Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I just wanted to share a couple of other pictures of our Easter Day. It was beautiful and sunny (if a bit cool) here so we got some nice pictures. We also got a "family" picture at the church that didn't come out half bad. Erin LOVED her dress, and she picked it out all on her own. Jeffrey wasn't so keen when I first started getting him dressed. He started bolting to his room looking for "his pants". Erin thought she was helping at one point and told him he'd look just like a prince. That only made him run screaming for daddy - "I don't wanna be a prince." But once he got downstairs and saw his Easter basket he completely forgot about his clothes.


Anyway here's a handful of pictures from our Easter Day.

Checking out the goodies in her basket.

Showing off an egg with her daddy.....sadly with closed eyes.

Sitting together on the stairs.

Just lounging around...

Eggs...Eggs...Eggs...

Well Easter has become less about Jesus and more about Eggs. I try not to make it that way, but with 4 egg hunts in one week it's bound to become more about the eggs and candy. We did make it to church on Sunday morning (where they had one more egg hunt) and read an Easter story at Erin's school (where they had another egg hunt).


This was the first year we decided to color our own eggs. Previously we've always just hidden little plastic eggs with jelly beans or other small candies in there. The kids had a blast coloring them. Erin thought it was really fun to scribble on her eggs with the wax crayon before dipping them. Her favorite colors were the teal one and the pinky/purple color. Jeffrey was all about the red. Each of his eggs went into the red dye. When they were dry on Saturday we took and put little "tattoos" on the eggs. Then Sunday morning when we got back from church the "Easter bunny" took and hid them around the deck.



But the egg hunts were the hit of the week. We had our first one last Saturday (see previous post). Then on Thursday the library set up an egg hunt after story time. Both the kiddos were cranky on Thursday and they were only allowed to find 5 eggs each (so everyone would get some). Needless to say there were some tears shed at the library egg hunt.




On Friday Erin's school held an Easter party and egg hunt. I prepared 12 eggs for both Erin and Jeffrey by putting their names on them ( and puppy stickers for Jeffrey's). When we got there all the eggs were spread around the lawn. Inside the kids were singing some Easter songs and even got the meet the Easter Bunny. When they got outside the kids were supposed to find the eggs with their names on them. Erin had the most fun finding Jeffrey's eggs for him. Then she went on to find her own.




We skipped Saturday's massive egg hunt at the high school. It was supposed to rain. But in all honesty mommy was just egg hunted out and daddy was busy brewing. But when we got back from church on Sunday we had one last hunt here at the house. The eggs we had dyed and a few plastic ones were all around outside - especially hiding in cool corners of the new deck. Although it was chilly it was finally sunny for an Easter. The kids had a blast running around and looking for all their special eggs that they had made.






Our last egg activity was taking 6 of our colored eggs and making Deviled Eggs. Erin helped mommy to peel the shells all on her own. Then she mashed the yolks and helped stir in the seasonings/dressing. It was her favorite part of Easter dinner and she ate 3 all on her own.


So although Easter is about so much more than eggs and candy, it seems we somehow made those eggs and candy pretty special. It's pretty easy when you involve your family.

Jeffrey's 10 Favorite Things to Do

I can't believe my little guy is going to be 3 in 2 months. He seems so much older yet still my little "baby" too. Active is certainly the word used to describe his daily activities. If he's awake he's moving.

So here are some of his favorite things to do.

10...Drive his Matchbox cars on his road "carpet", inevitably crashing them into each other.

9...Read stories in his glider in his room.

8...Climb into bed with mommy about 7 AM every weekday. Snuggle for a few minutes and then ask to watch "heroes" (Higglytown Heroes).

7...Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Row Row Row Your Boat, especially with silly words like Row, Row, Row, Your Boat Gently Down the Stream. Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily. Life is Like a Bowl of Spaghetti.

6...Play Mouse Trap.

5...Work puzzles. He's mastered all of our 24-piece ones and is working on the 48-piece ones on his own too, but still needs a little help with those.

4...Get his own sticker from the drawer after going poop in the potty. That's right we're mostly potty trained here - WOOOOO.

3...Go to Bodo's Bagels with mommy after his gymnastics classes.

2...Play on Erin's computer.

1...Go to mommy's gym. This is generally the high-point of his day. He LOVES mommy's gym because he gets to play with kids his own age and mommy loves it because she gets a little break each day.

Out of the Mouth.....

Sometimes 4 year olds just say the funniest things....

At dinner our friend, Jacob, had stopped by. Erin, Jeffrey and I were finishing our meal. Jeffrey was being rather belligerent about eating. I made him eat a bite of mashed potatoes (how horrible of me, I know). He decided he was just going to start throwing a fit. The following scene ensued.

Jeffrey screaming.

Erin: "He doesn't like them mom!"

Mom: "Yes I know honey, but he needs to eat 1 bite AND I'm the mom."

Jeffrey: Screaming louder. "I'm Cold" (This is his current phrase when he's mad or grumpy or tired. I'm cold.)

Mr. Jacob: starts giggling at this phrase from Jeffrey. Mommy joins him.

Erin: Completely straight faced. "It's not funny Jacob."

Mommy and Jacob: Nearly fall out of their chairs with uncontrollable laughter.

Mr. Jacob: You're right Erin. It's not.


It may have been one of the most hilarious and precious moments ever. She so calmly and clearly told Mr. Jacob - a daddy in his own right - that Jeffrey's being cold was simply not funny. I'm still laughing about it. And I'm sure I'll still be laughing tomorrow.

Egg Hunt

Our county recreation department held their annual egg hunt this weekend. It's over at the park around the corner from the house so we made a point to go. This year they spread all the eggs over 2 full sized soccer fields. Erin and Jeffrey both had a great time wandering around a picking up their eggs. Both ended up with overflowing baskets. We also had a little time to play at the playground before the egg hunt got started. So here are a few pictures I wanted to share. The photographer from the local paper was taking pictures and asked if she could use one of Erin. So I'll need to make it a point to grab a copy of the paper this week and see if she made it in.

Erin's 10 Favorite things to do

Just thought it might be fun to post some of the more "mundane" or everyday things the kids have been up to recently. So here we have....Erin's 10 Favorite Things to Do.

10...Play on her V-Smile TV game. Right now Nemo and Ratatouille are her favorites.

9...Dress and un-dress her dolls which she has named Hailey and June.

8...Read books while she's supposed to be resting.

7...Go to school. I'm so glad she still loves it. And most important she's learning so much it's amazing.

6...Make up silly imagination games. Sometimes she's a dog, sometimes a pirate, sometimes an Incredible (mostly Violet).

5...Make bread with daddy. They've been making lots and lots of fresh bread recently. Erin likes to measure and knead.

4...Play on her computer daddy got her for Christmas.

3...Sing "Dumb Dog" from Annie. We must sing that close to 10 times a day at least. Erin knows all the words and which parts are "her parts" and which ones Annie sings. Generally mommy is Annie and Erin is everyone else.

2...Go to jumping class at mommy's gym. She gets to jump in a big moon-bounce type thing.

1....Wii bowling. She love it. Asks to bowl every day. And the scary thing...she's good. Almost reached Pro status already.

Grandparent's Day at School

Erin's school had a Grandparents Day at school yesterday. Each child was able to invited their grandparents to come to school with them. Since Grandma and Grandpa W. live too far away they weren't able to be there. Erin's Noni was able to take the morning off work and drive down though. Mommy kept it a big secret from Erin so that when Noni arrived at her school she would be surprised. I wasn't there to see it, but I hear there was quite a bit of excitement.

The kids put on a little program for their grandparents. They all gathered in the sanctuary of the church where the preschool is. The kids sang a bunch of songs including, "You are My Sunshine," "Little Bunny Foo Foo," and "Skinamarink." They also recited the Pledge of Allegiance (something I didn't know they were even working on). Then they had a little "tea" for their grandmas and grandpas. There was fruit and cheese and crackers and lemonade for the kids with coffee for Noni.

After the program was over several kids left with the grandparents. Erin wanted to stay and show Noni all around. They sat together for story time (Green Eggs and Ham) and Noni got to meet some of Erin's friends. Erin even showed Noni how she plays and runs around the playground.

When school was over Jeffrey and I met Noni and Erin for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. It was so special to Erin that Noni was able to come down and visit her school. Maybe next time we'll have enough notice and Grandma W. will be able to schedule a trip for next year's Grandparent's Day at school.

Meeting New Baby Will

We got a chance to go up to New York this weekend and meet "new baby Will" as the kids call their new cousin. It was his baptism weekend and Erin has been looking forward to meeting her new baby cousin since he was born on January 1st (6 weeks early by the way. He's a trooper though and is already over 9 pounds. Way to go kiddo).

He's simply adorable. Both Erin and Jeffrey though he was pretty cool. Although I think Erin thought that maybe new baby Will would be a little more "fun". Cousin Rylie was there and it turned out that she was a little more fun to play with. That's ok though because mommy and daddy got some quality time with their new nephew. It's been almost 3 years since I changed such a tiny little diaper.

Erin did get a few chances to "hold" Will and to help out. Mostly we propped him against a pillow and put her arm behind him. She and Rylie did sit together to help give him a bottle at one point, which was quite precious.

Jeffrey also got in on the action. He loved to give baby Will kisses (sometimes a little too close to the mouth). Once we taught him - kiss on the head - it was a little better. He also wanted to help push Will in the swing. It was great to see him so interested in his baby cousin.

We had a great time with our family. It was so special to meet baby Will. We can't wait until May when we get to see you again.

More Singing

Here's some more singing. When I was taping Erin singing her Valentine's Day song they wanted to share some other songs. This is a very rare occasion (them actually letting me video the constant singing) so I thought I'd share with everyone. You can tell that by the end they were done with singing....and yes, that's Tinkerbell panties Erin's showing off.

He Was A Tree Cutter

Normally when I pick Erin up from school I ask her what she did that day? I start with asking about snack because she can usually remember that. Then she'll start to tell me about other things. The conversation went a little like this....

"What did you do in school today honey?"

"I dunno."

"What did you have for snack?"

"Teddy Bear crackers, grapes and bananas, but I didn't eat the bananas because my tummy doesn't like bananas." (she gagged on one at home last week - like mother like daughter) "Oh yeah and we talked about cherries."

"Cherries?"

"Yeah, like cherry trees? There was that guy who cut down all the cherry trees. I don't know his name."

"George Washington?"

"Yeah that's it. George Washinton. He was a tree cutter. He went around and cut down all the trees. Apple trees, cherry trees....all the fruit trees. That was what he did. All the trees in the forest that he didn't want he went and chopped them down. Especially the cherry trees."

"Oh really? Did he do anything else?"

"I already told you mom, he was a tree cutter."

"Ahhh ok. Was he also a president?"

"Oh yeah...that too. I don't want to be a President, that's what I told my teacher."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want to be a tree cutter like George Washington."


Well at least she's aspiring to be like one of the founding fathers. And really...who wants to be President anyway.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone.

This year Valentine's Day has been a bigger deal because Erin is in school. She had to make home-made Valentines for everyone in class. She really worked hard on them and made them special. She LOVES using scissors so she cut out hearts, then cut out some paper doilies and glued them on. Then she used some foamie stickers and glitter glue to finish them off. She picked out which one was for which person in class and then wrote all of their names (well traced what mommy had written). It was great to see her so excited about working on the project.


They had a little party at school today and Erin invited mommy to come along. Jeffrey was a little cranky so we only went for the last half of it. They all made ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings (Before Jeff and I got there). Then they showed off their Valentines and explained how they made them. They all made little penguin cans to hold their Valentines and Erin went around and delivered them individually into the cans. All this time Jeffrey had gotten over his grumpies, found another little brother of someone in class to play with, and played quietly in the school room.


The first thing she did when we got home was dump them all over the table and check out all her loot. A lot of kids added candy to their cards (we didn't) so that added to the excitement. The ones from people she considers special friends she would get even more excited about. It's pretty special to see the excitement that comes from something as simple as a home-made Valentine.


And here's our home-made Valentine to all of you.

A Special Message from Erin

This is something she learned at school...and it was too cute not to share. The fact that she actually did it for the camera is another story.....

Winter Carnival Fun

We went to a Winter Carnival with some friends last Friday. It was at Erin's friend Julianna's school and they invited us to come along. When I told Erin about it she was very excited to get to see her friends.

The Carnival was a lot of fun. They had the gym at the school set up with a bunch of games. The kids played a beanbag toss (which Erin was very good at) and a bowling game. Erin wanted to try the basketball game but needed a little help from Julinanna's daddy Jason to lift her up closer to the basket. She did do very well at the football toss though. Jeffret tried his hand at most of the games (except the basketball). He even got the football through the hoop and knocked down a couple of the bowling pins on his own. We had his wearing his puppy backpack since it was pretty crowded. He was not a fan of the backpack this evening though and kept fighting it on us. Better him fight us than run off and get lost though.

The biggest hit of the night was the inflated "bouncy" slide. It was about 20-30 feet tall and one of those great big bouncy things. Erin waited patiently in line with Julianna's sister Kasia. She scampered up the "steps" to the top pretty quickly and came flying down the slide. Jeffrey was all ready to give it a try but took one step on the "bouncy" area and screamed running back to mommy. If we'd let Erin she would have played on the slide the entire night.

In the cafeteria the school was selling drinks and snacks. They also had a cakewalk set up for the kids. They walked around in a circle stepping on different numbers on the floor. When the music stopped someone would draw a number and whoever was standing on that number won a cupcake. Both Erin and Jeff had a huge blast with this game. They even each won a cupcake to take home for later snacking (since we'd been out to dinner before the carnival and has dessert there).

It was a lot of fun to hang out and be silly with our friends. Thanks so much for inviting us.

Progress

I realized I haven't updated the Jeffrey potty progress in a long while. It feels like I've been potty training him forever. He's the one who wanted to get started with it, but has days where it's a complete fight. He HATES to be interrupted from what he's doing to go potty. That doesn't mean he has accidents. It just means that if I ask him to go when he hasn't been in a while it's a huge fight. Still he's pretty much completely trained when he's awake. Wears his Cars or Little Einstein undies throughout the day. He may have a little accident on his way to rush to the potty but we deal with those in stride.

This week he seems to have also turned a big corner. He'd been in a phase of only pooping when in a pull-up. So every nap and morning he'd wake up with a huge stink. Since the fall he had gone through phases like that but this last one was the longest.....about a month. So last week I turned up the encouragement level. I'd make sure he sat long enough before nap time so that if he had to go he would. We read stories in the bathroom and I even promised him a new toy if he pooped in the potty and kept his pull-up clean through his nap. Well 2 days of promising and nothing but dirty nap times. Finally he was able to poop before nap and stay clean so he got his new toy. This seems to have made all the difference. He's been a regular on the potty before nap time since then. I'm hoping that this isn't just another phase, but the end of the dirty bums.

He even got up from his nap the other day, took his pull-up off and tossed it in the trash. Got on the "big" potty and did his business all on his own. Of course then he came downstairs naked trying to convince me he was "all done nap". He lost that battle, but got a big hug and high 5 for doing a great job with the potty.

He also pretty much got to do it all on his terms. Go when he wants, have whom he wants in the bathroom etc.... But as long as I'm not having to clean it up I'll let him keep his particularities.

So Yay!!! for Jeffrey. I've got a few more "prizes" tucked away in case we need them again, and Grandma is sending a few down as well but hopefully we've entered the newest phase of using the potty. It only took us about 9 months...sigh.

Is God Down There?

Sadly Erin's fish Marlin died sometime last Friday. When we first discovered it she was devastated. Cried so hard she made her head hurt. She just sobbed and sobbed. Tom and I tried to explain that Marlin had gotten very, very old in fish years, and that when that happens fish just sometimes die (also when they've been subjected to several attempts at "play" by a 2-year old). So Friday night Erin cried herself to sleep very upset that Marlin had died.

So all week we've been trying to decide what to do with Marlin. Erin wanted to send Marlin to God so God could take care of Marlin. Today when we were finishing cleaning out the tank (it's been a busy week) I reminded her that when daddy got home, we were going to take care of Marlin.

Will we send him to God?

That sounds like a good idea Erin.

But where is God. I can't see him?

That's a big question Erin.

I then proceeded by explaining that God is everywhere all the time. That God was giving her a hug as I did, that God was making the trees move around outside, that God was with her new baby Cousin Will when he was taking a nap or with Cousin Rylie when she was playing with Aunt Robyn. This was a long enough answer to completly confuse her and end the conversation.

Erin and I had talked about putting Marlin in the stream behind the house, since Marlin belonged in the water. But it's been really cold and no one really wanted to go stand by the stream in the cold. So after dinner tonight we decided to give Marlin a bathroom funeral.

We said goodbye to Marlin and explained again that we were going to send Marlin to God. Erin dumped him into the potty and clearly said "Goodbye Marlin." Tom then had her flush the potty and she watched Marlin swirl away. Immediately Erin looked up at me and said.....

Is God Down There?

Holding in the laughter as much as possible Tom and I said, yes honey I guess God is down there. I'm really hoping she doesn't need too much therapy when she grows up.

Sledding 101

We learned a lot about sledding toady - well Erin did. She is definitely mommy's little girl. She spent a good portion of the afternoon sliding down the hill at the side of the house. For her the faster the better. Jeffrey's not so comfortable with it. He'll slide for about 10 feet then throw all his appendages into the snow to slow himself down. Erin thinks it's great fun to bump into the trees.

Lessons learned.

1. A plastic tray works much better than a trash bag - until the tray breaks during an incident with a small tree.

2. Try to stay on the "sliding path" as much as possible.

3. For every time you slide down the hill.....you have to walk back up it.

4. To get the best ride down the hill one should lay as far back as possible and lift your feet in the air.

5. The shout "Bail Out" from mommy means you're about to hit a tree or the pricker bush.

6. Pushing Jeffrey down the hill is just about as fun as sliding down on your own.

7. Sliding on a trash bag results in a sore bum at the end of the afternoon.

8. Tandem sliding with brother doesn't always work really well.

9. Don't walk on the sliding path....it gets slick.

10. Most importantly, we need a real sled for premium sledding action.

Snow Day

Yay for another snow day - at least that's what the kids are saying. I, on the other hand, had other plans. We were set to go to the library (Erin and I need some more books to read together) then this afternoon head to the gym to try out a new class, grab some dinner, go back for Annie try-outs, and then game together with some friends. There's still a possibility we'll be able to get out this evening, but it's pretty sketchy.

Anyway the kids could care less. It wasn't snowing when Jeffrey woke up or when I got into the shower (At least not that I noticed) but when I got out of the shower there was a dusting of snow covering the ground. Forty minutes later there was at least an inch. Erin woke up begging to go out and play. I did presuade her to stop long enough to eat some breakfast.

So we bundled up. All of you moms out there know the process that means. Hit the potty, find gloves and hats, boots and snow pants. Make sure we don't have to go potty again. Then I need to make sure everything gets put on in the right order (mittens before coat, pants before boots). That whole process takes at least 20 minutes.

Once they were ready to head out, I got myself ready and followed them. They were running around giggling and laughing it up. Throwing snow on each other. Pushing each other down and laughing some more. By the time we got out there we had at least 3" on the ground. Erin wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was really light and fluffy and wouldn't even make a decent snowball.

We did decide to take a walk and went down to look at the stream. It's really pretty in the snow and you can hear the water running so much clearer because everything else is so quiet. The kids had fun throwing snow into the water since the stones were all covered up.

Back at the house Erin asked to go sledding. I went inside and found an old serving tray from the kitchen. After a few runs down the side hill we'd packed down a little path and had a pretty good sledding run. The kids thought that was the best thing ever. Not only was the sliding part fun, but each thought that the option of pushing the other down the hill was equally fun. They slid down the hill for about 30 minutes until one good push landed Erin against a tree and we cracked the sled. Erin laughed and laughed because she hit the tree. It was quite funny until she realized the sled had cracked, then she was devastated.

So we gathered up our cold fingers and runny noses and headed inside. The snow is still coming down so maybe we'll get back out later and I'll take a few pictures.

We didn't get to the library and probably won't make the gym, BUT we certainly did have some fun. Library and gym for tomorrow I guess.

Wheeee!!!

Or Wii is more like it. Erin's Uncle Jeff brought his Wii to Grandma's house at Christmas. To say Erin was obsessed would be an understatement. She was a fanatic about the Wii. She's played it once before but with some help. This time it was all her. She and her cousin Rylie would race cows - very funny. Erin's favorite games were the sports games, especially bowling. She also enjoyed the baseball game, got a few hits in too. The bowling held her passion though. She started out the week needing help from an adult for everything. By the end of the week she was bowling pretty much entirely on her own (Tom or I would need to get her set up in the right spot between balls in a frame). The last game she actually bowled a 147 all on her own and kicked the toosh of everyone else who was playing. So now we are in search of a Wii for ourselves. Wish us luck.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa's. The tree (and rest of the living room) was loaded with presents. Seeing that there were 4 kids 4 and under there (plus 8 adults) that was pretty much to be expected.

This was the first year that Erin really got into the preparations for Christmas. She picked out presents for Tom and I on her very own - and knew exactly what she wanted to get. She actually had request for Santa too. She was obsessed with her advent calendar and had to put up a magnet first thing every morning. She even saved a spot for Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the stable. At school they made ornaments as gifts, Reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve, and learned lots of Christmas songs. Seeing her grow so much in her excitement and anticipation was a blessing.


Jeffrey was equally excited. His passion was Christmas lights. Any time we were out he'd scream loudly "Looook Christmas Lights!!!!!". He also loved listening to Christmas songs on the radio and chose a favorite this year.......Feliz Navidad. An odd choice but it's quite repetitive and he would often just sit on the floor and sing "Feliz Navidad....Feliz Navidad...Wish you Merry Christmas...Wish You Merry Christmas" So adorable I giggled every time. He also enjoyed his calendar, but the Holy Family ended up off to the sides and Baby Jesus was flying near an angel.


Christmas morning was a blast. The kids really dug into their stockings. Their presents from Santa seemed to be the biggest hits. Santa brought Jeffrey a "Pat Pat Rocket" from Little Einsteins. Erin got her request of a new baby doll she could sleep with (a Cabbage Patch kid). Pat Pat and baby Hailie are still popular even a week out.


So prepare for the picture overload. Here are some shots of the kids opening presents and in front of the tree Christmas morning.



All 4 cousins and a mountain of presents


Anything left in here?

Woah!!! This is cool!!

Being a little more careful.

Already loving her dolly.

Worn out.

Holidays at Grandma and Grandpas

It has been a while since we spent Christmas in Rochester so all of Tom's family gathered together to spend the holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's. We ended up with 4 kids under 4 sleeping and playing under one roof which provided it's own excitement.

We got there Friday night just in time for some pizza for dinner. The kids did great in the car, much thanks to Noni's portable DVD player. The car was packed to the gills so that only Tom had free range of movement, but we all managed. Jeffrey slept for a short time in the early afternoon (we left C'ville around noon because Erin had her school party that morning). Other than that, they talked and sang songs....and watched Toy Story and Polar Express.

Saturday we hung out at the house settling in with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Robyn and Rylie and Avery. We haven't seen Jeff, Robyn or the kids since June and it's amazing how much Avery has grown. That evening was the annual Noronha Christmas party across the street. The kids were very excited to see Uncle Gary and Uncle Craig. They even participated in the Christmas sing-along.

Sunday morning was Church with the family. Jeffrey made it through almost the entire service sitting with us. We finally had to take him out when he decided it was time to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the middle of the sermon. There was no quieting him once his mind was set on it. After church we went back home to Grandma's for some lunch and quiet rest time. Erin spent the afternoon helping Grandma cook and entertaining baby Avery. Once Erin realized she could make Avery laugh by being silly with her Erin was hooked. She spent much of the rest of our visit trying all she could to play with the baby or making faces at her. And heaven forbid Avery fuss when Erin could hear her, because she'd be there in a flash with her silliest faces at the ready. Sunday night was dinner at Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill's. Jeffrey loved being able to help feed the doggies and even let Brinley knock him down.

We woke up Monday morning to some snow falling. We decided to take advantage of it and bundled up the kiddos for some fun in the snow. We walked next door and sang some Christmas songs for the Noronha's. There were flying snowballs, snow banks to climb on, snow angels and other fun. Then we decided to walk up to the elementary school and play on the playground in the snow. The walk was a little icy and we had some bums going down (big and little alike) but it was worth it. The slides were super fast and swings just as fun as they were in June. We only decided to head back when mommy's toes were starting to freeze. Otherwise I think all 3 kids could have stayed out in it forever.

The rest of Monday was spent getting ready for Christmas. There was last minute shopping, some wrapping of gifts and food preparation. We headed back to church for Christmas Eve service. I dressed the kids in their dress and suit from Noni. They were so darned cute all dressed up. Jeffrey wasn't sure about the suit but once it was on he was fine. Erin wouldn't even let me suggest taking the dress off before we went out to dinner. The kids scarfed up dinner at a local Japanese Steakhouse / hibachi. I'd swear Jeff ate his weight in rice and steak and even veggies. When we got home from dinner the kids got right into PJs and Tom and I read "Clown of God" for everyone. After picking out the right cookies and milk for Santa everyone was off to bed, while the adults brought all the presents up from the basement and arranged them around the tree.

Christmas morning was tons of fun with paper flying everywhere. So much fun, it requires a post in itself. We hung around through Wednesday. The moms and dads left the kids with Grandma and headed out to a couple of wineries on the wine trail. It was a nice relaxing time. That evening Tom and I took additional advantage of the babysitting and headed out to catch a movie.

While all the kids in one house could get pretty crazy it was a very special time. We are very glad that we got to spend our Christmas with that part of our family.