Happy Birthday, Noah & Hannah!

Our birthday was the last day of school for the year, so it was a big day!

After school, we headed to the Mall of America for our annual tradition of seeing Santa on our birthday. We got to eat in the food court - rice at PF Chang. We didn't like the chicken very much, but we love rice!!

Of course, mom made sure our smiles were ready while we waited in line to see Santa.

Then was time for the real thing. Santa quizzed us and made sure we were helping Mom & Dad, eating our vegetables (that was a stretch for us), brushing our teeth, cleaning our rooms (Mom & Dad said that was a stretch for us). And, we got to sit on his lap & tell him what we wanted and take our picture.

We've seen Santa on our birthday EVERY YEAR on December 19th for 9 years now!

December 19th: 2006 -2014

After seeing Santa, we got to check out Lego Land. 

After Legoland, Daddy checked out a store while Mommy took our picture in front of the big trees.

Seriously, those trees are HUGE!!

When we got home, it was time to open our cards & gifts. We got cards from Grandma Diane & Aunt Carolyn, and gifts from Mom & Dad. There were only 2 gifts. The first one was pajamas, but the second one we got to open was a Kindle HD Fire 6!

It was an exciting day, but we were ready for bed quickly so we could get up the next day to go see Grandma & Grandpa Schuelke for Christmas with them!

Second Grade Greek Fair

On December 18th, we got to do skits for our parents & present our own individual projects about ancient Greece (which we'd been learning about for a couple of weeks in school.)

Hannah was Ariadne in her skit.

Noah was Zeus in his skit.

He made a paper craft and did a report on the Trojan horse for his project.

And, Hannah created an entire game based on Ancient Greece, with the Gods & Goddesses as the pieces that move around the game board and questions about Greece to move you forward or backward spaces.

Both Hannah and Noah did a great job on their skits and their projects!

Cub Scout Pot Luck

Hannah loves to go to Target whenever mom or dad go. She's very helpful when shopping, but also likes to see all the new fun stuff at Target. She found a photo spot to sit with Bullseye, the Target dog, so mom had to take her picture.

The Cub Scout Pot Luck was the 11th of December. It's been a really busy month since then!

It was fun to have some food and a fun meeting with my den! Then we shared our collections (I forgot mine) and exchanged gifts! We did a game where we listened to a story & passed our gifts around. I ALMOST got my Angry Birds game, but the boy next to me ended up with it.

I was so excited. my gift was REALLY BIG! I opened it, and was even more excited. I got a rubber band gun!

Pretty awesome, right? Then, the den leader passed out our Pinewood Derby Cars. I can't wait to make mine!

We get to go make our cars in January. I am excited!

It's been a busy December with school, getting our Greek projects ready for school and packing up and getting ready for our birthday and Christmas!

Happy December!
Noah

Dec 1-7

We had a great Thanksgiving!

When we got back home, we got to extend our weekend with Monday off school. We hung out with Daddy, ran errands and got to spend some downtime at home. Hannah spent a lot of time starting to learn to play Jingle Bells on the Piano.

Friday after school, Mom & Dad brought us to Pump It Up for a fun night of jumping, bouncing, pizza and a craft project. It was a fun night.

Saturday, Noah & Dad ran some errands while Hannah & Mom ran errands. Dad took Noah to Menards then to Target to buy a Christmas gift for Hannah. Hannah & Mom went to Target to buy a gift for Noah.

When we got home, Noah & Dad finished his Cub Scout Napkin Holder and started his Cub Scout Gift Exchange Project.

Hannah started to learn to sew and sewed a pillow (with Mom's help) for her dole. Hannah cut out the fabric, pinned it, Mom sewed it on her machine & Hannah stuffed & finished the pillow by hand.

Hannah sewing a pillow for her doll.

Sunday, after Sunday School, we stopped by to visit our old neighborhood. We got to say hi to Roger but Sharon was working. So, we stopped by Griffin's house and played with him while Mom & Dad talked to Melissa for a little while. Then we ate at Pizza Ranch for lunch. Our favorite! But, we were so full.

Sunday afternoon, Hannah painted while Noah finished his Cut Scout gift exchange project.

Sunday afternoon - Noah finishing his Cub Scout gift and Hannah painting a picture

Tomorrow, Noah is excited to go with his Cub Scout Pack to the TV station for Toys for Tots. Hannah is jealous, but excited to see Noah on TV.

And, Noah is looking forward to his CubScout Gift exchange later this week.

The Angry Bird Game Noah made out of tin cans & a tennis ball

Have a good week!
Noah & Hannah

Thanksgiving week

With our tree up, we are getting into the Christmas spirit!

Mommy captured a picture of us admiring the Christmas tree on Monday morning.

The Christmas Tree is so magic to us!

Tuesday after school, we went to the History Museum with Noah's Cub Scout Den. It was fun. We love the History Museum!

Learning about the fur trade in Minnesota a couple of hundred years ago.

Checking out life on the prairie...The inside of a log cabin is kind of small!

Welcome to Minnesota!

Our Cub Scout in the Toy exhibit. It's decorated up for Christmas!

 

Wednesday, we were going to hang out with Daddy at work, but Noah was sick. He slept until 1 o'clock! Hannah was very quiet and respectful while Daddy worked at home in the morning and when Mommy worked from home in the afternoon. Noah felt better when he woke up and spent his afternoon working on his puzzle.

Wednesday night, Dad took Noah to Menards then to Michaels to get supplies for a Cub Scout wood working project. Hannah helped Mom with some shopping before leaving for Thanksgiving.

Thursday morning we got up, packed up and went to Grandma's for Thanksgiving! The whole family was there - Grandma, Grandpa, both our aunts, our uncle and our cousins. After dinner, Daddy helped Noah build a napkin holder in Grandpa's shop (to get his Woodworking requirements) while Hannah played with her cousins.

After supper, we set up our Bingo game and played a family Bingo Game. It was so fun!

Family Bingo Game. Can this become a new Thanksgiving tradition?

Friday we visited Santaland. It's our tradition to go into town and see Santa and Santaland.

The lights at the North Pole are beautiful!

We love to see Santa.

Santa with us and our cousins

Mrs. Santa's bakery was colorful and had some yummy looking treats

Grandma loved this snowflake

While we were waiting for Santa, Mommy saw a pink & blue tree and wanted us to take a picture with it. She said "Where was this tree 8 years ago?! Everything in my world was pink & blue 8 years ago."

Mom loved this pink & blue tree

Grandpa took the family to the Penguins of Madagascar Friday. We got candy, slushies and popcorn. AND we got to sit with our cousins. What a fun time!

Saturday we went to Great Grandma's house. We played games and hung out with our cousins & Mom's cousins' kids. It's always a fun day. Hannah met Mom's cousin who lives in Boston and lived in Washington DC this past summer. She was a little shy, but still anxious to talk to him about living in such a cool place! We even got our faces painted. Noah doesn't care to have his face painted, but Mom painted a bunch of other cousins' faces, so there was a butterfly, angel, lion, a puppy and a soldier playing with us.

Our puppy.

Happy boy after a fun but exhausting weekend.

When we left Great Grandma's, we went to ANOTHER movie. We thought Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was hilarious! And, again, we got to go with our cousins, so it was even more awesome.

Sunday, we got to see our other Grandma for lunch. It was a nice way to finish the weekend! We had a long ride home, but were happy to be home Sunday night!

Have a great week!
Noah & Hannah