Winter fun and more!

Here are some recent pictures....Enjoy!

Playing Pictionary one of our "snowy" nights.
Max, Nathan & Claire

Jeni & Drew on the other side of the table

Claire decided to eat potato chips and watch from her high chair instead!

Claire sledding with her "stylin" new hat :)

Kaydra and Cole take a trip down the hill at Magic City Campus

Taking a break for a picture

Anybody still wondering why I call Nathan and Claire my nerds??

Claire & Cale playing Operation.

Cole & a friend play out side with Nathan. It got a little rough.....

This picture doesn't show much, but it resulted in an emergency trip into the doctor. Nathan came inside stumbling, dropping things, and could barley walk, so I took him in. He had been wrestling with Cole and his friend, and somehow got hit in the face!! Thanks to Lana and Sherry for babysitting the daycare kids :) The Dr. originally told Nathan he had a hairline fracture, but called the next day to say that he was fine :)

Watching the Vikings vs. Packer's game with the family! Kaydra is the only Viking's fan in our house :)

Cole & Grandpa, two packers fans!!

Winter Wonderland

We all had our first, and probably only snow day of the year :) Even Jeni! The kids have been pretty excited for the snow. Cole and his friend Collin played outside ALL NIGHT last night. Today Cole was pretty excited when he woke up and we told him school was canceled. We have had a very productive day. Nathan & Cole removed snow and ice from our driveway, and also went to our next door neighbor's house to remove snow from her driveway. Her husband unexpectedly passed away last week, so please keep her in your prayers. Cole felt pretty good about helping out :) Claire was outside for a few minutes, but must take after her mom and not like the cold. So she spent most of her morning "chillin" on the couch watching all of her favorite shows. Mom & I got all of the cleaning and laundry done...and even made some chili for this cold day!! (no, I'm sorry, we did not take pictures of us cleaning :)) Hope everybody is enjoying their day! ~~Jeni~~

Like Father, Like Son

Taking some time for play :)

The princess chillin' on the couch in "her spot".

Cole taking a break from the neighbor's driveway

Nathan stopped to pose for a picture

Using 2 shovels, must have been a lot of work. I wouldn't know, but it sure looked like a lot of work from the living room window :)

At the neighbors. Cole shovels while Nathan snow blows.

More Halloween and more...

This past weekend, we held our first annual Halloween party for the kids. We were graced with the presence of 67 kids in our back yard and garage. That number exceeded the projected 40 that we anticipated, but the stars were aligned for us that night so everything turned out wonderfully. The weather cooperated, we were well prepared, and we had some extra helping hands. Thanks to everyone who offered their time and resources. Jeni and Drew did a fine job of turning this party into a success. A few of the pictures below highlight some of the decorations and preparations. We didn't get many pictures of the actual party. Much of our time was spent serving as playground supervisors or greeters. I did get the opportunity to dance the cupid shuffle a couple of times, though...that was quite fun! It was all a blast! We look forward to the second annual...

Princess Claire covering up with her baby

Kaydra and Cole take a moment away from the Halloween party to pose for a brother/sister photo.

Garage decorations for the Halloween party

More decorations for the Halloween party

In this sideways photo, our pretty little Claire overcame her fear of masks this year!

An adorable trio of costumed kids!

Another view of garage decorations

And yet another view

The haunted walkway. Party guests entered by walking through this scary scene!

Cole and Kaydra trick or treating on a beautiful Halloween evening!

Big brother Cole reading a Halloween book to Claire

Jeni and Drew prepping treats for the big shabang!

Scholarly Kaydra working diligently on her homework

Enjoy your day!!!

The Andersons

Halloween activities, party preparation

On Friday, we attended the Halloween party at the YMCA. Claire, who we thought would experience the most joy at the event, decided not to wear her costume and elected to be held the entire time. I guess that just provided mom and dad with opportunities to give Claire Bear a few more hugs :)



After the YMCA, we went to the park in the dark to play freeze tag. Being that we were in the Halloween spirit, the kids decided to take a couple of ghostly pictures (notice Kaydra and Cole's transparent figures in the two photos above - Kaydra is a bit more difficult to see...she's swinging on the monkey bars) oohoohoohoohoohoohaahaahaahaahaahaahaahaah!!!! (this is supposed to be a creepy laugh)



Prepping for the big Halloween party......only a few days away! We're keeping our fingers crossed for a fun filled frightful festival!!!



On Saturday night, we went to the SCARRRRRRY haunted house at the zoo. This is the first year we braved it out for the night version of the zoo's haunted house. It was a lot of fun. We'll definitely be back for a return visit next year!


Stay tuned for more Halloween pics..........................................

Cole's Radio Ad, etc

Cole was selected by his school counselor to write and read a character counts radio ad. Cole spoke about the Citizenship pillar of character. He was excited for the opportunity and did an amazing job. We are very proud of him!



Daddy was selected by Claire to read a book to Claire. She has taken a deep interest in reading and enjoys each opportunity she gets to listen to a story. Daddy enjoys these opportunities, too! As you may have concluded by seeing the expression on her face, she is quite fascinated with the storyline.



Kaydra and Cole were selected by the photographer of this picture to pose for a sibling photo. They are testing out "glow necklaces" in preparation for the Halloween party next week!

Kaydra Cheerleading

Here are a couple of pictures of Kaydra cheerleading. Her season is almost over, and she has loved it!!