Christmas Vacation Happiness

Over Christmas break, we had Christmas Eve and Christmas with Chris' parents and Sara. Then we went to Brainerd and had Christmas with Derek, Melissa, Julia and Brian, Kendra and pending baby Roberts. While in Brainerd, we did some sledding at Big Sieve. It was pretty cold, really bumpy, but a good time was had by all. -RLEthan and Chris making the hike back up.

My brother Derek with his little Julia.

Ethan and Dad.

Ethan and Mom.

Elliot had to stay home from the sledding (strep throat), but this is the boys on Christmas morning in their new jammies. Ethan's are Super Mario Galaxy and Elliot's are pirates. I just love this picture. -RL

Emma as Mary

Emma played Mary in her Christmas program at church. (Yes, Mary had glasses. And she apparently wore Uggs.) She had to sing a solo which was really beautiful. I videoed it so quick and tried to get the best picture I could with the legions of people in front of me blocking my shot. Unfortunately, my best shot was holding my camera sideways, forgetting that I can't rotate it once it's videoed. So, I apologize for the video, but hopefully you can hear her solo. We all thought her voice sounded so pretty and clear, and we were all a bit misty-eyed. -RL

Oh Tannebaum...

We got our tree up the first week of December after a long debate on real or artificial. We went with the real tree and it was one of our best ones. Ethan was really excited about decorating the house and the tree. Elliot was excited to take down the ornaments, which got to be frustrating for my type A Ethan. -RL

Halloween Part 3: Trick or Treating & Pumpkin Carving

I loved that Halloween was on a Saturday this year. It gave us time for 2 parties, pumpkin carving and trick or treating and we didn't feel rushed. Halloween just might be my favorite holiday, so it was nice to have a full 2 days of fun. -RL

Elliot started out the day as Batman.

Ethan did this almost all by himself.

My pumpkin.

Chris' pumpkin.

Sticking w/ the Harry Potter theme, Emma as Tonks.

Ethan as Harry Potter.

We wanted Elliot to be Dobby the House Elf, but a flour sack just isn't warm enough for Moorhead trick or treating. He could choose between Batman, Superman and Yoda. In our house, Star Wars always wins.

Annual picture of us at Bobbie and Boppas.

Ethan got cold and wore this hat trick or treating. I thought he looked so cute and I think his adorableness scored him more candy. He came home with an overflowing bucket of goodies. Mission accomplished.

Halloween Part 2: Our Party

Our Halloween party for adults was a ton of fun. We spent most of our time laughing and playing Rock Band. We were all planning to dress as Harry Potter characters, but I procrastinated too long and was the only non-Potter costume. I vow to have a better costume next year! -RLI was Teen Wolf, but didn't have the time or energy to work on the fur. It was just glued on in one big clump. I did have some sweet tube socks, hightops and awesome dance moves.

This was originally my costume, but it didn't quite work for me. Chris, the trooper that he is, threw it on with a wig and went as Bellatrix LeStrange.

Bonnie and Dave as Mundungus Fletcher and Sirius Black.

In the greatest entrance ever, Duval and Lisa came in as Dolores Umbridge and Argus Filch. Their costumes were amazing and they had several props. We were all in awe and I thought I would never stop laughing. -RL

Halloween Part 1: Kid's Party

Here are Ethan's friends dressed up for our Kid Halloween Party. Emma also had her friend Lana over, plus her other siblings, India and Jude. I love Halloween and go all out on the food. Here are a few pics of what we made. We also had our standards that are not pictured Mac n Sneeze (green mac and cheese), Yummy Mummies (little hotdogs wrapped in dough), Pizza Snake, chocolate chip cookies in various spooky shapes, green punch with gummy worms. -RL

Apples with teeth

I didn't think the kids would go for the finger cookies, but they loved them.

Ethan looks funny in this picture....I think he's excited his friends are coming over. I was pretty proud of my jack-o-lantern cake until his eyes started dripping down his face.

Random Elliot

Here are some random photos of Elliot, apropos because Elliot is the most random 2 year old I've ever encountered. He does and says things purely to make people laugh. He is such a clown and I love his totally weird sense of humor. Lately, he's been very into pirates and Peter Pan the musical. He walks around with his pointer finger bent and says he's Captain Hook. Awesome. -RL

Elliot is also into tackling and wrestling.

Elliot listening to Shrek the Musical. He absolutely loves singing and I love listening to him.

Thanksgiving: The Kittleson Edition

For the first time in my life, I spent Thanksgiving away from the Mallinger side of the family. It was very strange to go elsewhere, but I had a blast with Chris' family. We had great food, lots of laughter, a piano sing-along and an accordian concert, thanks to Mike. What I didn't have was my camera out. I took several funny pictures of Sara that if I put on this blog, she may disown me. I love this picture of Paul and Elliot and am so glad that I snapped it. -RL

Singing!

Here is Ethan in his robe for his church choir, Joyful Noise. He graduated from the Minims choir and now gets to wear a robe and cross when he sings in church. He also sang with Emma's choir, Celebration Singers, and the FM Youth Symphony at a concert in December. -RL

Emma showing Ethan how it's done.

Football w/ Ethan

Ethan is a conflicted little man when it comes to pro football. He is loyal completely to the Packers and always wants them to win. But, he also wants the Vikings to win, except when playing the Packers. His Boppa Dale has made him love the Packers, but Chris is a Vikings fan. How he deals with this internal struggle, I'll never know.

When the Vikings lose, Ethan is a bit disappointed, but he shrugs it off. When the Packers lose, it's a full meltdown, on the floor, bawling his little eyes out. Then he calls his Boppa Dale in Florida to report how the game went. I always imagine that my dad has just had a temper tantrum too. -RL

Weekend with Dave and Bonnie

This goes back to October, but I have to start somewhere since I haven't blogged in 4 months. We went to Minneapolis for my cousin's wedding and stayed with Dave and Bonnie for a few days. It was so much fun to hang out with them and see my family and sister Sara.

Dave had a lot of fun playing games with Ethan and Elliot. You know, normal games that every child plays growing up like "Power of the Mongoose", "Grond" and "Danger Ball", all the classics. These games all consist of a lot of energy from Dave: picking up one kid, spinning him, holding him upside down and then smashing him into something/someone else. They love it. Dave and Ethan also spent a lot of time doing wizard duels Harry Potter-style. I've been unsuccessful posting videos lately, so I hope this one works. All in all, a very fun October trip. -RL

Dave and Bonnie w/ the Boys: Ethan and Elliot really love them.