Removing the Tree

Our wonderful Christmas Tree. It was beautiful, but it is time for it to go. How does one remove such a large tree? I thought I'd share our process.

First you get the ladder in to take everything off. Then Jon takes a pruning sheers and starts cutting off branches. Hm. That could take awhile.

Then you discover that in all of those branches you had a bird's nest that you never knew was there. At least there were no birds - or any other animals.

Then you just take a saw and start cutting the trunk of the tree.

Remove the top half of the tree.

Then another section goes out.

Until this is all that is left. Gorgeous isn't it!

Then you seep needles into a pile. Chloe kept saying ,"OOHH"
I think we will be finding needles for the rest of our lives. By the time we actually get rid of them all, it will be time to bring in the tree for Christmas 2010. And my house feels really empty without the tree in it. It took up a lot of space!

CHLOE JEAN KAPITZ!

OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!
If you look closely in this picture, it is the bathroom door from the outside. And if you look even closer, you can see that the drawer inside the bathroom is open - which means that you can't open the door. It is Chloe's new thing. This is how she locks herself in the bathroom. We have to find a knife, screwdriver, something that can get enough of a grip on the drawer so that we can slowly inch it shut so that we can open the door. Meanwhile, Chloe is inside by herself.

See.
"Don't come in here! I was combing my hair!"
Atleast this particular time we didn't hear the splashing of the toliet water while we worked.

Church Christmas Program

The kids had their Christmas Program at church on Sunday. They did a great job. I'm so glad that another parent was able to take pictures of my kids. My annoying camera died on me.

"Glo-ooooo-oooooo-oooo-ooo-oooo-ria"

Christmas Cookies & Snow

Since there was no school on Wednesday, and Jon & I were not getting out of the driveway, we decided to do our Christmas cookies instead of saving them for Saturday. I cheated and used the neighbor girls to help - it makes it go faster.

Chloe got her own plate with one cookie and some frosting. She didn't even know that I gave her the "blob cookie". You know - the blob of dough at the end that you don't know what to with so you cook it too.

But she mostly ate spoonfuls of frosting.

Then they went outside. I think that she looked like a pink snowman. I know my sisters will get a good laugh at her outfit. You also might notice that she has 2 different mittens on. The girl has 2 sets - and I could only find one of each. Frustrating!!! Although I'm proud to say that I'm not caught up in what my kids where. Play clothes and warm in winter clothes are all that matter. Who needs to match? Some day I'll do a blog of "Hannah Pants - the girl has style!"

But they are too small and kept riding up her legs. So I had to go and dig out a bigger pair. I guess at least she wore it once - for 5 minutes. But then she satyed outside for 30 minutes! And the other two stayed out for 1 hour & 30 minutes - and came in because it was dark. They couldn't resist the new snowbanks after dad came to plow.

Gingerbread House

The neighbors invited us over for a gingerbread house making party last Saturday. And it was a party - lots of people and TONS of candy to put on the houses. The kids had a great time. This is their house & yard. It's hard to see, but the one snowman peep is already missing his head. They can't stop eating the candy.

And they had to cover every possible square inch on the thing. They even put a fireplace and stockings inside the house.

Then the next day...

This is what we found. A collapsed house!

I think they put to much candy on the roof. Gumballs are heavy when you have 40 of them on one side of the roof. Oh well, now I can throw the thing away rather than keep trying to find a place for it in my house. But at least it was a fun time.

The Griswalds live here?

We got our tree on Sunday. We had tagged a few weeks ago, and Jon went to cut it down. Hannah was taking some pictures of the process - or her feet.

Yeah, Jon is Mr. Griswald. At least he had a truck and he didn't have to tie it to the top of a car. It is huge! It was smaller in the field. I think the neighbor girls couldn't believe it. Chloe can stand at the base of it, and the bottom branches are just above her head. I never thought our tv would look small.

After a run to town for some more lights & ornaments and got it done. This is the tree last night - before the kids added all of their ornaments at 6am this morning. It really is a beautiful tree and I love it. But, does anyone have a bigger tree skirt they want to sell?

Black Friday: To Shop or To Sleep

I hate to shop. I buy what I need and I leave. So with this new tradition of going to Wal-Mart on Black Friday I was torn. Do I really want to lose precious sleep to shop? This year I caved in. I got up at 3:30am to go to Wal-Mart. Do you know what I needed??? A wreath hanger. Yep. That's it. Here is Tracey K. helping me push through the lines to get to them before they were gone. $1.50 is a deal!

The things that I do under peer preessure. I hope they never sugggest jumping off a cliff.

But I got my wreath hook and was back in bed by 6am. Good times.

You Know What?...

Tyler has an issue. He likes to say "You know what..." And then you have to say "What?". In fact, yesterday on the way home from school he was telling a story and he was saying it so many times that I started to count. In the distance from Country Inn to mom's house (what is that 4 miles?) he said "You know what..." 29 times!!!!!!!!!!! And you know what...I really dislike that phrase.

I also hate homework. My kids don't have a lot of it, but I still hate it. Tyler does alright with his. But Lord help us all when Hannah gets real homework. She likes to do it because it makes her feel like a big girl. However, now that it involves something constructive and not coloring a picture, the tide has begun to turn. Last night she had to make the number 5 four times. Above she is trying once...

Then take cover fast because ... "I CAN"T DO THIS! I HATE SCHOOL. (throw pencil) MOM, DO THIS HOMEWORK FOR ME!" If you look at Tyler's face, I think he is confused by the outburst. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Can anyone teach me how to teach her to hold a pencil? When she has to pick up a pencil she acts like it's a foreign object that is full of something yucky. Did I mention that I hate homework?

And there is this one. While I am trying to help 2 kids with homework I have an attachment to my leg. "PICK ME UP RIGHT NOW! I WILL FOLLOW YOU AROUND IN THIS POSITION UNTIL YOU DO!"

"OR ELSE I WILL STRIP ALL OF MY CLOTHES OFF RIGHT HERE IN THE KITCHEN" Well, instead of words insert screaming. I'm interpreting here.

As a lovely side note...you know what :) Chloe did on Sunday. She woke up from her nap and the neighbor girl went in to get her from her play pen. Kelsey screamed a little and I knew it had to be bad. Chloe had stripped everything off (that is her favorite thing - she even stripped in the church nursery). However - she had a dirty diaper that she took off too! yeah. And then she smeared it all over the pay pen, the blankets, herself. that was so much fun to clean up! I just hope I didn't lose a potential babysitter since Kelsey was slightly mortified by the scene.

Sweet Tyler

Tyler is so sweet. At Awana Mrs. Wrage had them make a thank you card that they could give to anyone they wanted to. On the way home Tyler started asking me what street Gary lived on and how mail got to him. I was like, he doesn't have a street, and they fly the mail over...Why? And he said that he made his card for "Uncle Gary!" AAAWWW! Here he is with his card saluting Gary.

This is the inside "Thank you Gary for being in the Army. From Tyler"

And this is the outside a little USA and a picture of two guys shooting at each other. He may be sweet, but he's still a boy. So we will ahve to get this in the mail to Gary. Tyler also asked how many guys were over there - one or two? And I said thousands. Tyler's response..."They must have a big camper".

Game Time

Jon and I were able to go to the Packer-Viking game on Sunday. We got there nice and early this time. And it was beautiful out - not minus 10 like it was when we went last year.
Our seats were pretty good.

It was a great game to be at, although it could have ended better. We were surrounded by Viking fans. But the group next to us wasn't too bad. But it was a great date day and we had fun.

Pumpkin Carving

On Saturday we decided to finally carve our pumpkins.

Chloe hated it. She wouldn't touch the stuff. She cried. So we put her to bed.

Joni came to help us out and have some pumpkin fun. Here they are making stars on the back of the pumpkin.

And here are the final products. Chloe liked them when they were finished and lit up. I guess I can't blame her for not liking the icky stuff.

Hannah's New Hair

Here are the kids in the Packer clothes on Sunday. It is tough to take their picture! But do you see Hannah's new haircut? And Tyler's bald again.

It is so short! Chloe is saying, "LET ME GO!"

Here she is "smiling" for a close up. I did this haircut myself. Although it seems to be ok, as I look at it, I may need to call up a professional that I know and see if she can fix it up. I learned that people go to cosmetology school for a reason. Because I did not intend to go that short, but I had to keep evening up the sides and it ended up that short. And I stopped there.

Tyler Turns 7

Today is Tyler's 7th birthday. Can you believe that he is that old? Remember the day that I had him? I think you were all there..I only had over 20 people in the waiting room. People skipping tests and work. Sisters, boyfriends, parents, aunts, friends, I was also introduced to people when they came in to see Tyler 30 minutes after he was born. the nurses even had to tell you all to quiet down out there. You crazy people! I'm just picking in you all. It was worth it.

And here he is this morning after opening his presents. He was secretly looking forward to school because his teacher does something special for their birthdays, be he can't admit that he likes it. She makes everyone form a circle and then the birthday kid has to dance in the middle - with her, the teacher. But what life be without our Tyler? He is the most - sensitive, polite, caring, rough, completely boy - kid ever.

Blue Ribbon Brownie

MMM, a brownie and ice cream at Applebees.

with chocolate syrup around the edges - can't miss that part.

Keep eating.

Then make sure that you lick every last bite.