Christmas

 This year we had four different Christmas celebrations, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

Yay! It's finally here!

I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was to find matching pajamas for all three kids! 

Silk wings and a house for little animals wearing clothes. Does it get any better?

For Noah it certainly does. He finally got a real RC car, after driving his sister's My Little Pony  RC scooter around for years. 

The kids picked out little gifts for Nathan and they were really excited for him to open them. Anna got him a little clamp and Noah got him a little flash light. Right before Nathan opened it Noah said, "I picked out this flash light for you". Surprise!

Ehh, Christmas is pretty boring when you can't open your own presents. Yes, there is a pillow under his feet so he can touch the ground. Notice the little kicked off socks.  :)

We usually do stockings first but this year we just forgot. Buried in the bottom was Anna's favorite gift of all, a Zhu Zhu pet!

Time Flies

 I was looking through some photos on our computer the other day and came across this tiny folder with only a few pictures. They're from the summer of 2008, in the airport on our way to New York. I just LOVE this picture of Anna and Nathan. Everyone says she looks like me now, but in this picture I think she looks so much like her daddy. I miss those little curls!

And who is this baby?! Just this week I've been looking at Noah, feeling shocked at how tall he is. He's such a real boy now!

Family Walk

These pictures are a few weeks old. The ground is covered in snow now! 

This was the first time I put Ben in the stroller seat without his car seat. I promise he liked it.

Hurry up, mom!

I think she liked how the scooter made her so much taller than her brother.

They love this tree!

Poor little baby parked in the back! Noah insisted on wearing one gardening glove.

Paula, do you see T-Rex shirt poking out there?  ;)



Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week was Noah's Thanksgiving Feast at preschool. This is always such a fun party. The kids bring their favorite foods and just pig out. Noah's contribution was Honey Nut Cheerios. I'm pretty sure he was the only kid in the class to eat them. He's the second pilgrim from the right in this picture.

Singing his turkey song.

His food choices: Mini chocolate donut, large chocolate glazed donut, strawberries, popcorn, Cheerios, soy ice cream, marshmallows, and a yogurt tube. Yum.

Then he saw the mini cupcakes on another table so he made his own combinations.

He was eating after almost all of the other kids had stopped. We had to cut him off or he would have stayed there all day! On the way out of his classroom he looked up at me, and while holding his belly said, "Those marshmallows hurt me". I bet they did!

They sang the same songs as Anna's 3 year old feast. I love getting to do all of this stuff all over again!

Places to go

I am in NO hurry for Ben to grow up, but apparently he has other plans. He still likes to be snuggled, but more than anything he wants to stand. All. Day. Long. Thank goodness he's finally big enough for his exersaucer, but nothing beats standing up with the help of mom or dad. I know my other kids did this, but I just can't believe he's doing so well at barely four months old!

Today he decided to wear a vest so he could go on an expotition, a la Pooh Bear.

Seriously, you can let go. I got this.

When he gets tired of standing he has a little tummy time with Noah. Don't these two already look like they're up to no good?

If you stay close enough to catch him, he can even sit for a while.

But he usually turns into a baby taco.

The saucer is a fine place to rest after his baby workout.

I'm so in love with this boy!

Toasty

It is November, right? Because this weather has me really confused. When Anna leaves for school it's in the 40s but when she comes home it's in the 70s, so I never know what uniform pieces she needs. Tights? Sweater? Long sleeves or short sleeves? All I know is that we will be outside a lot for the next few days, because I'm pretty sure this is our last warm spell for a while.

I never let her play outside in her uniform, but on this day it was so pretty that we came in one door and went right out the other. It gets dark so early now that there is no time to spare! Yes, Noah is wearing a shirt with a T-Rex attacking a monster truck. It was a hand-me-down from my friend Paula, and in his mind there really is nothing better. Every time he has to get dressed in something else (since I won't let "Monster Rex" out of the house) he has to come home and change back into it as soon as possible.

This was Ben's first time in the baby swing. Just like the one inside of the house, he likes it best when it's not moving at all.

You think I'm entertained by this? Puh-leze.

The leaves are so pretty right now, even though pictures don't do them justice. My hardworking hubby doesn't let them stay on his newly seeded lawn for very long, but there were a few so I thought I would lay Ben down for a little photo shoot.

Maybe not. Lately he is only interested in mama's arms. Nothing else.

It was for the best, because these two went back to the swings and got crazy.

Dino Girl

Anna is in love with dinosaurs right now. She wants to know all about them, and every day she asks about three hundred questions that I can't answer. I know a few, such as "Why did the Stegosaurus have a spiked tail and plates on his back?". But I am no help at all when she wants to know things like, "Did T-Rexes ever just tear up and get emotional instead of getting angry?" or, "Did they pick flowers and feel happy sometimes? Were there even flowers for picking back in the Cretaceous period?". Her interest has sparked plenty of discussions on evolution and this past week she was thrilled to find a whole section of the library dedicated to her current love. I think I'm learning as much as she is!

Wearing a leotard makes it more fun to learn about dinosaurs.

After the library trip we ran by the pharmacy to pick up my vitamins and Anna started telling the poor pharmacist all about predators. I don't think most people expect the sweet little five year old girl with the sparkly hairbow to start talking about predators and prey. But she is into it big time.

Dinosaurs are just a spin off of her constant love of animals. Her best friend in Kindergarten is a boy named Alex, and when she talks about him she always ends it by saying, "We're best friends because we both love animals so much!". We taped this series for her on TV, and if we would let her she would watch it all day, much to Noah's dismay. I thought she might be traumatized by animals being eaten, but she's just intrigued. She's always been this way though. People buy her dolls, but she tosses them aside to play with her animal toys instead. She's just a little sponge right now, and I love watching her go after what she wants to know!

Pumpkins

Sweet girl.

Always with some kind of vehicle or tool.

Snuggle man. I thought this shirt looked kind of girly on him even though it is a boy's shirt, but he didn't mind.

These are her "spooky eyes".

And this is our extra spooky gingerbread house.

Even that couldn't liven up my boring cupcakes. I couldn't find Halloween sprinkles anywhere. Not even plain orange ones!

We played Hot Pumpkin just like Noah did at his preschool party. There was excessive happiness and squealing during this game!

Then we did some freeze dancing to our new music. I'm pretty sure Anna is off of the ground in this picture.

Then Nathan did the running man. Sorry ladies, he's taken.

We made our own pumpkins.

We carved some too.

We did a little lesson after working to learn this verse all week. The lesson was based on The Pumpkin Patch Parable book. Anna got it, but it was a little over Noah's head I think.

Like last year, we let Anna draw on the face before we carved it. She named it Flowerina, and Noah named it Shark in the Head, because he's at that age where nonsense phrases are completely hilarious. I'll admit, we all got a good laugh out of Shark in the Head. This picture on the wrong camera setting made our pumpkin look much scarier than it actually is!

After carving we made some treats and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, where Noah was able to see his favorite cartoon dog, Snooty. You better believe I didn't correct him.   :)