The Polar Express

Last Saturday we took the kiddos on a train ride...... but not just any ol train ride.... it was The Polar Express train ride to the North Pole, to visit Santa!

A couple months ago a friend of mine told me about a train ride down in Mt. Pleasant. You board the train & take a ride to the North Pole! It sounded great, who wouldn't want to ride the Polex to visit Santa! Plus my kiddos are sooo into the Polar Express movie that it sounded fun. So we ordered up some tickets & waited for December 12th!

It was WONDERFUL!! The kiddos loved it, we (me & DJ) loved it & the grandma's loved it!

We boarded the train & while we rode to the North Pole we listened to the Polar Express book over the speakers.... then we arrived.... pulling into the town of The North Pole. While we were at The North Pole we got to sit & enjoy some of Mrs. Claus' cookies & hot chocolate.

We also made some crafts- some cute stocking ornaments and found some good "photo ops" & of course meeting the big guy himself- SANTA! Santa also showed the kiddos his very cool watch that helps him stay on schedule Christmas Eve.

It was such a good time, I loved just watching the kiddos take everything in. Hopefully we just started a new tradition we can do every year.

3 year old pictures
We finally got around to getting the kids 3 year pictures done! I wanted to get them done in the summer, but you know how it goes.... yep, I ran out of time & never got them scheduled. Well, now it's getting close to Christmas & I want to order a Christmas card with the kids picture on it.... so, I called up Kim to see if she had an available time & she did. I think they are just GREAT!! Thank you Kim, you (& the kiddos) did an awesome job!Austen
My handsome little man. Very much a boy, he loves to wrestle around, gets a bit rough with his sisters at times. He loves balls, puzzles & reading books.... Austen also LOVES pancakes! Caitlen
My munchkin. Catilen is very soft hearted & she gets her feelings hurt easily, but on the other hand she is also my most dramatic, with everything- drama! She loves to play pretend & dress up, along with puzzles (she is really good at puzzles!) and reading books.Brooklen
aka: peanut (or peanut butter). Brooklen is very independent & most of the time knows exactly what she wants.... she can be a bit bossy at times. My little mother hen that loves to help me around the house with laundry or dishes or whatever I'm working on. Brooklen loves to play pretend & dress up.
I think pictures are getting easier... they will at least sit for a few minutes! As you can see, we were getting the semi fake smiles, maybe 1/2 way thru. It takes a while to try to get a good group shot & then also take individual pictures. They did a great job!!

Family Pictures
Family pictures are hard- 1st, it's hard to find a day that everyone is available.. 2nd, oh what to wear.. & 3rd, there are a lot of little people to try to get looking at the camera & to stop moving... oh & I'm a blinker on pics.. I think my mom & sisters are also so, that is a lot of things to try to get perfect, for even just a moment & I think we did an awesome job this year! Kim took the pics & she did a super job at keeping all the kiddos attention- thanks Kim!!


Here are a few of my favorites....
Klocke Family
I love the one with everyone sitting down.
Jenni, Mom, me & Kim

Mom & her grandkids

Kids playin in the leaves.

I love these!!

Then the kiddos piled leaves on Payton, he is sooo good w/ the little kids! :)

Ernberger Family

I don't have any of the Benesh or Raso families yet, I'll add to post when I get copies.

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Mr. Wilson's Apple Orchard

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

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1st Day of Preschool

Today was bittersweet- my babies started Preschool!! I cannot believe they are going to preschool :( **sniff, sniff** but I keep reminding myself, it's only twice a week for 3 hours at a time. I honestly believe they are ready for something more, they need something more than what I can offer them here at home. They are ready for more than free play at home, a little structured play at home, playdates here & there. Today was HARD on me!! And Austen struggled more than the girls, but overall we all did great.

Here is the Big Guy all ready for preschool. He was soooo excited until he found out I wasn't staying (oh, was that hard for me to leave!)

Caitlen all ready to go- she did super all morning. Came home w/ a bit of a stomach ache... does that mean she may internalize things more??

Peanut all ready to go. She struggled on & off all morning, I think with the anticipation of what to expect.

I do feel very lucky knowing they have each other! I hope they lean on each other when they need it, but also spread their wings & know they are individuals! Oh, the tugs on the heartstrings today!!

Hello!!
I'm back! Sorry, I've been a horrible blogger this summer. I guess we just got caught up on some FUN summer stuff to do! I hope I still have a few readers and you are still checking back.... all is good in the Ernberger household & I have LOTS to catch you up on what we've been up to over the summer.
That is one of the things I plan to do while the kiddos are at Preschool- blog, blog & blog!! Among other things like clean my house, organize pictures, maybe scrapbook, run errands, meet friends for late bkfst or early lunch..... keep myself busy while my house is quiet.
Oh, was my house quiet today, it was too quiet :( I know somedays I will enjoy the quiet. Today it was the quiet of my babies are growing up as they were off to preschool. **sniff, sniff**
Ok, I hope I still have a couple readers :) & check back for updates!