Breakfast with SANTA

December 23rd, 2009: Today SANTA visited DGF for breakfast! We got to eat coffee cake & chocolate milk, tell Santa what we would like for Christmas, and even SING! The music teacher brought the piano into the lunch room and led whomever would sing in festive Christmas carols! It was a GREAT morning...I'm SO THANKFUL I got to be a part of it!!

Parker asked Santa for "cooking stuff"
Aiden wanted Santa to bring him a NERF gun...(go figure!)

Savannah played "shy girl" and was too embarrassed to ask for anything!! I'm pretty sure she doesn't like the beard!

The three Juntunen kids on Santa's "GOOD LIST"!!

And...a pic with mama (in her work scrubs!)...yea!!

Daddy's Famous Mussels

These kids will try ANYTHING (edible) once and I'm SO THANKFUL for that! Chad brought home mussels and cooked them in garlic and bacon! These little troopers not only TRIED them, they ATE THE WHOLE PAN!! I have to admit...they WERE tasty!!

Did anyone find a PEARL!? hahahahahaa!Close up!
Parker enjoying a bite...don't ask me why he's wearing a stocking hat INDOORS...I have NO CLUE! It's his "latest thing", he wears them ALL the time!

Yum!

I'm too busy right now to take a picture, mom!!

Ice Cream Treat-it's a LONG STORY!

O.k., I have to tell you how PROUD I am of my three little monkeys! It's a bit of a long story, but I just HAVE to tell it!

Friday night, December 18th: The kids and I are driving home from daycare and I'm feeling pretty good because ALL my Christmas shopping is done ~ for me, this is VERY EARLY because usually I'm the "shop the week of Christmas" kinda shopper! As we are pulling into the driveway @ 5:30 it suddenly hits me - HOLY COW I FORGOT TO GET SOMETHING FOR PARKER's 3 AFTER SCHOOL PROVIDERS (he goes to the Y after school)!! Now I'm panicking because it's already dark and usually once I bring the kids home from daycare we like to stay at home...I never really bring them to the bigger mall with me because it ends up being a total fiasco with me wanting to pull my hair out because they don't want to be there and they aren't letting me do the shopping I need so I get cranky...you get the idea - I do my "mall" shopping during a day off - BY MYSELF. Anyway, I also realized that I start my new job on Monday and will not have any time to myself for shopping before Christmas comes!! PANIC!! Not to mention that the kids are STARVING and I haven't even thought about what to make for supper! (told you this story was long)


As I'm cooking supper I have to break it to them..."Kids, after supper we are going to have to go to West Acres" ~ the groans and "BUT WHY's" start here ~ Then I explain to them that I forgot and laid on some guilt about how sad the daycare providers would be if we forgot them on Christmas (hahahaha...I'm SO MEAN!). It's decided then that after supper we'll freeze our butts off, pile into the car and head out.


I remembered that Victoria's Secret was having a great deal on their body washes & lotions ~ 7 itmes for $30.00 & get one free! What girl doesn't like great smellin' body products!?


See where I'm going with this?:


Late Friday night the weekend before Christmas


3 Kids that don't usually go to the mall


2 boys: 1 that is at that "awkward" stage where anything to do with girls is embarrassing and 1 that is not afraid to point and hollar out "BOOBS"


1 girl that is OBSESSED with pretty frilly, sparkly things and ALL THINGS that pamper


1 mother attempting to head off all of the above problems by TALKING to the kids BEFORE we get to the mall....dum, dum, dummmmmm....!!


I tell them we are going to a "girly" store and they are NOT allowed to TOUCH anything (unless ok'd by me), NO POINTING or snickering. Aiden asks me why I'm telling them all of this, so I say: "you know those commercials where the girls are in their bras and underware?" - Aiden says, "you mean the girls that are trying to be all sexy?" - I say, "yes those girls...well, we are going to the store that SELLS those bras and underware and they also sell sexy outfits for ladies" then I re-iterate the "rules".


As we get to the store, it has 3 sections and we have to go through the "outfit lingere" to get to the body care section. As soon as we walk in, Parker covers his eyes and looks as though he's going to die, Aiden stops walking - dead in his tracks -his eyes bug out & his mouth opens, and Savannah starts heading to the frilliest thing in the room!! I said, "c'mon guys let's head this way, we have a job to do!"...SILENTLY - they all follow me!! We get to the wall with the body washes and Parker asks if he can smell them to pick specific ones for each teacher (yep, he's gonna be a GREAT husband/boyfriend some day! So thoughtful!!). Aiden just stands beside me looking all around and I tell Savannah she should help Parker smell stuff. THEN...the MIRACLE HAPPENS...


An employee (she was in her 20's) walks up to me with a bag (to put the products in) and says to me, "THESE ARE THE QUIETEST CHILDREN WE'VE HAD IN THIS STORE ALL SEASON!" You should have seen my face....I think I looked like she told me I had won a million dollars!! I said, "well, I'm trying to teach them how to behave in a girly store-ha, ha" she told me "GOOD JOB"!! My smile was SO BIG and I just looked at each of my kiddos and BEAMED at them! We finished our shopping (which, by the way, only took us 18 minutes from entering to exiting) and I just hugged them outside of the door (if you're a parent of more than 1 child, you understand this) and said, "I am SO PROUD of you guys! YOU ARE THE BEST!!.....let's go get some ICE CREAM!!" Then, they all BEAMED at me! I took a picture to commemorate the event!

Presenting the 3 COOLEST, gettin' the job DONE, most WELL-BEHAVED kids in a "sexy store" EVAH!

Dancin' the Night Away!

Tonight is a BIG night for Savannah (and her buddy Grace)...it's their Christmas Show for Dance! They've been practicing pretty hard and I'm amazed they are able to learn so much in such a small amount of time! Their practices are once a week for a half hour and I believe they only had 6 of them before this show! They practice at the local community center and are able to preform in the school's BIG GYM! The girls did a FANTASTIC job and it's so fun to see the excitement in their faces. Way to GO, Sweet Pea!

My little dancer showin' off her stuff (we had to get dressed at the boys' Tae Kwan Do practice at one of the local schools ~ hence the fancy carpet and bricks!!). I LOVED the outfits this year! Pink and brown are my favorite!

I really love this picture!
Smiles all around!

At the start of their show, they're lying on the floor pretending to be "sleeping for santa"...Savannah was just checking to make sure I was there!

You've seen this pose before...all the girls lined up with arms linked....and KICK! They are SO CUTE!

Time to SHAKE THAT BOOTY!

After the show, Parker and Aiden gave the girls flowers!! Awww...ain't that sweet!And we can't forget about Grace's little brother Isaac! He was there cheerin' the girls on...and playing with Aiden because Aiden is VERY fun to play with!

Savannah's Christmas Program - Preschool

Savannah's program was CLASSIC! There were a BUNCH of kids, ages 4-5 that waved & blew kisses at the parents, hollared "hi mom!" and sang their little hearts out!! It was so much fun & Savannah was SO PROUD...she even got to stand next to her two good buddies, Ashley & Eli.

Here our little singer is with her preschool teachers Seniorita Kayla (she teaches spanish!) & Mrs. Vinson (the other teacher is not hers)
They made these maracas for their spanish version of Jingle Bells ~ Casca Belle

In addition to songs, the kids recited Christmas poems as well! So STINKIN' cute!! These three are really good buddies ~ Ashley & Eli....they call him "kissy boy"....ahhh, youth!

More jingling bells!

Since she goes to a Christian daycare, they get to sing about J-E-S-U-S, pray before meals & each week they learn a new Bible verse!! Can you BELIEVE it!? It's wonderful and I am so thankful for the loving, nurturing teachers they have not only at this preschool, but at the daycare too!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Three Musketeers!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...

lives in my house!! Savannah made this at Preschool and seriously, she's been wearing it around the house for DAYS!!

And, when she's wearing it, she will NOT respond to any name other than Rudolph...such a sweetie!

The Nelson Clan

This family is SO CUTE! Mary really wanted a Christmas picture with her WHOLE family in it but trying to get everyone's schedules to match is a nightmare! So, they joined Corby at his job in one of our cute hotels and we took pictures there!

Aiden's Daycare Program

Aiden had a HUGE turnout at his Christmas program for daycare! They got up and sang songs, ACTUAL CHRISTMAS SONGS! He looked SO hansome!

Good Job Aiden!

Parker Program

Parker had a "Holiday" program this year but because of where he stood on the risers and the fact that the gym lighting SUCKS, I didn't get any pics of him singing. It was his first musical program with the older kids (4th-6th graders) and the director focused on the 6th graders for the actual parts. To be honest, I was VERY disappointed in this program...for many reasons. She didn't use the actual STAGE behind the risers for the "parts", she had the kids with "parts" stand IN FRONT OF THE KIDS ON THE RISERS! And, there were NO FRIGGEN' MICROPHONES set up in front of the CHOIR so when they sang YOU COULDN'T UNDERSTAND A WORD THEY WERE SINGING! SO FRUSTRATING!! Oh well...I guess complaining about it won't help, but SERIOUSLY! Setting up a mic in front of each section of risers for the choir is sort of a NO BRAINER, dont'cha think!?!

I did manage to get ONE picture of Parker with his buddy Austin (he lives across the street) AFTER the program and AFTER they put their coats on...oh well....these two ARE pretty cute!

It's my PARTY!

Since our little man's brithday fell on Thanksgiving this year, we had to celebrate with his "buddies" in December...such a LONG WAIT! But WORTH it! Aiden chose a local gymnastics place for his party (again this year) and those boys had a BLAST! They jumped on the trampolines (so did Chad and I!), ran & bounced into a pit of foam blocks, swung on a rope into the pit, played kick ball and even got to play basketball with the help of the trampoline!!

An action shot!
We bought masks...Ben 10 masks to be exact!

The Pirate cake. Aiden picked it because it had cool "water" icing on it!

Blowin' out the candles!

Aiden and his buddy Benny! These two are SO CUTE!

This is Aiden's buddy Blake. They go to daycare together. Yes, I DO feel for their daycare teacher M.B!!

Ho~Ho~Ho!

My three little bundles of Christmas joy!

Jacket & Boots

Miss Savannah got a new jacket and some (more) funky boots!! Of COURSE we gotta put them on RIGHT AWAY and pose for the camera!!

Peter Pan with Grandma

My mom has ALWAYS had a thing for musicals (I LOVE them as well!) and she's very good about offering to bring me and the kids along to support our local artists! This year at the Moorhead High School, they put on a "new age" production of Peter Pan...I know, I know...I'm always skeptical about putting a "new age" spin on classics, but this one was done REALLY well!

These kids have SO MUCH talent and even though we were in the back, our seats were GREAT!! They had the characters on wires so that they really flew and at the end, Peter flew above the crowd sprinkling fairy dust on us! All we can say is "THANKS GRANDMA PAM"!! We LOVE hanging out with you!!

Savannah and mom photo opp!

Oh Christmas Tree

We got our annual "live tree flocked in white"! This tree is sort of a disaster...it's not our favorite, but it will do! The kids and I worked HARD decorating it! "Just hear those sleigh bells ringiling, ting-ting tingling too...."

My Angel topper...We've had this FOREVER & I just love it! It has fiber optic wings that move!Merry Christmas!

Viking Hats

November 29th, 2009

Man-o-man...I DO mean STOCKING hats! This is what happens when we send Chad to the store BY HIMSELF! What in the WORLD was he thinking!?! We had to try them on and then he made us wear them to watch the Viking's game in the next day! What a silly boy I'm married to...those suckers ITCH!!

I'll be the first to admit, I do NOT look good in a stocking hat!!
Goofy faces...except Parker's ~ his is more CREEPY!

Lovin' the daddy!