Monday, December 31, 2007

Videos!!

Silas sings Jingle Bells with Grandpa.



This was Joel's intro to sledding, in Grandpa's backyard, where Uncles Jason and Justin sculpted out a nice toboggan run.

Some quickie quotes from Joel

OK, I know I have tons of blog stuff to catch up on, (preschool Christmas program, JIMIL reunion, Christmas in Iowa, etc) but for now I just have a few quick Joel quotes to share with you.

First one is my favorite: "When I wash my hands, it feels like I have to go to the bathroom. That doesn't make any sense!" That's just the way it is, kid, no one knows why.

After the boys slept over at Grandma's, (Mommy and Daddy got to go to a grownup party - whoop!) not realizing Aunties and Uncles were sleeping over there too, Aunt Roxanne emerged from the basement in the morning and Joel said with shock, "Hey, where'd you come from?"

Jorie found a game that Joel wanted to play, but it required marbles, which we don't have. Jorie explained to Joel the plans for the morning, "Daddy has to work and I'm going to bring you over to Grandma's house to play." Joel replied with exasperation, "But who will go to the marble store?!"

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Grandpa John and Uncle Tim came out to visit us at our new house, their first visit since the initial moving day. We all joined Jorie's parents for Thanksgiving dinner at their house just down the block. Jorie's Grandma and Grandpa Engstrom were able to come out from Milwaukee and join us too, so it was a nice full table for Thanksgiving at the Engstrom house.


It couldn't have worked out better with the kids. We went over to Jim and Rhoda's around 1 and after playing for a little bit there, Joel and Silas were both ready to take a nap, just in time for us to have dinner. Now, I'm sure some of you (maybe those without kids or those who have forgotten how crazy toddlers can be at the dinner table) are thinking, "Oh, that's too bad, Joel and Silas didn't get to enjoy the Thanksgiving meal?" Let me tell you, this worked out best for everyone involved. Joel wouldn't touch any of that food, as he can be a picky eater, and Silas would have made a HUGE mess, and probably not eaten much either. They were much happier eating their normal lunches, taking their naps, and then later they got to join in and enjoy the Thansgiving desserts. Joel loved Grandma Rhoda's pumpkin ice cream pie (ok, I loved it too - YUM).


So we had a nice time of fellowship and food at Jim and Rhoda's and then my dad, Tim, and our fam came back to our house where we hung out and played some Wii games for a while, and then later watched Evan Almighty after Joel and Silas were in bed. I wasn't expecting much from Evan Almighty, but even though it was pretty cornball, it was definitely entertaining, and had many laugh-out-loud moments.

Grandpa John and Tim headed back home on Friday, and we spent the rest of the weekend decorating and shopping for Christmas. Joel and Silas loved decorating the tree and playing in the huge Christmas tree box. It was a hilarious sight after we were done decorating the tree, that 80% of our ornaments were on the bottom 2 feet of branches. They were busy boys for sure!