Merry Christmas

This year has been wonderful! I think my favorite part was being able to go to church and to feel the spirit. I was able to be in the ward choir which was really nice. But Christmas morning Kiel and I were the first ones up so we started making noise so the kids would wake up. Lately they’ve been getting up around 8am… so we needed to move things along…. We mainly did stockings before church which was perfect… we could’ve stopped there…

Chloe is obsessed with penguins so we found this Erik penguin (from the 2nd movie) and it talks… so adorable!!

 We bought the movie Happy Feet to go along with the penguin… I figure it’s a movie we should own with her obsession….

But it was the first thing she saw and the last thing she put down until… later on in the day…. but I tried to be strategic with their stockings… quiet toys, snacks that went in new lunch boxes that they could take to church with them. It’s hard enough to leave toys behind.. so I thought something new for church would be helpful.

And as every year… Petey with his Holiday bone… yep… it was gone by the afternoon….

 

We did open a couple of presents before church one of them being the gift Chloe got Connor with “hard earned” money (ha) but it was so sweet that Connor made sure to Thank her with a hug. They have such a great relationship which I am sure will come and go.. but for now I love that they are best friends!!

After church we only had a couple of hours to open the rest of our Christmas to make it over to Kiel’s brother’s house for Christmas dinner…. We like to take our time… so 3 hours was pushing it… But the big gifts of the day were, The start of a new era for Connor… his first Lego set!! He was so excited… and with Uncle Alan to get in there with him he was in heaven… and still is!! He carries his little guys everywhere!! And for Chloe… her first Doll playhouse! When she saw it she called it her castle! To go along with her playhouse, Connor’s gift to her was furniture for her house. He did good! Since that afternoon the kids have been on the floor playing with each other nonstop. The Lego guys visit the playhouse and her people play in the Lego buildings… it’s fun to watch them play. 

This morning…

Well we made it through the holiday with no trips to the hospital. Baby Curtis is still very happy with living arrangements for the time being I guess. Which is great with me. Christmas is all put away and it’s time to get ready for a new baby in the house. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday weekend!

From the Wendelschafer’s,

*Merry Christmas and Happy 2012*

Hexan Haus

We strayed a little from the normal “Miller” tradition of making cookie trains… when it was just our family making a treat I didn’t want to invest in ALL the cookies and candies to make just one… so I saw on a cute blog that you could go to Trader Joe’s and get a gingerbread man kit and I thought that would be fun. But they were out. Instead I saw these German Hexan Haus’… which fits in with our little German family : ) It was a cute little kit.. no baking involved! All I had to do was to whip up the royal frosting. The kids were Very involved… as you can probably tell in the decorations. They had fun! Chloe didn’t do much decorating… it was more like… 1 for the house… 2 for her..  Turned out pretty cute, right?

**Merry Christmas**

Fröhliche Weihnachten

The Polar Express

Every Christmas The Polar Express is a must read. I love getting it out along with all the other Christmas books. I have read it to the kids almost every night this month already and I have to admit it’s one of my favorite Christmas stories. But this year being pregnant I am a little more emotional and I have to admit I cry every time I read it. I am so much more emotional when I am pregnant it’s annoying sometimes… but this book is one of those things that gets me every time. Along with the stories with Great Grandma Miller’s voice reading the stories to the kids these are my/our favorites!!! 

Get that hole in your pocket fixed, signed Mr. C

We took our Monkeys to the Temple

One thing we always make sure we do each holiday season is go see the lights at the Mesa temple. The kids loved walking around seeing all the lights. I love that each year their understanding of Christmas increases. It just makes Christmas even more special. Connor talks about the day that he grows up “big like daddy” and he’ll be able to go into the temple and be married… it’s cute.

One of the many reasons why I love living in Arizona is being able to live so close to the temple. It states in my patriarchal blessing that I will always live close to temples. Having the Mesa temple only 8 minutes from our home has been such a blessing and within the next year or so we’ll have another in Gilbert. It’s exciting. I really feel blessed for living in Arizona… even though the summers are a little rough I love the winters here. The weather is perfect, especially for being 8.5 months pregnant. I have no complaints. I am uncomfortable from time to time but I am happy to be pregnant right now.

We also walked around the visitor’s center. The kids loved looking at all the nativity sets they had from around the world and then of course they knew where Jesus was. We sat through the short presentation and it surprised Kiel and I that the kids were so reverent while listening to Jesus. It was really tender watching their faces look at Jesus. It was a great night. Thanks Kiel for taking us!

20 Big Ones

This morning Connor and Chloe earned their last Quarter to make their goal of $20 each! They are excited to go shopping for each other. They are really helpful around the house but this made things a little more fun for them. I am sure we’ll make another chart sometime after Christmas so they can earn more for toys or whatever they want…. it’s been a fun experience… now comes the shopping! I plan on brining the kids home and helping them wrap their presents for each other. Should be interesting… but will make for a Fun Christmas!

Tire Swing

About a month ago Kiel replaced some tires on his truck but he asked if they would save one of the tires for him. We had briefly talked about doing this.. but Kiel took the ball and ran with it. Yesterday we found the time to go out and get other supplies to make our Tire Swing!! It was a fun project to do with Kiel while the kids were napping. We cleaned the tire and painted it with a thick coat of Latex paint. Kiel drilled the holes and we put it up. The kids woke up from their naps ready to play!! They love their new swing. I think Chloe would sit on it all day if I let her. This morning already we’ve spent almost a half hour out there… I am glad they like it. Thanks to Daddy for his great idea!!! It might get a little  hot in the summer…. but for now it’s Perfect!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween this year I have to admit was more fun than last… The kids both loved dressing up and really got into the spirit of things. We have a couple of Halloween books that we read every night this past month along with our usual bedtime stories. The kids loved talking about Ghosts, goblins, witches and spiders…  Halloween morning we were invited to Halloween party. A lady in our ward has a preschool and she invited more kids to come and play and celebrate with her students. Connor, aka.. Spiderman loved the bouncy house, Chloe…uh… not so much : ( We mixed it up a little bit and she dressed as Dorothy. It’s a little big on her but I had to put her in it!

jUmP hOusE VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

As promised…. after dinner time Kiel and I took the kids and Super Petey out to trick or treat!! It only took a couple of houses for them to get into the groove of things. My favorite part was standing on the side walk and hearing Chloe scream “THANK YOU” after each house!! Half way through I had to empty her bag because it was getting to heavy for her to carry…

*I made Petey’s cape from left over felt I had. It was completely covered in dog hairs at the end of the night… but it was a hit.

I didn’t get a ton of great pictures but you get the point… Princess Chloe was a hit… she quickly learned that it was faster to cut across the grass in every yard even though we told her not too…. oh well…We came home and crashed!! It was a great night!

Ward’s Trunk or Treat

Last night was our Ward’s famous Trunk or Treat. The kids were so excited to go to the Halloween party. We didn’t see much of Connor once we got there and realized he had a inch of freedom to run around. Chloe, our Princess was a hit… everyone loved her costume and she never got sick of hearing how pretty she was. She loved it when I pulled out some of my old glitter shadow and put it on her eyelids… she was in heaven!! It was a fun night and we are so happy that Kiel came with us, a sacrifice on his zzz’s… but hopefully it was worth it!

Getting ready for the trunk or treat portion…

(My shirt, has Chloe's hand prints and under them it says “Let me Out” we wanted to make sure Curtis was involved!)

Happy Halloween!

Preschool Halloween Parade

Yesterday was Connor’s Halloween Parade at Preschool!! He was so excited he was allowed to wear his costume to school! Connor has loved going to preschool, it’s been an amazing experience for him. His Teacher, Mrs. Newitt has been a great first teacher. She has been so patient and loving to all the kids. I am grateful for all her efforts!!

*This is Connor as Spiderman and the rest of his class!

*Each week the kids all have a job and they rotate, this week Connor was line leader. So he led the parade…

*Chloe was very upset she wasn’t a part of the parade…. but she eventually joined in the fun…

*Connor had a good day… it was a fun way to kick off our Halloween Weekend!!!

Weekly activities

Yet again another week that has flown by without me even noticing. I always wonder where my week went. It’s sad to say but another week someone asked me how far along I was and I had to really try to figure it out.. I said somewhere between 6 and 7 months? Next Thursday I will be 7 months along.. which is mind blowing to me. There is still to much to do before life can slow down! Well this week was an adventure for sure…

*Tuesday morning I noticed that there was water on the ground in the garage… following the puddle back to the source we saw that the hot water heater had started to leak. Great, just as Kiel is off to work he tells me to get someone out to get it checked out. Of course it doesn’t take long for someone to come out and tell me the damage. Ouch… another house project chosen by the house. You know.. one of these days WE will actually get to decide what project to tackle next. Oh well… damage is done. We have a new water heater and the damage the water did to some of the drywall is being worked on. Fun stuff.. But that’s life I guess.

*Wednesday, a productive day with Kiel at home. When Kiel is off from work all I want to do is have him lay down and rest but he took it upon himself to work on the backyard. It had a rough, hot summer (even though it’s still in the 90’s) but we are prepping it for winter and hoping it all fills in with green, luscious grass!

In other news Wednesday night at mutual all the yw leaders had a moment. Our wonderful yw president is moving this month so along with that we all believe we are all going to be released… it’s bitter sweet to think about. We all love those girls so much and have had so many amazing experiences with them but… it will be nice to not have such a demanding calling. I was excited about this calling and the past year has been amazing but with a new little one coming it might be a blessing from above to allow me to be with my family. But you never know where the Lord will place me next……

*Thursday…. yesterday I had an amazing experience. Now I won’t go into to much detail but I had a feeling all day that I needed to listen to the promptings of the spirit. This has been something I’ve been working on. Especially when it came to teaching in Young women’s. So all day I knew there was something I needed to do but I didn’t know what… until 5:30pm. I had a feeling that I needed to feed someone. I didn’t know who or why but that night I had planned on making Chicken tortilla soup.. which is always such a huge batch it’s easy to share. The voice in my head pretty much had yelled to me to call someone.. So I stopped in kitchen and made a call. After talking to the Compassionate Service Sister we came up with 2 names. When she said the 2nd name it confirmed my feelings from the other night. I then knew I had to do something. And without embarrassing her… it just all worked out. She was on her way home and I really had to convince her to just stop by and grab a pot of soup. This woman has been the most amazing example to me of service and I feel like I finally got her in a time of need. Whether it made a huge impact in her day or not, it gave me that chance to test my faith and listen to the spirit. So I feel like I passed a test and maybe the Lord will continue to work through me to help others. Ok… but I have to be honest… I might sound like I some sort of Saint.. or whatever.. but I am just trying to live up to the amazing women in my ward. Our ward is a family of service. I was telling my mom on the phone the other day that if I were to post on Facebook that I wasn’t feeling well or that I needed some children’s clothing… within an hour I am sure someone would be at my door. That’s just how giving these women are. And I am so grateful to be apart of this family. Ok.. enough of that fun stuff….

And for this weekend and the chance for things to slow down and relax.. that’s not happening.. we have a busy weekend and Monday will come very fast.

*Happy Birthday to me*

6 Years

October 7th 2011 marked Kiel and my 6 year wedding anniversary. Friday was a busy and hectic day so we planned our date for Saturday night. Kiel only worked in the morning so he had all afternoon to rest up for our date. We wanted to try something new so we finally decided on going to Fogo de Chao a Brazilian Restaurant in Scottsdale. It’s been our list of places to go for a while now. It was nice to get away just the two of us.

And of course I forgot to bring my camera to take pictures so I stole these online. But being pregnant I never know if I am going to be able to eat much but I was happy when I was able to get a little taste of each of the meats that were brought around. As I watched Kiel’s eyes light up each time it was fun for me to watch him enjoy his Meat : ) And just because he loves me, he ordered me Crème Brule for dessert. One of my favorites… but not his… what a gentleman. Later in the evening he did stop and get himself an In N’ Out Milkshake. He needed to satisfy his chocolate craving*

It was a very simple evening but I spent it with Kiel which made it a wonderful night.

The past 6 years have been adventure. Kiel was a brave soul to marry a girl like me. He has always been so patient and kind to me even when I make his life more difficult. With our growing family I feel like we make a great team. He truly is my partner in life. I am sure I could go on and on about how much I love Kiel but I won’t… He knows. All I can say is that it’s been an amazing 6 years and I will enjoy every day I have with him. Love ya babe.

Quarters for Christmas

Today we went to the bank to deposit some checks and Connor asked what I was doing… I tried to explain so he would understand. Then later we went to the store and I pulled out some cash and Connor wanted to have some dollars, as he said… So I thought about it. Lately I’ve been Christmas shopping for the kids trying to get a head start on it. So I came up with an idea for the kids.I made this simple chart for the kids. For every chore they can earn a quarter and when they reach $20 I told them I would take them to the store and they could pick out a gift for each other. I just love the idea of the kids buying thoughtful (or suggested…) gifts for each other. $20 might be too much to buy something simple .. so whatever is left over they can combine and get baby Curtis something. So today we earned 4 quarters, which we then converted to a $1 bill. This makes me even more excited for the holidays…

Holidays = Crafts

I haven’t posted in awhile… but nothing major has happened I guess… Things have just been hectic and busy, which has been nice. This Thursday I will be 24 weeks along (6Months)! It’s gone by so fast so far… Thank goodness..  Hopefully the holidays will help with the last couple of months go by fast! With babies on the way and Holidays around the corner that always sparks my Craft projects! Some I’ve worked on I can’t post … since I am giving them away as gifts.. but today I finished one for Halloween.

I got this idea from a craft blog…http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/09/todays-guest-infarrantly-creative.html 

and since I had to buy wood and have them cut it at Lowes I had enough to make 4 blocks. So I am in the process of finishing one for Christmas, Valentines’ Day and Easter.

Pretty cute idea, A Hershey Kiss fits inside each hole and one for everyday counting down until Halloween!!!