Thanksgiving

We started off our long holiday by driving 4 hours to St. Paul on Tuesday night. We got to "Great Papa's" in Highland Park at about 9:30pm, but the kiddies in their beds there and went to sleep. John had to work at the main office on Wednesday, so the kids and I spent the day with John's dad. The highlight for the kids was going to Perkins for "Rainbow Pancakes" and "Dollar Pancakes". We then made our way to Stride Rite for some new shoes. In the evening John came back, we all ate dinner together and hung around.

On Thanksgiving morning, we headed toward Balsam Lake, WI. We stopped in Taylors Falls for a short, but fun walk on a rocky path overlooking the St. Croix. The kids thought it was so much fun that we'll have to somehow fit a longer stop there next year (can we CRAM anymore activities into a holiday???). We got to Balsam Lake to have Thanksgiving with John's mom, step dad, brothers, grandmother, and extended family on that side. I always look forward to going to the beautiful log cabin on the lake with all the seasonal decorations, the good company, the delicious dinner, dessert, and talking and drinking wine by the fire. The kids have a great time seeing everyone and playing with another little girl who is Jane's age. Jane brought tutus to share with Alayna, everyone played "Pin the Hat on the Turkey", and some other funny game that my mother-in-law started. We ended the day by driving an hour back to Highland Park for the night.....It was a long day, but I was disappointed that it was over.

We have more time and lots more fun to be had, so stay tuned for the details!

Winter Fun!!!

This weekend the kids got to do a lot of fun outdoor activities to help them enjoy the winter and not dread it. We started off by ice skating on the lake on Saturday morning (yes, we indeed have ice and 6" of it at that!"). Both kids loved trying to skate while holding onto a chair. There were plenty of falls, but they were such sports that they just giggled and got right back up! John kept telling Jane that she will be a figure skater, but wasn't as excited about Jack saying, "I'll be a figure skater too...I'll TWIRL!!!" John's response was that he should think about speed skating instead!

Janie giving it a whirl...

Jack showing off





Jack and Jane also got to do a little snowmobiling. Jack has a little Arctic Cat Kitty Kat and thinks he is the "cat's meow" on that thing. He was giving his sister rides on his snowmobile and she giggled the whole way while John followed them on the 4-wheeler. They both looked so cute, but so grown up on that machine!

My little snow bunnies.....

Jack finished off his Saturday with a BANG! He went deer hunting with John for the first time. Our neighbor has a topper/trailer combo converted into a deer stand. It has bench seats and carpet, and is fully enclosed, so it was perfect for Jack to go. John even brought a heater with. It was so toasty warm in there, that Jack fell asleep after about an hour of waiting for deer. John woke him up and sure enough 4 deer came by right at dusk. Jack covered his ears and told John, "Take your shot". John did, and they got a small buck. Jack was ecstatic when he came home!

Taking a snooze......

A nice relaxing way to end a busy, chilly weekend is going to a movie. We took the kids to Blackduck, MN to a small log theater. It's small and cute, and perfect for bringing the kids. We saw the movie "BOLT", which really wasn't age appropriate, but they had fun eating popcorn and sitting in the theater. After the movie we stopped next door at the Trail's End Restaurant for pizza.

All-in-all it was a nice family weekend.

Where the?

I know, I know, it looks like I have totally forgotten the blogging world. In the past 2 months we've done lots of fun Fall stuff like hayrides, Fall Festivals, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and I even got to do a little traveling with John. He had to work in Tempe, AZ and then in San Diego, CA so I went along to enjoy the sun. We did get a long weekend together without him having to work. We also had some not-so-fun activities like going to Urgent Care for ear infections and strep throat.

I will try to post a few photos of the past few months, but in the mean time I'll try to do a better job of posting new stuff!

The Things That Make the Hard Days Worth While

• Running an errand and being gone for less than 30 minutes then coming back to kids running down the driveway to greet you, smiling, waving, and saying "Mommy, I really love you!"

• Watching the kids playing harmoniously - Jack winding Jane up on the tree swing, Janie giggling as she spins around, then plopping on the ground with her big brother helping her back up.

• Having your 3-year old tell you that you make really good dinners.

• Watching your 2-year old and 3-year old say Grace all by themselves before lunch.

This Week's Top Quotes of the Mueller Tikes

• "Potty Train?!! Where's the potty train?! Can I go for a ride on it?" (Janie's response when I told her that we should just finished getting potty trained instead of buying more diapers)

• "Mommy, I like it when you hang out on that side of the room so I can do my own business over here." (What Jack said while he was smearing glue sticks on the dining room table and didn't want me to see)

• "Mommy, I like to give hugs to people." (What Jack said when he was feeling the need to cuddle with his mommy)

• "My name is NUFFIN'!" (Janie's response when asked what her name is on a horse-drawn wagon ride that she was apprehensive about)

• "Mommy, can you show me where God lives?" (Jack asked as he stood looking thoughtfully at his U.S. map)

I'm a Blogger!

I am finally catching up with everyone and am an "official blogger".

Bear with me as I get it all figured out and jazzed up. I will do my best to keep it up to date and share the best Mueller Moments....ok, it'll probably mostly be Jack's and Jane's moments.

Here we go......