Bear Down!

With no babysitter in sight (and trust me it wasn't due to lack of effort), Mom graciously gave up her NFC North title game ticket to the cutest Bears fan around...yours truly!  She layered me up, and packed every piece of snow gear I own to make sure that I can enjoy this experience.  You may not be able to see me under all my gear once I'm dressed and ready, but I'll be able to see the Packers and Bears battle at Soldier Field as they try to make it into the playoffs!  Mom captured the pregame moments as Dad and I got ready to depart for the Windy City, and Lily made sure to get in on the action as well photo-bombing our picture!  She prepared for the game by dressing up herself and her new American Girl doll, because she thinks that somehow that will bring the Packers luck. Hopefully Dad and I will be the ones still singing our song when we arrive home tonight, although I'm sure Lily and Mom are hoping for just the opposite!  Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!

Update...we are not singing our song, but I did get to sing it at least four times during the game, and I gave more high fives in three hours then I've probably given in my entire six years.  We received plenty of stares thanks to our Wisconsin plates as we pulled into the parking lot, but as soon as I emerged there were high fives flying and fists being bumped all over the place.  In the end, Lily's luck rubbed off on the Packers, but I took the Bears' loss in stride...after all it was a victory for me since I got to devour hot chocolate (with the collectors mug), popcorn, pizza, and a giant pretzel.  Better luck next year Bears!!!

Go Marquette!

Our break has been quite eventful with us being constantly on the go so why stop now is our motto.  Today we took in a game, watching our favorite college basketball team, the Marquette Golden Eagles.  Due to our spirited cheering and Ryan's flamboyant hands Marquette won decisively over Samford University (at least that is what we're telling everyone)!

Snowboarding

Today made for a perfect day to try out our new snowboards that Santa brought us.  We started small just going on the small hill in our yard, but it was enough to keep us entertained for well over an hour.  We may not be ready for Sochi in a few months, but we were pretty happy with our performance!!!

Six Year Check-Up

We are two months late on our six year check-up thanks to the fact that Dr. Hagerman had to reschedule.  I guess better late than never, although we'd be happy with never if we could be so lucky.  Nothing exciting to report, as Dr. Hagerman said we are thriving.  We are still growing - slowly, but surely.  I came in at 44 3/4 inches (40%) and 48 pounds (60%).   Lily is more on the "slowly" side coming in at 43 1/4 inches (13%) and 42.5 pounds (33%).  Looks like she is going to follow Mom's growth curve, although hopefully she sprouts before college.  Everything else checked out well, and the best news of all was NO SHOTS...good thing too, because Mom was on her own this time, and I'm not sure she could have handled both of us going into complete hysteria.  Let's hope we can stay out of the doctor's office for another year here in our world!  

Christmas Afternoon 2013

After a crazy morning, we headed up to Green Bay to celebrate Williams style.  I do not remember much of the ride due to the fact that I was tuckered out from all of the excitement that morning.  It was a good thing I napped though, because as soon as we arrived we jumped right back into celebration mode.  We always love spending time with our cousins, and this year was no exception.  We played hockey in the basement, held an art auction selling off our beautiful creations, and raced each other to see who could be the first to open each gift.  We loved each and every present, and really loved playing with all of the empty boxes!  Mom and Dad keep telling us that one of these years that is all we are going to get!  We also celebrated Grandma's birthday, enjoying a yummy cake that AJ and Ben made.  After lots of pictures, food, and fun we headed back home.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!   

Christmas Morning 2013

Merry Christmas!!!  We did it, we made it to the big day, and it just keeps getting better every year!!!  We rushed downstairs this morning, and found tons of presents under the tree including the new bike, skateboard, and snowboard that I asked Santa for.  Lily got the American Girl doll she always wanted (blonde hair, blue eyes, light skin) along with her American Girl doll puppy, Honey.  I'm not sure what she liked more the doll or the dog!?!?  We also loved giving our presents from school to Mom and Dad this year, and were so excited to watch them open their snowflakes.  Santa made quite the mess of our family room too, leaving footprints all the way from the fireplace to the tree, but he made up for it by leaving us a nice thank you note for the cookies and carrots. Good thing Lily remembered!!!

Christmas Eve 2013

We started off the holiday with Christmas Eve dinner with our friends, the Eugene Family.  This year little Mason joined in on the fun, and oh what fun it was.  After stuffing our faces we made reindeer food and sprinkled every last inch of the sidewalk to make sure they didn't miss our house.  We exchanged gifts and enjoyed Christmas music late into the night.  Mr. Ernest and Mom stayed busy checking NORAD, and once Santa hit the United States it was time for bed.  We've never run so fast in our lives, and by the time Mom made it upstairs to tuck us in, I was passed out.  Luckily, Lily stayed awake a bit longer, because we almost forgot to put out the milk and cookies, and she had to save the day.  She prevented what could have been a potential Christmas disaster.

Elf on the Shelf

Every December, we have two special people stay with us, and this December was no different.  On December 1, the doorbell rang, and when we answered it, our elves we waiting with huge smiles on their faces.  During the night they often had fun in the house, and they even managed to cause some trouble.  One morning we woke up to a toilet papered Christmas tree and another morning they were swimming in the Barbie pool with Barbie and a few of her friends.  They lifted marshmallow weights, left us little notes, and even drew mustaches and beards on our 6 year old pictures.  This morning we awoke and found these notes because our elves have to head back to the North Pole to help out Santa.  During the day they magically disappeared.  We were sad to see them go, but we can't wait for next year to see what trouble they can get themselves into.

Candy Cane Lane

After missing out last year thanks to a snowstorm, we were so excited to visit Candy Cane Lane and see all of the lights!  We made our traditional stop by Starbucks for hot chocolate and we were on our way.  Mom found a scavenger hunt for us this year as well filled with all sorts of Christmas things we could try and find while driving around.  We found everything except a NOEL sign, but as we were driving away, what to our wonderful ears did we hear, but The First Noel on the radio.  I took it as a sign, and made the executive decision that we could cross it off on our lists.  After a job well done, and LOTS of lights, I was tuckered out and fell fast asleep dreaming of a Merry Christmas!

Snow Day

There is nothing better to do during winter break than enjoy our backyard and the reason winter in Wisconsin is so much fun...SNOW!!!  We had a blast sledding and trying to snowboard down our hill.  Our swing set provided plenty of good times as well as we barreled down the slide into a mountain of snow.

Go Pack Go

Due to a last minute cancellation, Mom and I got to join Dad for the Packer game today.  While Ryan hung out with Grandma, we enjoyed popcorn, tacos, cookies, macaroni and cheese, hot chocolate, and other delicious goodies.  It was quite a feast, and a good game too which made the day wonderful in my book!

Cookies

With only one task left on what seemed like a never ending list of things to do before Christmas we were ready and raring to go.  Dad headed out early to do some shopping so Lily, Mom, and I decided to dive head first into making Christmas cookies.  After making the dough, Mom left the decorating in our small hands; and 4 dozen cookies later we had a lot to show for all our hard work. We also added a picture of our gingerbread house, made Thursday, completely by us as well...Mom is giving us more and more freedom every year!

Ryan's First Semester Kindergarten School Art

From Humpty Dumpty, Christopher Columbus, gingerbread houses, and apples to gumball machines, pumpkins, turkeys, and robots we covered a lot of topics this semester for art.  We learned about different paints (tempura and watercolor), different holidays, and ended with sculptures (note the mean looking bear).  This only covers part of it as much of it is still plastered all over our classroom and in the hallways at school.  We are learning lots though, and our teacher thinks we are budding little artists who add lots of detail for kindergartners.