School

This morning was the first day of second grade for Jacob and Hannah! They were out of bed and dressed at 6:00 am! They were very very excited for the start of second grade!

We'll hear after school how the first day went in their individual second grade classes - but we're off to a good start here for sure!

Boston's Family Day

This is a picture of the first time we met Boston - on May 30, 2009, in the Marshall Islands.

He officially became a Stenstrom on June 1, 2009! We are celebrating and remembering our first year together! Below are some more recent pictures of our growing boy! We love him and are so very thankful for our family!

Jacob and Hannah will finish First Grade tomorrow! We are looking forward to the summer ahead and a change in schedule. Here's a picture of all three kids taken on Memorial Day in Minnesota!

Birthday fun

Hannah turned 7 just a few weeks ago! It was a fun birthday for sure. She wanted a shark on her birthday cake. Peter remembered me saying I was never decorating another birthday cake again, but I must have forgotten that! Below is a picture of the cake after it was finished late Saturday evening, before her party on Sunday. But this shark was not content to stay on the cake. Late Saturday night, the shark portion of the cake cracked and fell apart.
Peter helped me to put skewers into the cake to try and keep it together for the party. It looks a bit like something out of "Jaws" and a shark being harpooned. But Hannah laughed about it and we ate the cake anyway.

Happy Birthday sweet Hannah! You are seven years old, and almost done with first grade! This past year you've learned to read, tell time, add and subtract. You just lost your 10th baby tooth this week, you are excited about learning Tae Kwon Do, and you are growing into a young lady! What a joy it is to know and love you!!

Spring Break and Tractors

Hi everyone - Our county farm bureau hosted a Touch-A-Tractor event this weekend. The kids enjoyed climbing all over the huge pieces of farm equipment! Here are a few pictures of the fun:

It's been awhile!

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't posted to this blog in more than three months! Here are a few pictures from a morning of sledding just two weeks ago. Today feels more like a spring day, and the snowman pictured at the end is now almost completely melted in our front yard! I'll aim to post again soon with another update! Bye for now - Lois

November 2009

November began for us with Boston's 3rd birthday and our parent/child dedication for him at church. We had a baseball theme for his birthday, since balls were one of the first things we knew Boston enjoyed when we met him back in May 2009. A special treat was to have the Minnesota Stenstroms visiting for a long weekend and all the fun. Below is a picture of Boston blowing out his candles:Here's Boston enjoying the cheese of a Chicago style-pizza for his birthday dinner.
We've had mild weather and have enjoyed more time outside in November than usual
The big kids have had a break from school this whole week of Thanksgiving so we've enjoyed some extra fun things, a trip to the zoo, the dentist (okay maybe not so fun!) and visiting family and friends.



Boston really likes playing with Zoe, our niece Andrea's dog. He calls her "woo woo".

We had a nice Thanksgiving Day celebration and below are two pictures of the kids enjoying their play at the Modicas.

Happy December ahead. I'll try and update the blog again soon! Lois for us 5

October fun

Hi Everyone - Can hardly believe the whole month of October is past. The kids all had influenza, plus a few other things...and so for almost 2 weeks they were at home except for doctor's visits. Lots of resting, watching movies, reading, etc. We are so thankful that they are all healthy again!

We had to cancel a lot of activities while the kids were sick, but the month still brought lots of great things. We enjoyed celebrating at some fun parties for two friends' birthdays this month. Also enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful fall color around the neighborhood and at the Morton Arboretum. We celebrated Hispanic Heritage month with our playgroup friends, and the big kids had some Taekwondo lessons and Jacob had some drum lessons. Boston started his first story time session at our local library too. A school Halloween party finished off the month and was a lot of fun. Although this room parent was GLAD when the party was over!! Below is a picture of the kids from Halloween yesterday. Jacob and Boston were football players, and Hannah was the fairy princess Fawn. They had a great time trick-or-treating even though it was a cold day. Bye for now - Happy November! Love, Lois