Christmas 2009 at Lake Six

We had such an awesome Christmas this year! We were lucky enough to be able to spend it with both sets of grandparents up at my family's lake home. It was pretty close to perfect! We enjoyed the foot of fresh snow by sledding, making snow angels, building forts and snowmen. We played games, made a birthday cake for Jesus, and ate way too many Swedish Meatballs! Of course the celebration wasn't complete without gifts galore, over-loaded stockings, and an ever-anticipated visit from Santa! We felt so blessed!

There were too many cute pictures, so I uploaded a ton. Be sure to check out the video clip of Merek singing "Jingle Bells".

Makee and Paca are behind the cameras on this shot.

Here they are with the kids before church.

Putting on long-johns... the first of many layers under the snow suits. No wonder it takes so much time getting 3 kids ready to go outside!

Daddy out on the rink with his girls!

Grandma, our personal Zamboni!

Gearing up Merek for his first attempt at skating. At first he's all smiles...

... then a change of heart! Doesn't this look like the face a future Fighting Sioux defense man?!

Present Time!


Dinosaurs, trucks, Barbie & Three Musketeers, Zhu - Zhu Pets, Webkinz, swords... you name it and it was under the tree!



Belle joined us out in the snow too!




The 2009 Sledding Awards:

"The Most Times Down the Hill" goes to: Brielle





"The Best Air" goes to: Kylyn






"The Biggest Face Plant" goes to: Grandma



(Yes, that's really Pat!)



"The Biggest Showboater" goes to: Bob


"The Biggest Jump Destroyer" goes to: Grandpa





Yummy snow! Watch out for the yellow stuff buddy!

What would Christmas be without a birthday cake for Jesus?!

Merek singing Jingle Bells

Breakfast with Santa

A few days before Christmas, Makee, the kids and I went to Macy's in Minneapolis and had breakfast with Santa himself! It's one of our favorite holiday traditions! The good little boys and girls get a yummy breakfast while Santa visits each table and talks with the kids about what they want for Christmas. Ms. Claus does face painting and the elves make balloon antlers. Afterwards we go down to the 8th floor of Macy's to their Christmas display- this year it was "A Day in the Life of an Elf". The kids love walking through the life-size storybook! (Makee and I love keeping track of 3 crazy kids on a Santa-high, while maneuvering between crowds of other families getting into the Christmas spirit!)

Kylyn opted for the glittery snowflake face paint this year, instead of the red Rudolph nose. Good choice honey!

After receiving her honorary antlers, Brielle declared that she was "Ruby", Santa's lead GIRL reindeer - taking the place of Rudolph this year!

What is on my head?!

Santa finally arrives at our table. (Not quite as convincing as last year... those frosted eyebrows look mighty suspicious?! Since when is Santa an olive-skinned brunette in his early 30's?)

We're missing one... Merek wasn't doing the whole sit-on-Santa's-knee thing this year! He had flashbacks of last year and decided to watch reluctantly from Makee's knee. It felt much safer there.

2008 flashback!

Schwartz Snow Day

We declared it a "Snow Day" at the Schwartz house today! Even though the district didn't officially close the school, we decided that the mini-blizzard we work up to was reason enough to stay home. The 22 mile trek we make in each direction would have been a long, stressful and potentially dangerous one with the high winds and big snow drifts we were sure to encounter along the way. Instead we played outside, played games and of course enjoyed some hot chocolate!

It's never too snowy to play outside!

I don't know what's better - the hot chocolate or the marshmallows?!

When I caught Brielle wiping her cheeks with a napkin, I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was trying to "wipe off her rosy cheeks"! Too cute!!

Last week on the Bachelor...

"In the most dramatic rose ceremony ever", Ken gave a rose to Barbie the Veterinarian, Barbie the Scientist, Barbie the Doctor, Barbie the Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, Barbie the Astronaut and Barbie the Fitness Instructor; he then said a tearful goodbye to Barbie the Single Mommy and Barbie the Diva.

Afterwards, Ken who was still visibly shaken from making the "hardest decision he's ever had to make" toasted his 6 bachelorettes and thanked for joining him on his "amazing journey to find true love"!

Join us next week, when Barbie the Doctor tells Ken, that Barbie the Fitness Instructor is here for "all the wrong reasons"!

He did it!

Merek has successfully spent the last 3 nights sleeping in his big boy bed! Yipee! He has also napped in there as well. Here he is snoozing this afternoon. He fell asleep "reading" his favorite Dora book... I think he has a crush on her!

Kylyn's First Choir Concert

Kylyn sang her little heart out on the stage last night at her first school choir concert! She looked and sounded beautiful! It's fun to see kids at her age who really get into singing instead of being embarrassed in front of their friends and mouthing the words.

The concert itself was a classic event... students, teachers, and families all stuffed into the school gymnasium, the kids stacked up on risers and the all parent's holding digital cameras and camcorders up in the air like lighters at an 80's rock concert! All the parents except for us that is... we forgot our cameras hanging on the doorknob ("where we wouldn't forget them") in our rush out the door. It's a small miracle when we get all three kids in the car, dressed, with their hair combed. It would be pushing it to actually think that we would remember something as obscure as the camera. Oh well, our cell phones did the trick. We were able to catch a grainy picture from what looks like a million miles away -then a nice picture at home by the Christmas tree.

Mom the Slacker!

I've been slacking lately on my blog! I've got a list of excuses a mile long, but I'm not sure which one to choose as my main deterrent...

Was it the 5 cases of H1N1, 2 sinus infections, 5 common colds, and 3 cases of the stomach flu that went through the house since the second week of October? (I'm not exaggerating... there has been someone sick in this house for the last 8 weeks!) They are sick, but still smiling!




Or was is the never ending painting project I started in my bedroom. It started out a "Creamy White" - then I painted it a disappointing "Moody Blue" - then back to a "Tony Taupe"/"VanDyke Brown" combo. It would be nice if I figured out what I disliked/liked before I painted and trimmed all four walls. At least I had a few "helpers" along the way.



Or was it the second redecorating project I started at Bob's office? Why did I attempt to do two projects at once? I still haven't figured that out! At least Merek knew what he was doing. He helped Mommy put together the new IKEA office furniture and coat rack.



Or was it that we hosted Thanksgiving at our house? We had a lot of fun celebrating with the Olson side of the family! We ate of ton of turkey and cooked up 10 lbs of potatoes at Dad's request. We played Guitar Hero afterwards to try and work off the calories. Merek is getting pretty good!

Or was it that we started the overwhelming task of decorating for Christmas?

Whatever the excuse, this is the time of year we remember how incredibly lucky we are for all the blessings in our lives!

Sorry for the delay, but this is what the Schwartz Circus has been up to.

Goodbye Cribby!

Merek said "Bya-bya-bye!" to his crib this past weekend! After Bob caught him climbing IN and OUT of it on his own, we decided it was time to move him into a "Big Boy Bed". As you can see he is very excited to be upgrading to a roomier, more cushy model. He has yet to make it on his own the whole night, but we are working on it... last night he made it until 4 am, at which time I found him dangling off the end of the bed.