Christmas!

Christmas Eve I decided not to cook, so we went out to dinner (there would be plenty of cooking and cleaning to do the next day).  We got dressed up and tried to get a group picture before heading out.

We had a great Christmas morning.  I heard Grace wake up around 5:30 and check the stockings (yup they were full), then she peeked in our room, but we were still sleeping (of course) and then she got into bed and watched a cartoon on the Ipod (which I had told her she could do).  Both kids were very excited to open presents.  We had toys and paper everywhere.

A Jet Pack for Christmas?

As a mom I think I know what my kids would like for Christmas.  I pay attention to the things they talk about and play with, but I was not expecting Grace to answer very decisively "a jet pack", when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas.  I responded by explaining how expensive they are and that only adults can fly them, "what else do you want," I asked.  Looking back I realize that this was a very unimaginative answer, especially after noticing that the thing they were having the most fun with was a cardboard box or in a child's mind: a tunnel, a slide, a car ramp, a race car, and I'll bet, could even become a jet pack!

Grace - Artist and Author

Author

Grace has been writing little books at school and at home.  She thinks of the story herself, draws the pictures and only gets help with some spelling.

Artist

There is a park nearby with a kiosk where they post children's artwork.  Grace had one posted last week.  We took a walk to check it out over the weekend.

They also announce it on the community blog.    http://www.pinehurstseattle.org/

Breakfast with Santa!

For the fourth year in a row we went to the same breakfast with Santa, which means we get a nice breakfast, a picture with Santa and a holiday performance.  Santa's lap is the highlight and Grace always been great.  Last year Jake screamed and this year he wanted to cry but held it together.  Grace loved watching the performance and Jake loved sitting on the stage steps watching everyone watch the performance.  A few times he tried to sneak on stage.

Thanks to Marilyn for the awesome Christmas outfits, they look so cute (Jake was not a fan of the tie or vest at first, but we were able to distract him).

First three years:

This Year:

Christmas Cookies!

Stealing from Santa

Grace's school had a pancake breakfast fundraiser last weekend and Santa was there.  Jake tolerated sitting on Santa's lap for a minute, partly because Santa gave him an apple (that's what's in the basket).  Later, Jake decided he wanted another apple, so he went and took one.  I think Santa was impressed by his audacity.

Jake going ballistic

Here is a video of Jake going ballistic for an apple (which he couldn't have since he already had way too much fruit including apples and had serious diaper rash).

He happily ended up with a Nutrigrain bar.  I think he always wants apples for three reasons: he can get them out of the fridge himself, he likes them and it's one of the only words he can say.

http://youtu.be/GIGGnCWvswQ

Happy Birthday!

Grace turned six on Monday and Jake turned two on Tuesday.  It's been a five day birthday celebration starting with cookies at school on Friday (since there was no school Monday), birthday party/sleepover on Saturday, friends and Grandpa on Sunday, Red Robin on Monday for Grace's real Birthday, and presents for Jake on Tuesday, not to mention Thanksgiving tomorrow!  It's been fun, but exhausting.

I made a trade with a friend to watch her kids for 24 hours (noon Saturday until noon on Sunday) and she is going to watch mine in a couple weeks.  Since I was watching her kids close to Grace's birthday I also decided to have a little party while they were here.  So we had a little party Saturday night with the 3 boys, plus two of Grace's girlfriends from school.  It was pretty crazy, but I think they had a great time.  We played pin the tail on the donkey and freeze dancing.  The sleepover also went really well, the boys were great.  It was a good sign that they didn't want to leave when their parents came to pick them up (Matt and I, on the other hand, were counting the minutes until they got here).  Of course we let them do pretty much whatever (as long as it was safe) including lots of TV.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves!!

We have a lot of trees in our front yard! We probably have more leaves in our yard than every other house on the street combined.  So last Saturday, on a nice day (meaning it wasn't raining) Matt went outside with the kids to rake.  The kids had a blast.  They were outside for about an hour and didn't stop moving for more than a second.

Fall Hike

We went on a great hike in a local park last weekend.  It was only about 30 minutes away, but we felt like we were out in the woods.  The trail was about 2.5 miles, just right for the kids.  It followed a creek down to the beach (which you had to go through a tunnel to get to).  We were all having a great time, until Grace fell on her stomach in the mud.  She screamed!!  It took a while, but she eventually got over it and managed to hike back up to the car.