Childrens Museum

It has been WAY too long since we last visited the Children's Museum in Appleton.  This was Rhoslyn's first visit and we hadn't taken Alex since before she was born...

Needless to say they both had a blast!  Rhoslyn had so much fun just walking around everywhere and she really liked the water area.  Alex had a lot of fun with the garbage truck, crane, and construction site (surprise, surprise)!

WOW!

Huge night in our house last night! 

Alex slept in undies and kept them dry all night long! 

Rhoslyn slept without her pacifier!

Winter Wonderland

Alright... not exactly a winter wonderland, but we finally got some snow!  When Alex woke up this morning and looked out the window he yelled, "Mom, we have snow!  It's Christmas!"  Too cute.

After breakfast we got ready to head outside.  Rhoslyn thought it was neat at first.  Then she realized she couldn't move in her snow gear... so she whined and cried.  Alex got his shovel all ready and shoveled away.  He also made a few snow angels.  I am going to save these photos of him shoveling and show them to him when he is 15 and complains about shoveling the driveway!

Visitors from Australia

Kelly and Birgitta's friends were visiting Canada, Chicago, and Wisconsin.  We have heard so much about Katrina and Brenden and we were finally able to meet them!  They came over yesterday and stayed the night with us.  Alex was super excited to meet them and imediately asked them to play with him.

We loved having them here and the kids had so much fun with them.  We look forward to hopefully seeing them in Australia the next time! =)

What to say?

So yesterday I was thinking about how we could help others out in our community.  I searched online and found a homeless shelter near our house that houses up to 110 people and offers free meals.  So, I looked at the list of things they are in need of and started to get a few boxes together.  While I am doing this, Alex is asking me what I am doing with all of this stuff.  I am trying to explain to him how some people do not have homes, can't afford to buy food, toys, etc. 

He just doesn't get it and I don't know how else to explain it.  I guess it's one of those things that he won't really understand until he gets a bit older.  How do you explain it to your children? 

Gingerbread Houses

So... last year when we made our one big gingerbread house I used graham crackers, my own frosting, and candy.  This year I thought it may be easier to buy a kit.  Not so much.  I bought a kit with mini houses and it was a bit of a disaster.  Plus, they barely give you any candy in those things... and two packs of sprinkles!  Why oh why would you put sprinkles in a gingerbread house kit with kids in mind.  Anywho... we still had fun.  Not sure I would buy one of those kids again though.  Next we are going back to grahams!

They mostly liked eating the candy and frosting!  Decorating cookies should be fun this year, especially if Rhoslyn helps!

Baby Love

Rhoslyn loves her baby.  She kisses it, hugs it, and promptly throws it on the floor while saying "uh oh."  She is mother of the year!

She also loves her doll stroller and apparently thinks that she can fit in it for a ride as well.  Crazy girl!

Kissing her baby!

"If only I could just get my leg through that hole!"

Happy Holidays from the Anderson Clan!

16 Months Old

Rhoslyn is officially 16 months old.  I cannot believe how much she has grown and changed in the last 16 months!

She is a really good talker and talks all day long. 

Words she can say:
Cracker
Daddy
Mama
Yeah
I know
Kitty
Puppa (puppy)
More
Baby
Choo Choo
Ca (car)
Hello
Nigh Nigh (night night)
Tank Oo (thank you)
All Done
Elmo

Some other things she has been up to:
Pretending to talk on the phone
Gives hugs and kisses
Walking more
Shakes her head yes and no
Signs (more, all done)
Arches her back when she is upset
Hits when she is mad
Loves to look at books
Enjoys playing in her room by herself
Obsessed with any phone or remote in the house
HATES getting her diaper or clothes changed
Can stack blocks
LOVES ELMO
Gives look that could kill (watch out)!

She is a lot of fun and it's cute to see how her and Alex play together.  In a few months they will probably be wrestling on the floor and chasing each other around the house.  Rhoslyn is lucky to have such a great big brother that lets her play with all of his toys and doesn't get too mad when she takes them away or "ruins" them.

St. Nicholas Came!

St. Nicholas came to our house early while we were at the store yesterday afternoon.  The kids wrote their letters to Santa (well daddy wrote them) and we placed them in their stockings.  While we were gone, St. Nicholas came... took the letters, and left some little treasures behind!

Alex was so anxious to check the stockings.  I wish I would have taken a video.  Alex has been BEGGING for Shu Todoroki (car from Cars 2).  We kept telling him he need to put it on his Christmas list, but he kept insisting we buy it for him.  When he looked into his stocking and discovered that St. Nick had left him the one car he has been "dying" to get, he said "WHAT?!  SHU TODOROKI!!!"  He had the biggest smile on his face.

The kids each recieved a candy cane with chocolates, something for the bath, a toy, and some books.  I guess they must be doing a good job since they recieved gifts from St. Nick!

Cousins are so much fun!

Yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa's the kids had fun pulling eachother around on their blankets in the kitchen.  This is something that my sisters and I would do around our house when we were kids.

Gavin was strong enough to pull all three of them!  They had so much fun!

Grandma even joined in on the fun! 

What we have been up to...

We made turkey cookies for Alex to take to preschool tomorrow.  They are having a Thanks Feast.  He is very excited about the cookies and of course had to sample one!

Rhoslyn stacked all of these cans all by herself while we were preparing dinner.  (Note: no we do not normally eat a lot of canned ravioli... its for Billy to take when he is out of town).  We couldn't believe she was able to stack them without them falling over!

Alex is learning how to play games on the computer.  I have a feeling he will be asking to do this a lot! 

While preparing dinner tonight Rhoslyn decided to help herself to an apple out of the fridge.  I contemplated on taking it away, but then decided to just let her have it.  It worked out well, this kept her busy for at least 15 minutes!  I am starting to feel like every picture of her, she looks like the above (messy hair, missing a sock, no pants)!  Oh well.

We put up or Christmas tree. 

Alex loved putting the ornaments onto the tree.

Billy placed the star on top. 



Rhoslyn spent most of the time digging in the box of ornaments.  (You like how they are stored in a DeWalt box?)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Anderson Family!  Safe Travels!

Just some things

Alright, lets see here...

Rhoslyn took her first step yesterday and has taken one today!  She is getting so close to walking! 

She loves pizza!

Alex's new phrases when he gets mad are... "Ugh Whatever!"  "Fine!  Just fine!"  I thought he was three not thirteen!

Rhoslyn is such a sassy pants!  I wish I could take a picture of every sassy look she gives me throughout the day.  Some would say she gets that from me... I have no idea what they are talking about.  ;)

Rhoslyn LOVES "talking" on the phone.  Theres one problem though, she always wants to use the house phone not her play phones.

Alex has been pretending to be Super Alex and wears his taggie or blanket as a cape while he soars through the house.

Rhoslyn is such a mama's girl.  Even when daddy is home she still climbs and hangs all over me.  What about dad?

Happy Halloween!

It's been a fun day here.  For breakfast we had halloween shaped pancakes.  For lunch we ate everything orange, and for dinner I made mummy dogs, candy corn pudding, and we dived into some candy!

Even though it was chilly out the kids had a great time trick or treating.  Rhoslyn even did a good job holding onto her bucket.  She didn't go to every door but enjoyed holding onto a peice of candy while her brother went trick or treating.