Christmas Card Pics

And this is why I DREAD the picture each year....

Is that excitement or frustration?

Is it just me or does Brendan look like he's ready to beat someone?

Lydia pulled "her" chair over and declared herself DONE!   Brendan and Jackson ... near the end.

Now officially done!

I don't know why we take the Christmas picture every year ... wait .... yes I do.  We take it because it's fun to look back at how much we've changed in a year.  And to laugh about the chaos that surrounds the picture.  The first year we sent out a Christmas card, we had just gotten Rudi and so Luke and I spent an HOUR! trying to get a shot where we were all looking.   I remember Luke throwing a ball at the camera just at the point when it was about to take.   I now laugh at how easy that was compared to the kids.  However, I have to admit, Lydia did a great job with our picture this year ... she was the easy one in the family picture.  It was the boys who wouldn't sit still or had goofy smiles.  Regardless of all the insanity that surrounds it, I'm going to be the mom who insists on the picture each year and in all honesty, I'll enjoy the ones that are not perfect the most:) 

Happy Birthday Lydia! And Brendan!

We spent her birthday evening at Craigs Cruisers with Keunings ... our second family in the summer!

Give me cake!  The girl LOVES birthday cake.  Takes after her mother!

A present from Jackson - wrapped with love and a whole roll of tape!

Lydia received so many wonderful gifts

Wow ... two birthdays in one weekend makes for a lot of singing!  And of course Jackson struggled because his siblings got all kinds of presents but he didn't get anything.  We had to remind him that his birthday is special too and they don't get anything then.  Being the big brother that he is, he convinced Brendan to let him play with all the new toys too!

Trip to Schaumburg

Waiting for the Lego Discoveryland to open ... at least the weather was great!

Can you sense their excitement for going in?

Jackson, Gerrit and Brendan playing with the "earthquake" Legos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dear Brendan... had to wear his winter had to the pool.  Love that kid!

A couple of weeks ago we journeyed to Schaumburg with Luke's college roommates and their families.  We decided to leave Lydia at home with my parents since we knew we'd be busy going from place to place so she'd be stuck in a stroller most of the time.  And of course my parents were okay with having Lydia spend the weekend with them:) 

Starting the birthday celebrations

Getting ready to open some presents

Brendan and Evan - only 3 weeks apart ... the two red heads!

The birthday kids!  Blowing out their candles.

Lydia loved her first piece of cake!  She didn't make too much of a mess either (I think she was more intent on getting it in her mouth - the girl LOVES food!).

Grandpa and Grandma Hansen and all the grandkids

We're back!  My camera card was taken over by Luke to use in his trail cam (and I didn't have time to go get another one) so the pictures for the last two months are pretty scarce.  However, we've upgraded the camera and just got one that takes much better pictures (although we're still trying to understand all the functions!).  Anyways, hopefully we'll become better at getting pictures again and get some more postings on the blog.  It's always fun for us to look back at how life has changed.  In all of life's craziness, the blog is a great record keeper for us and the boys love looking back on it. 

I can't believe that it's almost Lydia's first birthday and Brendan's third birthday.  This year has flown!  I guess every year I say that, but with all of the stuff going on, it's hard to believe that Lydia has been with us an entire year!  Last year at this time I was sitting around with a ginormous belly waiting for something to happen.  (and she sure took her time making her appearance!)

On Saturday we celebrated Evan, Lydia and Brendan's birthdays.  It's easier for all of us to group them together and it's kind of nice to not have all the celebrations in one weekend for the kids.  The best part is that the older kids are getting to the point where we hardly see them when we all get together.  I look forward to the days when all the kids will play so well yet I hate to wish the years away.  I do still love the cuddles from Lyd! 

I'll post again soon about Lydia at 1 year - she's such a happy little girl right now and definitely has become a Mommy's girl! 

Lions Game

On Ford Field!

Trent, Jackson, and Lauryn on the field during warm-ups

One of the things that I love most about Jackson's age is his excitement in doing new things (especially when it involves sports).  Jackson is now completely obsessed with sports (much like his father) and loves it when Luke takes him along for a game.  So early this morning, Luke, his brothers and their oldest kids and his dad all took off for Detroit.  The 3 kids were all lucky enough to go and visit the field during the pre-game warm up.  A LONG day for them, but what a fun memory! 

1st day of Kindergarten!

All smiles for his first day of school!

Luke stayed home a bit later so he could get Jackson on the bus for his first day.

As much as they fight, they sure adore each other too!  Brendan was a bit lost without Jackson at first:(

Waiting for the bus ... thankfully Aunt Sara could come and watch the two youngest and get some extra pictures too!

I love how Brendan seems just as excited as Jackson.

Well, we survived, Jackson successfully completed his first week of kindergarten!  I can't say that he didn't shed a tear at all, if you know Jackson, you know he's a tender heart and can cry easily.  There were a few moments at school where he was a bit overwhelmed but he managed to work through them and he absolutely adores school!  When we asked him his favorite part, he told us it was riding the bus but I kind of think that his favorite part is seeing his teacher since he talks about her quite a bit!  Luke and I of course are constantly asking him about his day and one of his comments to us was .... "It's such a rough day with you guys asking me to talk so much!"  WHAT!!!!!  How is my little chatterbox too tired to talk about school?!  This has to have been the hardest first week of school for me as we sent Jackson off and I missed the big moment.  Thankfully I was able to rush home on that first day and saw him get off the bus.  I have to admit, I did get a bit choked up watching him get off the bus.  I still wish that I could be a bug on the wall and watch him during the day but I know he's in good hands.   How can my little guy be this old already!  How the time flies!

Week at Sandy Pines

The boys heading out on their daily golfing trips ... they golfed at least once a day.  Luke figured out he went golfing 11 times in one weeks time!

While they were golfing, the young ones would play.

Lydia loved the superyard gate ... she was able to crawl around, play with toys outside and stand up ... we loved it too because it kept her semi-clean!

The kids - playing with play dough ... LOVE playing play dough outside (the mess stays outside!).

Cleaning off the fish that they caught ... small fish but the kids were so proud that we could eat them!

Little Lyd enjoying the beach.  I couldn't keep her on the sheets/towels, she would crawl right to the sand and start eating it.  At least she was happy!

We finally got an entire week of camping in at the Pines (well with only a few trips back home!).  Initially we were supposed to camp at the Conference Grounds with the Keunings but after both of us bought places at the Pines we figured we'd save the money and stay at our trailers.  We had a blast!  Luke and Dan found plenty of time to golf and play competitive games with the kids while Lora and I watched the younger ones.  It was a wonderfully relaxing week before the craziness of school began.  The week started off a bit cool but we loved being able to have campfires while wearing sweatshirts.  A tradition has begun... many more summer weeks to be spent there with the Keunings!