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    Archive for 2012

    Merry Christmas 2012

    Wednesday, December 26, 2012

    schmitt 5163 schmitt 4962

    The photo above was used for our Christmas card this year. We hired a local photographer who has since moved out of the state, but was back in the area for a weekend. I've been following her blog for a while and jumped at the chance to have her shoot us. She did an amazing job and aside from the great family shot above also snapped beautiful portraits of the kids and my parents.

    Everyone here had been eagerly awaiting Christmas morning for a while and I don't think any of us were disappointed when it arrived. Benjamin was the first one to wake up and see the tree, but the rest of us were not far behind.

    Benjamin Christmas morningSleepy Lucy and Daddy Christmas morning Lucy checks out the stockings Benjamin and his Yoda slippers from Daddy Lucy and her easel from Santa Daddy and his new Nexus 10 tablet Benjamin opening his Harry Potter film book 

    We had some time to enjoy our gifts before Grandma Chris and Grandpa Ed arrived, so Benjamin and Mike brought out the new electrical circuits board and got to work.

    Benjamin and Daddy trying out his new electrical circuit board

    Then it was back to more stockings and present opening...

    Lucy and her giant stocking Lucy opening her stocking

    (that about sums it up) 

    Mike opening his stocking Benjamin opening presents Grandpa and his helmet

    (Please forgive the quality of the picture above. I took it with my phone)

      Grandpa and Grandma and their helmets

    I promise I was there.  Next time you see me taking photos at some family event, please grab my camera and demand to get some shots that include me!  :-)

    Sunny days...

    Tuesday, December 18, 2012

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    We just had a jam-packed weekend. We traveled up to the Twin Cities for our annual Breakfast with Santa at Macy's outing. The kids went to the Holidazzle parade with my parents while Mike and I had a little date night with sushi and the latest Bond movie. We were all up bright and early Sunday morning to dine with the big guy. We were seated at our VIP table once again (not really, but we like to think that since we've sat there for the past two years). As expected Lucy was pretty hesitant about Santa, but the very smart guy helped us get a photo of the two of them together anyway.

     Macy's Breakfast with Santa - Lucy, Grandma and Benjamin Macy's Breakfast with Santa - Rudolph/Benjamin Macy's Breakfast with Santa - Benjamin and Santa Macy's Breakfast with Santa - Lucy with Santa

    After our adventure at Macy's we high-tailed it back to Rochester. A couple of weeks ago Mike won 4 tickets to Sesame Street Live via a content at our friend Peg's store, A Child's Kingdom. The ticket package included passes to a character Meet and Greet before the show. Lucy was SO excited to see Elmo, although I don't think she understood that he'd be there IN PERSON vs. on a TV like she's used to seeing him. Unlike her earlier encounter with Santa, she was perfectly delighted to sit on Elmo's lap and was disappointed when our turn for photos was over. The show was a lot of fun. Lucy clapped along, danced in the aisle and received a bunch of high-5's from her favorite characters.

     Elmo and Cookie with Lucy and Benjamin Bert gets down A blurry Lucy claps along 

     We took Benjamin to a show when he was the same age as Lucy waaaay back in 2007. It was so fun to see each of them enjoy such a magical experience. 

    Benjamin, Jessica and Mike at Sesame Street Live

    Snow fun

    Monday, December 10, 2012

    The first snowfall of 2012 (just a few inches for us) gave us a good opportunity to have some fun in the backyard and for me to pick up my camera again!

    First snow of 2012 First snow of 2012First snow of 2012 First snow of 2012 First snow of 2012

    Jolly Old Soul

    Thursday, December 06, 2012

    Happy Saint Nicholas Day! The kids woke up to stuffed stockings this morning and our favorite small guy has returned: Ormint the elf. Get ready for some fun Elf on the Shelf mischief. We have some grand ideas for this year. Er, I mean, Ormint has ideas. ;-)

     Saint Nick Day 2012 Saint Nick Day 2012 Saint Nick Day 2012Saint Nick Day 2012 Saint Nick Day 2012

    Last night Benjamin's school hosted a parents' night for everyone with children in the two Elementary 1 classrooms. All of the children gave lessons to the parents on various things they're learning. The parents had work plans just like the students do on typical days and we had to go around and see four different lessons in the three subjects (cultural, language and math). Benjamin gave his lesson on the Clock of Eras. Despite being very nervous, he did so well and his particular lesson was very well attended - enough so that he proclaimed "I was FAMOUS!"
     Benjamin teaching the Clock of Eras

    The latest

    Wednesday, November 07, 2012

    Haunted Hallways - October 2012 

    I guess I have a lot to catch up on. I received a promotion at work last month and with my increased workload I haven't had much time to do things like keeping up with this blog. I know all four of our readers are probably anxiously awaiting Halloween photos though, so I figured I'd get those up here!

     I actually didn't take any photos the night of Halloween. I still haven't mastered low light photography (my challenge for this month), so I knew the shots wouldn't be great. I had taken a bunch of the kids with their costumes on at Haunted Hallways, a fun event in downtown Rochester that is organized by the public school district. It is a great chance for the kids to trick-or-treat at some downtown businesses and they have three levels of haunted houses as well. Benjamin opted for the Hall of Haunts (medium scare factor) and bravely faced all of its horrors with Mike. He really enjoyed it. Lucy and I enjoyed our last temperate fall evening with a stroll around some of the buildings. We finished the night off with some frozen yogurt from Carroll's Cup (my favorite frozen treat place in town). Benjamin wanted to be something scary this year and he decided on the Headless Horseman. We found this awesome costume from Amazon and he loved it. Everywhere we went he was complimented on it. He sure thought he was awesome. Miss Lucy was Raggedy Ann. Make that - the cutest Raggedy Ann ever!

      Haunted Hallways - October 2012 Haunted Hallways - October 2012 Haunted Hallways - October 2012 Haunted Hallways - October 2012 Haunted Hallways - October 2012

    Unfortunately with my new position at work, I had the responsibility of coordinating a major event on the day that my family celebrated my Grandma's 85th birthday in Chicago. My parents bravely took the kids with them for the weekend while I sadly stayed behind. They had a great time and suspiciously Lucy came home saying "Chicago Bears" quite well. But she still knows the green and gold better than anything else! Speaking of the green and gold - Mike scored some last minute tickets to the Packers/Panthers game at Lambeau. It was only our second game ever and the last one we attended was back in 2003. We had a great time and the Packers pulled out an awesome win!

      Green Bay vs. Jacksonville Panthers Green Bay vs. Jacksonville Panthers Green Bay vs. Jacksonville Panthers Green Bay vs. Jacksonville Panthers


    Benjamin's school pictures arrived, but of course the company screwed up my order, so I scanned the photo since I only received one copy so far.  He's so handsome - even with those screwy front teeth!

    Benjamin Second Grade School Portrait

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    Pumpkins

    Tuesday, October 23, 2012

    Sunday was a gorgeous fall day here, so we took the kids to a local pumpkin farm to pick out some pumpkins to carve. We have never been to Sekapp's before, but will be adding it to our fall line-up of fun things to do. They had a straw maze for little kids and a corn maze for bigger kids along with a bunch of great photo ops. Benjamin picked out "a beauty" and we helped Lucy find a pumpkin that was just her size. We skipped the fancy pumpkin patterns this year for some standard jack-o-lantern faces. Hopefully they last until Halloween next week!

    Sekapp's Pumpkin Farm Sekapp's Pumpkin Farm Sekapp's Pumpkin Farm Sekapp's Pumpkin Farm Pumpkin carving Pumpkin carving

    Since Benjamin had Thursday and Friday off of school, I took both kids to Lark Toys for a fun day. My friend from college, Miranda, and her husband own the awesome store with her parents, so not only is it a fun day out for the kids, but also a chance for me to see an old friend!

    Lucy's Puppet Show Benjamin's Opera Singer Lucy loved all of the animals Lunchtime at Lark