Santa's Email to the kids.

Today each of the Klumb kids received an email from Santa! How exciting. Sydney loved it. Here are the links if you would like to see the emails they received.

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/c529f91d575cac41cdb4d39d515099cd

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/45f7bf7fe1116e6f0a4056733fe20a06

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/58d282e42aff51d47bc19d59318222b7

You will need to copy and paste to a new tab.

Little Man Jace

He tries so hard to get around!

Church Pageant

Sunday was our Church Christmas pageant. The kids did a great job. Ellie's class sang "Away in a Manager" and "Joy to the World".

Christmas pageant

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday we took the kids to Breakfast with Santa. They had fun eating pancakes and sausage with Santa and had another chance to tell him what they would like for Christmas. Jace was a bit leary of the beard and wanted to give it a good yank!

Our first snowstorm of this season gave us 15 inches of the beautiful white stuff. We spent a good portion of the day outside playing in the snow and attempting to build a snowman- unfortunately the snow wasn't that great for packing but the kids didn't mind!

Christmas at the Klumb house.

We started a Christmas village, something I grew up with and loved. And we have added a stocking to the mantle, we were thinking ahead and had the stocking holder tucked away awaiting use. :)

Visit with Santa

Thanksgiving week we took "our little elves" to visit Santa-our annual trek. They were so happy to see him and tell him what they want for Christmas. Ellie wants a Hairdresser set and Moxie doll, Sydney wants a computer and Jace wants jammies and clothes. After our visit we did some Christmas shopping and then out for a yummy lunch. Fun moments!

Sydney showing off her new dress we bought while Christmas shopping at Fox River Mall.

St. Nick filled their stockings!

The girls were excited to see that St. Nick had come - even after Mom and Dad telling them he wouldn't if they were naughty! He brought them each a power toothbrush, socks, note pad and Barbie reading book.

Sydney's preschool field trip to the Tree Farm.

Last week Sydney's class took a field trip to a Tree Farm. Daddy was able to arrange his schedule to tag along. She had lots of fun learning about Christmas trees and how to make a wreath. She thought their upside-down Christmas tree was pretty neat!

Jace is 7 months old!

Klumb Kids Kompared at 7 months.

Have a little Faith

Have a little faith by Mitch Albom, what a truly wonderful book, I have enjoyed all his books. I get so focused I must finish it but then am sad when it is done. He has a way of writing that makes it that much easier to read. The book is about a Rabbi and a Christian of My Brother's keeper and how their lives are so different but their faith is similar.

An excerpt......
"The Reb once did a sermon on how the same things in life can be good or evil, depending on what, with free will, we do with them. Speech can bless or curse. Money can save or destroy. Science can heal or kill. Even nature can work for you or against you; fire can warm or burn; water can sustain life or flood it away. But God did not create bad things, He leaves it to us. "

"Why marriages don't last......Because the word 'commitment' has lost its meaning. I'm old enough to remember when it used to be positive. A committed person was someone to be admired. He was loyal and steady. Now a commitment is something you avoid. You don't want to tie yourself down. It's the same with faith, we'll take Him when we need Him, or when things are going good. But real commitment? It requires staying power- in faith and in marriage. "

" "Happiness in a tablet." I knew depression was real, and in many cases required medical attention. I also knew we overused the word. Much of what we called "depression" was really dissatisfaction, a result of setting a bar impossibly high or expecting treasures that we weren't willing to work for."

This is truly a book worth reading, I plan to read it again very soon.

Saint Nick

It is December and Santa will be coming soon, but also St. Nick. As a child we did not observe this tradition so when I moved to Green Bay I was confused and unknowing of St. Nick. So here is a little history on this tradition.

The tradition of Saint Nicholas Day, usually on 6 December, is a festival for children in many countries in Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts. While feasts of Saint Nicholas are not observed nationally, cities with strong German influences like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis celebrate St. Nick's Day on a scale similar to the German custom. On the previous night, children put one empty shoe (or sock) outside, and, on the following morning of December 6, the children awake to find that St. Nick has filled their previously empty footwear with candy and small presents (if the children have been "good") or coal (if not).

Matt and I had decided that Santa would make a visit and he would fill the stockings on December 24th as he did when I grew up. But last year Ellie had her star day at preschool the day after St. Nick was supposed to have come and since she was the star the teacher asked her first what she received from St. Nick, Ellie was confused and said "nothing" and once the other children started stating what they received from St. Nick a little piece of my heart broke. So this year St. Nick will visit our home and hopefully leave the little ones presents and not COAL. :)

Black Friday!

I think we have finally recovered from our Black Friday shopping.
Yesterday Ellie and I started our morning at 4, we quietly snuck out of the house, in hopes to not wake the others and made our way to the mall. Ellie was so excited to see all the cars, I on the other hand didn't enjoy the dilema of trying to park, but after only a few minutes we were able to steal a spot and not 40 acres away! :) The stores were packed but the holiday spirit was all around and the hope of getting that great deal was like a drug, addictive and controlling. Ellie had fun shopping for family and picking out very special presents, but the checkout line was a little longer than she hoped. After 3 hours and the completion of our lists she was ready to get back to her jammies and playing with her sister. And now we wait patiently to deliver those presents and smiles.

Jace had his 6 month check and he weighs in at 19lbs 6oz (76%), and is 27 1/2 inches(79%) tall with a cute little noggin 44cm (54%). He is doing great and we are very blessed with a happy little boy!

"the greatest gift you can give your children is a sibling."

Ellie's first quarter report card

Ellie had a very successful first quarter. Her math and reading/writing skills are among the highest in her class. She is also an independent worker who is able to accomplish tasks on her own. She is able to work very well with all students in our classroom and has been a kind and caring role model to others.
~strength: sounding out words to write sentences.
~goal: continue to improve in reading skills.

Jace is 6 Months old!

Jace is now 6 months old and its hard to remember a time without him. The girls are enjoying every new stage he hits. He has been sitting up unassisted for the past 3 weeks, he has also learned how to roll across the room, of course it takes him a bit but he likes that he can move by himself. He has gotten so big we had to retire the bouncy seat- you know it's time when his bottom is resting on the floor! He also grew tired of the floor gym, so now our living room isn't the obstacle course it used to be. :) The last week when he plays on the floor he pushes up on his arms and then slides his body in reverse and continues to do that to get to toys or the girls. They have so much fun watching and helping. Ellie and Sydney wanting to change his diaper, I let them and they thought it was lots of fun, and Sydney insists on holding his bottle and feeding him, a few more weeks and I am going to be out of a job! :)

He also has started on veggies and just dives into the food, as you can see there is no lacking of substance for him. Unfortunately for Mom and Dad, he deprived us of the funny faces. He just opens his mouth and swallows, its like he doesn't even taste the peas or beans. (the girls whenever they tried the different veggies would make yucky faces and sometimes whince-not Jace, just wants food, doesn't matter what kind)

And just like the girls likes to sleep face down, we just wonder how he breaths. He loves his blue blankey and nuzzles in and konks out. He continues to be a great sleeper, taking a 2 - 31/2 hour nap in the pm, allows Mom and Sydney for 1 on 1 time. :) Or a nap, once in a blue moon.

Sunday afternoon was spent doing leaf cleanup, even the girls were helping out. The best part for them was jumping in the piles Mom raked together. We had to work hard and fast to make sure to get done for the big game at 3!

Halloween was a little cold and living in the North we had to do a costume change, so instead of Ellie being a witch she went as a Princess wearing her tiara, carrying her wand and wearing a perfectly pink fur coat. Sydney instead of being Dorthy went as a pretty pink Carebear. The kids stayed warm and made out like bandits when it comes to the candy! They also thought it was pretty cool to see the firefighters and truck in our neighborhood and get yummy candy from them. After an hour and a sack full of candy we headed back to our house and gave out treats for the remaining hour of trick or treating. Ellie liked handing out candy more than getting it, until she was able to eat some of her loot.

We took the girls to Sweet Street and they had a lot of fun. They played in the bouncy house, rode down the big slide, trick or treated and had a yummy "Dirt Dessert" as you can see it all over Sydney's face! :) Jace had so much fun he fell asleep, literally!

The girls didn't like scooping out the pumpkin's tummy! But they did have fun with making their faces and eating their seeds.

The girls had lots of messy fun decorating Halloween cupcakes. They tasted so good!

Girl Scouts

Ellie started Girl Scouts this fall and is having lots of fun. The had their Fall Harvest Dance last Friday and Ellie was able to bring Sydney with. They did a Halloween craft, ate yummy Halloween treats and danced to a DJ. They did the Macarena, the Locomotion and the Hokey Pokey. It was lots of fun to watch the girls dance to the songs. Sydney however wasn't too fond of the loud music. And for attending the dance Ellie received her first patch. Here are a few pics from the dance.

Addiction

Addiction means something different to everyone, for me one of my addictions is picture frames, I am not sure how it started, just a few short years ago my Aunt Dee was telling me I need to put something on my walls. Now as I walk from room to room I don't see much of the walls I so carefully painted. Our children have become our works of art, each picture beautiful and unique. A picture is worth a thousand words, that's what they say but the most important word that comes to my mind is Love.
And so I challenged myself to count the picture frames that have been added since our first baby arrived and if you think this is not an addiction, it is, the grand total 76. So the next time I visit the craft store I plan to skip the frame aisle and go right to the paper aisle, another of my addictions, however that is an addiction I can conceal in folders, boxes and even the closet. :)

Dear Santa

Last night Sydney went potty and couldn't go back to sleep so she called out for me and I went in by her - half asleep - it was 2 am afterall, she was upset she couldn't sleep. So I gave her a big hug, tucked her in tight, gave her her Bear and told her to think about wonderful things, like her toys, dance class, and puppies. She replied with "I am going to think about 'my computer Santa is going to bring me'"! So back to sleep we went. This morning at breakfast she said she had fun dreaming about her computer and can't wait for Christmas. So note to Santa, make sure you get her that computer!

Sydney's field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

Sydney had her first field trip last week, they went to the Pumpkin Patch. She had so much fun, I think the best part for her was riding a school bus like her big sister. At the farm they went through a small corn maze, a train ride, a haunted house and a haunted hayride. She also was able to pick her very own pumpkin and gourds! It was the perfect thing to put us in the Halloween mood!