Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve dawned and we had 3 super excited kids on our hands!! I took the kids out for a walk around the block while Mom and Dad finished cleaning. We stopped at this house- they had a super cool inflatable! While we were walking, we saw Al drive-up- yay!!

So happy for Christmas Eve!!

Uncle Frank and Aunty Jen arrived- and in true Uncle Frank fashion, he showed them his Santa Ap so they could see where Santa was and how much longer until he arrived to us! He also had special access to the Nice and Naughty list- when the boys moved to the Naughty list- they didn't care, but Addie was devastated so that she quickly had to be switched....

Loving their Nonnie!

Food Round #1.... In true Italian fashion, this was only round 1 of 4- yes, 1 of 4! The kids loved all the meats and cheeses- yum!

Family photo time!!

The whole gang- aren't we a good lookin' crew?!

After dinner- food round #2- the kids decided to feed the reindeer.

Waiting for Gift Time- chowing down on Sees lollipops- a huge hit with everyone!!

What a difference between the boys and girl!

GIFTS!!

Team Work in keeping all the paper off the floor.

Round 2 of gifts!!

Alden was thrilled to get a pillow pet!

Alden offering to help Uncle Frank with his Secret Santa gift.

Al was thrilled with his GPS watch!

After food rounds 3 & 4 (cookies, fruit and nuts)- it was time for Nate to leave so the kids got cookies, milk and a note ready for Santa!

It was a great time with family- and now we need to let-out all our pants from all the yummy food!!

Crafty Cousins

Having 3 children- 1 6 yr old girl and 2 4yr old boys- required much planning in order to maintain order and avoid bloodshed. The kids had a blast- and so did MarMar and I!

Decorating cookies!

The finished projects- pictures for Santa, gingerbread houses, Santa-Rudolf-Frosty plate, decorated cookies, colored and glittered ornaments- whew!

Burning off more energy by playing hopping frogs...

Riding the toy horse- a toy that they all love!

What I NEEDED by the end of the evening!

Cousin Time!!

Spending time with MarMar, PopPop, Nonnie and Poppy is the whole reason we travel to NY- and working some extra time in with Cousin Nate is always a bonus!

On Wednesday, we ran errands while PopPop worked upstate- and would be bringing Nate back with him!!

Where do you go when you need to run errands- Target! MarMar LOVES Starbucks- so we stopped to get a treat and for the first time, I got the kids Starbucks- they split a hot coco- and they LOVED it!

Yummy!

He was being impish- can you tell?

By dinnertime- NATE!! Can you see the love?!?

It's a Siamese twin! It was totally not planned, but the boys both had on the same pj's that night! I love that fact that Nate towers over Alden, but Alden still outweighs him!

Happy Together!! Addie was a bit upset that she didn't have the same pj's as the boys!!

Nate brought these hats- aren't they awesome?!? My little reindeer!!

Originally we were going to take the kids to an indoor playground but the weather was simply too gorgeous to NOT be outside! Thank goodness there is a great playground just around the corner- the kids ran around and had a blast!

Three little monkeys...

My boy!

My girl in action...

My super-handsome Nate!

Showing MarMar the dance moves to a song that she is belting out!

Someone needing some extra MarMar time....

Lots of Love!!

In case Santa needs some extra reindeer- here are 4- 3 cute and 1 slightly demon-possessed!

Love, love, love this! Over the last few years we (MarMar and I) have got the kids matching pj's- and I was super excited to find some at Gymboree that would work for ALL the kids! I simply don't think they could be any cuter!!

We had a blast- and look forward to a craft-filled day tomorrow!!

New York Christmas Adventure...

This year I figured the kids were old enough that we could do something super cool for Christmas- take the train to NY! This would allow us to enjoy a few extra days with the grandparents/great-grandparents, and then Al could take us home as he will be coming up Christmas Eve.

Al dropped us off at the station this morning- both kids were super excited, but I did fear that Alden was going to explode he was so excited but wanted to play it cool!!

Can you see the excitement on their sweet faces?? The train was totally empty when we got on- and we had a huge amount of space- yay!!

A nice passenger took our picture. Even though I paid for 3 seats, we only needed these 2 since they were so spacious- and no one wanted to be by themselves.... They did venture onto the other aisle a few times, but for the most part, stayed right with me.

Look at all this room!! We had our suitcase, backpacks, coats, all at our fingertips- and it didn't cost a penny extra!! This train travel is pretty sweet- plenty of time to play with the kiddos, watch movies together, read, color, snack- it was an amazing time together!

Before we hit DC this is how empty our car was- it was pretty packed after DC, so Addie was glad she took advantage of a few min of coloring by herself.

Watching DC fly by.

We made to NY!! First up after parking, Radio City! Addie has decided she wants to see the Christmas show next year- guess what she'll be getting for her birthday?!? I love her showing her Rockett skills with Alden literally jumping up and down....

MarMar and PopPop by The Tree!

Yup- I was there, too!

St. Patricks

Rockefeller Center Angels

Loving time with PopPop- MarMar was buying chocolate!!

Sak's Christmas windows- all about a secret bubble factory beneath the store....

The Nativity at St. Patricks. Alden loved all the candles all over the church- Addie thought it was neat that people were sitting and praying in the middle of the church.

Rockefeller Center

On our way back to the car- love how festive this huge city is!!

Quick stop by the new Disney store in Time Square- awesome deals- both kids got toys!!

Time Square- the kids love all the TV screens...

And after belting out tons of Christmas songs, she crashed.... See her Statue of Liberty Minnie Mouse? I thought it was a pretty cute choice!

And he crashed even harder- he didn't nap on the train and at least Addie had a 30 min power nap. (yes, it is drool on the seatbelt- I said he crashed hard!)

It was a great time- full of happy memories!