Kids will be Kids

So for Kari's birthday we gave her a digital camera. She loves taking pictures....of everything. Well there were a few pictures from her birthday that I wanted off of her camera, so I put the pictures onto my computer. Good thing it's a digital camera because she would be in a heap of trouble if I actually had to pay for all the pictures she took. I've learned from her pictures that she likes to do crazy poses and take lots of pictures of herself. These are just a few shots from her camera. Trust me, there were MANY more to choose from.

I guess she thinks she's a tough girl here. Actually she is pretty tough and I would hate if her and Braden ever got in a real fight because I think she would win. (Don't tell Braden.)

This is what my kids do when I'm not watching. They throw all of their underwear on the ceiling fan, then turn it on and watch the underwear fly around their room. Where do they come up with these games? Unfortunately, they didn't pick any of their underwear back up so I took them all away and now they have to buy them back or do a chore to get clean undies. What a mean mom I am.

Another picture of Kari. I'm not even sure what is going on here, but there were a ton of pictures with her hair all weird and her making funny faces. She's quite the character.

Daddy Daughter Date

Each year Kearney hosts a Daddy Daughter Date Night at one of the local hotel conference centers. There is dinner, crafts, and dancing. This was the first year that Kari and Steve went. She loved dressing up fancy and having daddy all to herself for the evening.

For the craft Kari made a headband with those dealy-bopper things on top. (I forget what they are called.) Apparently she wanted Steve to wear it, which he graciously refused to do.

Their dinner was lasagna (not the smartest food choice for a bunch of fancy little girls, in my opinion), green beans, and garlic bread.

And RED jello for dessert. In this picture Kari is showing off the corsage Steve bought for her.

This is actually taken before the event, but I put the pictures in the wrong order. Oops.

Mistletoe?

Now that we have a large 'doorway' in our home I told Steve that we needed some mistletoe to hang at Christmastime. This is what he brought to me............and hung up. A "missile-toe".

My Manly Man

This is what Steve does every night to gain strength and balance. It's a great core workout.

Just kidding, he did this once and all three stools flew out to the sides and he landed on the floor with a huge thud.

Just kidding again! He did try this once, did a few push ups and then his feet gracefully found his way to the floor.

Fortunately, he did not fall and was able to hold himself up. Unfortunately, he didn't fall.....because it would've been a funny story.

Lady Bears

This year Kari decided she wanted to try out basketball. A Baptist church here does a program for kids called "Upwards BB." Each game is started with a prayer and during half-time a scripture is read and discussed. It was a great opportunity for Kari to learn the game, have fun, feel no pressure, and be in a good environment.

This is her team, the Lady Bears.

She didn't always know what was going on, but she had a lot of fun learning.

I'm honestly not sure if she had the ball and is losing it, or if she is trying to take the ball (which isn't allowed.)

If this video clip doesn't work, then..........just ignore it. :)

New Years Eve

This year for New Year's Eve we had two families over. The Smith's and the Kennedy's. We decided to do have fondue night.

Here are Clancey (on left) and Preston, Braden, and Aiden (in the back.)

This was our Cheese Fondue selection. We had shrimp, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and different breads to dip. The cheese sauce was made with Cream of Shrimp Soup. I didn't even know that existed.
This was our Oil Frying Fondue. (I don't know a better name for that.) There were little smokies, steak, and batter to dip pineapples and pickles into.

THen we had the dessert Chocolate Fondue. Extremely tasty...especially with the cinnamon bears. There was also pretzels, marshmallows, bananas, and an assortment of crackers.

Here is a video clip of the kids counting down and setting off those obnoxious streamer things.
Please note Preston's sad little face. I'm not sure what happened, but he wasn't able to pull his string.

The Polar Express

This year Kearney did a new "thing." There are a few trolley's that drive around Kearney for special events. Well, this year the city decided to do the Polar Express. We had to preorder our tickets and they were sent to us in the mail. As we boarded the trolley a ticket master punched our tickets a billion times (just like in the movie, except our ticket master didn't spell cool words in them.) The kids were able to wear their pajamas and we all got a cookie and a cup of hot cocoa.

Our kids picked the very last seat on the trolley.

As we drove through Kearney a volunteer helper read the story. We unfortunately couldn't hear a word of it...but the kids didn't mind since we were headed to the North Pole.

The North Pole turned out to be at a park on the south edge of town. They had this little hut thing for Mr. Santa Clause to wait in. Hopefully he got a heater in there too.

Once we pulled up to the "North Pole" Santa came onto the trolley, talked with each child, and gave them all a bell. The kids were a bit sad that the North Pole was still in Kearney, but it was a fun family activity.

Christmas.....a bit late

As you can see I'm a bit late on posting Christmas pictures. But it's better late than never. As I looked through all my pictures I realized that I really didn't take many. So just bear with me.
This...is our Christmas tree. Fairly lame, I know, but it did the job.

A week or so before Christmas the children had an unexpected visitor come to the house. The were very surprised and loved the visit. After he left both Braden and Kari asked "is that Matt Meister?" "Yes it is," I said, "the best realtor ever!"

When asked if they have been good, Preston was a bit too honest. He replied with, " no, we've been a little naughty."

These are their new Christmas Eve pj's. As you can see, Kari loves to pose for all pictures.

Christmas morning stockings. The kids were thrilled that they each received their very own can of Pringles. AApparently a great joy in the Swenson household.

This is our 'before'opening the presentsHere is the 'after.'