har-monica

Brielle: "Mom, I found this."

Me: "What did you find?"

B: "This..."

Me: "That's a harmonica."

B: "Oh, like Grandma Carol's mom's name, Harmonica?"

Me: "You're close. Grandma Carol's mom's name is Monica."

B: "Oh... Monica."

Then for the next couple of hours she still mixed the words up and called her harmonica, "Monica."

Minnesota Trip- part 2

Here we are at the Children's Museum in St. Paul. We spent a fun 3 hours there.

This is the first record I have of Brielle drawing a picture of herself :)!

(But it was Tim who wrote her name).

The following morning, we spent one hour at a model train museum. The kids loved this place too. They watched the model trains go around & around, through mountains & tunnels, over bridges & rivers.

Minnesota Trip

A few weeks ago, we had a great weekend in Minnesota. We visited friends & family and did several fun outings with the kids. Here we are at a conservatory that had many different gardens to walk through. The kids had their first experience with tossing coins into a "wishing well." John, being the BOY that he is, had to throw his coins really hard and they usually went completely over the fountain and bounced across the stone floor on the other side.

Tim taught Brielle what happens when you hold your finger close to the water where the Koi fish swim :).

Here are John & Brielle with my aunt Nancy and my cousins Julia & Maggie.

Ice Skating

This morning, Grandma Carol and I took Brielle & John ice skating at the new community ice rink.

We laced up the kids' skates and they learned how to walk around on them for a few minutes.

John & Brielle held our hands for awhile, and we skated several laps this way. Brielle liked trying to twirl and put one leg up in the air. Funny how early girls pick up on that.

They let go of our hands for a few seconds here & there. They each fell one time, but made quick recoveries:).

We tried the "chair" method too. They both used the chair for support while skating. After awhile, John wanted to sit on it and rest :).

We were lucky that we were the only ones there!

John thought it was pretty cool to sit where the "hockey boys" sit--- on their bench.

Thanks for the great idea, Grandma Carol!

Brielle :)

Welcome, Aloysius!

Announcing... another new nephew & cousin! Matt & Natalie welcomed Aloysius Elroy Berning into their family on November 4th. And Willa is a big sister now :). Aloysius is named after 2 of his great-grandpas.

Great Grandpa Aloysius' wife, Emma, now gets to meet her 106th great-grandchild, named after her late husband. Great Grandpa Berning was a very successful farmer & businessman. He loved to tell jokes & play euchre. Matt & Tim enjoyed going fishing with their Grandpa & respected his strong faith. He was very well known in the area because of his genuine personality.

Brielle holding Aloysius:

The 3 latest "additions" to the family:

Tessa (10 weeks old), Truman (6 weeks old), and Aloysius (3 days old)

Another group of cousins who will grow up together- so fun:)

"We Are Trick or Treating"

On Trick-or-Treat night, John was a bear. He walked most of the hour in his bear slippers (no real shoes), and his costume kept him nice and toasty :). He gave a pretty cute "roarrrr" when asked. We tried to tell him to say "Trick-or-Treat"... but he usually said "Happy Halloween" or "We are trick-or-treating" when the door was answered. He was carrying his bag on his own, but later that turned into dragging, as it filled up with candy. The bag had a hole in the bottom by the end of the night.

Brielle wanted to be Princess Belle on Halloween Night. Even though she was Goldilocks for our party, it's hard for any other characters to compete with the Princesses!

We did about 1 hour of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It was dark by then, and their noses & fingers were getting cold. The kids didn't mind heading home at all. They had just as much fun handing out candy for an hour. They were pretty excited to hear our doorbell ring as much as it did.

An Afternoon with Daddy

With the cross country season over, Tim is home a little earlier with the kids and they get to enjoy the afternoon together. On this particular day, Tim got their chairs out, gave them each a bowl of grapes, and they supervised the new construction site across the street. They were very interested in seeing the excavator & the dump truck at work.

Then John & Brielle played on the new swingset. They like to run as fast as they can toward the swings and then swing on their bellies.

One of my latest *favorite* photos of our Johnny Boy :)

Another great time at Hefel's Farm

A couple weeks ago, the Hefels invited us down for a fun family day that included feeding goats and carving pumpkins.

Introducing... our Halloween Costumes

Goldilocks & The Three Bears


Gilligan's Island

Ginger, Skipper, Mary Ann, Gilligan, & The Professor

The Nativity Scene

Joseph, Mary, Jesus, an angel, a donkey, a sheep & a king

The "O-B-E-R-F-O-E-L-L" family

Now that there are 9 of them, they can spell out their last name :)

Eggs, Toast, & Bacon

Candy Corn Witch

Hawkeye Fans

Country Western Hosts

We have hosted a family Halloween party for the last 6 years or so. It's fun to see what costumes people put together each year because it's usually a surprise. Even though we do a little planning ahead for games, Tim always comes up with some spontaneous entertainment for the kids-- and that is usually the best part of the night, according to the kids. He took the kids on a spooky tour around the house & backyard, making up some stories as he went. The kids were surprised (they let out some screams) when they found Uncle Matt & Uncle Terry hiding in different places around the house.

This year's other highlight went a little something like this... Tim had each kid draw a picture on paper of their favorite thing about Halloween. All the kids sat down to listen to the next part of the activity. Grandma B played a melody on the guitar while Tim, Stacy, Jolene, & Matt each sang a couple improv verses about the drawings. There was a lot of laughter! They are quite the musically-talented bunch :)

Halloween outfits

Brielle & John had fun wearing their Halloween outfits, courtesy of Grandma Carol. Brielle loved her sparkly pumpkin shirt, sparkly skirt, & zebra leggings. John liked to say, "SEE MY MONSTER?!!" Here's Brielle twirling to show her outfit :)

Grandmas are the best :)

Last Friday, Grandma Carol came over to play with the kids for a few hours. I came home from errands to find them ALL playing on the top level in the new playset :). They were having a great time.

We then got the kids ready to go meet friends at Happy Joe's and to go to a Halloween Parade. She helped me load Brielle & John in the car and I was ready to pull out of the garage, when I saw her waiting to close the garage door behind us. I asked if she was leaving at the same time as me because, if so, I should be the one closing the garage after she leaves. She told me to go on ahead. I left and she stayed. I had a feeling she was up to something :).

Later that night when we got home from the parade, we found this staring at us from our front window! AHHHH!

When we showed the kids, they were really quiet & not sure what to think. I asked Brielle if she liked the new Halloween decoration and she said slowly said, "...no...". I asked why not and she said, "Because his face is missing above his nose." haha! However, they have grown to like him, and Tim has named this creature "Mr. Green." It really is eerie how this face glows as the light passes through.

The surprises weren't over yet. Both kids' rooms, which earlier looked like a storm had blown through, were perfectly clean. I took some pictures of Brielle's room because it was so cute how Grandma Carol arranged everything.

This bed usually gets made only once per week... or when guests are coming over.

Brielle's "Ariel sisters" had their own special place on her bed...

One of her baby dolls was nicely tucked in to her stroller...

Toys & books were all lined up...

And everything was in its place. Thanks, Grandma!

And, by the way, Happy Birthday! We love you!