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Eleven years ago today, these two precious babies made their way into the world...one month early.  Happy birthday to my sweet, sassy, beautiful, smart twins, Ricky and Greta!!

 Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!

Head over to Sox That Rock on Facebook to enter for a chance to win ALL of these items...I am giving away TONS of awesome prizes this week as a way of saying THANK YOU to my customers and fans!

Ricky

Today is World Down Syndrome Day.  I wanted to post a picture of our special little man with the designer "genes"...Ricky!  He continues to amaze us daily with his humor, intelligence and love of life!  Ricky is doing so well in school, has amazing friends who look out for him("my boys" as he refers to them), and is reading so well!  I especially love when he reads books to his little brother now and even tries to teach Peter how to read...it's funny to watch that!  Ricky's smile lights up the room where ever he goes...don't you agree??!!

We have a future pilot in our family...maybe.  Hannah got to take her first flight with the Civil Air Patrol unit that she is a member of and actually took the controls and flew the plane for a while.  She thought it was pretty exciting...we are very proud of her!

Green Eggs...

And Ham...we LOVE this book and all Dr. Seuss books for that matter!  What better way to celebrate what would have been Dr. Seuss's 108th birthday but with green eggs and ham for breakfast!  The kids loved it and Ricky even said, "I do so love green eggs and ham!"

I even have some great Dr. Seuss items in my etsy shop in honor of the day!

Peter wanted to make a birthday cake to celebrate but we settled for Dr. Seuss brownies with green frosting!

Have a wonderful weekend!

SNOW

It's been such an unusual winter here in Minnesota.  I have been able to see grass on the ground all winter...even when we do get snows, it usually melts in a few days!  I am not a lover of winter and cold so I am LOVING this mild warmer winter!  We did have rain and finally some snow during the night so school was delayed by 2 hours today.  My kids were thrilled to be able to play in the wet snow and even made this cute fella!  They just got on the bus for a shorter school day.  Peter's preschool was cancelled so we will have a nice warm day staying home.

Catching Up...

Four years ago we brought home our beautiful baby boy!  Peter is growing into such a wonderful little man...so smart and funny and kind!

Yesterday, we celebrated his 4th "Gotcha' Day" with an ice cream cake that he picked out and by watching movies from our visits to Guatemala while we waited to take him home and then our final(5th) trip there to bring our son home!  He never tires of watching movies of his life and hearing me tell him the stories of how we prayed for him and how God answered our prayers and brought us together!

We just returned from a wonderful relaxing warm week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Unfortunately, I failed to get a passport for Peter in time so he got to spend the week "vacationing" at Grandma and Grandpa's house!  We missed him so much but were able to Skype him every day!

Here's the resort we stayed at...

The girls loved riding the waves...I found the water a bit too chilly for me however!

We started each day with a brisk walk on the beach.  Greta and I had fun finding sea shells...Ricky loved chasing birds and letting the waves wash up on his feet!

We spent one day at a nearby waterpark and the girls and Rich got to swim with dolphins.  Since Ricky wanted no part of that, I stayed with him while we watched the others kiss, shake "hands" with and swim with the dolphins. They have always wanted to do that so now will cross that item off their bucket lists!!

We enjoyed the meals and the entertainment at this resort.  Since it was an All-inclusive, we ate and drank freely and OFTEN!  Ricky's favorite drink which he is still craving since we got home is Pina Coladas(virgin!)...

Greta's outfits in these next pictures were made by a fellow etsy shop owner.  Check out Dayspring Dresses if you ever want affordable, gorgeous clothing!

Since this was an all-inclusive, we ATE and DRANK way too much!  Now that we are home again, I am needing to use my new Christmas gift that Rich bought me more than ever to take off all those extra pounds I gained on this trip!!  This Octane Q47 is amazing and actually makes exercising fun!

My kids are looking forward to our annual Super Bowl party...more for the yummy food and snacks than the game!  What are you doing this weekend??

Double Digits

As always, there is tons of activity and action around our house!  The week before Christmas, Peter looked like this!  He had a fever and a terrible cough that kept him(and me) up every night for a week.  Then he developed an ear infection.  Thankfully, by Christmas he was feeling better again!

We decided to do a family fun day on the Friday before Christmas and toured the James J. Hill House on historic Summit Avenue in St. Paul.  At one time, this was the largest home in MN and was really state-of- the-art for it's time...it's still really impressive to tour, especially during the holidays. If you ever get the opportunity to get to St. Paul, it is worth your time to take the 4.5 mile drive down one of the most impressive historic streets in all of America...Summit Avenue is a beautiful street with original mansions that have been perfectly maintained or restored to their original glory...my dream is to live in one of them some day....

Christmas was wonderful as we spent it at home with just my parents.  It was peaceful...as peaceful as can be with 5 very excited children!  It's nice when we don't have to do any running and can stay home enjoying the reason for the season!  We did get to visit with one of my brothers and his family as well as my sister and her family too.

Two of the SIX trees we decorated in our home with year!  The kids each had small trees in their bedrooms as they do each year.

Yesterday, my twins, Ricky and Greta, turned 10 years old!!  Double digits from now on...  Greta had a party with her friends at the Water Park of America.  They spent the day swimming and having a great time.  Ricky will have a party with his buddies later in the winter!

I got these adorable dolls for all three of my youngest kids from a fellow etsy seller.  They are so cute and so well-made!  My kids all love them and sleep with their new little friends every night!

I just love these matching snowman birthday cakes that I get for their winter birthdays every year!

Here is some of Greta's birthday loot!  Let me tell you, it's not easy shopping for TWINS 3 days after they just got every gift they already wanted for Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful, blessed, safe Happy New Year, 2012!!