Santa Treats

This year I found a cute idea in a Family Fun magazine and we decided to try it. Unfortunately, because the kids have been sick, I had to make these on my own but next year it will be a family project. Nonetheless, they were so cute and Santa's reindeer loved them!

Merry Christmas!

This year was a lot of fun because Nicky is old enough to anticipate Christmas and all that it entails. It was quite a feat to get him to go to sleep last night because he was so excited. He desperately wanted a peek at Santa dropping off his presents :). So after many trips back to bed, he managed to fall asleep and wake up this morning ready to go. Even Catelyn had a great time opening her presents and trying on every tutu she got. She loves dolls and dress up so she got all of her Christmas wishes granted. She also loved her scooter and continues to ride it around the house. Nicky got a lot of Toy Story stuff including Buzz & Woody costumes. He got his bat cave and a much wanted alarm clock (thank you Nannie & Pa). Grant was amazing and got me a Bosch mixer (yes Julie, I will be contacting you for all your wonderful bread making recipes) :). We had a wonderful time with the kids and with family. We are truly blessed beyond measure. Here are some highlights. I'll try to post some videos later.

Nicky's Christmas Production

Here is a picture of Nicky at his preschool Christmas production. He was a flower in the Garden of Eden. What a beautiful flower and just the right kind...the kind that doesn't make Daddy sneeze!

Catelyn's Turn

Okay, so I'm going crazy with this video thing. Its just that it's been so long since some of you have seen the kids (& I have a new camera) so I thought I'd let you all see them. Catelyn is doing great. She has surrendered her position as the baby of the family and is doing great as a big sister. She's learning new words everyday - her latest is "bean" for jelly bean. She calls Nicky "Nick Nick" and her favorite person to call on the phone is Nannie as you will see in this video. Here goes...

Introducing Claire!

For those of you who have not met her yet, this is Claire. She was 6 weeks old yesterday and such a sweet baby. She's started smiling and I caught this video with my new flip camera (thank you, Mom). So now I can include videos of the kids....now if only I had more time to keep up with my posts :).

It's Been Awhile...

Where do I even begin? The last 2 months have been crazy busy! I'm not even sure I can sum it up so I'll just skip to our trip to OK in November. We had a wonderful time with my family and did so many fun things with the kids while we were there. My mom took the time to make a gingerbread house for Nicky to decorate, we went to Rhema for Christmas lights, we went up to Dry Gulch for the Christmas Train (which was awesome), Catelyn got to meet Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jon, & Aunt Jessica, Nicky got to take a ride in Uncle Jon's police car, I got to see my longtime friend, Jordan and meet her kids, and we spent a lot of time with our good friends, the Sees. We even had family pictures taken at Woodward Park. Here are some of the highlights...

Rhema Lights

Pa & Catelyn decorating the Christmas tree

Nicky's Gingerbread House

Riding the carousel at the Christmas Train

With Uncle Jon & his police car

Baking Christmas cookies with Nannie

The whole family at Woodward Park

We are glad to be home but miss it there in OK. We are looking forward to Christmas and taking a few days to just be with family. Nicky has asked Santa for a scooter, a motorcycle, and a bear hat like Papa Bear wears on the Berenstain Bears. If anyone has any thoughts on where in the world I can get a bear hat like that, please let me know. I'm on the lookout but that's a tough one! Catelyn has cut her front two bottom teeth. She's doing wonderful and is growing so fast. She's a climber and an explorer. We did get her some toys for Christmas but I have a feeling she'll enjoy whatever Nicky gets more :).

Nap Time

We've had a problem lately of getting Nicky to take his naps. The other day after I had put the kids down for a nap, I looked in my monitor to see him and Catelyn in her crib playing while they were supposed to be sleeping. He had gone into her room, woken her up, and climbed in her crib to play. Super cute but not ideal. So today we put the kids down for a nap and Grant and I laid down for a nap too. After about 40 minutes we heard Nicky singing so Grant got up to find him singing to Catelyn in her crib. He put Nicky back down and went downstairs with Catelyn while I continued to nap. When Nicky got up from his nap (he actually did finally go to sleep), this is what we saw...

Yes, if you can see closely enough, that is green marker all over his legs. Grant cleaned off his arms before I could get the camera and yes, he even colored on the sheets. What a stinker! I'll have to keep a much closer eye on him during nap time or finally conclude that he's grown out of his naptime (but I'm not ready to do that yet :) ).