Snowman Christmas!

How adorable are these cuties in their matching snowman jammies? A wonderful Christmas memory! I just wish there was a sweet little two-and-a-half year old red-headed beauty in this photo with her cousins, a perfect spot for her right between John and Marian. The sting is still here on this third Christmas.

You are missed, baby girl.

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Heather

Barrage of Activity.

We have been enjoying our time in Nord Dakotah. Lots of family time and fun and some screaming. Much bonding happening and I've taken around 300 photos of the cousins. Uff-da.

But here's a quick recap of what we've been up to...

Meeting our godson for the first time! Daniel Ryan, you are a sweet, chunky little joy!
We love you and your whole family!

This is what Eli thought of his first real experience with snow. No smiles during our sledding outing.

All the grands!

A quick visit with my Aunt Ruth. So special! Also got to see my grandparents' burial place.

We took a few hours to drive to Dickinson to see Chris' new house!

And a fun lunch with college friends! They look great even six years later!
Plus I got knoephla soup!

-Heather

Floor In.

We are in ND and it's great but I wanted to mention the accomplishment we did before we left!

We got new flooring installed in our kitchen/entry way. No more linoleum. Not real wood (because we aren't that fancy) but some Pergo that I am loving. Super great.

These are the dudes that installed it:

And here's the sweet lady that entertained our boy so the big boys could get work done:

She was a favorite for sure! We are so glad for these friends. Wishing so much with them that Nathaniel, their son, was here for his first Christmas.

-Heather

We Three Kasowskis.

We made it to the tundra last night with all our luggage! After a day of flying with Eli, we are ready for a vacation. Uff-da. This morning we had an all-group photo shoot (glad that's over) and that got me thinking to share our us three photo shoot from a few weeks ago.

Here's a couple more shots that didn't make the "official card" cut.

He was seriously just wanting to run into the lake.

And the one that made the cut, the cutest one:

Thanks again to Michelle for her time and talent! If you didn't get a card in the mail and would like to, please let me know! Plus I had the place ship them directly and I know some addresses weren't current... so those cards could be stuck somewhere, en route to the North Pole, who knows.

-Heather

Chuck E Cheese.

Since we are heading out on Saturday, we are missing a few things here at home. And one of those important things is two sweet girls' birthday. Chloe and Mercy will be one next week! Since we are missing the party, we had our own party with them Tuesday at Chuck E Cheese. Greg, Eli and I had never been to this establishment before. I didn't know what to expect but we had a blast!

Trying to get all three in one sketch... not easy!

Some serious riders here!

Now they are having fun!

We all know Daddy was having more fun than Eli.

They all loved the merry-go-round.

This isn't weird, is it? We do LOVE this family!

Eli and Chloe were freaked out by ChuckE. Really, Eli is trying to run away. But Mercy loved that guy!

 

Happy Birthday girls! We love you!

Jonathan and Rachel have a wonderful opportunity coming up in February to head to Uganda to work with orphan care there. Read about it here. Would you consider supporting them on their journey? Rachel is even having a little giveaway you can read about on her blog here. These friends of ours are some of the most giving people I know and I'm so happy to support them (and their mission) in this. If you have any questions, do ask me.

-Heather

Sprinkles.

Last week I attempted to make the cookies (my MIL's sugar cookies). They were no where near her status but we made do. Luke came over to help decorate. I gave Eli a cookie to decorate and he ate it in 10 seconds flat. Shoulda known.

I told Luke he could use as many sprinkles as he wanted. So he did:

Eli did finally decorate a cookie and it turned out cute:

But then he really got into the sprinkles, too...

So we call it quits and made them head outside where this happened:

Then we had baths.

All in all, a very fun day with Eli and Luke.

-Heather

Hammy?

When I say the word that describes worn clothes given to you, I call them "hammy downs." I think it was awhile ago when I realized that was not the case and recently Greg informed me again when I had it written on a list. "Hand-me-downs" just doesn't seem right to me, however, so I'm sticking with "hammy downs." Laugh at me, I don't care.

On a completely unrelated note, on my someday-to-do-list is to figure out a recipe for "hammy sammys" like my mom used to order every time we went to Burger Queen. It was ham and lettuce and some special sauce on a bun and it was good. Also, if you read Burger Queen and knew what I was talking about, obviously you are from around Williston. If not, you thought I was going loopy this morning. Burger Queen did exist, though, and it was pretty awesome in it's day. I would pay big money to go there with my mom and sister and share a milkshake today.

-Heather

Party People.

Me getting photos organized this weekend did not happen. So much to share, so little time.

But I didn't want this to go without being documented. Today we had a 'lil Christmas party with our home group of friends. Last year Eli was the kid. And that was not the case this year!

We got a Darth, too. Can you spot him?

Eli, Caleb (9 mon), Chloe & Mercy (1 yr), Sophie (the newest at 6 weeks), Abigail (4 mon)

Grateful for these friends!

-Heather

Stores and Shops.

I have enjoyed Christmas shopping because I truly love finding gifts for people. If there was a job shopping (online) for people, I would totally do it. I'm almost done with our lists (which feels good, my how I love a completed list) but I'm always up for a deal.

I learned a tidbit about two stores that I wanted to share in case you didn't know either:

Bed, Bath & Beyond. I knew you could use expired coupons there but I didn't know you could use more than one in one transaction! As long as you have the corresponding right amount of items or cost, you can use as many as you'd like at one time. I used four $5 off $15 purchase coupons and one 20% off one item coupon together. I rarely go there but they send me coupons all.the.time. Now I can save them and use them together!

Jo-Ann Fabric/Crafts. You can also use multiple coupons in one transaction here. They just need to be different barcodes. They always mail and e-mail me coupons. I used five 50% off coupons and one 40% coupon in one transaction last week. They were all different coupons, no copies or anything.

Also, if anyone is shopping at LL Bean, I have two 15% off your entire purchase coupon codes. They expire 12.22.12. Plus they have free shipping, no minimum and a $10 gift card if you spend $50. Here are the codes so first use, first get: NJ0509595430 and GW7107232400.

And lastly, if you want to shop chefscatalog.com, I have a free shipping code that expires 12/31. Leave a comment if you'd like that code because I don't have it in front of me.

Happy, joyful giving!

-Heather

Toddler Here?

I've been saying for a few weeks now... Eli is definitely becoming a toddler. He has opinions on life he didn't have before. He is not as easily distracted. And he knows what he wants. But he can't quite communicate those wants and needs and feelings so that can cause some interesting moments.

He's a complete hoot all the while. I bust out laughing often. I will try to capture some of his 'isms on video to share soon. Soon... as in, when our life slows down a bit next week. Our days and nights have been packed but it'll slow down this weekend. I think. I hope to catch up on the blog then.

But for a teaser... here's a shot from our photoshoot with our friend, Michelle, who graciously took our pictures last Friday. We met Greg near work to do a quick shoot. I had everything ready, a plan for our outfits (my mom bought Eli this adorable set, complete with gray cords), and I told Michelle I just wanted one shot of us three smiling. Simple. Quick. No biggie, right? Especially with our little man who is usually into photo-taking and usually ready with a smile.

Enter in toddler-Eli. He saw the lake we were near. He wanted in. It was serious business. The whole time, he was just eyeing that lake, trying to get to it and getting upset when we wouldn't let him. Well, he did get one foot in once.

So here is what the shoot mostly looked like:

And really, this is more representing of our life now than a happy, posed three-of-us shot anyway!

-Heather