New favorite book

John & Brielle got a some great new books at Christmas. "A Girl and Her Gator" is one of our favorites to read together, because it's a cute story and the kids can finish our sentences on most of the pages. You can see we caught Brielle at a moment where she didn't want to read along :). When she saw this video, she said "Next time I will read it.

"Orange" you cute:)

Friday Faces :)

Alphabet Soup

Brielle and John really enjoy playing with paints while they wear their painting shirts, dad's t-shirts. But what could be better than painting? Cleaning up!! Some times they spend more time cleaning up than actually playing.

1st time at the movie theater

We recently took John & Brielle to their first movie at the theater. We saw an 11am showing of "Tangled"-- a very cute movie that we all enjoyed. John sat on Tim's lap for the entire movie and Brielle sat on mine. I think they were both so mesmerized by the whole experience that they never said a word during the movie. Tim bought a popcorn for the kids to share- and we brought along empty cups since that would be easier to hold & eat out of. It was probably half way through the movie and Brielle had only eaten a few pieces of popcorn. That's how captivated she was! :)

Here are the kids on our way out:

It was fun to talk to them after the movie. Brielle kept calling the movie "ReTangled"... I think she was blending Rapunzel's name into the title. And John kept talking about the horse that jumped off of the castle. I think whenever Brielle & I were talking about princesses and other "girly" topics as we recapped the storyline, John had to remind us there was BOY stuff in the movie- like good guys, bad guys and horses... horses that jump:).

John dancing :)

A little video from Christmas time.

A new way of sledding.

This last weekend John and Brielle got their first pair of ski/sledding goggles and today tried them out. Normally, when they sled they would ride on their bottom feet first but with the new goggles brought a greater sense of adventure. Instead of going feet first on their bottoms they went head first on their bellies. THEY HAVE NEVER GONE DOWN THE HILL LIKE THIS BEFORE! Brielle figured out how to jump into the sled on her belly and slide. John had a little trouble getting his momentum going but that little guy figured it out.

Preschool!

Today was preschool registration day for Brielle. When Tim went to pick Brielle up from Becky's, Brielle was very excited because she knew she was going to "school."

In the classroom, Brielle & John played and kept busy for about an hour. Brielle met her teacher, Mrs. Miller. As Brielle was looking through the different toys and activities, she was saying "Grandma Carol has this... and Grandma Carol has this.." After Brielle said this about 5 times, the teacher said, "Is your Grandma a teacher?" Brielle said, "No, she's a Grandma." :)

After the preschool open house, Tim & the kids stopped by work to visit. Grandma Carol was checking to see if Brielle could say the name of her school. She said, "So when people ask you what school do you go to, what do you say?"

John said, "Thank you!" :) (because he responded to the familiar question... "and what do you say?")

Brielle did give the correct answer.

When I saw Brielle later I asked, "Did you sign up for preschool today?"

Brielle said, "No, I WENT to school today."

Then tonight, Brielle was asking Tim what he was doing tomorrow. He said "I have to go to school."

Brielle said, "I go to school too, Dad?"

Looks like she is ready! She'll just have to wait 7 months though!

Dollhouse details

Just a few up-close photos of Brielle's new dollhouse.

Top level: bathroom

3rd level: bedroom for 4... or push the beds aside for a dance party :)

The pink trunk on the right side is perfect for all those tiny doll accessories (shoes, sunglasses, etc.)

2nd level: kitchen & dining room

1st level: family room... including a bed for the pet animals

Alexia gave Brielle these dolls & pets from "Littlest Pet Shop"... and they fit perfectly in the house.

Brielle also likes to play with her Polly Pocket dolls in the house. I think Brielle said Snow White was making some "raspberry soup" on this particular day. I asked if Snow White was making the soup for the 7 dwarfs and Brielle said with a lot of assurance, "No, it's for the girls."

Christmas Recap- part 3

You can see the "Christmas Morning" excitement on these faces :)

In their stockings, they were excited to each receive their own flashlight. Santa also brought them each a few books. Brielle got some new jammies, and John got a John Deere sweatshirt. (He can recognize the logo whether it's on a tractor or something else and he'll say "That's John Deere, like me.")

Santa brought a medical kit for John & Brielle to share. Ever since they played with the Elinson's medical kit (at Kristen's cousins' house), they have really enjoyed pretending to be doctors. Brielle was also very excited about her Snow White & Ariel polly pocket dolls. When she saw Santa at the mall, she told him she wanted Polly Pocket clothes and that's what she was talking about for weeks leading up to Santa's arrival.

John also received this ship from Santa. His big gift was a dragon castle.

And Brielle's big gift was this dollhouse. Santa's elves must have been hard-at-work to make this :) .

With Dad having 2 weeks off for the school break, John & Brielle had a lot of time to enjoy their new gifts :).

Christmas Recap- part 2

Here are a few more photos from Christmas Eve:

Grandma Carol made some red & green JELLO, especially for the kids :).

This was the day we also went sledding, ice skating & show shoeing.

Her favorite outfit lately :)

A creative plan for a lunchbox request

Brielle was looking through a Pottery Barn catalogue tonight and she saw a lunch box that she really likes.

B: "Can I have this lunch box?"

K: "What would you use it for?"

B: "For my food, so I can eat with it at school."

K: "Well, yes, someday you can have a lunchbox."

B: "Maybe Santa can bring it?"

K: "Yes, maybe..."

B: "Or God? God can bring it? Yes... God can get it for me."

K: "Maybe..."

B: "Yes. Santa will get it and give it to God and then God will put it by our door.... does that make sense?" :)

Christmas Recap- part 1

To kick off our Christmas holiday, we started with the Berning Christmas. We had a great day filled with good food, outdoor activities, a Nativity scene reenactment, Christmas caroling, presents, and fun family games. Here are Grandma & Grandpa B with their 20 grandkids. BACK row: Sam, Max, Tessa, Connor, Carter, Truman, Dorothy, Elly, Damien, & Grant. MIDDLE row: Willa, Grandma, Aloysius, Brielle, Karley, Wilson, Emma, Josie, John, Grandpa & Lincoln. FRONT row: Pierce.

The kids had fun playing outside for a couple hours that afternoon. Here's Brielle in a fort built by the expert-snow-fort-builder, Uncle Donny. Donny builds great snow forts at the farm and at his house.

Matt & Tim took turns driving the Gator & pulling the kids in 2 sleds behind them. This was a highlight for the kids as they enjoyed the fast rides, quick turns & bumps around the farm. Even some of the adults took their turns riding in the sleds... and some of the kids were driving :).

Brielle spent a lot of time with her cousins finding kittens in the barn. Brielle says that the "mean" cats run away. She likes to try and catch the "nice" kittens and carry them around.

The kids also enjoyed pony rides. Brielle was feeding Patches some snow :)

The next day, John spent hours playing with his new train set from his godfather, Matt.

Hockey 101

John enjoyed his first experience playing hockey today. For Christmas, Grandpa Ted gave John & Brielle a hockey goal, 2 hockey sticks & 2 hockey pucks.

Christmas Eve in a Winter Wonderland

It snowed the prettiest flakes all day on Christmas Eve, and it truly felt like a winter wonderland. We spent the day at Grandpa Ted & Grandma Carol's house... taking full advantage of the beautiful day & all the fun activities that we can do there.

Tim, Alexia, & I went snowshoeing across the lake.

We went sledding down the "bobsled chute" that Grandpa Ted spent several days building. The bottom of the chute leads right onto the ice rink, so it was fun to land on the rink, slide all the way across... then off the other side of the rink, ending back in the snow!

Here are Alexia & Brielle:

Here's Tim:

Here's John:

I was having some trouble steering this sled... :)

...and so Alexia showed me a better way:

We also enjoyed Grandpa's ice rink for the first time:

John did awesome on his new pair of double-runner skates. He didn't need us to hold his hands at all.