I realize it's January 6th and I'm just now posting about Christmas. Better late than never, right? We celebrated the holiday multiple times so hang with me here. For Christmas Eve, we stayed at our home and went to church in the evening. When we returned, we put the kids in their jammies and had dinner. When I was younger we would have cheese fondue for dinner on Christmas Eve and I loved it. Thinking the kids would also love cheese fondue, I fixed it for us on Christmas Eve. Major fail. They hated it. I'm still not sure what's not to like about bread dipped in cheese. Maybe next year. After dinner the kids opened one present each.
After dinner and the gift, the kids chose cookies to leave for Santa. They must have thought Santa would be famished because they loaded his plate with all sorts of sugar - even marshmallows. We also put reindeer food on our front walk, so Santa and the reindeer would have no trouble finding our home.
The reindeer food must have worked because Santa made it to our home with plenty of presents.
The kids also bought each other gifts, which was fun. Maren got Warner this Frightening McMean car.
Warner got Maren a box of Mickey Mouse books.
Later that afternoon, we drove to Somerset to celebrate Christmas with the Platts. The kids couldn't wait to open presents until the next morning, so we opened them that night. By 7pm both kid's eyes were bloodshot and they were about to fall asleep standing up.
Warner got Buzz Lightyear from the Whitakers and was thrilled about it. That night the kids all slept in one room together at Nanny and Grandaddy's. Warner thought it was the coolest thing ever. A real sleepover. He has asked to go back and have another sleepover a dozen times since our visit.
The following day my parents came to our house for a few days visit. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their visit and my parents' undivided attention. Well, undivided until my dad so graciously began a project at our home - wainscoting in our entry way, stairwell, and upstairs hallway. It was quite a bit of work, but the results are even better than I imagined.
It was a wonderful holiday season but to be honest I'm happy for the opportunity to catch my breath after all of the craziness. Welcome, 2012!
Maren needed a lot of assistance making the actual shapes, but enjoyed the process. Warner actually figured most of it out himself after a few tries.
I'd like to say that after this little exercise Maren knows all of her shapes. She does not. But, it was a fun activity and hopefully something stuck for her. Clearly I am not cut out to be a home school mom!
A few days ago we were playing outside and two of the neighbor girls came over with their sleds. With no snow. I love children's imaginations because for the next 20 minutes they went "sledding" down our hill - well, more "scooted" themselves at a slow pace. If I pulled the kids myself they could get a bit more speed going. 
I think Warner and Maren enjoyed it just as much as if there had actually been snow. Which is good in case my no-snow prediction is correct this winter.
I realize it's January 6th and I'm just now posting about Christmas. Better late than never, right? We celebrated the holiday multiple times so hang with me here. For Christmas Eve, we stayed at our home and went to church in the evening. When we returned, we put the kids in their jammies and had dinner. When I was younger we would have cheese fondue for dinner on Christmas Eve and I loved it. Thinking the kids would also love cheese fondue, I fixed it for us on Christmas Eve. Major fail. They hated it. I'm still not sure what's not to like about bread dipped in cheese. Maybe next year. After dinner the kids opened one present each.
After dinner and the gift, the kids chose cookies to leave for Santa. They must have thought Santa would be famished because they loaded his plate with all sorts of sugar - even marshmallows. We also put reindeer food on our front walk, so Santa and the reindeer would have no trouble finding our home.
The reindeer food must have worked because Santa made it to our home with plenty of presents.
The kids also bought each other gifts, which was fun. Maren got Warner this Frightening McMean car.
Warner got Maren a box of Mickey Mouse books.
Later that afternoon, we drove to Somerset to celebrate Christmas with the Platts. The kids couldn't wait to open presents until the next morning, so we opened them that night. By 7pm both kid's eyes were bloodshot and they were about to fall asleep standing up.
Warner got Buzz Lightyear from the Whitakers and was thrilled about it. That night the kids all slept in one room together at Nanny and Grandaddy's. Warner thought it was the coolest thing ever. A real sleepover. He has asked to go back and have another sleepover a dozen times since our visit.
The following day my parents came to our house for a few days visit. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their visit and my parents' undivided attention. Well, undivided until my dad so graciously began a project at our home - wainscoting in our entry way, stairwell, and upstairs hallway. It was quite a bit of work, but the results are even better than I imagined.
It was a wonderful holiday season but to be honest I'm happy for the opportunity to catch my breath after all of the craziness. Welcome, 2012!
