Siblings?

So do they look related?

Anja/Kyper-3 months

Anja/Kyper--6 months

Anja--7 months/Kyper--4 or 5 months

Anja/Kyper in Wyandotte watching for freighters with daddy.

Christmas Program

I don't know when this happened, but I have a child old enough to participate in the Christmas program.  Here are a few videos from it.

Also, I have a number of posts to blog, but I am having technical difficulty adding pictures.  So hopefully, I will be able to look into the problem and try to fix it soon.

Julie

Raking Leaves

Anja--happy

Anja--not so happy

Still not happy, but at least Daddy took me out of those crunchy leaves.

Kyper

It was pretty nice last week and about half of our leaves were on the ground, so I told Kyper that we needed to go outside and play in the leaves.   He loved it.  He would help me rake/sweep the leaves into the piles and then play in them.  We had four huge piles over the course of two days of raking (front yard-one day, backyard the next).  I had hoped to do it while Anja was napping, but we didn't get to it during her naptime.  So, I got the front pack out and she got to hang out with us.  She was happy there, but then dad got home and we tried to put her in the leaf pile--she was not happy with that.  The second day when we raked, Kyper had fun driving his little car right into one of the piles.

In Dearborn, we are able to rake our leaves right into the street.  We had our entire curb lined with leaves up to my waist or higher.  And guess what--the other half of our leaves dropped this week.  So, I guess we will be raking some more.

Christmas Decorating

I did an idea I found via pinterest the other day.  I headed to Michael's and Family Dollar and got some ornaments.  The lady at Family Dollar looked at me and asked if I was already putting up Christmas decorations.  I said no, I was making something and needed to do it before Thanksgiving or it wasn't going to be done in time to use for Christmas.  

It was so easy.  You just use a wire hanger and turn it into a circle and thread the ornaments on.  (But first, I hot glued the tops on the ornaments, so they didn't pop apart--this was a tip I got from the blog I found via Pinterest.)  Here are some pictures from the process.

Apparently, I didn't get any pictures of the final product.  It turned out very well (still deciding if I I like the ribbon/rope I got to hang it with.)  I'll take a picture of it when it gets back upstairs and on our door.

Click here is the link for the original blog if you want more detailed instructions.

Fun with Friends

We headed to the museum with our friends Ms. Julie and Gavin.  We hit up the car exhibit and found a cool car that they could take apart and work on like a mechanic.  

 Then they found an airplane to fly in.

 Sitting on the bus that Rosa Parks rode on.

 Kyper didn't want to go up, so Ms. Julie took Anja up on the tractor with Gavin.

 We watched Kyper' friends, Frank and Sadie.  They had taken a long a movie to watch for quiet time.  They just looked so cute cuddled on the couch together.

Halloween

We did several little Halloween events around here this year.

First, the kids and I headed to Greenfield Village with our MOPS group the Thursday before Halloween. We dressed the kids up for this event.  It was fun hanging out with the other moms and to see all the kiddos dressed up.  It was a gorgeous day--we are talking the high 70's!  Since the costumes we had for the kids were more for cold weather, therefore they wore a little more light weight costumes.  Kyper was a bug catcher and Anja was a cupcake.  Here are some pictures:

The group

My bug catcher and my cupcake

The Saturday before Halloween, we had friends coming up to visit us.  We decided to go to a Plymouth Whalers hockey game with them.  It just so happened that they had trick or treating that night.  We had gotten a babysitter for Anja , but Kyper got to stay up late and come with us.  It took him about 1 and a half periods to warm up to the hockey game.  The major thing that got to him in the beginning was their mascot--a whale.  He did not like the whale--he was terrified of it and clung to Joel and I like his life depended on it.  We had taken along his costume, but due to his fear he didn't dress up. Fortunately, the vendors still gave him candy.  The quote of the night was when we got home.  He poured out his loot and said "That is definitely too much candy."  Sorry, we didn't get any pictures of this event.

Finally, the big day was here.  I guess getting candy ranks pretty high on a three year old's list of favorite days.  (He asked me the next day, when it was going to be Halloween again.)  Not my favorite holiday, oh well.  We got him looking forward to "Thank you day" though.  We had a crazy day--not filled with Halloween stuff, but we got everything done and were able to go to Frank's house for trick or treating.  We were joined by my friend Kelly and her daughter Olivia--who is Frank's sister's best friend.  It was fun.  We had two Minnie Mouses (can I use mouses in that context?)  One Micky Mouse, one dinosaur and one watermelon.  We just did a block with the kids, so we weren't out long.  Corey (Frank and Sadie's mom) had baked cupcakes, so we ate those and then headed out.   I was nice and let Kyper do a few neighbors' houses as well even though he had gotten enough candy from the hockey game and the little block we did.  He enjoyed helping us hand out candy too--those trick or treaters were spoiled with the handfuls Kyper was giving away.  Here are some pictures from Halloween night.

My little watermelon

Micky and the Dinosaur (although as Kyper says..."I still don't know what dinosaur has two horns on its head.")

The kiddos (plus me)

Kypersaurus and Anjamelon

Our pumpkins...Kyper wanted a sad face and a happy face.

Sweetest Pumpkin

This is the sweetest little pumpkin I've ever seen. :)

Family Vacation to the U.P.

We went up for our family vacation this year...okay make that we went to the U.P.  For all you non-Michiganders that stands for the Upper Peninsula.

We loaded up the car Wednesday night and took off Thursday morning.  We decided to make Mackinac City our stopping point for the day and cross the bridge on Friday.  Joel had booked a hotel, but they actually called us saying they were closing so we got moved to another hotel for the same price, but this one had a little water park included.  It was so great.  When we arrived in Mackinac, our first stop was the bridge for some photo ops and then headed to our hotel.  Kyper loved the shallow pool.

Anja at one of our pit stops.  (Actually I think we only had  one stop--we have rock star travelers!)

Kyper set up in the back seat--it is perfect we put the chair down in the front of him, so we can set the computer up there and create a bench for his toys using the pack and play.

Anja, happy to be out of the car, by the Mackinac Bridge

Family photo with the bridge

Momma, Kyper and Anja under the bridge.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Anja liked the lazy river at the hotel.  I think they went around at least 5 times!

Kyper enjoying wet hair

Tim, Melanie and Judah joined us on vacation.  They got to the hotel right before supper on Thursday night.  We had adjoining rooms, so it was a perfect set-up and we were able to play cards while the kids slept in the other room.

Friday morning, we hit the water park one last time and then headed out.  Kyper was pretty excited about crossing the bridge...but I think Joel was more so.  We headed straight north to the Sault Soo Marie to see the Soo Locks Friday afternoon.  Most of us got to see 1 freighter lock through.  Joel stayed longer and saw 3 go through.  We also walked downtown.  Not a ton open since it really isn't peak tourist season in the U.P. but I got one or two souvenirs. (just ask Joel...he always ruins his Christmas surprise)  We ate out that night at a place Joel remembers going to a lot when he was younger--Antlers.

Crossing the bridge

Tim and Judah anxiously awaiting a freighter

Anja and Momma

Kyper watching the big boat lock through

Anja chilling at the hotel.

Saturday, we went to Tahquamenon Falls.  It was so nice!  We really couldn't have asked for better weather.  We started at the Upper Falls and then Tim, Judah, Melanie, Joel and Anja hiked the 4 mile trail to the Lower Falls.  It would have been 8 miles round trip and we didn't think Kyper would be up for that., so Kyper and I met them with the van at the Lower Falls. I know they had an enjoyable hike and I also got some great one on one time with Kyperman. We  colored in the van for a long time and also went out and explored a bit of the Lower Falls while they were hiking.  We found a little dock and Kyper threw sticks in the water.  I told him I loved hanging out with just him and a little later on he returned the sentiment and told me that he was having fun being with me.    I think it was some needed momma/Kyper time.  The other crew felt bad for me, but I wouldn't have traded that time for anything.  I also told him he was a good big brother and asked what he liked best about being a big brother.  His answer: waterfalls.  Okay so we were looking at waterfalls and maybe it was too deep of a question for a 3 year old to answer. :)

Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Family Foto Op

All smiles on Dad's shoulders

Kyper thought Anja looked cool doing this

My little hiker girl (North Country Trail sign)

Tim and Judah aka beavers

Kyp at the lower falls

Lower Tahquamenon Falls (this is one of Joel's artsy fotos capturing the flow of the water)

Point Iroquois Light

Tim cooking dinner in the hotel parking lot

We returned home on Sunday, but not after stopping by the Locks one last time.  On our way home we also stopped at Frankenmuth.  Bronners, a huge Christmas store is there.  Neither of us had ever been there and we wanted to look for a First Christmas ornament.  Since it was on our way home, we decided to go for it.  We made it a fairly quick stop, but you could spend a long time in Bronners just looking at everything.

Kyper and Anja (I promise she is in there) with the Locks behind them

A Freighter in the distance

Judah and Kyper by the prop

It was a great vacation!