In the Christmas Spirit!

If you have little ones who might be a little (or alot) timid about Santa, I have the Santa for you! We saw Santa several weeks ago at the mall and since that day, Caroline just says "Santa scare me" when we ask about Santa. Well, Savannah could not wait another day to go and visit with Santa and take him her list, so we decided to go see him and attempt our annual picture. There was a small line, but it gave Caroline a little time to warm up. We had been there about 10 minutes when Santa's helpers started having camera trouble. After a few minutes, Santa came over to the line and started singing Christmas songs! He really had a nice voice too! Both of the girls were in disbelief that Santa was singing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town"....to them! He then sang "Jingle Bells". It was awesome! When it came time for our turn, Caroline was a little timid at first, but nothing a sucker and one of the sweetest Santas I have ever met couldn't solve! She snuggled on up in his lap and talked his ear off! She even told him she wanted a baby doll! She also told him it was cold and raining outside and something about pizza? Savannah shared her list with him too. It was a successful Santa visit! He got us in the Christmas spirit enough to come home and put up our tree, hang our stockings, and other festive decorations. This mom gives the Santa at NE Mall 5 Stars for making the extra effort for some great Santa memories for my kids! Thanks Santa!

On another note, I started the Advent Jesse Tree with my girls today since we will be in Disney World during the first week of December. (yeah!) A group of friends and I split the 25 needed ornaments and then we all got together and exchanged what we had made/bought. So, I have a set of 25 ornaments (one for each day in Dec until Christmas) each symbolizing the heritage of Jesus Christ from creation through His birth. The book has a neat little devotional for kids with questions, scripture and song ideas. It was such a sweet time today as we started with creation and the girls unwrapped the first ornament...a globe. Even Caroline listened and sang "He's got the Whole World in His Hands". I hope this starts a neat family tradition that will help us focus on the real meaning of Christmas! Here is a picture of all 25 ornaments.

Oh...so Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Unterbrinks!

Thanksgiving is always a good time to reflect on the many blessings God has given us. We took some time on Thanksgiving to make a list of three things we are thankful for about each family member and shared them after our "feast" as Savannah likes to call it. This is one of those things I don't want to forget, so here are our "thankful" lists for one another.

Brandon is thankful for:

Emiley "she's a wonderful mommy, for making a happy home, and being the best wife in the world!"

Savannah "her happy heart, how she cares for others, & all of the artwork she gives me for my office that brightens my day."

Caroline "for being my little stinker, her sweet snuggles, her sharing spirit."

Savannah is thankful for:

Daddy "He plays with me, he puts me to bed, when he drops me off and picks me up from bible class."

Mommy "She reads me stories, plays dollhouse with me, sings songs to me."

Caroline "Playing with her, eating with her, singing songs to her." (this was followed with Savannah singing Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to Caroline...SO sweet...we got it on video too!)

I am thankful for:

Brandon "He is a wonderful, Godly husband, wonderful girl-dad, has one of the kindest hearts & loving spirits."

Savannah "She has the most thoughtful & loving spirit, her eagerness to serve, and her love and passion for life."

Caroline "Her strong spirit, her endless snuggles & kisses, her loving heart."

Caroline is thankful for: (she didn't completely understand the part about each family member, so she made a general list)
"My night night (aka..her special pink blanket), daddy's princess (this would be herself?), sister (Savannah), and my green paci and my orange paci. " (yes...the child LOVES her bed and everything that is contained in it :)

I loved doing this and seeing what the girls came up with. It was really neat to think about and share with one another why we are so thankful for each family member. Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Turkey

Savannah's annual preschool Fall Program was last Thursday night and it was precious! Savannah loves her "whole family" so much and made sure to invite everyone that lived here. We took up an entire row! It was great. We had Aunt Mere Mere, Uncle Alex, Aunt Ginia, Uncle Luke, Mimi, Poc, Mommy, Daddy & Caroline. Her very own cheering section! Savannah did a great job singing and doing all of the motions. We are so proud of her! Here a a few pictures.



Savannah LOVES her Mimi & Poc
















Sweet singing!


Sweet school friends!

One of the BEST days of her week.... LINE LEADER!







She loves having Kylee as her classmate this year!


Colby is a great bud at school and church!












Daddy gave Savannah roses...no better time than now for a silly picture?!




We all celebrated with milkshakes at Steak n Shake! Yummy!




We have just been SO happy with Savannah's school and especially her teachers Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Watson. She was so excited to be in the 4 year old class this year which is "upstairs". This is HUGE in preschool terms! Just a few things they have done that have been on Savannah's "top" list are:

-alphabet lab scrapbook where the kids get to bring something every week to put into the book

-music class (she loves Mrs. Bryant!)

-center time...her favorites are science lab, pretend play, & the listening lab. (at least these are the ones she has the most stamps for visiting!)

-lunch in the "big kid" cafeteria...this is also a new & exciting thing this year.

Savannnah is having a great year and we could not be more proud!

Trick or Treat...Smell My Feet and Ho, Ho, Ho??

Trick or Treat...Smell my feet! Yes, the oh so familiar phrase that I remember chanting through giggles when I was little somehow made it into our house. My sweet little Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse thought this was SO funny! They would say this countless times and laugh so hard like it was a new thought each time.

We have had a wonderful fall full of activities! If you have not enjoyed Fall yet, you had better hurry because Santa is at the mall! Yes.... we were at the mall on Sunday and Savannah spotted him alone in his chair and the helper waved her over. She shook his hand and here is their conversation:

Santa: Have you been a good little girl?

Sav: Yes...I think. Have I mommy?

Santa: Oh...good.

Sav: How did you get here so early?

Santa: Well...the elves are still working, but it was time for me to come visit the kids!

Sav: Oh...the elves are sure hard workers!

Santa: Did you want to come tell me what you want for Christmas?

Sav: We are going to have to come back "as a family" (her famous phrase) and talk to you because daddy is out of town and I'm not wearing red.

A little too much information for ol' Santa, but glad to know Savannah enjoys her family time AND knows what to wear in Christmas pictures! Caroline just said "Santa scare me" over and over the whole during Savannah's little chat. Our annual picture with Santa might be a bit of a challenge this year.

Back to the real season, here are some pictures of our Fall.

Pumpkin Patch fun!

The girls LOVED the seesaw!

Can you tell that little Minnie wants SO bad to be just like big sis?