Cold Day

Chloe here.  Today me and Mommy had off of school because the wind chill was -35.  Crazy!  So we went bowling with Conner and Aidan.

I was so excited.  It was only my second time bowling.

And it was Casey's first!

He was very impressed with my skills.

Check out the score.  Success!

Christmas Eve

Back to the holiday catch-up posts!  Casey here.  Traditionally, we go to Uncle Pete's house for Christmas Eve.  The last 2 years we haven't, so this was my first time there!

Mommy got us dressed in our Christmas outfits and we cooperated for a photo.

Aren't we cute?

When we got there, Auntie Megan was already there.  Chloe showed her a video that Santa sent her

Let's be real.  Siblings don't always get along.  After letting her hold the iPad,  wanted it so I took matters into my own hands.  Don't worry, we were both fine.

So let's move on to my super cute "cousin," Ryan.

Then it was time for gifts!

Chloe wanted to make sure that no one was watching her... wonder what she was doing?

Auntie and Papa got some cool hats for the pontoon.  Looks like Papa is going to play first mate to Auntie's captain!

When we got home, we put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

3 Generations of "Shemanskes"

Making cookies on a Saturday night

Small Human on Zipline

Casey Can Count! (sort of)

Just taking a break from our regularly scheduled holiday updates to bring you this little gem.

More Christmas in Merrill - The One Where Chloe Stole the Camera

So this is our trip from her perspective...

More Christmas in Merrill - The One with the Funny Faces

No explanation needed other than please, please watch the video. It's. Funny. And Casey makes an appearance at the end with his famous "angry face."

More Christmas in Merrill - Inside

Chloe here. Time to share the other fun things we did in Merrill... this time NOT outside in the snow, although we spent a lot of time out there!

Hermey (our Elf on the Shelf) made it to Merrill to make sure we behaved the last few days before Christmas.

Just some quality time with my brother watching the Little Mermaid.

Casey took a little break to read with Nana and Grandpa.

One of the mornings, I slept in, but Casey got up early and make pancakes with Nana... see her pajamas in the background?

Mommy got a pan of snow for me and I painted it with watercolor.  Cool idea, right?

Kind of abstract and artsy...

Casey loves him some Nana!

And finally, this is what Daddy did the whole time.  Notice there are NO CHILDREN playing LEGOS with him... hmmm...

More Christmas in Merrill - Outside

Casey here.  Since Mommy and Chloe had a really long break, we made it up to Merrill again before Christmas.

 I think you've seen this one already, but I think I look handsome.

 There was plenty of snow and it wasn't too cold.

This made my sister pretty happy!

I did some shoveling... just like Daddy!

Then Chloe helped Grandpa feed the deer.

This is often her job when we come visit. We put corn in the feeder and then watch them come in at night.

 I took Chloe for a ride.

Not surprisingly, this happened.

 And this.

 I think her face was pretty cold!

 We all walked through the woods until we found a nice little sledding hill.  Here's me and Daddy and Nana!

I was pretty tired after all that, I laid down on the way back to the house.

Christmas Play with Besties

Chloe here.  After my Christmas program, we had a play with Conner, Aidan and Reece in the afternoon/evening.  We were going to bring Casey, but after watching him suffer through my Christmas program, Mommy and Daddy decided it wasn't a good idea.  Luckily, Grammie and Papa jumped in and saved us.  They watched Casey and we went to see "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at First Stage Theater downtown.  We had so much fun!

By the way.. we didn't have school yesterday or today.  Because it was -40 degree windchill.  Nothing to do with this post, but wanted it recorded here for posterity :)

Chloe's Christmas Program

Chloe's 4K class, along with the other lower elementary class, had a Christmas program. Nana and Grandpa came down to surprise Chloe. It was... exactly like you would expect.

Here's a video of Chloe. Notice the kid behind her waving (not at us, although it looks like that). Chloe just looks bewildered, right?

 Getting ready to go on stage!

 Ok she made it up there without doing a runner.  What's she gonna do?

She starts out good, but then a shoe/tights issue gets the best of her.  I, Mommy, take full responsibility  On the way to church, she told me her tights were itchy.  I basically told her to "suck it up."  And that brings us to now.

After her class did their thing they sat and listened to the Christmas story.

Even though Chlo didn't really recite the long passage that we had been practicing for 6 weeks (for real), it was such a special day watching her up with her class.  Both sets of grandparents were there as well as her godmother.