Typecast

"I don't believe this, I'm being typecast!" (Kramer from "Seinfeld.")

Little Miss Breanne seems to have been typecast. In her acting career she's always played some sort of a gang member: Munchkin, Dwarf, Elf and now a rough and rowdy Herdman in "The Best Christmas Pageant EVER." And as the doctor in that "Seinfeld" episode says, "Oh, it's no mistake. We loved what you did with it."
Mom and Dad are so proud of you Breanne (or shall I say, Gladys Herdman?)!

"I think she went home. I think she got sick. All I did was I just said hi, Beverly and she left. 

The Christmas Pageant

Aliya was a baby angel…her second play.

The last line of the play: "Hey, hey, unto you a child is born!"

The Herdman kids.

Seriously, we did it

We're in the far right corner.

Madison & I really were at the 5K Chocofrolic Race last Sunday in St. Paul. Madison beat her goal by 30 seconds: 32.32 seconds. Her first race and she says she'd do it again in a heart beat for chocolate, but only for chocolate.

After a full recovery, in our shirts.

Patriotic Day Celebration

This week Thursday, Breanne sang in the Farmington Patriotic Day Celebration. It was a terrific program and they sounded great.

Barn Bluffs

 All this 60+ degree weather this October makes me want to get out and enjoy it. You never know what the winter will hold. As much as "hiking" pains some of the children, we got out and enjoyed the views of the Mississippi from Barn Bluffs in Red Wing yesterday.

6! But likely not a high-heel cupcake

What a complete joy and privilege to celebrate Aliya's birthday with seven cousins, five aunts and uncles and three grandparents! The only doubtful factor is, do these cupcakes really look like a high-heel shoe? I didn't think so either, but we went with it!

 Following a delightful tea party with fabulous stories (both fiction and non-fiction) about the tea cups, the cousins headed out on an treasure hunt adventure. A series of five clues led them to the hidden clues and lastly, they literally dug up buried treasure. Fun, but clearly, with no food in the treasure box, this auntie failed. Note taken and next time there will be golden chocolate coins.

"Call me Elsa, not Aliya!"

How do you make a birthday extra special when daddy's gone and the party's not for a week? I think our neighbors helped us pull it off by the looks of that smile.

Grandma Barb and Grandpa Verlyn stopped to give their birthday wishes and treat the birthday girl to dinner a day early. She was so excited to open her presents early: Elsa dress! Could a girl ask for more?

 It had to be crepes for breakfast! What else could there be? After church, we decorated the cake and invited neighbor friends over to help us eat it. It was scrumptalicious!

Better is a neighbor who is near

    than a brother who is far away. Proverbs 27:10b

On a side note…
Christmas money + fair premium check=American Girl Doll of the Year; Isabelle

And my baby's off!

5th grade, 4th grade and Kindergarten.

There have been no tears shed, just joy and afternoon snuggles. Day 1 completed, she flew into my arms and said, "Everything was awesome!" Need I say more?