Goodbye 2012...

I always seem to have a little post holiday blues and this year is no exception.  Not only is all the excitement over, but now it's time to get back to normal, everyday life.

We had a very exciting and insanely busy 2012.  Moving to our new home took up most of our time!  We spent many hours unpacking, trying to decorate, then trying to think of what else we could do with our new space.  This new home has been such a blessing for us and we have thoroughly enjoyed the extra space and the excitement a brand new home brings.  Nick jokes that he would do it all over again and soon... I think we'll give it a decade or two... 

Being a mom continues to be my greatest joy and hardest task.  The boys have given me a run for my money this year, so to speak!  They are growing up and they have figured a lot out.  I know that somewhere along the way people told me that age 5 was wonderful and so much easier than 4.  I have yet to agree with this, but I suppose the boys still have half a year to prove or disprove that theory.  Everyday I am met with new challenges and with breath catching moments.  Both good and not so good... The great part is that the good always makes up for the not so good!  Having two five year old boys who have learned the art of ganging up on Mom is not easy and it doesn't always aid in my quest for sanity and peace, but it is my life.  I wouldn't change a thing...  I am so completely in love with my boys.

I don't like saying goodbye, even if it is just to a year.  I like looking ahead and imagining the future, but I don't necessarily embrace change.  I was talking to Nick the other day about how it was hard to move on to yet another year when the previous one went by so fast.  I said, "I hate change!"  Conner overheard me and marched over to me and said, "Mom, we don't hate anything.  That is not a nice word!"  I snickered having been reprimanded by my boy with my own words.   So, although I do not like resolutions, I will say that I will make more of an effort to not "hate" change in the coming year.  (Although, to be honest, we will have kindergarten to contend with this fall and I don't exactly see myself being happy about that huge change...)   I have other things on my mind, resolutions to some I suppose, but I read somewhere that if you want them to come true, you can't tell anyone... We will soon see what else 2013 has in store for us.

Happy New Year to our fantastic families and everyone who has followed us through another year!  I wish love, happiness, and peace to you all.

New Years Eve!

This year we decided to have some fun on New Years Eve so we invited some out of town friends to come stay with us.  We made the party kid friendly so the little guys could have some excitement too!  The boys loved hanging out with their new friends Cash, Madison, and Ava.  And Nick and I loved hanging out with our old friends Casey and Janelle and Brian and Kim!  It was a great time and it really made me appreciate having such wonderful friends to start a whole new year with!  We may not be able to see everyone as often as we would like, but I am so thankful that we were able to get together to celebrate the new year and plan our next outing, a trip to Dubuque in January!  Good friends make life a lot more fun!!!  Happy New Year!

Christmas in Conrad!

We had to wait a little longer than usual this year to celebrate Christmas with Nick's family because of when Christmas fell during the week and Nick's work schedule, but it was definitely worth the wait!  (And as I am told on almost a daily basis by my 2 little ones, "Waiting is hard!")  We got to go to Conrad on Saturday after Daddy got off work.  The boys couldn't wait to open more presents and to see their cousins, Mikayla and Jennifer!

The boys wanted to try out their new skates as soon as possible.  They did a pretty decent job of skating around the basement.  There were a couple of tumbles that almost sent me out of the room, but they really started to get the hang of it.  I predict we will have many winter nights in the unfinished part of our basement watching our young ones practice their roller skating skills!

Mikayla, Conner, Ben, and Jennifer were ready for bed and lined up on the couch, so we couldn't miss that photo opportunity!

On Sunday, we posed for our family pictures!

Thank you for another wonderful Christmas, Mama and Papa!

End of the Year Interviews...

I decided to do a little interview for Ben and Conner this year.  I wanted to remember all of their favorite things at this very moment!  They both sat down very seriously when I told them I had some questions for them.  (I conducted their interviews separately so they would not be influenced by each other's answers!)  Ben was first...

1.  What is your name?  Ben Hedlund
2.  How old are you?  5
3.  What is your favorite color?  purple
4.  Who is your best friend?  Con
5.  What is your favorite animal?  Kangaroo  Why?  Well, because they jump real fast!
6.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A giant!  Hmm, Anything else?  Maybe a police officer!
7.  What is your favorite movie?  Polar Express
8.  What makes you happy?  TV and my boy Con!
9.  What makes you sad?  rain and then thunder scares me... grrr...
10.  What is your favorite food?  cheese sandwich!
11.  What is your favorite thing to do?  skating!

Conner's turn...

1.  What is your name?  Conner Nicholas
2.  How old are you?  5
3.  What is your favorite color?  red
4.  Who is your best friend?  Ben
5.  What is your favorite animal?  Lion  Why?  Because they're scary!
6.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  A conductor on a train!  Very cool, anything else?  A ship captain!
7.  What is your favorite movie?  Polar Express
8.  What makes you happy?  Daddy!  And Ben!
9.  What makes you sad?  rain
10.  What is your favorite food?  cheese sandwich
11.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Building!

I will have to try and remember to do this again next year to see how much their answers have changed!  My favorite question was definitely "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  They both thought pretty hard about it and both were very excited about what they chose!   

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning was as glorious as ever and the kids were ready to get on with it!

Nana, Marley, Ben, and Conner played with some of their new toys together!

Gramps had a shirt that had a drumset on it and actually made noise when you hit the drums and cymbals on it!  Conner and Ben really enjoyed pounding on Gramps' chest for a while!

Nick and Curt show off their Moose Mugs!

Nick and Josh show off their newest Christmas Vacation t-shirts!  This family loves that movie!!!

Not surprisingly, Christmas Day came and went so fast that I definitely would have liked to do it over again.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve...

We traveled to Bettendorf on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas at Nana and Gramps' house.  As always, it was a wonderful time!  Church, dinner, playing with the kids, games, and just being together!  Quite possibly my favorite night of the entire year!  After church, we snapped some pictures so we could get out our comfy clothes and play for the rest of the night!

 

After pictures, dinner, and lots of playing and having fun, it was time to get Santa some cookies and get the kids off to bed!  The night went by way too fast!

Our Christmas!

It is always fun to see the boys open presents!  Everything is so new and exciting!  They loved everything... except having to sit and watch while Mom and Dad opened a few!  We had a wonderful Christmas today with our boys!  Merry Christmas!

 

Waiting...

I wanted to get a picture of our tree with all of the presents before we started packing everything to travel for Christmas.  Ben and Conner are having a bit of a hard time waiting today...  they know they get to open some presents tonight with Mom and Dad so they are a little anxious!  Plus, Santa made a special stop here last night and filled our stockings so the boys are more than ready to get this Christmas started!!!  They just can't leave all those presents alone any longer!

 

Snow!

The boys were finally able to get outside and enjoy the snow today when Dad got home!  Conner had a rough morning, so he had to sit inside for 10 minutes while Dad and Ben played outside.  He sat here and pouted for a while. When his time was up and he had promised to be the "best nice boy," he bundled up and headed out to join Dad and Ben!

 

I tried to get Ben to look at me, but he was way too busy shoveling and could not be disturbed. 

 

Chefs...

Conner and Ben were ready to "help" me bake some goodies today.  They insisted on helping because they were both claiming to be chefs, even though they did not have their chef hats, which was a little upsetting for Ben!  They grabbed some kitchen towels, threw them over their shoulders, and they were ready to go!  We did actually get several things made!

Polar Express...

Well, today was supposed to be the boys' Polar Express parties at preschool.  Unfortunately, we had a 2 hr delay which means no a.m. preschool, so I had two little boys that were pretty upset about missing their favorite school day of the year.  So there was really only one way to fix this... we had to make our own Polar Express party at home!  The boys put on their Christmas pajamas that they had planned on wearing to school. 

 

Then it was time to construct a train, start the movie, and punch some tickets!

The boys had a lot of fun on their train, a little too much perhaps...  We had to cut the movie a little short.  I'm still struggling with whatever sickness is lingering here and the boys are testing every shred of patience I have left so after a wild morning, I foresee a very quiet afternoon in our future.  Naps, bedroom time, schoolwork, anything to get these crazies to calm down a little!!!!