the sleepover

since there was no school on monday, we indulged the girls in the sleepover they had been begging for for quite some time! it's so nice to have our girls best friends be sisters too! it makes life just a little simpler. so sunday night the fun began. there was so much fun to cram into the time they had together, so they got at it right away. there was much american girl love goin' on. kit, molly, molly, kirsten, elizabeth and bitty were just as thrilled to be together as rebekah, lydia, fran & ev! they even all went to bed pretty cooperatively and weren't even up that late.

they woke up extra early, ready for more fun! kirbs took the boys (and anna) to the Y in the morning, so we had lots of fun girl fun. we made valentines that will eventually end up some local children's hospitals for kids who won't be able to attend any fun valentine's day festivities. i think we made nearly 4 dozen! fran and rebekah were especially into it.


we made some nummy puppy chow. luckily there were just the right number of ingredients that everyone got to be in charge of their own. plus then everyone got a turn shaking the bag to make sure it was well coated with the powdered sugar!


kirsten, kit, molly & molly (fran's molly is wearing the fancy dress and the molly in the t-shirt is lj's) watch the puppy chow-making.


a fun time was had by all and kirb and i even got a decent night's sleep . . . even better than some nights recently. amazing, since there were 7 kids in the house! friends are the best!

a very stoll-y christmas to you!

ok, i tried to condense our wonderful christmas eve into a few pictures and wasn't super successful. but, i did get it down to under a dozen . . . chosen from a good couple hundred, so you really SHOULD be impressed, right?

we had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating the birth of our savior and the preciousness of family being together! the afternoon family service at roseville lutheran was beautiful and meaningful. we had a blast at ama & bopbop's house with a yummy dinner, family and great gifts as a bonus! we were all really tired and had a little trouble mustering enthusiasm to go out in the cold to the 11 o'clock service at church, but were blessed by going: seeing friends, worshipful music, lots of great hugs, wishes of merry christmas, some beautiful candles and a great time of reflection. i told a few people that they got anna's precious baby sounds at no extra charge to add to the feel of the night . . . celebrating the birth of our savior as a precious little babe born to a young virgin. anna chimed in at exactly the right times when it added to the intended meaning of the moment. good job, sweet girl! (she's especially bright i think!)

here's a little visual re-cap of our celebration for ya:

merry christmas . . . stoll style!

just a little excited?? if you know lydia very well at all, you can tell a lot from these pictures . . . as they say: "worth a thousand words!" make that 2,000!

yup, he's in tears! (and was speechless for at least 45 seconds!) he has asked for an ipod for, i think, 3 years now. those amazing grandparents: they outdid themselves and made many wishes come true for their favorite kiddos all in a matter of minutes!

rebekah and kit! so happy!!

the 6 "carlson" cousins: anna, jacob, joe, lydia, rebekah & haddon

now it's anna's turn to open a present: "yumm. you gotta love a delicious gift tag following her supper of ham and potatoes!"

joe asked santa for a mr. potato head and a thomas the tank engine: and we have another winner!! so many happy children . . . (ok, so i know he might not LOOK super happy to you, but trust me, he was!)


haddon's first christmas . . . look how much he's lovin' it: check out that sweet face. chillin' with his wonderful parents luke and jenn!

the 2 newest memebers of our family, molly & kit, with their proud mamma's

the 2008 mother's of the year and their precious babes (alright, there was no official vote or anything, but all the people in the room at the time would have agreed we were the mother's of the year . . . although they might be a little biased.)

ama & bopbop with their newest little grandbaby

praise God for the birth of his Son and reason to celebrate this day!

super saturday

what a fun [but VERY busy & tiring] saturday we all had. the big girls and i went with my mom and my cousin brie to the mall of america for the grand opening of the newest american girl store!! a year ago at thanksgiving my parents and i took the girls [there were only 2 of them at the time . . . well, i guess anna was there too since i was pregnant] to chicago to go to american girl place there! it was great and they LOVED it and were thrilled to learn, this summer, that we were getting an american girl store in minnesota! what big news! anyway, it opened at 9, so we wanted to be there before that. we arrived at the mall about quarter to and actually go to the american girl store about 8:50 or so. well we saw a big line in front of the store . . . a couple hundred people i would guess.

we went up to one [of the many] security guys and asked which was to the end of the line and he said, "the overflow line is over there" and pointed around the corner to another group of a couple hundred people lined up in a totally different area! yikes!

there was a lot of estrogen in that place . . . tons of girls carrying tons of dolls [some girls even matching with their dolls], tons of excited moms, lots of grandmas and even a few dads and brothers [but not TOO many!] it wasn't as big or as much of an "experience" as the chicago store, but it is great to have a store close to home. [no more "shipping & handling" charges!!] my mom commented that there sure didn't seem to be any sign of a recession at that particular place today! lots of money was being spent . . . you had to wait in another horrendous line to pay for your purchases. amazingly we got in and out without spending a penny . . . but christmas lists WERE made! i promise you that!

then we shopped a little before heading across the street to ikea for lunch. a super fun surprise awaited us there when we saw a facepainter who was fancy-ing everyone up! rebekah went over to ask how much it costs and she said "just a big smile" so we got in line. now this was no run-of-the-mill facepainter . . . this lady was an artist! here's a little proof:

lydia was a princess (that's a crown) and rebekah was a butterfly! i got my face painted too, but i won't blog that one . . . if i would have thought of it in time i could have had her disguise that big zit on my face, but i never think of that kind of stuff at the proper time. oh well!

a super fun day was had by all . . . kirb took the boys, and anna, to the nwc football game. it was chilly and they didn't win, but it was an experience and it wore the kids out. hopefully a good nights sleep will be had by all! nighty night!