Abby's music program

This year was the first year that Abby had a music program through school--the first graders put on a Christmas/holiday themed program at the high school.  Dave's parents were able to join us.  The kids did such a great job and were so cute!

I volunteered to do an at-home project to help out with the concert--these teeth were my project.  So much glitter!

Visiting Santa

This year, I thought it would be nice if Dave could join us when the girls saw Santa (usually we go to a local realtor's office to get a free picture with Santa, and Dave has to work that weekend).  Dave happened to be home the week of Thanksgiving, so he picked up the girls from daycare and met me at my school that Tuesday.  We drove to the Mall of America and caught the light rail up to downtown Minneapolis to go to the Macy's Santaland display.  We hadn't taken Norah before, and it had been awhile since Abby had seen it.  They both loved it, and were excited to see Santa...until we got into the room with him.  Abby jumped right on his lap, but Norah got scared and wanted nothing to do with him.  We convinced her to sit next to him for a picture, but she wouldn't talk to him.  We still got a great picture that reminded us of when Abby was 1 and we got a picture taken with the Macy's Santa and she was crying and trying to escape his lap.  After the Santa visit, the girls had fun writing letters to Santa in the toy shop.  They especially enjoyed the gingerbread cookies on the light rail ride back to the mall.

The girls and I did end up going to see Santa again with Dave's mom at the realtor's office the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This time, Norah worked up the courage to actually sit on his lap AND ask him for the Elsa "dress jammies" that she wanted.  She was confused when we were walking away about why he didn't give them to her right then and there.  :)

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year!  The weekend before was the ECFE Halloween party and the girls and I had fun at that.  They both played lots of games and enjoyed the story time and gift bag.  Dave took Halloween off, so was able to help out at Abby's Halloween party at school (making dirt cup snacks).  We bundled up and went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood after enjoying our jack-o-lantern pizza.  Abby lucked out and even got to hand out candy to a trick-or-treater when we got home (which was better than last year--we don't get too much traffic...).

My pictures of Halloween night are on my phone, so as soon as I get Dropbox and get them onto the computer, I'll add pictures of the girls together!

MEA Break--Parks with the Clarks part two

We had such a great time on our MEA trip to our friend Tiffany and Pat's family cabin.  The girls and I met up with their family for a picnic lunch at Lake Maria State Park first.  The fall colors were BEAUTIFUL here and we had a great time hiking around and taking in the sights.  Norah trailed everyone and wanted to pick up every...single...acorn along the path.  Her pockets were pretty full!

Dave met up with us at the cabin, and we enjoyed spending two nights there.  The kids played together so well, and Henry and Norah especially enjoyed hide and seek.

We visited another state park--Glendalaugh State Park.  We hiked around and looked at the historical building there.  The colors were pretty, but not quite as vibrant as Lake Maria.  We were hoping to check out the yurts there, but it was too long of a hike for a chilly day.

We had a blast, and are so thankful for such wonderful friends!

Pumpkin patch

Even though Dave was working, the girls and I still had fun stopping by the pumpkin patch one night after school.  We had the place to ourselves, and had fun picking out the perfect pumpkins!

State Fair

We hadn't been to the state fair in awhile, so decided to go this year--not sure that we'll ever go again on a weekend--so busy!  We headed straight to the Little Farm Hands first, and the girls enjoyed all of the farm activities and the prize at the end.

We visited some more of our favorites--the pet building, education building, DNR building, animals, etc. and enjoyed our favorite fair foods (except for Sweet Martha's cookies--the line was WAY too long!).  We ended up picking up some Sweet Martha's frozen cookie dough and fresh strawberries at the grocery store and making our own cookies and strawberry smoothies at home after the fair.  Hopefully we can make it back another year on a weekday!

First day of first grade

Abby started school on the Wednesday before Labor Day this year, because of construction next summer in her district.  I had a workshop day, but was able to see Abby get on the bus with her friend Avery.  We're so happy that she has such a sweet friend to ride the bus and go to daycare with (and her little sister Harper is also Norah's best bud).

On the Monday before Labor Day, we had a meet-the-teacher/conference and met Abby's teacher, Ms. Gleixner.  She is so sweet and Abby loves being in her class.  We've lucked out two years in a row to have the perfect teachers for Abby!