Christmas Day

In my mind, our Christmas morning was exactly how it should be. The only exception being it probably could have started an hour or two later. But with 2 young kids, we are used to waking up early. It was slow and relaxing. Quiet, filled with squeals and oohs and ahhs. Kate, like last year, would become so absorbed in the current gift she had opened that she would neglect her other presents. This just made the morning more fun as she would later discover another present to open. She was just as excited about Gwen's gift as she was her own. I love how magical Christmas is for kids.

Most of our photos from the morning are of Gwen smiling. That is pretty much all she does all day is smile. Mixed with a few shrieks, her current nickname is "Squeaky" because when bothered, she doesn't really cry, just squeaks--sometimes very loudly.

Kate modeling some of her new duds.

It was a very Merry Christmas. It was our first Christmas as a married couple that we didn't get on an airplane and were able to wake up Christmas morning in our own home. We love being with our families, but it sure was nice not packing a suitcase (or five). Now on to 2010...

Christmas Eve

It has been tradition in my family that we have a big Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. When we were younger we would do a talent show and sing the 12 days of Christmas, the past few years our group has been a bit large for that. My mom hosts and always throws a great party, but with over 30 people there it was a little crazy!

A conversation with Santa. Kate only likes him when he's not real.

Gwen was obsessed with pulling ornaments off the tree. It made for a glittery mouth.
These two cousins are just 2 days apart!

The kids all had matching pajamas and we tried to get a picture of them all together. Gwen's face explains how she felt about it.

Chaos.

Halloween 2009

The butterfly and ladybug (how original, I know) before the church Halloween party.Pablo's pest control attempting to tame his pests.

And Jill, the flower.

Pumpkin Patch

a bit different than our experience picking pumpkins the past few years. But plump, orange pumpkins nonetheless.

and plump, smiley babies too.

Then we try and get Kate in the picture and the hay eating begins.

Sandee's annual Halloween Party. This was our first year attending. Fun to see family all dressed up.And finally, trick or treating on Halloween night. Just may have been the highlight of Kate's year so far. She was really into the idea.
Then we went for a walk to check out our neighbors impressive pirate ship display.

Check out the girls reactions.

4th of July

flying kites in Del Mar

Easter Weekend

Christmas #2

We were really fortunate to be able to spend Christmas in Denver with all of Paul's siblings and spouses. We are all spread across the country and it was a lot of fun to spend time together and reconnect. Kate, being the lone grandchild and niece, was spoiled rotten.
Highlights from the trip (from left to right and top to bottom) 1. a tour of the celestial seasonings tea factory in Boulder (free tea, my kind of tour) 2. playing by the Christmas tree 3. being found in the bathtub fully clothed in jammies 4. taking a "nap" with Elmo 5. all dressed up for church 6. eating way too much candy 7. family photo on Christmas day 8. practicing the piano 9. meeting Elmo on Christmas morning 10. practicing the piano, again 11. enjoying a turkey supper

Christmas #1

Lucky us. We get to celebrate Christmas 3 times this year! We decided that instead of packing all of our Christmas gifts to each other (Paul, Jill and Kate) and traveling with them, we'd have a little Christmas celebration at home before we left. It felt like the real day (so much that I almost missed my doctor's appointment. Who has doctor's appointments on Christmas?) and was a lot of fun to watch Kate open her presents.

She was really excited to open her presents and I expected her to tear through them. Instead she would open one, get excited and want to play with it right then. So she'd have to pause and spend 20 minutes playing with the new toy (like her crayons in the picture below) and then decide she was ready to open another one when she was finished. The whole process probably took 4 hours and she didn't even have that many presents! It was a nice way to spend a relaxing morning.

Christmas has been a lot more exciting now that Kate is starting to understand what it's all about. She has loved seeing all the lights, listening to "Frosty", looking at the Christmas tree and presents and playing with her little baby Jesus in the nativity set. Children is magical for kids and I'm excited for all the Christmas' to come!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seed time and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker

Today I am grateful that::

Our advent calendar project is finished! This calendar will help us count down the days until Christmas beginning December 1. Did you know that advent calendars began as a religious tradition in the early 19th century? I always thought those little cardboard calendars in the store were a product of the marketing consumption frenzy that Christmas can turn into. Hopefully for our family it will help us enjoy the Christmas season. Kate is still a little too young to get really excited about it this year, but I hope that this will be something the kids remember and look forward to each year as they get older. Each stocking will hold a slip of paper with an advent activity. Here is our tentative list of activities:

Watch Elf, make spiced cider

Decorate the Christmas tree

Find Mistletoe, hang it in our house and kiss under it

Address and mail Christmas Cards

Set out the nativity scene and read the Christmas Story in the Bible

Go to the store and pick out one new Christmas CD

Make Hot Chocolate and Homemade Marshmallows

Put up a ribbon sash for Christmas cards

Make a Gingerbread house

Sing (or listen) to favorite Christmas songs

Make wassail and read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Drive around to see neighborhood lights

Have a romantic candlelit dinner by the Christmas tree

Write out a Christ-centered goal to start early for the New Year

Go to a Christmas Concert

Make Christmas Cookies

Spend the day in NYC. Visit the big Christmas tree and window displays

Visit to Santa

Visit the nativity scene at the Knights of Columbus Museum

Watch Mr. Kruger’s Christmas and make popcorn

Host a Christmas dinner/dessert party

Bake pumpkin bread for friends

Celebrate our small family Christmas, exchange gifts, play games and eat good food

visit our family

Obviously we'll have to plan what activities are practical to do on what days. For more inspiration on advent calendar activities and ideas click here, here, here or here.

The holiday season is here!

Happy Halloween

We had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween. My mom was staying with us all week (unfortunately we had to say goodbye to her the morning of Halloween) and we worked on getting kate excited for Halloween by taking lots of walks to look at pumpkins and witches, going to the pumpkin patch and reading Halloween books. I think Kate really got it! She loved holding her pumpkin basket and putting her candy in it. She wasn't shy about trick or treating and loved having so many suckers. I think she's had enough for the rest of the year!
Festivities included a hayride at the park the on Halloween eve. A parade and trick or treating at Yale. And a pizza party and trick or treating with friends. The lady bug costume happily got another years worth of wear and I'm guessing that it will come out again next year on baby sister!

October is here

I'm excited.

Are you?

signs of fall

my favorite season

petting animals at the Guilford Fair

picking apples

eating them

On this rainy, windy day I decided it was time to clean out the closets and do the seasonal switch of clothes. Now that the house is put back together and quiet, I look out the window at the changing leaves and it really feels like fall. The watermelon we ate for lunch is definitely the last of the season. Activities are moving indoors and we're preparing the house for the cold. I have to pause and enjoy this season we're in before I get ahead of myself thinking about the holidays coming up. There is so much to look forward to.