Christmas at HOME!

It was sooooo much fun watching the kids open Christmas presents this year! They got such a kick out of everything and really enjoyed opening all of their packages. Santa filled their stockings with lots of fun stuff and brought a roller coaster, a Cars 2 race track and a comfy chair for baby Kate to sit in. Mom and Dad threw a few things in the mix, too : ). Such fun. What a joy it was to watch. J's parents and my mom and Anthony came by this year to watch the madness, which was so great. What a fun morning. It's just going to get better each year. L.O.V.E. it.

Christmas Celebration #2 {in photos}

We had such a fantastic Christmas this year! We were surrounded by our family for 3 days, which was such a blessing. There was plenty of great conversation, company, play and food to carry us into the new year. We feel so blessed. What an amazing and humbling time of year it is. Just a few more pictures from our weekend! (More to come).

Christmas Celebration #1 {in photos}

Christmas Cookies

The boys and I made cookies for Santa this year and we had so much fun. They started off by helping me roll the dough into balls and placing them on the cookie sheet. They had an even better time decorating the cookies with icing, sprinkles and colored sugar. Funny thing - we went to the store to pick out the stuff to decorate with and they picked red, white, and blue colors - I threw in some green for good measure. They're a patriotic duo, apparently. Anyway, we had loads of fun and they really got a kick out of picking three to set out for Santa with a glass of milk at the end of the night. Santa thought they were pretty good, at least that's what he said. : )

December (so far) - {in photos}

LOTS of warm fires going on in our house, which naturally leads to toasted marshmallows. Yumm. It's the one thing I do enjoy about winter. A real wood burning fire roaring in our fireplace. Divine. 

Christmas decor is up

So . . . getting a real tree this year didn't quite make the cut. I love the smell and look of a real tree, but really dislike the mess and remembering to water it. So, we got a fake one and we quite like it. The kids (ok, not Kate) picked out their annual ornaments and as shocking as it may seem (not really), the boys picked Cars 2 characters. They love them. It did take some convincing that they were just to look at and not play with. Kate got a bird ornament, which she loves, lucky for us it's not breakable. Ahh, I can't believe it's December! I love this time of year (minus the cold).

Skate Party

My friend Carrie's daughter had her 4th birthday at a skating rink recently. The boys and I had so much fun (J stayed home with a sleeping baby girl)! (Luke and Emerson are only about a month apart and get along really well.)It was one of the best birthday parties we've been to. The boys brought their bike and scooter and rode around freely. It was so neat! They didn't want to leave and for days they asked when we could go back. Such a great time.

Eating Healthy

Justin and I are attempting to start eating healthier. I'm putting this on the blog, so we will be held accountable :). Here's to hoping that it works! For the first time ever, I had salmon. I was a bit nervous. First, because I'm not a huge fan of fish to begin with. And, secondly I was going to be the one making it. To my surprise, it was quite good. So now if we are ever out at a fancy schmancy restaurant where salmon is an option, I just may have to order it!!! This is the recipe I used. I changed it up a bit. I marinated it in the foil for an hour or two and then grilled it. Not bad, not bad at all!

Thanksgiving 2011

We had another great Thanksgiving! Justin was off work again this year! It was super having him there with us. We celebrated a few days early with J's family and unfortunately I have only a couple of pictures from that night. Kate is proving to be much more challenging with her walking and new-found curiosity and need to get into everything. The boys on the other hand, I barely saw. They were downstairs playing with their cousins all night. It was great to see everyone, as usual.

We spent Thanksgiving day at my mom's house. It was a small gathering, just our family and my siblings and their family (minus Shaun, who is in Kuwait.) We missed him this year, but luckily he'll be home for a few weeks in December!!! The kids had a great time there, too. Lots of cousin time and new (different) toys to play with. I love this time of year!

She thought she was pretty big stuff sitting in the rocker.

This is the best family shot we could get. Bummer, it's blurry. 

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Luke had a Thanksgiving Feast at school today. It was absolutely adorable. Evan, Kate and I got there a little early (shocking, I know) so we could get some pictures before the kids came in. The volunteers did such a great job setting everything up and had all the food and drinks out and ready to go before the kids came down to eat. The teachers were dressed in pilgrim and/or Native American attire and the kids wore feathered headdresses they made in class. Again, so cute. It was neat to see Luke with his classmates and how he acted before he spotted me. In the few minutes that I had, he seemed to follow the rules and sat quietly while the rest of the kids came in. He was sitting next to a little girl that he talks about often, so it was great to finally have a face to associate with the name. It'll be fun next year when Evan is there, too. Oh my, I can't even believe we're that close to him being in preschool, too! Oh and Kate and Evan just hung out in the stroller taking in all the action going on around them. Way to go, guys!