FIVE HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!

Hannah JOY; 

we could not have given her a more accurate middle name - 

well, if there were second-runners-up they'd have to be:

resilient, compassionate, tender-hearted,

 little-miss-generosity,

a blessing!

Today she celebrates the fun age of 5!

She has been anticipating this birthday for about 6 months now, 

with a more intense countdown since we hit November.

This girl can race with the boys, 

but has a relentless intrigue about weddings and gowns 

and rings and veils....

she is going to capture the hearts of many

(and daddy is going to chase the lot of them)

Many days she is the calm in the chaotic storm of our day;

Veteran's Day moment

Sweet moment captured...

Marble Movie Night!!!

Hannah has worked very hard over the past 2 1/2 months
to fill her marble jar;

tonight, she reaped the recognition for all her hard work!

(marbles are earned/way of recognizing them

when they show postures of the heart

that demonstrate our families values...)

 

She selected a special movie night with her bestie, Tessie!

(Mommy had just as much fun getting ready for it)

Movie tickets in hand...

about to head in to the "theatre"...

concessions....

 and it was showtime!

(they look a little on the "depressed side", don't they? lol)

Looking forward to many more fun girly times in the years to come!

Home photo shoot

Mommy is being forced to admit

that little Lydi is now already

8 MONTHS OLD!

 we had fun taking a little impromptu 

photo shoot at home tonight

before heading out to a fun little kids concert

at Hannah/Elijah's preschool...

she's hard to put to bed some nights, 

just wanna snuggle her for days on end.

I know my time is limited!

 wishing for time to go at a turtle's pace...

 Halloween 2012

These smiles speak for themselves....

lots of happy kiddos 

(with bags full of candy :)

as we got together to celebrate Halloween this year.

Lydi passed on the trick-o-treating, 

opting for a nap instead, 

but joined us for festivities after!

these two took advantage of the free rides -

which is about all they could do to keep up with the older kiddos

who were sprinting from house to house...

 

Thank you Rahn family for hosting post-treating activities!

Gopher fun

A few weeks ago we were able to

introduce Noah and Hannah to a Homecoming Gopher

football tailgate and game.

Auntie Jess (and Nick) invited us to come along...

It was a bit damp that day, 

but made it through just about the first half

before getting "rained out"..

Noah had fun learning the M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A cheer 

(as first grade is all about spelling)

 And Hannah became a pro at yelling 

"FIRST DOWN"

with her little pom pom in hand.

The kiddos did fantastic, even better than we had expected....

which means we'll get to try to make this a fun tradition.

Go Gophers!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - 2012

Today was a huge success!

First day of school

 was full of anticipation, excitement and a bit of nerves...

but mostly SMILES :)

 

 big kid this year - heading to the crosswalk all by himself.

 Meeting friends/best buds in the parking lot...

 

 long-anticipated uniting with best friends in new class....

and a little celebration lunch to follow!

 

This is going to be a fabulous year, 

I can just feel it!