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Merry Christmas!!!

We wish all of you a very merry Christmas from the Hellen Family!!!! Love, Paul, Karen , Nathan, Kayla, Emily, Madeline and Reagan

caught up....

So as you can see I have finally caught this blog up to date, I understand most have given up on me, I would have as well!! I was busy with Maddie's quilt, which I love and then life has been going on around me. I hope you enjoy reading the blog, I am going to try to do a better job, but no promises time to get started on the Christmas shopping and birthday shopping, then I will focus on Thanksgiving!! Fingers crossed the baby comes a wee bit early so I am not a complete tired and grumpy mess over Christmas!! Anyway, enjoy the blog and feel free to leave comments!!!

Happy 34th!!

Today is Paul's birthday and he is a whopping 34 years old. For dinner he requested chili or lasagna and since it was not enough time for me to make lasagna I am making chili. Today is a cool gray and rainy day. Very much an English kind of day. The type of cake he wanted was a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Where this idea for a cake came from I am not sure, but that was his request so I set off to find a recipe. I found a recipe for both on the internet and when I was putting the frosting on the cake yesterday Kayla wanted to know, "Why is daddy's cake pink??" I then explained that daddy wanted a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and that is why it is pink, from the strawberry's in the frosting. It should be interesting as it is a cream cheese frosting with pureed strawberries mixed in. I think it should be good!!!

Happy Halloween!!

This Halloween, Paul told the kids they had to come up with their costumes no buying anything at the store. I think this was harder for me than for the kids!! Nathan was a soccer player, Kayla was a black cat, Emily was a bunny, and Maddie wore a costume that was in the closet. Apparently while I was taking a nap, Nathan informed Paul that since Jake's dad dresses up for Halloween, Paul should as well. They went through Paul's closet in the hopes of finding a costume and came up with an old boy scout uniform. Well everything but the shorts as Nathan even agreed they were too short. The shirt was Paul's brother's, I am not sure how we ended up with it, but it completed the outfit. This year like last the dad's stayed home and set up a table with all of the candy buckets on it and they sat and talked around the campfire, while the mom's took the kids out for a walk to trick or treat! We started out at dusk and walk around until basket/buckets were filled then it was time to come home. The girls were dropping candy out of their baskets and I had to dump part of it in the stroller. I knew then it was a bad sign. Maddie enjoyed going up and getting her candy, her favorite candy are the lollipops. After returning home the kids were allowed to stay up for a while and play then it was time for bed. It was a good night, just wish it had been on a Saturday night instead of a Sunday. Another year!!

Pumpkin Carving

Another year another pumpkin carving/Oktoberfest at the Hellen's. We invited our neighbors and Maddie's godparents over to carve pumpkins and eat brats and sauerkraut or hot dogs for those that preferred. We had fun carving pumpkins picking the seeds out and just talking with the neighbors. For some reason everyone left by 8PM and the party was over. I was kind of glad about it as I was tired and ready for bed at 8:30... Paul on the other hand was hoping the party would last all night. It was good and everyone had a good time.

All the pumpkins that were carved...

Emily, Nathan, and Kayla's pumpkins

Nathan's Last Soccer Game

Today was Nathan's last soccer game until next February. They played really well and Nathan was great!! He is a good player and really likes the game. The season coach was trying to teach them the positions and learn more of the rules, however he teaches ALL the kids (14) all of the positions. It was interesting to watch, but I think by the end the majority were starting to get it. Nathan seems to do well in the forward position however has trouble sticking to that position when he is suppose to be playing midfield. He gets going with the ball and there is no one to pass to so he would take the ball to the goal, unless stopped along the way. He does not like goalie or defense as they are "too boring". It was a good season and they played some tough teams, but they stayed positive and learned a lot this season. After the game they were given trophies and medals then there was cupcakes and pizza. Another season over...