A Day At The Park- in January....

We have had unseasonably warm weather- so we have enjoyed it to the hilt! The kids have played on their swing set, ridden their bikes, colored with side-walk chalk spent time at a park, etc! Sadly, I only thought to document one of these- so here ya go!

Climbing the rock wall to get to the top!

Not sure what this is called but they enjoy rocking back and forth!

Sliding!

Alden pushing her- this ended with them each taking turns and then finding it hilarious to land, face-first, into the mulch...

Loving the hamster-like wheel....

So big!

Days like this I want to remember and cherish- they played sweetly together and had so much fun!

Smarty Pants!!

I know I'm more than a little biased, but I am here to totally hoot my kids' horns! We had a great time over Christmas just playing, crafting, and reading books. I didn't spend time writing, reviewing letters, etc- we just had fun.

You can imagine how proud I was to see what they brought home from their first week back at school- way to go Addie and Alden!!

Addie (because, as she will promptly tell you, ladies go first....) She created a pictorial calendar! I just love the details here- January- a happy snowman, February- colorful hearts, March- kites and a clover, April- an umbrella, raindrops and the Easter Bunny, May- a ladybug crawling in the grass, June- she is swimming at the pool with snacks on the chair....

July- a picnic complete with a grill, August- her swimming in the ocean and a sandcastle in the sand, September- the bus bringing her to school complete with the flying flag, October- leaves changing color and jack-o-lanterns, November- birds flying south, a bare tree and a turkey, December- a decorated tree and candy cane (which is telling the importance of Jesus at Christmas)

And then today, on the way to church, she wrote this:

**Translation: title My Dog

This is my dog. I Love my dog. My dog Love me. My dog is beautiful. My dog has a tongue. My dog has dog food. My dog has a name, my dog name is Kierke. My dog is a girl. My dog looks little.

Alden- from the boy who has zero interest in anything that didn't have wheels or made noise, he has made a 180! He clearly has been listening to all that I have said- and I give most of the credit to his amazing teachers who have clearly inspired him!! We could not be prouder of him!!

He did this all by himself- ALL. BY. HIMSELF! He even told me he knows that his "J" is backwards, but that he likes it better that way...

And a few of his classmates work- I think it's pretty impressive!

He now loves to write- and writes whenever he gets the chance- the sky is the limit, dude!!

New Years Eve

New Years Eve this year we hosted- orginally there were 15 people to come but that number actualy dwindled to just 8. We still had a blast- and ate a ton!

Yummy brownie pizza- Alden referred to this as Jesus' Birthday Cake!

Karen found a cute idea- pizza crusts cut out with cookie cutters- the kids loved it! We have- starting at the top- a snowman, a heart and then a Christmas tree. For the adults, we made a boring rectangle pizza- but it was super yummy!

Just a sampling of our spread- meatball sliders, pizza and a ton of desserts were off on the side! It was a great time of eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company!

The beautiful W family- such cool glasses!

We are excited about what 2012 has in the future for us!

A Week of Freedom

The week between Christmas and New Years was simply fantastic! We did little other than just play- it was wonderful!!

Alden LOVED his race track- and I think Al enjoys it a bit, too!

A good friend is expecting twins and is now on bedrest- we took her sweet daughter, Ava, for 2 days. The kids had a blast together!! I was excited to try out some fun winter-themed crafts I had read about! Here we made q-tip snowflakes and 3-D snowmen- both were adorable and huge hits with the kids!!

Finished- puffy yet firm- so cool!!

The girls working sweetly together doing puzzles!

Emeril better watch out- Alden LOVES to help in the kitchen- here he literally made chicken pot pie for dinner- I insisted on cutting the raw chicken but other than that, he did everything else!! Way to go buddy!!

Ava came over another day- and Addie helped her do 5 Little Monkey's on her Just Dace for Kids. So sweet to see Addie being a little mommy....

Working together- Ava totally thinking the numchuck was a controller and thinking she was such hot stuff!

That night we had our first of many Family Bowling Nights. It was a blast- Alden loved bowling from the top of the coffee table. The best part- he would do a little jump as he released the ball!

Not too shabby considering that it was the first time for the kids!! Clearly they take after their father- who actually was on an award winning bowling team as a kid!

It was a great week- lots of fun!!

Chrismtas Day!!

I must apologize- I totally neglected to take good pics on the actual Christmas Day- I guess you could say that I was all photographed-out.... Or the fact that I had forgotten to charge the good camera's battery.... You can choose....

Here the kids are getting ready to open their gifts- they were up early so we had plenty of time to open gifts AND eat breakfast AND get ready for church! That's what happens when you get up at 7am!

Alden was not too thrilled with having to wait....

So excited!!

Excited to finally be able to open gifts!!

The kids were so excited- they got a Wii- yay!! At first they didn't understand- but once they opened the games they were super excited!! I did hear Addie whispering to Alden this conversation:

Addie: Mommy, Daddy, MarMar and PopPop must have been bad.

Alden: Why?

Addie: They must have been on the Naughty List- they didn't get any presents!

Alden: Oh- that's not good. I will share my chocolate Santa's with them....

I love my two- they are such a blessing- and when they make life challenging, I have to remember these little moments!!

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!