Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas! We decided with the impending snow to go straight to Deer Lake on Christmas eve so we e-mailed Santa to tell him we wouldn't be home! It was a lot of work to get prepared to go, but it was worth it once we were settled. But, first we had celebrating to do with the Mattsons!! After a long, slow (AND SAFE!) drive up to Paul's parents Wednesday night, we knew we were in the clear. That night, they all unwrapped their matching pj's and settled in for the night. Anna & Alex had a tough time settling down after being so excited to see their cousins.

We celebrated Christmas the next morning (12/24) with Paul's immediate family. First, Grandma Mattson had a surprise--Santa PJs for Alex. He was so cute in them--I think he wore them most of the weekend! All the kids loved opening all their presents. The little kids (Alex, Logan & Brooklyn all got new sleeping bags so they can be like the big girls) from grandma & grandpa. Anna got lots of new clothes from Craig & Tiff, a barbie from grandma & grandpa (and another present to open christmas morning). Alex got a new stuffed puppy from Craig & Tiff and "lucky" the dog from grandma & Grandpa--a dog that actually obeys your commands!! Both kids got "I heart Uncle Craig" shirts--Kiki will have to keep up with him!

After opening presents, it was time to plow/shovel out of the snow. There was a lot to get through. Paul & I had to get to the store before other festivities began too. That afternoon we celebrated Christmas with Rhonda's family--Nick, Angie, Cody & Cole; Rod; Sam, Michele, Mariah & Tyler; and Shell. All the kids had fun playing together and being crazy! After dinner they were able to open presents. Anna & Kate got new princess jewelry boxes and all the kids were spoiled! After a long (and no nap for Anna) day, it was time to head to Deer Lake for Christmas morning. The kids of course passed out in the car before we got there so we settled them into their beds and waited for Santa to come!! My mom & sister met us up there that night.

Christmas morning, the kids woke up and were excited to see Santa had gotten our e-mail. He had also eaten a bit of a cookie & left us a note! Anna had a dollhouse all set up & Alex had a train table all ready to go. Both kids were so happy they didn't want to keep opening presents and wanted breakfast first! Grandma made up pancakes for all of us & we got started on present opening. The kids had a lot of presents-between us, Santa & my mom & sister. Big highlights for Anna were 2 more barbies, clothes, monkeys jumping on the bed game, a kaledoscope from Grandma; card game, tic tac toe mat and cute clothes (including Dora sweats and a scottie sweater outfit) from Kiki; a bathroom for her dollhouse from Grandma & Grandpa; accessories for her doll & a ballet outfit for her doll and a kitchen for her dollhouse from Santa; a Buzz Lightyear from us & a buzz ornament & new hat/mittens from Alex. Alex's highlights included a stuffed Buster dog (called Bustie), a christmas Mickey and cute clothes from Kiki; a puzzle and clothes from Grandma; Elmo vet building set from us; pluto ornament & new hat/mittens from Anna. Grandma gave the kids a 3D toy store game for the WII as well, but Paul seemed to get more enjoyment from it then the kids (other than they like watching daddy play)

We had to take a break in between all the present opening. The kids just didn't have the stamina. And, after all the presents were open, they were most interested in playing with plastic cups on the table. Go figure!

Friday night, my cousins Tim & Kate (and their dog Libby) and Katie & Smokey joined us for the evening. On Saturday, Pam & Dick (and their dog Daisy) joined us before dinner and Jodi & Jeremy came up after we were all asleep that night. The weekend at the cabin was a lot of fun. The snow provided lots of entertainment for the kids, the dogs & us. Except Alex. Poor guy does NOT like going outside. He'll get bundled up, but wails as soon as he's outside. We thought taking off his boots would help the situation, but that didn't help. We also got lots of play, cuddle and game time in...including pictionary on Sunday night (much to my dismay). Of course, got some rice krispies in as well (a first for Alex). We had a lot of fun together. It was nice to have all the cousins in town, but most importantly Jodi & Jeremy. The kids were royally spoiled with all the attention they got from everyone. We headed home on Monday night and found lots of snow waiting for us. Thankfully, Paul's present for Christas was a snowblower!!

Our Little Engineer

Alex got a train table from Santa. He was bouncing up & down in excitement. Thanks to grandma Mattson for the adorable santa suit. We just can't take that thing off!!!

Anna's Singing

These are old, but too old, but too cute to not put up on the blog!

Merry Christmas from the Mattsons

pictures of the kids in their christmas attire, taken after the holiday program at daycare

21 months

Alex turned 21 months old this month.

His favorite things to say continue to be Mama, Daddy, Anna, Kiki. But, he's expanded his vocabulary to include most of his body parts and the animal sounds. My favorite is his lion roar. Alex likes to cheer for the Vikings and cheer them on to victory, or give up & go to bed when they are looking so horrible. But, he does go to bed in his jersey to try & help them recover!He's saying "touchdown"

Cookies for Santa

We made cookies for Santa today, but he kids needed to do a quality check.

Dance Class

Trip to Dick & Pams

Paul's work had a holiday party and the kids needed a place to play. We made reservations at Camp Hastings with Pam & Dick for the night. Thanks to cousin Katie who drove them down after my mom's concert on Saturday. The kids of course were ready to say "good bye" since they knew they were going down to Camp Hastings. They all had lots of fun. Pam & Dick helped the kids with a gingerbread house. They also gave the kids the Elf on the Shelf. The story behind the elf is that every day he watches the kids & reports to Santa on how the kids are behaving to Santa. Anna wanted to name the elf Anna, but we settled on the name Elfie. It has been quite a hit to have Elfie around and we look forward to watching Anna find him every day.

Visit with Santa

I don't think I even need to say anything about this one. :)

Kristin's Birthday

We celebrated my sister's 40th on her birthday night at home with Buca takeout and some cards. And, again on Friday night at the Local for her party!

Favorite Time of the Day

Happy Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving this year at our house. We hosted Paul's moms family and included my mom & sister. So, all 5 cousins were in attendance and 17 total!! I made my first turkey all by myself (with Paul's help) and only overestimated how long it would take to bake in the bag so it was done an hour earlier than I anticipated. But, the show went on and we all enjoyed a grateful Thanksgiving together.

20 months old

Alex is 20 months old now! He is still such a happy guy and is starting to develop quite a personality. He's increasing his vocabulary to say things like Elmo & Dora and milk. And, he's still a big flirt!

Sleepover with the girls

We had our first sleepover with our nieces last Saturday. After celebrating Aly's 3rd birthday that morning at Edinborough, Katelyn & Brooklyn joined us at home for the afternoon & night! We had a great time with the girls. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun to spend some one on one time with them. We built a big fort so they could play-- Went for a quick walk. Big girls in the wagon, little kids in the stroller.

Then, it was dinner (make your own pizza) and bath time (CHAOS!!). Then, PJ & Movie time. We watched UP for the first time with them. Didn't get through the movie, but watched the end the next morning.

These are just too precious!!

Everyone eventually fell asleep. After a disastrous naptime, we ended up having the girls in our room with us so they wouldn't disturb any of our kids or vice versa. We woke up and had pancakes and then their daddy was ready to take them home. We look forward to having them over again sometime again.

Weekend with Kiki & Grandma

While Paul & I were in Chicago, Auntie Kiki & Grandma Haertel were camping out in Eden Prairie with the kids. I don't know who had more fun! After we were home, Anna asked for Kiki to come back again!
Grandma H was on deck during Friday when we left. Kiki came during the afternoon and had to work. Anna thought it was hilarious to put Kiki's glasses on. Saturday, Kiki got the kids ready in time to take Anna to dance class and then headed to the zoo too meet my cousin Katie. A fun time was had by all. Hard to believe it was so nice that weekend that the kids didn't have their winter coats!!

Checking in on a bear

Katie with the kids

Just love this picture--the kids are hugging (or attacking each other-your pick), while watching a giraffe.

Checking in on the fish Kiki & the kids The whole group at the zoo

Saturday night, Kiki took them to the EP mall to play more and out for dinner. She was quite busy hauling them around all the time. Sunday, grandma was around to help Kiki out and made pancakes for the kids. Alex LOVES pancakes. Grandma said he would have eaten them all day if she would have let them.

Grandma & Kiki took the kids to the MOA. Anna decided she didn't want to do the rides, but got convinced to do at least one with grandma.

Eating lunch in the food court, hanging out with grandma!

A BIG THANK YOU TO MY SISTER AND MOM FOR ALL THEIR HELP THAT WEEKEND! We enjoyed our weekend away and it was fun for all to have time together!

CHICAGO

Paul and I were able to get away for a weekend just the 2 of us so we went back to where it all began...Chicago. It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend and it was so good to be back in that city...never gets old (well, that's not true, it gets old if you live there, but it's always fun to visit!!)

We arrived Friday and walked up Michigan Ave...hitting the Apple Store & the Disney Store Friday night, we had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Gejas. It's a fondue restaurant. YUMMO! After we got back to the hotel, I didn't want to pay $15 for a movie in the hotel & $8 for water so we headed back out to look for a red box at the McDonald's (no luck) and a convenience store (one on every corner there). So, we accomplished one task--water. We rented Star Trek in our room. At least one of us enjoyed it!

Saturday morning, we met up with Mel for brunch at Grand Lux Cafe on Michigan. It was a hopping place and it was so fun to see Mel in her hood. After we hit Borders, Paul & I decided to do the double decker bus tour of the city. We've been to most of the stops, but it was a great way to enjoy the nice weather and see lots of different places, without having to cab/walk around. Here's a picture of another bus like ours.

Right outside the Hancock building-where the light their big Christmas tree. It was where we were parked to board the bus, and right outsize the Ritz Carlton we saw the band Kiss (didn't get a good picture of them), but it was fun to see!

Paul hanging out in the back of the bus

Hark Rock Sears Tower (Willis Tower)

Paul & I on the bus

My favorite spot in Chicago-the river, with the new addition of the Trump tower.

LOVED this building-was so cool View of the city, coming back

Solider field

Self portrait

Saturday night, after enjoying our complimentary drinks & appetizers at our hotel we went to Carmines for dinner in the Gold Coast area. We were pretty disappointed with this dining experience. It was busy, crowded and loud. And, they were obviously trying to get a lot of people in & out, based on their extremely fast service. We enjoyed the wonderful evening and walked back to our hotel. Our plan for Sunday morning was to have some Chicago style pizza. We discovered after walking to 2 Gino's that they weren't open in time. Thankfully, Pizano's was (we learned this is Oprah's favorite on the bus tour) and has been voted the best thin crust. Since we were still full from dinner, we enjoyed the thin crust pizza. But, first Paul had to get a picture of him in front of Ditka's (in his Vikings shirt!). Good thing the Vikings were on bye-although we did get a few comments about it.

Overall, it was a great weekend together. We enjoyed the time we got to spend together without the responsibility of the kids. And, the kids had fun too (will share their pictures too)