Ben's Gotcha Day December 10

I got you and you got me

That's the way God planned it to be!

Sesame Street Live w/ Meet and Greet

The kids were ready for their meet and greet with Elmo. We got to the Alliant Energy Center a little early to ensure we made it to the right meeting spot. The kids were very patient as we waited for a few more kids to show up so that we could go down to meet Elmo.

Tammy and Dana took Ian, Chloe, Mimi, and Ben downstairs while everyone else waited upstairs.

The kids took their seats as they waited for Elmo to arrive.

meet and greet sticker

Ian literally jumped out of his seat when Elmo and Grover arrived. He couldn't wait to meet them. There were a few kids ahead of us, so he tried to wait as patiently as he could until it was his turn. When he finally got to go up to meet them, he acted very shy. He finally sat on their lap and gave each of them a big hug.

He was very disappointed when he had to let the next kid go up.

When he got the chance, he ran back up to give Elmo another hug.

the kids posed in front of the Sesame Street picture

posing in front of the souvenir stand

the show is about to being...Elmo's Healthy Heroes

watching with pure excitement

Some characters came out to say hi to the kids. Ian ran up to give a hug and then quickly tried to retreat.

What a fun event! Thanks Bean Sprouts and Sesame Street Live! for the tickets. We had a great time!

Winning Week

This week was a very good one for winning. On Friday, I took Ian, Amelia, little Ben, and Chloe to a Sesame Street themed cooking class at Bean Sprouts Cafe in the Madison Children's Museum. They gave each of the kids 2 vouchers for free tickets to see Sesame Street Live this weekend, plus they had a drawing for 4 VIP tickets to meet and greet Elmo and the gang plus have seats up front for the show. Our family won! We had pretty good odds since I brought 4 of the 6 kids that were in the class. Everyone had put their name in and the chef had a mom draw in front of us. Ian got a small Elmo stuffed animal (a great pre Gotcha Day gift). Everyone received coloring books, crayons, and stickers. Tomorrow, Ian, Amelia, Chloe, and possibly little Ben (he may not be up for it with the costumed characters) get to do the meet and greet with the characters before the show.

Today I received an email that I won a contest for www.kokoliving.com. They posted on Facebook that if you "like" them on Facebook, post their site on your blog, and follow them on Twitter, you would be entered in a drawing for one of three $10 gift cards for Toys R Us. I got home tonight to find out that I was one of the 3 lucky winners. My egift card was in my email inbox.

Ben and I stopped at ALCS today for their cookie and craft sale. We entered a contest for a Free photography mini session photo shoot and upon arriving home, we found out we won. Way to go Ben! Can't wait to use it this Spring!

Overall, it has been a winning week. Despite winning things, I reflect on this day as a day that changed our lives as we moved from being a 4 person family to 5. I feel like a winner everyday as I get to spend my days with my kids. I can't imagine a better prize than that of being a stay at home mom to my amazing kids. I am so thankful that we are a family and I look forward to many winning years ahead.

Happy Gotcha Day Ian!

3 years ago today, we were in Korea to be united with our 3rd child, Ian. Our family had flown to and from Phoenix then off to Seoul. We spent several days in Seoul touring the markets, Seoul tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace, CoEx mall, and many other places before our son was placed in our arms to forever be our child. This child that we had longed for for over a year was finally with us. We look forward to a journey back to Korea in the next few years to revisit some of our favorite places in Korea and to visit new places. The kids look forward to a trip back to see the place they remember mostly from the pictures and videos they have seen of themselves when they were younger.

This is a day we celebrate the day we GOT each other. We are so thankful that we are able to be a family forever!

Sesame Street Cooking Class

Washing hands before our class begins.

On Friday, December 3, Dana took Ian, Mimi, little Ben, and Chloe to the Children's Museum to attend a Sesame Street themed cooking class at Bean Sprouts Cafe. The kids were excited to make Elmo cookies and Big Bird Wontons.

The kids starting making their made from scratch cookies. They mixed the flour, butter, vanilla, and water together.

The kids rolled their dough into balls then patted them down to make a circle.

They added red Elmo sprinkles, vanilla chocolate and milk chocolate chips for the eyes before placing them in the oven.

Next up was making Bird Bird Won Tons. The kids got their cooked chicken and added cheddar cheese and placed it in their won ton. They wrapped it up and turned it over to make Big Bird's face.

Big Bird Wonton

Let's Eat!

There was a drawing for 4 VIP tickets Sesame Street Live have a Meet and Greet with Elmo. Names were drawn and Ian, Mimi, Ben, and Chloe were the winners!

Some favorite pictures of the last 2 weeks

Yummy Orange Juice

Ben and Chloe playing in our yard

Grandma's little baker

Don't touch my snowballs. I don't want a snowball fight, I just want the snowballs

Can't get enough of the snow

Ian checking out the snow

Ian and Uncle Joe playing Lite Brights

First snow of winter at grandma Sandy's house

Thanksgiving at Aunt Pam's.

Cami, Elyse, and Leeland

Mommy's little Indians

I was in the front row to hear Molly Ringwald speak at the Women's Expo

Oh (School) Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We were excited to hear at the ALCS Parents meeting that the school was looking for a Christmas tree. Mr. Zehner stated that it had been many years since a live tree was in their entry way at school. After the meeting we approached him to let him know that our family was more than happy to donate a live tree, fresh from our backyard. With the trees growing so much every year, we knew we would need to cut a few out this winter in order for the other trees to be able to have more space to grow. It is a blessing that the tree can go to a good place. The kids are overjoyed that they get to help with such an awesome task of picking and cutting and decorating (with the students at ALCS) the tree.

The kids are filled with excitement as daddy cuts down the tree

Pulling it out to the truck

Let's load it in the truck and take it to school