ChristKindle Market in Chicago

This week was sort of crazy.  We had a lot going on, primarily for the weekend.  The week was calm, as usual, but Keira had a lot of friends over.  With Ryan being in a "build" at work, he has been working later, so keeping the kids occupied has been easier with friends over.

On Monday, we had our usual groggy wakeup from Keira.  She got to school fine, and it is finally starting to feel pretty cold outside.  The kids have also really enjoyed finding our elf, Buddy.

On Tuesday, I got Keira up and off to school.  Soren and I went to the gym (which we did every day this week, due to the busy weekend planned).  We also went to storytime, and then did some errands.

On Wednesday, it was pretty cold.  Keira headed out to school.  There was a little tiny bit of snow, and Soren was thrilled.  It did not stick, and amazingly, it did not cause any traffic problems getting to the gym. 

When we got back, we received a Cheryl's cookie package from my aunt. Soren was so confused that I was able to open a present that came, and he was not. Thankfully, he was pacified by a cookie.

Keira got hot, and wanted to practice some ballet at home.

On Thursday, I got Keira to school, and then took Soren to the gym.  I did a swim, and about halfway through, I completely lost the ability to do a flip turn.  I must have just been tired, and then practiced them again at the end. We got home, and Keira had a friend come over.  Soren was a bit crazy, terrorizing the girls, but everyone had fun.  I baked some cookies for the Festival of Nativities that our church was hosting tomorrow and Saturday.

On Friday, while Keira was at school, I did my long run at the gym, so that I could get it done before the weekend.  We had a busy afternoon, Keira had a friend from church over, and her mom and siblings ended up staying and playing for a bit.  The kids had fun.  Once Ryan got home, we attended the Festival of Nativities.  It was really beautiful, and there were a lot of cool nativities set up.  We did not volunteer any of ours this year, since we knew we would be gone when it was time to collect them.

Soren slept in really really late today!

The Festival of Nativities was really fun.

On Saturday, we woke up early and drove to Chicago.  We got in during the early afternoon, checked our luggage at the hotel, and then walked the "Magnificent Mile".  There was this cool silver bean that we walked around and took some pictures.  We stopped into a few stores, and Keira really enjoyed the American Girl Store.  Soren like the Lego store.  We were able to take Keira and Soren's picture with Santa in the Water Tower Place, and it was free!  They didn't have an official photographer, so you took your pictures yourselves.

We did a bit more walking, and then headed back to the hotel to warm up.  We got the kids some hot chocolate, put on their snow pants, and then headed to the Christkindlmarket.  This was our main reason for the trip.  Ryan was impressed by the market.  It was pretty large, and had a lot of fun booths.  We wanted a licht haus, and found a cute train station.  We also got a ski lodge smoker, and more candles.  The food there was great.  Keira and Soren split a brat, and ate more than I expected.  It seemed very authentic.  We also had some great pretzels.  Soren and Keira had cinnamon, I had a pumpkin cheesecake, and Ryan had a traditional.  They were all tasty.  It was pretty cold, so we headed back to the hotel and called it a day.

On Sunday, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel before heading out. 

We had an uneventful drive, and the kids played at home.  We got out our new items, and lit our smokers, as well as our pyramids.  The kids love them!  They always get so excited, and are one of my favorite parts of Christmas.  Perhaps next year we can display the large one at the Festival of Nativities.

Up for next week, we have Keira's last week of school before the winter break!

Winter Wonderland

This was a tough week for the kids, getting used to getting up early again.  We kept things pretty low key during the week, but had a huge Saturday and attended the Winter Wonderland at Keira's school while Ryan drove to Ohio to IKEA.   I also got pictures taken of the outside decorations, and we finished up decorating the inside.

On Monday, Keira did not want to wake up to go to school!  She said she was still tired.  I did get her up and off to school, but was a little worried they might call me if she couldn't stay awake.  She was fine.  Soren slept in a bit, so the morning wasn't as hard on me as it could have been.  We went to the gym while Keira was at school, and did several errands.  Keira had ballet in the evening, so the day went by quickly.

On Tuesday, Keira was still very tired in the morning.  She got up and got to school without any problems.  Soren and I went to the gym for a quick run before storytime.  We got delayed a bit by an accident.  We were delayed here yesterday too!  I was pretty rushed, but got in a decent workout before taking Soren to storytime.

Keira played at Gracie's house.  Soren has been a bit afraid of their dog, so he didn't stay long.  I ended up getting Keira with the car because it was raining, and took this picture of the house on our way back.

On Wednesday, Keira woke up a bit easier.  I was able to cram in both a run and short swim workout today at the gym,  because it was raining pretty hard in the morning.  It did end up clearing up and turning into a nice day, but it was nice to have the workouts done early.   Soren was tired and just wanted to go home afterwards.  Keira got super stripey after school since she was hot in her sweater dress.

We added our LED candles to the mantle:

Keira was able to get up pretty easily this morning and got off to school fairly easily. 

Soren, on the other hand, had a bit of a rough morning.  He pulled a stocking holder down on himself while I was upstairs, and it landed on his foot.  It took him a long time to calm down, and an even longer time to walk on it.  It pretty much got to the point where if he didn't walk, we were going to Dr/ER.  I finally got him to walk, and felt a bit like a bad mom for taking him to the gym, but I figured he might do better playing with other kids, and if he was just going to sit around on the couch in front of the TV, he could do that there too.  It ended up being a good call because he didn't sit hardly at all and spent the time playing with some other boys his age, and wasn't limping at all when I picked him up.

We went to Chick Fil A, and had a good lunch.  Soren ate all his food today, and then played a bit.  He also put his face in the hole:

He crashed once in the car, and napped in the car a bit. 

On Friday, we didn't do much.  I felt pretty tired, and new we had a big day for Saturday.  Keira woke up on her own this morning.  Soren woke up shortly after, though.  I spent the morning calling around on brake prices, and took my car in for an inspection.  The verdict was pretty dismal, so I spent the afternoon calling around some more.  I need tires too, so I was hoping to find a place with the best price on both, but that was proving to be elusive. 

Ryan came from home from work, and we went over to Costco to do some quick shopping and return a defective window candle, and then ate dinner at Moe's.  It is a burrito fast casual place similar to Chipotle and Q'doba.  We were able to hang our star tonight.  We tried putting up our old tree in our landing, but it cast too much light on the star.  It wasn't really visible from the road, and wasn't lighting properly, so we took it down.  It was a good idea, but it just didn't work out right. 

Saturday was our big day.  We all got ready, and while I took the kids over to Keira's school for Winter Wonderland, Ryan drove to IKEA in Cinncinnati to get a new kitchen table and chairs for it and the dining room.  It was all that he could fit in the escape.  The kids had a great time at Winter Wonderland, and got to see Santa.  They did some crafts too.

Also, while we waited for Ryan to return, I was able to get my brakes fixed, at a much reduced rate.  Hopefully the car is set on brakes until we replace the whole thing!  Ryan returned, and I got in a run.  It was strange to be able to run in a tank and skirt the same day as the kids went to Winter Wonderland.  When I got back, Ryan went on a mountain bike ride at Waverly.  Once he returned, we met up at 5 Guys for dinner.  It was such a full day.  The kids also made this movie in their snowman shirts.

That evening, Ryan and I got the table and chairs put together.  I thought I had a picture, but I will have to put one up later.
Sunday was a typical church day.  We did go in early today because Ryan received a new calling.  He is now serving as the Young Men's 1st Counselor.