Creedon is FIVE!

Creedon turned five today! I can't believe it, he's still my baby. It must be becuase of those big brown eyes, and the sweet looks he can give with them...or maybe it's the appropriately placed winks ;) that he likes to give you. He's so into playing so many things. He loves to pretend, and play transformers, and with swords, and outside. He can be very particular about his hair, sometimes it has to be VERY flat (see picture below) or othertimes spikey. He can remember and describe things like no other, wether they are real, or just made up. He builds fantastic lego creations, and forts whenever he can. He learned to ride a two-wheeler this summer, and zooms all over the neighborhood. We love him, and he's ours! Happy Birthday!

Fall Stuff

I'm terrible at posting blogs! Oh, well, since August we've all been busy, and that's just the way life goes! Bryan's been assistant coaching football, and for all you who have ever been in a sport, or had a kid in a sport, you know what kind of time commitment that is! I tackled a huge project at church, and it took several weeks of VERY late night sessions to finish! But alas, the new missionary board is complete, and it is serving it's purpose (to remind people of the missionaries we support) well.

And now that moves me onto Christmas program planning. It's crazy, but Christmas really is just around the bend. This year we wrote our own play. It's a take on the Wizard of Oz. In our play, "Dorothy and the Most Wonderful WiseGuy of All" Dorothy lives in modern times. She is obsessed with finding her presents, and while searching one night, a sudden blizzard comes and blows her (no house) away to a magical land, called Christmas Wrap Land. She meets lots of little people that are dressed like presents and a kind lady that sends her on a journey to find the WiseMan who will help her get back home (so she can get back to her presents). She is given a pair of ruby mittens, and she must follow the SilverStar Road to the East to Carol City. Along the way she meets a sheep who only want a brain, so he can know why he was made, a cow, who needs a heart so he could learn how to love in a great big way, and a frightened donkey, who wishes he could not be afraid of all the things that might happen to him. They are met by caroling children at Carol City, and find the WiseMan (whom Dorothy always calls the wise guy). He tells them he can't give them what they are looking for, but reveals the Nativity, and shows the animals how Jesus can give them what they long for. Dorothy finally realizes her selfishness, and now only wants to be home, so she can be with her family. She drifts off to sleep, only to wake up at home on Christmas morning. She tells her family of her fantastic journey, to which they reply it must have been a dream, but alas it it is not, for she still has her ruby mittens. Though we have used many of the songs from the orginal movie, we have changed all the words, and it ranges from being hysterically funny, to poignant. Bryan IS a master with "the words". If you can't tell, I'm a little excited about it. I think it will be great! Course I always do. Talk to me about a week before and see how I feel about it!

So, onto the fun stuff...pictures. There are two sets. First, Bryan and I went to AppleFest in Bayfield, WI the first weekend of October. It was a fantastic 12 hours away from the kids - just the two of us. It was a fun festival, on a great fall day. We even took the ferry to Madeline Island (part of the Apostle Islands) for a few hours. We got to stuff ourselves on terrible fair food, and even got a few apple treats in too.


And we also went for a great hike last weekend in the woods behind our house. We went up the Superior Hiking Trail, which is steep, but really well mantained and groomed. We took some cute pictures at the outlook we made it to. Of course, Winter biffed it before we even started on the trail in a mud puddle. And fell once on the trail too, while trying to run down a steep hill, while not looking at her feet. The kids and I made T-Shirts the other week. It was a fun project with orange dye, rubber bands, and a fabric marker. Then we tried to get a family picture. I'm so glad for timers on cameras, but it seemed to take forever to get a good one. By the end we were all a little testy and it was one of those - everyone's crying, and the light is flashing and your saying through gritted teeth, just smile!!! But, all turned out well, and the kids have probably already forgotten about it. They did good on the way down, and I only had to carry Creedon for a little ways! (he's not a light boy either!) But, we did have fun, and we saw a grass snake on the way up and the way down. It was in the same place the last time Bryan and I hiked too. Trust me it's VERY much alive, just not too much for the moving part. It must be cold.

Jonas turned one today! It's been a long strange year. He walks and runs, but still no words. He throws fits, food, and balls. He loves to "read" story, but loves to bend books backwards even more! He loves his brother and sister, and loves to be outside. He doesn't like his vegetables, but will eat bread, fruit and ANY meat like a champ! He gives hugs, makes kissy noises, and bites. He wants the phone, computer and remotes, but of course he can't have them. He cries when he can't go outside or chew on shoes. He thinks he can go up stairs, which he can, but he has no concept of down! He likes screams, the higher pitch, the better, and he gives dead pan looks while you are trying to get his attention, then he just laughs at you when you give up. We love Jonas, and can't wait to get to know him more. Happy birthday J!

Finally!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted, so check out the slide shows of pics from our Fourth and just some older pics that you all haven't been updated on.

For the fourth, we spent all day at Pattison State Park in Superior, WI. It's awesome! We got there at 11 ish, had lunch, swam for a few hours, moved our picnic area due to some unruly neighbors, hung out, took a hike, and then grilled out for dinner. We got home at 7:30! Everyone was tired! Jonas went down and Bryan took the kids to the fireworks. What a great day!

Christmas!

ONE HAPPY BUNCH OF KIDS!

Well, the Faltynski clan made the trip down to Green Bay for Christmas this year. We arrived early Christmas morning (12:30 am). We left right after Christmas Eve service. All three kids woke up when we got to Nana and Papa's house and were up for about an hour. Of course they DID NOT sleep longer the next morning and were all up at the typical 7 am.

HANGING OUT WITH COUSINS!

Jonas got to meet lots of people for the first time. Aunt Susan, Uncle Ben, and cousin Emily were very excited to see him. Emily has gotten so big. We haven't seen her since she was just about Jonas' size. She's walking now. It was great to hang out with their family. We also got to spend lots of time with all of Laura's family and played one CRAZY game called SNORTA...it involves making lots of animal noises...that's should tell you enough, right there. (it was fun though, Winter even got to play). We met Kath's boyfriend Alex. Winter and Creedon had a blast playing in the snow with Kath and Alex. Winter and Creedon also got to bake with Grandmamma one night, and Mom and Dad definately benefited from eating yardstick! YUM! (it's a great jam filled pastry...apricot is definately my favorite) Mark babysat Jonas while they cooked and Bryan and Laura got a chance to SHOP sans kids...it was awesome. Although, it's tough to shop with Bryan. He's so cheap (I mean frugal, and anti-consumerism) that he won't pay more than $15 for jeans and I had to FORCE him to get a dress shirt that was marked WAY down. Anyway, we also got to hang out with Jacob one day, and Kath another day.

Winter and Creedon had tons of fun with Reilly and Levi. They played for a few hours on Christmas and got to go sledding one afternoon. Those 4 together and pure craziness! Our family got to eat dinner with the Zierson's one night. It was good for us to hang out with Great Aunt Debbie and Uncle Scott. Winter pretty much stayed in the living room with Jenny and the 'teenagers'. She commendered Jenny's new camera and snapped pictures all night.

All in all it was a VERY busy trip that lasted until New Years Eve. We had a great time with our family and came home exhausted. Oh, and just in case you all were wondering...according to the Shawno County Police, it is illegal to operate "left of center". (This would be operating in the left or passing lane of a divided 4 lane highway.) Personally, I would think that center would be the ditch and left of that would be going the wrong way down the road...anyway, this proves a little tricky to figure out where to operate when you are in say a 6 lane divided highway, and the right lane is for an exit and the center lane is center, and the left lane is "left of center"...where do you drive? Well, Bryan was warned to not operate left of center...so no ticket this time...

So, we just want to help you all out...don't operate left of center....