Christmas Tree Decorating & Thanksgiving #2!

This morning Daddy & Grandpa Steve went out on the hunt for the perfect Christmas Tree for our apartment - and they found it! It is the most beautiful tree we have ever had!!!. After we moved all of Madeline's toys out of the way we set up up in the corner near the big window facing the road so we can look up at it every time we drive by. First Daddy put on all of the lights and then we added all of our ornaments!

After the tree decorating was finished we got ready for Thanksgiving Dinner #2. Since Grandma & Grandpa Frantz didn't get here until the day after Thanksgiving we wanted to make sure they still got a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Grandma Judy, Dave and Aunt Malanie joined us and we all ate to our hearts content. As usual Madeline wanted all of the attention and when the grown-up started leaving her out of the conversation she let us know she was still there by claiming she didn't like her mashed potatoes (her favorite). So, we made up a little game where she would eat them if her eyes were closed - she's never NOT the center of attention for long :-)After a little football watching, we all had enough room for some pumpkin pie - we think it was Madeline's favorite part of the whole day!

Minnepaolis Hollidazzle Parade

Grandma & Grandpa Frantz came all the way from Indiana to help us celebrate Thanksgiving this year - yeah :-) We had lots of fun with them and even ventured out in the cold of a Minnesota November to downtown Minneapolis for the annual Hollidazzle Parade. The parade started at 6:30 and each and everyone one of the floats and people were covered in Christmas lights - Madeline thought it was great fun! Grandma Judy and Dave met us there too. Afterwards we all went out for pizza! We had a great time and hope to make a trip to the Hollidazzle parade every year :-)

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Today we went to Mommy's hometown (New Prague) to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Schoenbauer side of the family. This huge event takes place every 3 or 4 years and there were over 100 family members there (even without those that couldn't make the trip). We all brought part of the Thanksgiving meal and had the chance to talk to many relatives that we don't get to see very often. Here is all of us in one huge family picture - we are in the the top right-hand corner: After the Schoenbauer thanksgiving we stopped by Great-Aunt Janet's house to see a few of the Weiers family relatives and then headed to Grandma Judy's for some homemade Pheasant Wild Rice soup - yummy!

Cutting up a Tree

Today Grandma Judy called and she needed some help... a very old dead tree had fallen down and it needed to be cut up and hauled away. Daddy got out his trusty chainsaw and we all got to work... First Madeline just wanted to scope out the situation and try and figure out what was going on - it was REALLY LOUD! But then she pitched right in and helped us carry the wood to to the CRV. She worked really hard and decided it was time for a break... That didn't last long and then she wanted to help again - she thought it was great fun!When we were all done Grandma gave her a big kiss for all her help :-) She definitely earned herself a ride in the swing before it was time to go inside and warm up!

Making Cream Puffs!

Today Madeline and Mommy made cream puffs for Grandpa Ron's Birthday. They were always his favorite so we make them every year on his birthday! Last year was the first year Madeline got to eat one and this year she got to help Mommy make them :-)

First we had to make the chocolate pudding filling. We started by pouring the pudding mix into the bowl and adding the milk. Madeline really enjoyed the next part... stirring, until it was nice and smooth :-)Then is was time to taste... delicious!!! Madeline even wanted to lick the extra off the whisk :-)Next it was time to make the "Puff" part of the cream puffs. We started out by adding butter and water to the sauce pan.Then it was time to move to the stove and let Mommy take over for a while. Once the butter and water came to boil we quickly added the flour and stirred it all together.Then we turned off the heat and added the eggs. All that was left was plopping them onto the cookie sheet - Madeline loved watching them "plop"! Next into the oven and we were done! We invited Grandma Judy over for dinner (another one of our and Grandpa Ron's favorites... pork chops, dumpling and sauerkraut!) and our fabulous dessert!!!
We all thought everything was delicious :-) And we all think Madeline will love keeping this tradition alive!

Pump-It-Up

Today Madeline and Mommy met our Tuesday playgroup at Pump-It-Up in Eden Prairie. This place has tons of fun things to do! All kinds of huge bouncers to jump in, inflatable walls to climb and slides to go down. Mom remembered the camera but it was out of battery power :-( Good thing Birgitta remembered hers and captured a few shots with Madeline in them :-)
Here is one with Madeline and Kevin giving Michael a ride in a car... and here's another with Madeline & Michael throwing balls around inside one of the big jumpers. Despite the grumpy look on Madeline's face in these pictures she had a blast :-)

KidCreate Art Studio

Since cold weather has settled in here in the Great White North, Madeline and mommy have had to give up their park time and find other things to keep them active and entertained... One of our MeetUp.com* groups (The Mother's Connection Group) has a playgroup for kids Madeline's age and under that meets every Tuesday. We've went to story time at Barnes & Noble, goofed around at the indoor play area inside the Mall, attended Tot-Time and the Rec. Center and today we went to this great place called KidCreate Art Studio. Here the kids listened to stories about art and got to create all kinds of neat projects - and all the mess stayed there!!!

They always start of with storytime, then the kids wander around to different art stations..
Madeline made bubble art, painted with powder, dyed a coffee filter, got all full of glitter, and made some very pretty designs with bubble wrap and roller brushes. When everyone was done creating we cleaned up and listened to one more story. What a great way to spend the morning!

*We've found that MeetUp.com is a great place to find other groups of families that are getting out and doing all sorts of fun things. All you have to do is put in your zip code and do a search for Family, Moms, Dads or Kids. We've met all kinds of new people and explored all kinds of new places we never even knew were right outside our door! Check it out if you're looking for something new for the family to do :-)

http://www.meetup.com