motion and didn't seem to notice.
The adults, however, did everything possible to stay warm.

Kathy, Mona, and Bri warming themselves by the fire.Jennifer, Laura, Kristine, and Ralph

Roger and Alan brush up on their 'corn hole' abilities. Alan made these for T's party. I sewed the bean bags :)

Football cake

November Catch Up Part 1

Thomas and I took a day trip to Chicago on November 11th. We met up with the Sias clan at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was so much fun. Bonus- it was FREE! Check out their website (and other Chicago area museums for that matter) because they offer numerous days each month where general admission is on the house :)

Charlie made the cutest little jail bird. Cranking up the gears.

Hanging in a tractor tire with Billy and TJ.

This museum was surprisingly cool and hands on for kids at the 3-4 year old range. We were able to stay busy and entertained for 5 hours. Pretty good for 4 boys 4 and under. Oh yeah- and Suzie and I had a good time chit chatting as well ;)

Snow Angel

The first snow is always exciting. The sparkly snow flakes fluttering around in the sky bring about a sense of calm, renewal, and anticipation of the holidays to come. We are a winter family. Summer is nice and all - but, we don't like to be hot. So, we are left as a snow loving family. Thomas has beeen anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first snow. I wish I had a video of his reaction when I told him he got to play in the snow. Priceless. So, we suited up when we got home. Thomas was very busy making snow angels....

sledding....
shoveling....

plowing....

and just enjoying the first snow. Love my little snow angel.