Christmas #3

On Christmas Day we traveled to my parents to celebrate Christmas with them.

grace was actually into opening her own presents...evan wasn't really thrilled with this development.  he rather enjoyed being the family gift opener.

having some tea with her bears

and the big, big, big crane.  apparently when you google big, big, big crane toy, this giant is what you get.  evan was a little nervous that he would have to leave it at grammy and packaw's house, but was overjoyed when they told him it was his to take with him!   its the real deal with doors that open, wheels that turn, and a crane that raises up over e's head.  to say he is obsessed might be an understatement

while at grammy and packaw's, it snowed!!!  since it didn't really snow last year, this was really gracie's first big snow experience.  i guess she prefers a light dusting over 8" of snow.  the snow was up past her knees, so walking was kind of impossible.  WHICH is why she is actually doing the sign for all done in this picture.   almost the entire time she was outside, she was signing all done.

evan was really excited to go on a sled ride with gracie.  gracie was less thrilled.

it was also samantha's first big snow.  she liked it significantly more than gracie.

snow angel!  evan would have probably stayed outside until his extremities were frozen.  but, luckily, he has the genetic sweet tooth, so when hot chocolate was on the table, he made a beeline to the house.

happy boy in the snow!

Actual Christmas

We stayed home this year to celebrate Christmas morning in our house. I always loved waking up at my house and running down to see if Santa made it to our house.  My dad would always make us wait at the top of the stairs while he turned on the lights on the Christmas tree, turned on Christmas music, and (probably the most important for him) started a pot of coffee.  I LOVED every minute of it, and I loved that we did it every year (through high school and into college years).  Bret and I are trying to start some of our own traditions, and I hope that our kids love it as much as I do

making Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve

evan loves cookies and this was the first year his enthusiasm and interest level were at the same level.  he patiently cut out all the cookies, waited for them to cool and worked on icing a few.

gracie loved being up with evan while he was making the cookies.   she had no desire to actually make any herself, but she was 100% all for eating the cookies.

Christmas Morning

bret and i woke up to the sound of evan's gate being pushed open quickly followed by the sound of little feet sprinted and then sailing through the air to land on our bed.  without waiting a breath, evan said, "i did go downstairs.  santa came.  he didn't listen.  our presents aren't in our stockings, they are on the fireplace".  and, then we waited.  it was pure torture for evan, but he did manage to sleep until 7:30, so he didn't have to wait too long for his sister who typically gets up around 8.  i have no pictures of evan coming down the stairs or walking into the room because there was no walking involved...it was a christmas miracle that both kids made it down without anyone tripping. 

playing with the kitchen that santa gave to gracie and evan

probably her favorite present...a tunnel

and an evan favorite

hide your eyes!  grace has also learned to id several body parts, but her favorite are pointing to her (or anyone else's) eyes.  so, when bret asked evan to hide his eyes, grace was all over it too!

Christmas #1

The weekend before Christmas, we celebrated with Grandpa Jeff, Grandma Pam and Aunt Mal.   The kids waited approximately 30 seconds before asking about opening presents, but I think we were able to hold them off for almost an hour!  The rest of the weekend, we relaxed, ate, played games, ate, relaxed and ate.  One of the best parts was that Gracie has recently turned a corner with her separation anxiety and comfort with being with people that are not Bret, Evan or I.  She was more like the Gracie that I get to see all day who is goofy, playful and very loving, so I was really happy that our family got to see this side of her.  It was also nice not to have to hold her the entire weekend, and I only think she ran after me screaming in  fear that I was leaving her forever one or two times (extreme improvement from the screaming and crying every single time i left the room).

grace enjoyed eating (and occasionally playing with) the play doh that evan received.  evan  whipped up all kinds of yummy play doh treats for everyone to eat!

both kids received wind up toys from aunt mal, and they were a big hit.  grace's butterfly still cracks her up!

reading books...a favorite for both kids

and evan noticed quickly that aunt mal had an iphone and latched onto that  with lightening speed.  this little guy is 100% obsessed with apple products...specifically the iphone and ipad.

grace has recently started talking a bit more and making some animal noises, so the little people farm was right up her alley!

Fancy Santa and his Reindeer

Today, I made some treats for Bret's employees, and the kids and I took them in to pass them out.  Just because we could...the kids put on some fancy clothes.  Evan wore his tux with a Santa hat, and Gracie wore a little black dress with reindeer ears.  The employees were confused by e & g's fancy clothes, but they loved their treats just as much as the kids loved handing them out and saying Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

We have been very blessed since our move to discover wonderful friends right in our neighborhood!  We have almost weekly playdates with Jessica, Lyla (2 in January) and Avyn (brand new in October).  This week, we got together to make salt dough ornaments.  Evan really liked it because it was a combination of play dough and making sugar cookies.  I continue to be impressed with how mature he seems!  He was extremely patient while I made up the dough and spent an hour making his ornaments..with very little assistance from the adults.  Gracie could care less about the craft time, but she loved wearing her new apron (a Grammy gift)!  Both kids were so excited for craft time that they wore their aprons in the car on the drive over!  The aprons typically hang on the doorknob to our pantry, and more often than not one of the kids will get theirs to wear around during the day.

side note - how old does this little lady look???  she now  is starting to smile on command, and more often than not, will go to where the picture is being taken, say "CHEESE" and immediately run over to try to look at the picture on the camera...most of the time she does this all so quickly that i don't even have time to snap a picture

Santa Baby

Our little town had a fun event planned at the park last week.   They had a Santa (not the best of one of Santa's helpers, but Evan was still fascinated), a cookie decorating station and a little mini train that took you for a ride around the park.  It was a lot of fun!  No pics of Gracie and Santa because she was only fascinated from a distance and was by no means going to leave my leg when it was our turn.  Evan, on the other hand, walked right up and jumped on Santa's lap!

both kids were huge fans of the cookie station!
and no pictures from the train because when I tried to step out of our  seat  to take a picture  of the kids, gracie thought i was abandoning them and started to have a meltdown

Grace's Animals

 Grace LOVES stuffed animals.  she loves to hold them, to rock them, to hug them, to lay on them and to sit with them.  when i plopped her in a chair filled with stuffed animals....

first she thought i was nuts

then she noticed just how many stuffed animals were around her

and just had to give them a big hug

and then an even bigger, tighter hug.  she kept sitting up, smiling and then bending down and hugging them nonstop for several minutes. and today she woke up with mucus coming out of both eyes...keeping my fingers crossed that it is NOT pink eye.  if it is, our washer and dryer will be going nonstop to wash all the 1500 stuffed animals she as put her hands on in the last few days.

A Lot of Love Around Here

grace has been adding more and more words to her vocab in the last couple of weeks.  She still signs for a lot of things, but hands down, her favorite word to say is TILLIE!  She is calling for her, chasing her and loving on Tillie all day long.  The second we come into our house, she immediately says, "Hi Tillie"!  Tillie loves that Grace carries a lot of food right at her eye level.

and, recently, grace has been walking on our walks instead of riding in the stroller.  she stops a lot (usually when she hears a dog barking or when she spies the bison in the field right beside our neighborhood), so once i asked evan to take her hand and help get her moving along.  now, the second we cross the street, she immediately drops my hand and holds her hand out to evan....cutest thing i have ever seen.  they hold hand for most of the walk.

and, their is this strange habit that seems to be genetic in our family.  it has shown up in several generations...i have been called on it my whole life.  it is chewing on my tongue.  I know.  It is as weird as it sounds, but if i'm concentrating on something, without a doubt, I will be chewing on my tongue.  AND, apparently the tongue thing has been passed down to grace...

and evan!

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!!

it if was up to evan, our house would have been decorated for christmas weeks ago.  i managed to hold him off until after thanksgiving, but this weekend, we went christmas crazy!

watching daddy cut down the tree.  and, yes, that is gracie sporting one of e's old coats.  i realized today that we really don't have a winter appropriate coat for her...opps.

solid attempt at a group picture...this is typical.  somewhat posed and gracie running away

a decorated tree!  while bret and i strung the lights on the tree, evan and gracie sorted through and looked at every single ornament.  and, grace turned around right when we plugged everything in...loudest squeal  of delight ever followed my a dead sprint to the tree saying "OOOOOOHHHHHH".  evan and grace then hand selected each and every ornament that was placed on the tree.

wreaths on the windows!

and i finally have my christmas staircase!!!!!!!!!  i have been anxiously waiting to decorate this staircase for christmas, and my very nice husband allowed me to take a trip to purchase the garland and all the fun stuff to decorate it with.  i am obsessed.  it reminded me of all the years that i helped my mom decorate our christmas staircase.

absolutely obsessed with my christmas staircase.  i held myself back from putting the 10 other pictures i took of it.  

and, for the first time ever, we also have a fireplace to hang our stockings with care.  evan has pointed out 6,254 times that santa will be coming down the chimney and through these very glass doors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family at the lake.  I am extremely grateful for my family.  BUT, unfortunately I took zero pictures of my whole family.  I am thankful for my high energy, hysterical son that says things like "i slept the old day away, and now it is a big new day", and I am extremely thankful that I took a picture of him wearing a princess hat.  I'm sure this will come in handy down the road.  I also managed to snag two side by side playing pictures of Gracie and her family buddy, Claire.  And, one picture of Gracie playing with a book.  Next year, I will remember to take pictures so that I can be thankful I have pictures of my family : )!

Dirt = Tons of Fun

Not long ago some of the utility lines needed to be re-routed from behind my parent's house.  The kids missed the giant machines that dug the holes and did the moving, but they weren't sad about the huge patch of dirt that they left behind.

this is her "are you going to yell at me if i eat the dirt again" face

and this is her "i'm focused and trying not to think about how yummy this dirt might taste...should i maybe just try a little bit" face

SUPER excited about the nice weather (because he could wear a tshirt) and the dirt 

samantha was also not sad that we were spending quality time outside.  on the other hand, tillie who doesn't know how to stay in the yard, was sad.

after just a few minutes of play, evan realized he had the PERFECT toy for this dirt. he immediately sprinted to the house to retrieve it.