Christmas

Here are pictures from Christmas day with the kids.  They were so excited.  But thankfully they all slept in.  Avary didn't get up until a little after 8am.  This makes me wonder, at what age do the kids start getting up at 5am?  Not that I'm complaining - it was nice to sleep in.
Here is Avary on her new ride.  She is getting so tall and grown up.  The twins both got Radio Flyer scooters.  The pictures that I took of them were all blurring - the joys of excited two year olds!  We are all excited for the weather to be a little warmer so they can get outside to try their new bikes and scooters.
This is Garrett in his new police helmet.  It's is a fun and interactive toy and great for the little boy who loves helmets!
Proud Mommy Claire with her new doll.  She also got a cradle, high chair and stroller.  So the kids are set to play house and pretend.

Garrett loves tools!!  For Hanukkah he got a tool bench from Matt's parents.  From Santa he got a tool box and from us this handy drill.  He has been busy "fixing" things ever since.  Below are a few more miscellaneous pictures of the kids having fun with their presents.  Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas eve with my parents and my sister's family.  We started the tradition of opening presents with the Grandparents the year before Avary was born.  It's a nice time to get together, let the kids play, visit and have fun.  We hope one day that my brother and his family can join us on Christmas to have ALL of the Grandkids together.  It would be so much fun.
This is Elijah.  He is now 9 months old.  He was so good and so much fun.  I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked.  But the twins did not nap on this day and trying to make sure the kids didn't open someone else's gifts can be time consuming.
This book sums up the two days at our house for nap time!  

Cookies, cookies, cookies

Christmas Eve morning I put everything out for the kids to decorate some cookies for Santa.  They had lots of fun and at times took their decorating tasks very seriously.  Beware, there are quite a few pictures to share.

The above pictures were from the beginning - BEFORE the little ones started licking the knives and dipping their fingers into the frosting and eating it.
I actually captured Claire in the process of eating frosting.  Thought it was so fun watching the excitement on her face.
Here are the results of the kids work.
For the family members worried that the cookies they ate last night might have been created by the kids - don't worry. After all of the fingers in the frosting, we decided to put these special cookies in their own box to be given to Santa and eaten by the kiddos

Happy Holidays

Been so busy getting ready for Christmas and Hanukkah (shopping, cleaning and wrapping) that I've hardly had time to take pictures.  So I thought I'd pull out some pictures from my trip to the Plaza during last year's holiday season.  

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah!

Holiday Parties and Programs

Last week the kids were supposed to have their daycare holiday program. But in typical fashion here in KC we had our first snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough to make travel home from work terrible. Therefore the daycare cancelled the program. It was rescheduled to this week, during the day, at the school. Matt, Grandma and I were able to go and watch them sing and visit during their parties.

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First up for the singing was the 2 year old class. All of the kids looked a little unsure about this class full of adults watching them. None of them really sang, but they did play with the jingle bells when it came time. Garrett was not interested in much, not even playing the drum that I have heard so much about. Instead he sat there looking stunned. Claire on the other hand was full of smiles. Both were happy to see and share treats with us during their party.

Seeing them during their little performance amazed me. I can hardly believe that it has already been 2 years since their first Christmas. They have changed so rapidly and just surprise me everyday.

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The last class to perform for the group of adults was the Pre-Kindergarten class. Unlike the 2 year olds, they weren't afraid of us. But they didn't stand still for very long. There are a couple of kids that never stand still. So I was very pleased to see that Avary stood in her spot, paid attention to the teacher and for the most part sang all her songs.

Just like her brother and sister, I am amazed at how she has grown. She is such a smart little girl who loves to learn and have fun. Many of her friends have been in her class for more than 3 years. So we of course had to take a few pictures with them.

I'm so glad that we had the chance to see their little program and meet some of the other parents. We had a fun morning.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we had a nice visit with Melissa and Samantha from Omaha. We spent time shopping, driving around to see lots of Christmas lights and enjoying a family movie night. It was the first time the kids had seen the Lion King. It is one of my all time favorite Disney movies. They of course enjoyed every minute of the movie.


We were so busy that I didn't take too many pictures. But on Sunday before they left we were able to capture a few. Garrett was not interested in being in any of the pictures. When we did get him he stuck his tongue or turned his back. Silly little boy.

Visit with Santa

The family, and my Mom, attending the annual twins club Christmas Carnival over the weekend. We were so grateful that my Mom could go with us. I am on the board of the twins club and had volunteered to take pictures of all of the kids with Santa. So I was pretty busy during the party and couldn't imagine Matt trying to wrangle three kids at such an event. 

Before the party I told the kids that Santa would be there and asked them if they wanted to see him and sit on his lap.  To my surprise all three were very excited.  Avary has not wanted to sit on Santa's lap since she was 2 - and even then that entailed a lot of crying.

 

Here is Avary and Garrett enjoying a visit with Santa.  Avary is standing in hopes that Claire might show up and join them in a picture and chat with Santa.  I'm so proud of them.  Garrett was not scared at all.  
Claire on the other hand was having none of it.  I'm thankful that she at least sat down on Grandmas lap for a quick picture.  It was all kind of cute in the sense that she would not look in his direction.  She completely ignored him.  For those that know her, this will not come as a surprise in the least.  

I was a little surprise but only because she was so excited when she saw him come into the room.  He walked right by her and she gave him the biggest and best Claire smile she could give.
Later, before Santa left, she did shake his hand and gave him another smile.  I wish I had been at a different angle here, but at least I was able to capture the moment.

Sweet Snowmen

I have been making these little snowmen to give to friends and family this year.  They are so easy and so much fun.  Hope everyone likes them.

First Snow

Yesterday it snowed the first official snow of the season. We only got about an inch, but it was pretty. The kids had a blast, but were disappointed when it wasn't snowing this morning. The picture is of the bush in our backyard. The snow was stuck to it and it looked beautiful.