St Nick's and decorating our Christmas tree...

We've decided to celebrat St Nick's w/ Emma since we're not doing Santa on Christmas Day. Ben and I really want to emphasize Jesus on Christmas because He's the reason we celebrate; throw Santa in there and it can get confusing. Ben never celebrated Santa when growing up, his family actually made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to Him. I really want to make that a tradition for our family. My parents would say gifts are from Santa, but I don't think I ever really believed. I'm excited to focus on Truth, especially during this season. We're still decorating and giving gift, but focusing on the best gift of all: JESUS! While decorating the tree (Emma helped this year), she found her Tinkerbell ornament and wouldn't let us put her on the tree. We have video of her running away and saying "no Tinkerbell on tree". Shortly after this, she dropped Tinkerbell and her leg broke off. We had to glue her back on and she's now on the tree, safe from Emma's grasp.

Playing outside in the snow

Emma LOVES playing in the snow! It's been so cold here though, well pretty much everywhere else too! We've taken her out a couple of times. Her gloves don't stay on, so we next time we need to duct tape them around her hands. Hopefully we'll be able to make a snowman before winter is over...if it warms up! There are a couple of family photos that we took for our Christmas cards...enjoy!

Overdue Update...November 2008

We went to WI for Thanksgiving and spent time with our families. We had a blast! It was great to see Emma playing with her cousin and not getting as frustrated. They sat on the stairs and read, as well as twirled in the other room. We'd all of a sudden her giggling and a crash; they got so dizzy they would fall over. Ben and I went to the shooting range with Ben's sister and her husband. It was quite the experience! I affectionately called the gun I liked "easy squeezy" because you didn't have to pull the trigger to hard for it to fire; if we ever get a gun, I'd get one like that. (Don't worry, no one needs to be afraid yet, I'll get more accustomed to shooting before ever owning a gun.) Then we spent time in Brown Deer w/ my dad and Maryann. (No pictures) We got to see Maryann's daughter and her little guy. Emma and Matteo got a long great! It's nice to see Emma getting along with kids younger than her...who knows when number 2 will be coming. (Wink Wink). Then we spent time with my mom; Emma loves going to Grandma's because she always gets presents, even when it's not Christmas or her birthday. Grandma Karen is a spoiler, but no harm in a little pampering now and then. All in all it was a great visit!

Emma reading her books on the floor!

Ben was obsessed with the fire

Me and my husband w/ his "No shave November" mustache

Emma loved spending time w/ Anahi!

Attempt at a Christmas Picture...Emma was not excited

Erica and I waiting for our turn w/ the gun!

Ben being BA!

I mean business...don't mess with me!

Ben's friend Patrick...he's in Iraq (be praying)

Coloring w/ Grandma

Getting Ready to be a giraffe!

Trick or Treat...Here I come....

Trick or Treat

We can't believe Emma's old enough to go Trick-or-Treating. It's crazy how fast she's growing up! She had a great time! She didn't really understand the whole concept of getting candy from each house and putting it in her bag. She wanted to hold every piece she got. Because of this, we had to give her Nerds after every house we went too. I think she thought we were stealing the candy from her when we put it in her bag. It's funny how they know these things ahead of time. =)

The only thing that got her through was giving her handful of Nerds after each house.

Very happy w/ her bag of candy...success!

Sharing her sucker with Daddy!

Visit to Chi-town

On the train ride down to Chicago, Emma did AMAZING! We were visiting some of Jess' cousins, Aunt Sue, Grandma, Grandma Gracie. It was such a great trip and great hang out time. I hope we can do it again soon! We now know Emma loves riding on the train and can handle Chicago with the best of them! The city was buzzing with pre-holiday busyness. There were lines of people in the theatre district catching off-broadway shows. The shopping was intense, even in October with the anticipation of the holiday rush. But amidst all of the interesting sights and sounds there sat Jim, wedged between a garbage can and Newspaper machine holding a sign which read, "Food, money, anything would help". We all stood there conveniently ignoring him waiting for the light to change. As we crossed I was immediately troubled by what I saw and needed to go back and talk to this guy. Jess and her family went ahead into a store and I ventured back down the block and cross the street. Much to this guys surprised I sat down right next to him and asked him his name, "Jim!" he replied and I shook his hand realizing that he could not have been more than a year or two older than me. I gave him a snack pack of cheese and crackers from my backpack along with two bucks and just asked him a bit about himself. He shared how he'd been a heroin addict in his early teen years which ended in the streets. A year ago he got help through a shelter and was placed in a rehab program which put him on methadone. Jim was no longer enslaved to heroin but the methadone treatment left him just short of comatose. He can't work because of the drug, his family won't have anything to do with him because of his past and I couldn't help but wonder about his future. As people gathered on the corner waiting to cross, you could see their pity and irritation at the sight of some bum. Ten minutes earlier I was one of them, but now I was sitting next to that bum, his name is Jim, and I felt their stares, and if only for a moment, I had a sense of Jim's daily struggle. I know my 15 minutes with Jim probably had little affect on him or his situation but it has had a continuous impact on me. Jesus loves Jim a lot! He loves Jim as much as He loves me! Do I love Jim as much as Jesus? Do you? What are we doing about it?

Finally found a place to park...now it's time to get to business and SHOP!

Grandma rushing off w/ Emma...(not an abnormal scene when Grandma's in town)

Waiting for the light to change

Daddy hung out w/ Emma...he didn't want to shop w/ the girls

Coloring at the awesome coloring table Old Navy set up for the little kids

Playing in the Rocket Ship at Old Navy

Waiting patiently for the later train after missing the first one

Eating Gerretts popcorn and waiting for the train

Quite the outfit....

Pumpkin Carving!

The finished product was a lion! Last year we carved a turtle for our "turtle". She loves it! Ben did an awesome job!

Ben getting rid of the pumpkin guts

She kept picking out the seeds and throwing them off the "cliff"

She first drew on the pumpkin, then...

Emma started drawing on daddy's leg

Mommy and Emma waiting for the pumpkin to be carved!

Fall Fun!

Amidst everything going on, we were able to get out and enjoy an AWESOME fall day! Here are some pictures from our time at Goebbert's! We hope you enjoy!