Noon Year's Eve

I'm almost caught up!

 I teased you all a bit by posting about a current event (Gus' birthday).  Stick with me a little longer and I'll post about current events again.

The library hosted a Noon Year's Eve program.  Ms. Lisa was awesome and even though the library was closed she opened it for this program.

 There were tables set up for everyone to decorate their own hats.  Hans managed to break his with his big, fat head the first time he put it on.

I joke about my husband often, but that is because he is extremely silly and sarcastic and can take it.  But I love this man with every fiber of my being.

 Anders loaded his hat with stickers.  He's concentrating right now...you can tell by the fact that he is sticking his tongue out.

 I may never get a girl, but that is okay because I have Sophie.  Look at this beautiful girl.

Sophie, Debbie, and Pam joined us for this event. It was fun having all of us there.

 There was a selfie station set up with props.  The boys had fun with this.

 Even the big boy had some fun.

 The four Goofballs.

 Ms. Lisa sat everyone down and read a story about New Year's Eve.

The boys listened intently.  They love books.  Being read to is one of their favorite things.

After some dancing we counted down to Noon.  Hans was enlisted to pull the cord to release the balloon drop.  We figured if the whole thing flopped Hans could adlib and make it a fun, memorable experience for the kids.

Thankfully though, the balloon drop went off without a hitch.

We had a great time!

Happy Birthday, Gus!

On Monday this little bundle of joy with an extremely sad resting face turned 6.  Gus the Bus is in Kindergarten this year and loving it.  He's actually even participating in class.  I can't believe that he is already 6.

 The day before his birthday we had a little family party.  I love that a party for Gus is getting a superhero table cloth for the table and plates.  I should give this kid a party more often.

His brothers were close by to lend a helping hand in opening up presents.

 As you can see, he was thrilled with his gifts.

 John wanted to "help" so much that Sophie had to physically restrain him.

 Gus got a package of face crayons and Anders begged to be painted like Leo.  Gus is a good big brother and happily obliged.  

 Gus requested a cake that was not round that had an orange background and Litlo (a pokemon) painted on it. He was happy to get this.  

 His birthday fell on a school day, and just like John, Gus was happy to go to school.

 Mrs. Dernulc was kind enough to let us come in and read to the class.  And by "we" I mean "Hans."  Teachers LOVE having Hans come in and read.  Several of the teachers in the school know all about Hans' reading skills.  He sure know show to capture a room full of kids.

Mrs. Dernulc is amazing!  We all love her.  Gus has already said that he will be sad when he doesn't get to see her everyday.

Christmas Day

For those of you who don't know, Hans and I come from different family traditions when it comes to opening presents.  My family opened presents on Christmas morning and Hans' family opened them on Christmas Eve.  Neither one of us was willing to part with tradition, so we decided to compromise by alternating years.  I'm not sure either one of us is happy with the compromise, but such is life.

This year was a Christmas morning year.  I don't even know if Christmas Eve would have worked since we had Church services at 5pm and 10:30pm.  Since we didn't get home until almost midnight the boys actually slept in until about 7.  They were very excited to go downstairs and open presents.

 They had a TON of presents.  The boys are very spoiled.  Actually, we all are.  

 I'm not sure who was more excited about the Hoosiers sweatshirt, Gus or Hans.

 After we opened presents we went to church.

 I love my crazy boys.

 After church Debbie, Pam, and Sophie came over and we opened more presents.  It was a little chaotic with 4 kids grabbing and opening presents.  But it was fun.

 The boys got a bunch of Lego sets for Christmas and wanted to build all of them right away.  Sophie was so patient with them.  She would help Gus and Anders read the directions and PATIENTLY watch as they put it together.  Anders always felt his direction were better than the written ones.  Seriously, she had a ton of patience.

The kids had a great time playing with all of their new toys.  Meanwhile Debbie and Hans were sick as dogs laying on the couch.  Pam and I just tried to stay far away from them.

It was a wonderfully chaotic Christmas.  Just the way I like it.

A Little ER Trip

After the Children's Program at Church we came home and tried to relax.  It had been a busy day.  Hans and I were just discussing what we were going to do for dinner as the boys were chasing each other around the house.  Apparently the day hadn't been as exhausting for them as it was for us.  All of a sudden we heard Anders scream and he ran over to us holding his head.  He said he had hit it.  When I took his hand off of his head to examine the wound, blood just started gushing.  For a long while Hans and I couldn't even get a good look at the wound.  We determined that an ER trip was in order.  Both of us had to go because Anders' head was still bleeding and he wouldn't hold a towel on it by himself.  So we quickly bundled up the boys and ourselves and headed to the hospital.

John was quite upset the whole way there because he felt like this was all his fault.  He had been chasing Anders.  It didn't matter how many times we told John that it was okay and it wasn't his fault.  John didn't calm down until he saw with his own eyes that his brother was okay.

Anders stopped crying long before we reached the ER.  All of the boys were troopers as we waited hours to be seen by a doctor.  Anders was a total rock-star and didn't even cry when he got his stitches.

Needless to say the evening was not relaxing.  But what should I expect as a mother of three rowdy boys.  Now all of the Fiene boys have been inducted to the stitch club.

 Before:

Yep, I know...it's gross.

After:

3 stitches later.

Children's Christmas Program

Last year we did a Children's Program and Congregational Hymn Sing in the old building.  We only had 8 kids in the congregation.  Everyone had a good time so we decided to do it again this year in the new building.  This year we had about 30 kids.  It was WONDERFUL!  The kids worked hard learning all of the hymns and speaking parts.  I also had a few kids do some solos AND we had a bell choir!

 The teachers kept the kids entertained while they were waiting for the program to start.

 The older kids did a great job learning their bell parts.

 All of them did a fantastic job singing.

 After the program/hymn sing we had a cookies and milk reception for all of the attendees.

These three are trouble-makers.

Hans' Birthday

Lilly, Steven, and Lilly's friend Natalie had big plans for Hans' birthday.  The plan changed a few times and Lilly called me on the phone several times to go over all of the changes.  The final plan involved me handing over the keys to his car before church.

After church he came up with a car filled with balloons.

 He couldn't even fit in his car in order to drive.  He had NO idea!

These three did a great job of making his birthday special.  They also make him a cake and brought various colors of frosting so they could all decorate it together.  I love that they love him so much.

Picking a Christmas Tree

I know, I know, it is March and I'm posting about Christmas trees.  I hope to get all of the stuff we did in December posted before Easter.  HOPE.

For the past two years Lilly, a member of the church, has gone with us to get a tree.  Both times it wasn't planned, but we should probably make it a tradition.  It's fun having her along.  This year her brother came and he was a big help.

 The boys are searching for the perfect tree.  I don't do too much during this process.  I lost this battle a long time ago.

 This "lovely" looking tree was the winner.

 Each boy got a chance to do some cutting.

 This kid scares me the most with a sharp object.

 Steven helped carry this heavy tree to the car.  Then Hans and Steven hung out the doors of the minivan holding the tree all the way to the bailing station.  Hans groaned every time we hit a bump.  This made me laugh so hard and cause me to hit even more little holes.

 When we got home we had to cut an additional 2 feet off of the bottom.  It still touched the ceiling and I couldn't put on the star.  But Hans and the boys loved the tree.

I was hoping it would look better decorated.  No such luck.