After the kids went to bed, the fun began for us because Santa came to our house!!! He needed to come a little early being that we would be in Iowa for Christmas. The next morning, Faith was the first one up and we went downstairs and she walked right past the tree, then all of the sudden stopped, turned and sat down next to the presents. I didn’t wrap up the Little People House and accessories, so she spotted that right away and wanted to play with the car that was in the bag. Once Noah woke up, he was all about opening the presents. It was so fun watching their expressions when they would open a new present.

Here are a few pictures….

Happy Father’s Day to my Dad in Heaven who taught me to be very resourceful! (Notice his duct-taped shoe!!)

Love you and miss you Dad!!!!

And a Happy Father’s Day to Rick!!! He’s gone for work right now, so we can’t celebrate with him, but we wish you a very Happy Father’s Day and we’ll do something special when you get back!!! Here’s a couple of pictures of the kids…these are things they HAD to have learned from you!!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!!! We took in a few egg hunts over the last week. We had our neighborhood one during the week and then went to one on Saturday morning.

We colored Easter eggs Saturday night. Faith played with some plastic eggs, while Noah dyed the eggs. Obviously, 18 eggs wasn’t enough…he had to re-dye some because he wanted to keep doing more!

We headed to church Sunday morning and they had an Easter hunt and some crafts to do for the kids. We also had a lily in front of church in remembrance of Dad. After church we went to Bass Pro Shop (the fish store, as Noah calls it) and they had a little egg hunt for the kids. They also had pictures with the Easter Bunny, but as soon as Noah seen it, he didn’t want anything to do with it. We knew Faith wouldn’t like it, so we just passed on that. They enjoyed playing on the boats instead!!!

The 28th we headed to Ryan & Dee’s farm to go sledding!!! Noah was actually more interested in seeing the cows, so after a couple of trips down the hill, Rick and Noah went to look at the cows. A few days before we came back to Iowa, he said he wanted to see Reid and Ryan’s cows and that it was cold so we needed to cover the cows up with blankets. So maybe he was concerned about them! Here’s a picture of Renae and Noah coming down the hill…Renae said she was trying to be dramatic for Noah’s sake!!

That night we had Christmas with my Mom’s side. Mom vetoed my vote to not dress Faith in her Christmas dress. So Faith got to wear it one more time! The grandkids sang “Jingle Bells” for everyone…at least they attempted it!!! It was pretty cute. Noah got a game and Faith got a sippy cup with her name on it.

The 29th was spent as a little more relaxing day, but I did get my hair cut…7 inches cut off!!!! It really needed to be cut…I haven’t had a haircut since a month before Faith was born (and she’s now 9 months old)! That night, we had our family Christmas!!! Noah got a Thomas match game and a bath towel and toy. Faith got a pink tea set and a glow worm (this brought back memories for Renae and I because we each had one when we were growing up).

That night, Noah didn’t really seem to be himself and after everyone was getting ready for bed and leaving, Noah threw up all over me – I’m not good at handling puke!! We thought it was too much junk food over the last week mixed with being on the go so much. Well, after throwing up a few times, we figured it was probably the flu. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night. Faith also got sick during the night, but we figured that they’d be better by the morning for our trip back to Kansas. They seemed to be fine for the first 4.5 hours, but then it all went down hill after that. First Noah was sick a couple of times…and we only were 1/2 successful at getting the bucket to him soon enough. We pulled over at a gas station to “get cleaned up” and to empty the bucket. Once we were back on the road, he’d do it again and then Faith decided she wanted to join in a few rounds. I’m just surprised I didn’t join in…it took about everything in me to keep from throwing up.

As soon as we got him, I started the bath and just let them soak for awhile while Rick cleaned out the car. I’m just glad that Rick can handle it!!! I’m not sure what kind of bug Noah picked up, but he’s still throwing up every once in a while and now we can add diarrhea to the list! They both seem to have that right now. I’m really hoping that they get over this bug pretty soon…I think I’m doing laundry non-stop right now.

Besides getting the flu, it was great to be back with family over Christmas! It was nice to get back to a little warmer weather and not see any snow!!! I’m pretty sure we decided on the way home that Christmas needs to be at our house next year! I’m sure we’ll change our mind and forget about the car ride back…eventually!!!

Here is also what Faith accomplished while we were in Iowa. Rick seen her climb a couple of stairs while we were still at home, but when we were at his parents, she climbed all the way to the top! Once she got to the top, she would pull herself up at the windows and look outside. I think this is the favorite place in the house for the kids. Noah loves looking out the window, watching the cars go by.

On Christmas Day we played outside for a little while in the snow. Okay, so it was mainly Rick and Noah outside! They went for a sled ride down the sidewalk and played in the piles. We also got to meet up with Renae and her family as they were headed to her in-laws for Christmas. We met up at a hotel and the kids could run around. I think Noah liked playing with his cousins because all he talked about after leaving them, was Kahle and Bodee. We couldn’t see them soon enough again!

The 26th, we spent just relaxing. Rick was in bed most of the day, but not really relaxing. He had the flu, so he was pretty miserable. He was in Noah’s bed, so at nap time, Noah didn’t have his bed to go to. I tried to tell him that he could sleep in my bed, but he decided that he was going to sleep on the floor outside his room. I guess whatever works!!

Well, Noah seems pretty excited to see Santa and tell him what he wants for Christmas. During breakfast this morning, he was going thru all the trains that he wanted…Hiro, Duncan, Salty, Cranky and Edward. I’m pretty sure Santa is only bringing him the first two…hope Noah is okay with that!!!! He keeps adding to his list, how can I keep up!?! He also wants a red car, blue car, green car, yellow car, a police car, a fire truck, an ambulance, and a school bus. So he was all prepared to talk to Santa…

So off we went to Bass Pro Shop to talk with Santa – they actually give you a picture for free…and you can take your own! This is the picture that I took of Noah…he was busy telling Santa where the train is at. I didn’t get a picture of Faith…she was too busy crying. The picture we got from Bass Pro Shop, is a pretty good one of her crying!

We spent a lot of time by the train track and we also wrote a letter to Santa, colored a picture and had a fresh warm chocolate chip cookie (I think Faith had more than anyone!). Here’s a few more pictures from this morning.

Well, we are getting in the Christmas Spirit at the Nielsen household. I have not baked as much as I normally do…maybe we’ll do some more this week. I better make some Peanut Butter Balls for Rick so he doesn’t dis-own me! Noah and I did make some Creme deMinthe Bars and a Birthday Cake for Jesus this last week. Noah wants to stir and help mix and pour and lick the beaters!!! He is SO my kid!!!

Noah also thought Faith needed something to snack on too. I had the container of puffs sitting on the table and Noah dumped about the whole thing on her tray. Not sure how many she ate before I noticed, but she was shoving them in by the fistful!

Noah was pretty excited to eat the Birthday Cake we made for Jesus. He also licked the beaters…and the bowl when we made this. He tried to go straight for the batter in the pan, but I thought that was maybe a little too much!!

Rick thought Faith NEEDED a Christmas dress, so here it is. I think Noah is even wondering what is going on with her!!! He kept looking at her shoes, like “These are not her tennis shoes…what are these things?” Actually, I think I wore these shoes when I was little. They were in the closet with some other things my Mom pulled out of her cedar chest. They fit Faith and I didn’t have to go shopping, so it was good!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving with Rick’s parents. They ended up coming down on Tuesday so they could beat the weather. I never did check to see if they got anything in Mason City or not, but there was a chance, so they thought they would rather be safe than sorry. Rick’s dad spent the majority of the time in our basement putting up walls!!! We want to finish the basement, but we are not in a hurry to get it down, so whenever they come down, his dad does a little more. We now have the bathroom all framed in and half the bedroom is done. That was the hardest part to try to figure out, now the rest should be pretty easy! Rick is pretty proud of himself because he moved our water heater and installed a toilet! Now he doesn’t even have to come upstairs – he can stay in the basement and work. I’m just supposed to send food down every now and then for him!

On Thanksgiving Day, Marie was up and at ‘em pretty early to get that turkey in the oven. I had called my family to wish them all a Happy Thanksgiving and when I talked to Reid, he wanted to know if we did “the whole turkey thing and the ceremonial cut at the table with grace and everything”. I told him that we usually just pick everything up and then sit down, but maybe I could talk them into it this year! So guess what? We did the whole traditional “as seen on tv” thanksgiving dinner!!! We put everything on the table and I made Rick say a prayer and then he cut the turkey!!! I think his parents think I’m weird, but I know they enjoyed it too!!!! I even pureed some turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing and gravy for Faith! She couldn’t get enough of it!!!

After nap time, we built a Gingerbread Train. Noah had a great time putting the candy on the train. He was/is pretty proud of his work! He still checks on his train everyday! A lot of candy did not make it on the actual train – he just wanted a clump of candy! I was actually surprised that he didn’t try to eat all of it! Guess he doesn’t really like hard candy!

On October 20th, the gym that Rick goes to had “Boo Fest” for the kids. There was a costume contest and Faith won first place in her chili costume!!!

Saturday morning we carved a pumpkin. Rick really did all the work…he carved a haunted house, and of course I forgot to get a final picture, but it turned out great!!

Halloween night we took both kids to a few neighbors, but it was a little cold for Faith, so Rick and her went back home to hand out candy. Noah and I went around to more neighbors to get more candy!!! Noah is definitely a slow walker, he was too busy watching other people and wanted to look at his candy!! He was excited to get home to show Daddy all his goods!!! I was a little disappointed in the lack of 3 Musketeers, so we’ll have to work on that for next year!