Christmastime...is here!!!

Did that make you start singing the Charlie Brown song? Yep...we had that playing today as the snow was falling outside, and we decorated our Christmas tree and put up Christmas lights. Kind of perfect! Then we went (ironically with how cold it has been this past week!) to see Frozen - such a cute movie! Kind of fitting, since we were pretty excited to hit 15 degrees today - the warmest it has been in several days! We have been in the neighborhood of 20 below zero, with a high of 1 or 2 for the past several days. 

And, finally got a couple of better pictures of Cooper - the puppy!

Today was a breakthrough (for me anyway!) - he learned to sit and stay. YAY! We now put this blanket where we want him to stay, and he will stay put! He needs a few reminders - but it is so nice for my own sanity to have him stay in one place, and not have to follow him around to make sure he isn't doing a naughty potty in the house.

And the girls wanted a picture with him too - so we took them by the Christmas tree (naturally!)

Hard to believe that Christmas is getting so close! I was starting to fear we wouldn't get a tree up at all this year! This one is just one from a nearby gas station - but I know we never would have made it to go look for one this year. So...the girls are calling this our Charlie Brown tree, but I kinda like it! 

I also have just about reached the conclusion that this is going to be the year I give up on making Christmas cards. I really hate to do it - but I'm just starting to see the light at the end of the busy/crazy tunnel, and don't want to make it longer! So, we'll see what happens - they might still happen, just a little late, but I'm not promising anything! 

Newest Member of the Hoffman Household!

Hello! Well...it is official - our family has grown by an additional 4 feet...puppy feet that is! Michael and I met "Mojo" (not sure yet if this will change...) - a four month old Feist puppy yesterday, and surprised the girls by taking them to meet him today, and (surprise, surprise) they approved! So he is staying in his old home for the next couple of weeks while we travel home for Thanksgiving, then we will pick him up when we get back home! Here are some pics from the girls meeting him today:

Exciting, huh? I know the girls are over the moon! And while I know a new puppy comes with challenges, we feel like this one is a good fit for our family! Looking forward to this new chapter in our adventures together as a family!

Beautiful girls with new glasses!

A little bit earlier this afternoon, Michael and I ran to the dump...when we came back, the girls surprised us - they had done their hair and made themselves beautiful! Of course, that deserved an impromptu photo shoot! Here is the result:

Then Amy put her new glasses on too - and was trying to look at the dust on the lenses - hence the crossed eyes! 

WOW...she is getting so grown up!

Then we have the other silly girl of course!

Also growing up so very fast...

Ah - I love these girls!

See you again soon (hopefully...)!!!

A little birdie...

Tonight a little birdie hit the window in our front door - poor thing, I'm pretty sure he had a concussion! But I picked him up, and once his little heart stopped pounding, gave the girls each a chance to hold him. They were DELIGHTED! Of course, I had to snap a couple of pictures as well! Here you go:

Back to School/Fall Pictures

Yikes! Been a while since I added to this - but this afternoon we sneaked away from our schoolwork to head to the park and get a few pictures for Back to School, and Fall - before the snow starts to fly, according to forecasts, later this week. I'm trying to prepare myself...

Anyway - I'll post more later (hopefully sooner than later!) - and for now, just let the pictures speak for themselves! Boy do I LOVE these girls!

Gymnastics and the Parade

Once again I have done a horrible job of updating this! But...the girls got to be in their FIRST parade (I kept hearing how excited they were about that fact!) - so I had to take lots of pictures of that! And...as often happens, I ended up being in the parade to help keep the littler kids safe on the float. And since we needed someone to drive and tow the float, Michael was quickly roped in so that none of us mom's had to take on that task.

Anyway - this was the beginning of the parade. We told the girls walking behind to strike a pose - and this is what we got. I kind of love that Katie struck a pose, and Amy is just standing there!

Here is the whole crew on the float:

And a side view of the float:

Practicing splits on the pavement:

A couple of the younger kids. Katie and Amy have made great friends - that happen to be sisters, which makes it so much easier to plan times for them to get together! There are six kids in the family - and these are the two youngest:

Amy:

And her new buddy Hannah:

Katie:

And her friend Isa:

And then a bunch of pics of the other kids. I tried to get one of each of them alone - but ran out of time. At least I got quite a few! These were snapped in a hurry - one shot each. I'm happy that they came out so well! Must be a bunch of photogenic kids!

Start of the parade. There were a bunch of horses in front of us, so they had to be a bit creative in where they picked to do their cartwheels and such! I LOVE the look on Hannah's face in this one!

Riders on the float:

Cartwheels on the pavement (with gloves of course!):

The kids on the float had squirt guns for the crowds:

Working together - the kids did GREAT:

Our intrepid driver:

I think this is one of my favorite pictures - LOVE it for some reason!

Squirt gun fun:

I also really like this one!

And he survived!

These two were wiped out!

I'll try to get a little more posted soon, but if not, I will get it when we get back from our next Washington trip. We leave in 2 1/2 days!!!