Holiday Time

There are 2 weeks left until Christmas!  We're almost ready at the Schuerman household.  Two weeks ago, we decorated the outside of the house and put some lights on the bushes out front.  Last weekend we decorated the tree and the inside of the house.  Cadence COULD NOT WAIT to put the ornaments on the tree.  She was as patient as a 4 year old could be.  Danny and I got our artificial tree out of storage and put it together on Saturday morning.  Cadence thought she could decorate it then.  I explained to her that I had to put the lights on it.  I wasn't able to finish doing the lights until Sunday afternoon.  While Colin was napping, Cadence was finally able to help us put up the ornaments.  It was too cute - she put all the ornaments at about the 3 foot mark (or below) and almost all in one spot on the tree.  She did a really good job.

Each morning, the first thing Cadence has to do when she wakes up is find our elf.  He's a good elf, pretty silly too.  This morning he was riding the train that goes around the tree.  Yesterday morning he was sitting in a mug with some marshmallows...I guess he's a hot chocolate fan.  Sometimes as we're putting Cadence to bed, she'll say, "I wonder what the elf will be doing tomorrow morning!"  Colin doesn't understand the elf yet, but he points to him as if saying, "What the heck?!"

Tomorrow the kids have their Christmas program at their school/daycare; we're all looking forward to it.  Colin has to go in for his 18 month well check up tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping his shots don't bother him too much!  Danny also has his company Christmas party during the day, and I have my company Christmas party after the kids' program.  We're also supposed to go to the zoo on Sunday for my mom's company Christmas party -- we went last year and had a lot of fun! 

Dad and Danny went to the Ohio State vs. Michigan game a few weeks ago.  We stayed home and had some fun.  Here's a cute pic we got of Colin with Scarlet.

Cadence likes to play with her leftover Halloween face paints.  

That face!  Yeah, she totally painted my face in the same fashion...I think I made my mom delete the picture.  Scary!

Who doesn't like to blow bubbles in their milk?!

Goofball #2

Last weekend we attended a co-worker's Christmas open house.  We had a good time and afterwards went back to Sunbury for the tree lighting and to visit Santa.  Cadence was looking forward to telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas.  As we were standing in line, she became nervous.  I had to reassure her that he is a good guy -- he brings gifts!  With her list in tow, she hopped on his lap.  Danny put Colin on his lap and I snapped away.  As you can see from the picture, Colin wanted off of his lap as soon as Danny put him up there.  Poor little guy!

The tree decorator in action

Photo op while shopping in Uptown Westerville

Mom got these pics on a Friday while at home

Colin got sick at school last week.  I picked him up and we spent the rest of the day together.  It wasn't long before he was feeling better.  He's too cute!

I had Cadence pose for our Christmas card and I didn't end up using the images, but I had to share anyway.  Here's the #1 Buckeyes cheerleader!

Pumpkins and Apples

We've been lucky this year and we've been able to do all of the fun Fall stuff that we like so much!  Danny and I, as well as my parents, took some time off from work a couple of weeks ago on a Friday so that we could head down to Circleville for the Pumpkin Show.  We didn't make it down there last year because the weather wasn't the greatest.  This year, however, we all ended up in t-shirts because it was so warm!  It was crowded too!  We were all sure to have the pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin lattes, and pumpkin chili.  I think dad had pumpkin ice cream.  We all skipped the pumpkin pizza...the line was too long!  The kids would not try one thing pumpkin...oh well, more for us!  The kids rode the merry-go-round - we learned that Colin is petrified of them.  I was holding him on a horse, and when it started to go around, and the horse started to go up and down, he flipped out!  Cadence also played a couple games and won some prizes.  Colin is great at walking now and wanted to walk everywhere.  He's so stubborn too - if he wants to do something, he'll go the opposite direction of everyone else.  I think this is the best picture we got of us as a family...you can tell Colin wasn't in the mood.

I had to get a picture of this...

It reminded me of this from 2011...

Danny's family headed our way that weekend and we made a trip back to Lynd's for more apple picking!  The kids had a great time and we picked more delicious apples!  It was a little chilly that day!

We made a TON of applesauce that weekend.  It's one of my favorites.  It's a lot of work, but soooo worth it!  Cadence had fun helping peel the apples...she put her own twist on it!

Cadence is obsessed with jumping in the leaves this year.  Colin had fun too - even though his sister picks on him!

Scarlet was running laps with the neighbor's dog on the other side of the fence!

Colin thought it was hilarious

Last weekend we carved pumpkins.  Colin wasn't too sure about the pumpkins.

On Thursday, most cities and neighborhoods nearby celebrated Halloween.  I think everyone likes to move Trick-or-Treating when it falls on a Friday because it interferes with high school football.  

I was able to leave work a little early that day.  Cadence's class had a party and the kids all dressed up in their costumes.  It was too cute.  Cadence is way in the back on the right.

I volunteered to help out with the "Make Your Own Monster" center.  The kids picked out a spooky character and added stickers to create faces.  They had a good time.  They also bobbed for apples, played Pumpkin Toss, and tried different pumpkin foods (pumpkin bread, pumpkin seeds, etc.).

Cadence was one of 4 Elsas in the class!

That night, we headed over to our friends' nearby neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating.  It worked out really well and the kids got a bunch of candy!

Poor little Olaf didn't like getting his nose painted orange.

Colin was more into the cars and trucks that he saw and less into getting candy.  Danny went door-to-door with Cadence while we let Colin do his own thing.

Yup, somebody was ready to be done!  He was a trooper that night and did a bunch of walking.  He was totally out of his routine and did well for his first time Trick-or-Treating!  We can't wait for next year!