Happy Paul Bunyan Day (a day late)

Did you know there is a Paul Bunyan day?  Yep, it was yesterday...and being the good Bemidji State alum I made sure Jake was wearing his Paul and Babe shirt (or maybe that was coincidence). Anyways here are some fun pics of Jake sporting Paul and Babe...

Starting to settle in.....

Pictures from a few months ago...we are still slowly settling in!

When we decided to send our kids to a school district other than the one we were living in (Minnesota has a great open enrollment policy), we knew it would play into our lives, but not as quickly as we thought it might.  There were a few reasons for choosing the schools we did....it was close to my work, they offered an immersion program and they are some of the top public schools in the US.  But, as I took a different job five months ago, getting the kids to and from school and back home again proved to be a 3 hour minimum commute.

It was at that point we decided that we would move.  It was in our long term plan, that once the trees got big enough at our other house and after the home values bounced back, we would move.  It was also our plan that we would sell our house first before looking (last time we found our home first then tried to sell the townhouse in a declining and overbuilt market).  Once again, we did things backwards and found a great home, on the perfect street, in the location we wanted before we had ours listed.  Luckily we knew the sellers and they were okay with waiting a bit longer than normal as they didn't have a place picked out to go.  

In the end, it worked out and we sold our other home.  We are slowly moving in and working on making it our place.  I do miss our other home...the first home we bought as a married couple, the one our kids came home to after they were born, and other great memories.  I look forward to making great memories here!

A quick December

December seemed to fly by...between getting ready for the holidays and packing for our impending move, the month went faster than it normally does.  We kept the holiday decorating at a minimum but just relished in the time we had together.

Happy 2nd birthday, Jake

On November 30 Jake celebrated his 2nd birthday!  It's hard to believe that this little guy is two already.  He learned to walk, talk and get into mischief over that year!  But as always it's been so much fun to watch his personality grow.  

For his birthday we had a small party at our house with my parents.  A meal, some birthday cupcakes by his "girlfriend" and then opening gifts.  He's certainly learned how open those gifts and have a good time!

We look forward to what the twos bring us!

More photos of our fall adventures

Not many words here...just photos

Fall continued and we had plenty of activities to attend to. It seemed each weekend there was something to do. I guess it was our way of getting out before the long winter would arrive.

Fir the past several years it has also been tradition to head to the arboretum and attend their Halloween kids event.  This year there was trick or treating, music and other fun activities. The kids also enjoyed rolling down the hill and taking photos for daddy. It's times like these that I will always remember!

Apple picking

Our annual fall tradition is to head a little south and go apple picking.  The apples are feat for eating and for baking but for us it's about being together, enjoying the season and just having fun. We had another fun time this year as it was the perfect fall day!

Kindergarten!

Yes, you read the title of the post correctly.  In September Tabitha started Kindergarten. While it seemed to have happened so quickly, we spent almost a year preparing for it.  Between deciding what school to send her to, if she should do Spanish immersion or just English, registration, visit days and more, we were all ready for the first day to come. 

On the first day there were some nerves. The teachers at Explorers Club (the before and after school program) were wonderful and so helpful to introduce her to other kids, to get her to participate, and even send me an email on the first day after seeing my hesitation to leave.  We also have a fantastic teacher who's love and passion for teaching is evident.  She also has the patience to handle 21 kindergarten students each and every day.

Now that Tabs has been there for many months, she's a pro at everything it seems like.  She certainly owns and runs the place and definitely looks forward to picking her younger brother up at daycare so she can be the big Kindergartener.

Jakey

Most of my recent posts have focused on Tabs but I haven't forgotten Jakey. Here are some pictures of Jake's summer!  He sure had a fun time playing outside, learning new words and just having fun being an active one year old!

Birthday Parties!

This past year has been filled with birthday parties galore.  For awhile it was about once a month, but over the summer it seemed more often. Tabitha always had a great time.  Her favorite though was one with a good friend.  We were invited out to their cabin about an hour away.  It's a beautiful location on a lake and we got to celebrate with his family.  

Tabs certainly enjoyed every part of the party including the jet skiing, tubing and fishing. She caught her first fish and even gave it a kiss.  

All in all it was a fantastic day!

Up North

With so much going on during the summer we didn't have much of an opportunity to take a vacation; however we found some time to get away.  In early August I had my Bemidji State Alumni Board meeting, so the rest of the family tagged along.  Since the meeting was a total of about 4 hours we had a whole lot of time to have fun.  We were able to visit a couple of state parks, ride bikes, play in Lake Bemidji, visit Paul Bunyan and just hang out.  It was a nice relaxing weekend and we can't wait to do it again soon!