Thank You Twisted Lily Photography

So... we just got back from celebrating Christmas with my family. We tried to all get together for actual Christmas, but it just wasn't working so celebrating this last weekend was the next best solution. We had a fabulous time and were so thankful that Katie came out to take our family photo. Of course it wouldn't be right to take a family photo without some of Dad's tractors as props!

Thanks Katie... loved our short visit and love our photos!

Thank You JP Photography!

Here are a few of our favorites from our fall family photo shoot! Judi did a great job of capturing our family! We may have a hard time deciding on which one will be our Christmas card photo.

When I Grow Up...

Sam: When I grow up I want to be a Superhero. What do you want to be when you grow up Dad?

Jeremy: I'm not sure.

Sam: Well, you should be a police officer and then we can both save the day!

Jeremy: I think I might rather be a firefighter.

Sam: That's great and then when people are in trouble in the air you can use your bucket truck to help them.

Trick or Treat...

Because one of you was wondering where these pictures were:





- The kids had a great time.
- Jeremy always loves an excuse to put on his monk costume.
- I'm doing my best to ration all that candy.
- Yes, there is a candy tax at this house!

A Special Visitor

We have been pretty excited around here about the arrival of Baby Joelle two weeks ago and finally today we got to have our first playdate with her and her beautiful Mom! The kids are in love with this precious little girl. Maarti looked so proud holding Joelle, and Sam was totally intrigued by her toes! "I love her little toes, they're so toe-y!"

I know Joelle looks a little unhappy in this photo, but don't believe it... she was a perfect angel the whole time she was here!

Easy Perogy Casserole

My friend Kate has put out a plea for easy, healthy recipes. This may not be the most healthy, but it is a step up from hot dogs! It does take a while to bake, but the prep time is 10 min. max. I usually serve it with a salad.

Perogy Casserole
1 med onion
farmer sausage
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 kg bag perogies (or slightly less)

Fry sausage and onion together and set aside. Grease casserole dish and dump perogies into it. Cover perogies with sausage and onions. Mix mushroom soup and milk together; pour over perogies. Top with cheese and bake at 350 for about an hour. Enjoy.

Oh, That Girl

Since Christmas is just around the corner...
and since I am trying to be a little more on the ball than I normally am...
and since I want to send out a great Christmas letter...
We had to get a great family picture.

Enter my good friend, Judi.

We met up at the cutest little town that has cutest little old candy shop and we promised the kids we could get a treat at the end if they were good listeners. (That was a bit of a lie... they were going to get a treat even if they were little rats! I had this idea that huge lolly pops would look super awesome in our candy store photos!)

I still haven't seen the pictures, but I'm sure Judi took about 300, so, chances are at least one will be Christmas letter worthy!

Now the problem... the kids each have a lolly pop that is approximately the same size as their head! The usual procedure is to limit the amount of candy they can have and when they forget about it we throw it out! I thought today just may be that day, but Maarti seems to have a sharper memory than I have given her credit for. On our way home from dropping Sam at preschool Maarti, put on her most manipulative sweetest smile and said one sentence over and over (and over and over) again: "Mommy, I want to wick a wah-wee pop!".

Ah well... at least she was cute about it!