December Pictures

Our original play group from when Chase was an infant. The kids are in order from

"oldest" (January) to "youngest" (May). All of the kids will turn 5 this year! This was

our X-mas get together at a place called Monkey Bizness.

Yes, Luke decided to stamp himself

The boys built a "wall" between the kitchen and play room

Being silly in the tub

Bears game with Josh & Kim

Poor Buddy was being such a trooper!

Christmas Day 2010

The X-mas tree before the opening madness began

Shovels from Santa to help Dad outside!

This was Chase's favorite present. He wore this most of the day,

including in the car. It makes Darth Vader type noises and it

gives quotes from the movie...such a boy!

Excited about his robot shirt

I love the expression on his face here

One of their favorite gifts were the lightsabers from Grandma Barb.

Not only do they light up but they also make a sword-like noise when they swing!

Luke's version of "I'm a Little Snowflake". He honestly is so musical

and loves his new Toy Story guitar!

The cousins singing "Frosty"...check out the boys'

new shirts, Chase's Lego Star Wars & Luke has a guitar shirt

Christmas morning...

Christmas this year was what you imagine your Christmas is going to be like when you're married with kids. The boys were so excited about the magic of Santa...Chase was literally 2 inches from my face while I'm sleeping and he shouts "Santa came...he left me a present in my room!" Santa left both boys books on their beds this year, I think he's going to do that every year from now on.

It was so much fun rushing down the stairs to see what was under the tree and in our stockings. We took our time opening gifts from Santa, each other and other family. They were fascinated with a gift until it was time to open the next one. The clothes were tossed aside without a second glance but they were excited to wear their new clothes so at least that was a win :) Chase's favorites were the Darth Vader helmet and Star Wars/Super Hero guys. Luke loves his guitar and dinosaurs. Blake was thrilled with his Blackhawks tickets and I love date night/dance lessons every Thursday in January!!

After our gift frenzy we headed over to Aunt Dana's to have Christmas breakfast. It was fun to see the kids and enjoy a delicious breakfast. The boys got a truckload of clothes and these fun remote control cars. We then headed home and had dinner with my mom and Dom. My mom made us a great meal and I didn't have to do any work! The boys got scooters & these awesome books that have my mom and Dom's voices recorded on them, something that we'll always treasure. It was a GREAT holiday!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Milk & cookies for Santa

Carrots & reindeer food got set out before we left for

my aunt & uncle's house

Our family

My cousin Heather, baby Savannah & Nick

My cousin Robyn & Brian

Me & my cousins

Christmas Eve turned out to be very low key and enjoyable. Since it was snowing all day, we decided to head out to the sled hill in our neighborhood. It was Luke's first time sledding on a true hill and my first time out in awhile. We had a great time even though one of our sleds broke. Our neighbors, the Geers, came out and joined us and a fun time was had by all.

For Christmas Eve, we went over to my aunt & uncles house. We had a nice dinner and even had time to play a game! Of course the kids did not fall asleep on the way home, Chase was especially jazzed up about Santa coming.

Chase's holiday party

Daddy, Chase & Mommy

Chase & Anthony

Playing the tambourine

Singing Frosty

Chase's last day of preschool before winter break he had a holiday party that Blake and I were both lucky enough to go to. We got to eat some delicious snacks and then were entertained by a lively group of 4 year-olds. Chase was very excited that we were there and we were so proud of him!

Rosenberg Ice Rink!

Connecting the boards

The rink's frame

Filling the pond after a snow fall

Daddy & Chase out for the first skate of the winter

So excited & proud of himself to be skating on his own

Luke's 1st time out on the ice

I love this picture...

Cleaning the ice with the "home-boni" that he made,

it's not perfect but it does help some



Luke trying to stand up in skates

Chase practicing

We are so excited that our ice rink is finally up and running. Although the idea for the rink came when we bought the house, actually getting it to work has been somewhat of a challenge. Blake did a lot of research on how to build the most useful & practical backyard rink so after several trips to Home Depot the building of the boards began. Once the frame was done, shortly after Thanksgiving, we laid down the first piece of plastic that you actually fill the water up in. Our neighbors were great with pitching in to make the process easier and more enjoyable, we love our neighborhood!!

Unfortunately, our plastic had a tear in it somewhere and our entire backyard was basically a huge sheet of ice for a while because the water had spilled out. After purchasing another piece of plastic, Blake had to break out all of the frozen water from the first attempt in order to lay the second piece down, it was quite a project. Then, since our backyard isn't level, Blake had to go back out and build more to the original frame because one side of the rink was about to overflow with the water and the other side didn't even have water in it. Needless to say, all of the work was totally worth it. Although we've only been out on the ice once so far, it was a lot of fun to have an outdoor winter activity to do besides play in the snow. Our neighbors, the Geers, came over and the boys and dads skated together. I'm fairly sure that this will be the first of many years the rink is built. I'm hoping it makes great childhood memories for the kids and adult memories for us!

Larsen X-mas Lights

So last year Chase was the ring-bearer in my cousin Robyn's wedding and he walked down the aisle with two adorable flower girls. The house pictured above is their home. It is in Elburn which is a little bit of a hike but definitely worth it. The house even had its own radio station that explained how many lights are on the house and how long it takes to decorate. We waited in a line of cars to get close enough to really enjoy the show and it was amazing. Each song was choreographed with the lights to make an amazing show. We'll go back next year for sure!

Polar Express 2010

Our tickets

We continued our yearly traditioin of riding on the Polar Express again this year. The "big kids" now remember what it's all about and look forward to drinking the hot chocolate & eating the cookies. The biggest event though is definitely the visit from Santa. The video is cute because you can hear Chase ask for a Star Wars although he wasn't asked what he wanted...he did correct Santa though. He told him he wanted the Star Wars guys, not the movie!