Merry Christmas!

We went downtown to see Macy's "A Day in the Life of an Elf" display on Sunday, December 20th. Going to Macy's has been our family tradition for many years. At the end, we had our visit with Santa. Violet asked Santa for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books and Olivia asked for "Geronimo Stilton" books. They also told Santa they were going to spend the day watching football!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! All the best to you in 2016!

eight is great!

Olivia and Violet turned eight on November 29th. As part of our celebration, we went to a Minnesota Wild hockey game on November 28th with my whole family. Olivia and Violet's cousin Evan played hockey with his team during second intermission, which was pretty cool! It was the girls' first time at a Wild game and they really enjoyed it. They even got a hockey puck and certificate to commemorate their first game. The horn blast after each Wild goal was pretty exciting (and loud!) to them. The Wild were up 3-1 in the third period but somehow managed to lose in overtime, but we still had a lot of fun.

Olivia with her "first game" puck and certificate

Violet with her "first game" puck and certificate

We also had another first sporting event for the girls, a Gopher mens basketball game on November 15th at Williams Arena (otherwise known as "The Barn"). It was a non-conference game so there weren't many people there, which in a way was kind of nice. In the third quarter, Goldy Gopher came into the stands near us so the girls were able to meet him. They thought that was pretty exciting!

With Goldy Gopher

On Olivia and Violet's actual birthday, we took them out to eat at Don Pablo's. My sister Terri and her family came with us. Violet won a gift certificate to eat there back in first grade and we hadn't had a chance to take them so they were pretty eager to go there. Every time we go up to visit our parents, the girls can see Don Pablo's restaurant from the freeway. Therefore, every time we drive by they look at it longingly and say "There's Don Pablo's!" So that's why we ate there. What cracked us up the most is that the girls both ordered corn dogs! At a Mexican restaurant! Sheesh. After we were done eating, our waitress came over with two sombreros for the birthday girls to wear, and several staff members sang them a birthday song. They thought it was awesome.

Birthday senoritas

We are winding down now with activities but Olivia has been in tennis class, Violet in lacrosse class and they both have been in swimming lessons. They are looking forwarding to having two weeks off school during winter break. And of course, they are VERY excited for Christmas! They've been counting the days and have told me numerous times how excited they are.

fall fun

Grandpa Pomeranz's 90th birthday | 09.19.2015

We celebrated Jamie's Grandpa's 90th birthday on September 19th. It was pretty amazing because all of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were there! I think Grandpa had a good time, a polka band played for a few hours which he really enjoyed.

Suchy family

Second Grade Update | October 2015

We had school conferences at the beginning of October. Olivia and Violet are both doing their best, so we are very proud of them. I think they are enjoying being in separate classes, although they do miss each other during the day. Olivia's teacher mentioned that she has noticed that Olivia usually needs to go to the bathroom about the time Violet's class is walking down the hall to go to music or gym!

Olivia's second grade school picture

Violet's second grade school picture

Carving Pumpkins | 10.22.2015

Uncle Joey gave each of the girls a white pumpkin that he grew in his garden, so we carved them on October 22nd. Olivia & Violet each did their own face design but Daddy did the carving. Olivia thought her stitches on the face was cool, and Violet loved her screaming mouth. We dug out the pumpkin seeds and later ended up baking them, but after the carving was done Olivia and Violet thought it was pretty funny to make it look like the pumpkins were throwing up.

Olivia and her pumpkin

Violet and her pumpkin

Thronson Birthday Celebration & Halloween | 10.31.2015

We celebrated Emma, Olivia & Violet's birthdays with the Thronson family on October 31st. We had the party during the day - the kids had fun going on a scavenger hunt for candy, breaking a pinata and spending time with each other. Olivia and Violet loved opening gifts (of course)! They were really happy with everything - a fun Ripstik, a cuddly blanket and stuffed animal, Legos and Star Wars clothes. They had to try their Ripstiks right away...it is like a skateboard but the top pivots and it only has two wheels...they had a few falls but got right back up and tried again!

Birthday girls Violet, Emma and Olivia

In the evening, we went trick-or-treating with Emma, William and Noelle around Alexandria. Emma, William and Violet were especially into it-running from house to house and not wanting to quit! At one point, Emma collapsed in someone's yard because she was so tired, she told us to leave her there so she could rest. Olivia dressed as Darth Vader and Violet dressed as a raccoon.

The force is strong with this one.

Violet = raccoon

Suchy Birthday Celebration | 11.01.2015

We celebrated Olivia & Violet's birthday with the Suchy family on Sunday, November 1st. We met at Pizza Ranch in Alexandria for lunch, which is one of our favorite places to eat. The girls really enjoyed seeing everyone, and they were so happy (again) with all of their gifts. They couldn't wait to get home and start playing with everything. It was a fun time!

Even though we celebrated their birthday early, it is still hard for me to believe that they are almost 8. This age is so great because they still love to cuddle with me but yet they are very independent....and yes, definitely frustrating at times, but I am so proud of them!