Staying Healthy

In an effort to stay healthy this winter, we have been spending more time at home.  Thankfully, the weather has been mild enough to get outside a bit.  When there is snow, these guys love being pulled around in their sleds.  Inside, we have to get creative at times, but we still have fun.  

A quiet morning playing in our PJs

Owen was moved to dress up one morning.

I made rainbow noodles, which entertained them a couple different afternoons. 

Their current favorite activity is putting pipe cleaners in a colander. 

Seriously, it's really exciting!

Farm!

We have two of the luckiest toddlers around because their Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jerad have an awesome farm full of friendly animals to feed and pet.  We made a trip to the farm last weekend to celebrate Christmas a little early and had a great day!  It was a warm day outside, so Owen and Maren were able to spend a lot of time outside, and they have been talking about the goats, cows and their new favorite puppy, Buddy, every since!

Tis the Season

Owen and Maren are excited about Christmas this year!  They love Christmas music and say "Ho Ho Ho" whenever they see Santa.  And, just in case you're wondering, every present in sight is Maren's. 

Over the past few weeks, we've been able to enjoy a few holiday activities. 

The kiddos were able to help decorate the tree this year (and un-decorate it a few times). 

We were able to meet Donner and Blitzen at the Grand Meander.

We decorated Christmas Cookies. They frosted cookies with paint brushes, and Josh had the fantastic idea of putting sprinkles in salt and pepper shakers, which contained the mess a bit. 

It didn't take long for Owen to move from decorating to eating the cookies. 

Maren ate a bit, as well.  

Jonah was the only one who didn't eat too many cookies this year. 

Uncle Eric and I also brought the kiddos to the Mall of America to check out all the Chirstmas decorations. Owen loved the huge ornaments hanging from the ceiling.  We didn't meet Santa this year, but we did peek at him visiting with other kids.  

The highlight of our trip to the mall was getting to ride on the carousel.  It was such a hit that Owen started crying when his second ride ended and didn't stop until we made it home almost an hour later. 

Finally, we celebrated Christmas early with the O'Keefe Family, where Owen and Maren tried bowling for the first time. There was a minor meltdown before we left the house, but they ended up having a blast!  We'll definitely have to bring them bowling again.