Saturday, November 27, 2010 Christmas Decorations

Christmas Decorations
HIGH:  We put up all of our Christmas decorations today :)
LOW: A lot of our lights don't work :(

Today we turned on the Christmas music, dragged up all of the boxes out of the basement, and we got to work transforming our house into Christmas City!!!

We cleared everything out and started unpacking the decorations!

Claire was SUPER into decorating this year!  She was very involved!

Poor Mark has to re-string the lights on one of our Christmas trees.  Not an easy job. 

Claire could not wait to put the ornaments on the tree.

She was so excited when she found the ornament that I made her 3 years ago.  She started yelling "Mommy!!  This one has my name on it!!"  When I painted that ornament I couldn't wait to watch her put it on the tree, and now she loves it!  It made me a little teary!

I gave Claire a pile of soft, non-breakable ornaments and told her that she could put them anywhere on the tree that she wanted.  Well, in typical Claire fashion she put them all on two branches.  Again, this was very hard for me but...I left them there :)

Finally, it was time for Claire to put the star on the tree.  Poor Mark almost dropped her into the tree but they pulled it off!!

Oliver played nicely on his playmat while we decorated.  Until, I heard Claire yelling "Oliver is trapped!!! Mommy, Oliver is trapped!!"  Poor kid, somehow he flipped the playmat over himself!  He loves to have his face covered so, of course he wasn't crying or anything.  God love him!

Well, the  house is all decorated and looks beautiful!  I love love love Christmas time!

Friday, November 26, 2010 Sliver

Sliver
HIGH: We spent the day laying around at Nana and Papa's :)
LOW: Claire got her first sliver :(

Today Daddy had a lacrosse tournament all day so the rest of us got up, got dressed and headed over to Nana and Papa's.

This is pretty much how the whole day was spent.  Claire was very excited to take a nap at Nana and Papa's house.  She wanted Papa to take a nap with her and really, how could he say no :)  Then we helped them finish off the Thanksgiving leftovers (the ones that people didn't take home anyway) for lunch and ordered a pizza for dinner.  It was a GREAT day!  Plus, it snowed all day while we played and watched The Polar Express...doesn't get much better than that.

When we got home Mark started unloading the hardwood for to stack it so that it could reach the right moisture or whatever.  So there was his trusty sidekick there to help him out.

 

Claire loves her helping her Daddy.  She has a blast measuring and stacking up the wood.

UNTIL..........

 Claire got her first sliver :(  

As you can see, she is NOT a happy camper.

After about 45 minutes of Claire begging and pleading we finally gave up and I drove BACK to Nana and Papa's and got the special sliver medicine (Icthamal).  We put that on and by the next morning her sliver was gone.  Poor baby.

Thursday, November 26, 2010 Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
HIGH: IT'S THANKSGIVING!!!
LOW:  I wish we could spend the whole holiday with BOTH families :(

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to deep fry a turkey!  It was cute all the boys went outside and fried the turkey. 

Greg was the ring leader of this whole operation.  Therefore he got to wear the Turkey hat :)

Justin and Greg with the final product.  And I will say that the turkey was AMAZING!!

Then of course the Turkey hat got passed down to this little turkey.

 Then of course to this little turkey.

Turkeys.

The kitchen was buzzin' while we got the food ready.

Auntie Rose stirring the gravy. Mmmm.

Lauren and Sue gettin the salad ready.

Claire sat with Justin and explained her favorite movie to him.

Mark and Nonny talked teaching.

Finally, it was time to eat.  Here is the kids table!

And Claire sat at the big table :)

Oliver and Papa had some serious discussions before dinner.

Oliver had a lot to say.

Too cute.

After dinner Mark and Uncle Dave talked phones and Turkey Trot.

And Claire headed to her office to get some work done.

Then it was off to Aunt Irene and Uncle Brian's for dessert.  Claire and Owen had a blast playing the piano.

Uncle Brian showed them how to play a few songs. 

Oliver smoochin' Auntie Erin.

It's so nice to see everyone on Thanksgiving!

This year I have so much to be thankful for.  I know I say that every year!!  This year I am thankful for my babies.  Claire and Oliver are so amazing and everyday they bring me a joy that nothing else in this world can bring!  I am thankful for an amazing husband (who is working his fanny off on our new dining room).  I am thankful for the health of everyone in my family and all of my friends.  I could go on and on but the bottom line is this year I am thankful for my family and friends!  Without you guys I have nothing!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 Dancing Duo

Dancing Duo
HIGH: Giada came over to share the stage with Claire :) AND The dining room floor came in :)
LOW: We have to wait to put the floor in :(

Giada came over today and Claire introduced her to the stage life.

Giada started out a little slow and shy.

But in no time at all Giada was front and center :)

On a high note, the dining room floor came in!!  We are getting so close now!  

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 On Stage

On Stage
HIGH: I got our Christmas cards done early this year :)
LOW: Claire had school and I really missed her today :(

Today while Claire was at school I spent the day working on our family Christmas cards.  Now, usually I am not really a stressed out person.  But, for some reason the family Christmas card is a HUGE deal to me!!  But this year I did it early!!!!  And I must say I think that they came out adorable (I will post it later in the month).

Today after school Claire decided that she wanted to dance on her "stage" (which is the step down to our family room).  It was hilarious!  She was very picky about her music and where Oliver, Peter, and I had to sit to watch.  It was awesome!

My little performer!

She does have some serious moves.

Then she told me that her, Oliver, and Peter were going to sit in the audience and that I had to dance.  And you know me, I never miss an oppourtunity to be on stage!  So, I hopped up there and did my thing!  Here is the gang watching me!

Here is Claire jamming to Phil Collins.  I love this kid.

Claire's new thing is having a flashlight in bed with her to read her books after we put her to bed.  She has been doing this for a few days now and the other night she wanted Mark to read to her in the dark with the flashlight before bed.  She was really thrilled that Mark agreed.

Monday, November 22, 2010 Fun Time Shopping

Fun Time Shopping
HIGH: We had a nice to time shopping with Erin and Owen today :)
LOW: We skipped dancing :(

Today Claire and I met Aunt Erin and Owen at the mall to do some Christmas shopping.  We had a really nice time.  We shopped, chatted, and had a nice lunch.  It was a really nice day!

We snuck the kids over to see Santa (Claire cannot get enough of him).  Owen was too funny!  He was not a fan when he close to Santa but when we were behind the ropes he wouldn't stop waving and calling to Santa. It was adorable!  Claire and Owen loved their reindeer antlers.

Then of course they loved running around like wild maniacs!

Sunday, November 21, 2010 Santa

Santa
HIGH: Claire and Oliver got to meet Santa :) AND We got the drapes for the dining room :)
LOW: I am getting sick of running around :(

Today we got up early, packed up the kids, and we were off for the day!!  Today's project was drapes for the dining room, Mark's lacrosse game, and then dinner with the Komos.  Yet another crazy busy day!  

We got pretty lucky and found drapes that we both loved!!  Then we decided to take a walk over and take the kids to see Santa.

Claire loved seeing Santa and talking his ear off.  Oliver, on the other hand just kinda stared at him.

 Then he freaked out.  I love Claire's face in this picture.  She is looking at Oliver like "what is your problem?" and Santa is looking at me like "Get your screamin' kid off of my lap."

Then it was off to Mark's lacrosse game where Claire strapped on her equipment and practiced with Daddy.

Saturday, November 20, 2010 Letters To Santa

Letters To Santa
HIGH: We wrote our letters to Santa :) AND We had a nice family party :) AND My cousin Christy is pregnant! :)
LOW: We didn't have time to go and buy a light fixture for the dining room :(

We spent this morning writing letters to Santa and talking about Christmas.  It's a little early I know, but this is the first year that Claire is super into it.  She really gets it this year and is all about Santa.  So when she asked if she could write her letter to Santa, we got out the paper and crayons and got to work!

Claire told me what to write while she wrote her own letter (you can see it on the table).  Her list was interesting but adorable!

Her final letter :)

When we were done we put it in an envelope and addressed it to the North Pole.  Then she got a special sticker for a stamp and we are going to put it in the mailbox for the mailman to come and get it (we will see what he does with it).  When we were done and I was about to clean up, Claire got very upset and wanted to write a letter for Oliver!  So we started all over and she told me what Oliver wanted for his list. So our two letters are done and ready to be mailed!

After nap time we went to my Nonny's house for pizza.  My cousin Christy and her daughter Ashlyn were town with some BIG NEWS!!  CHRISTY IS PREGNANT AGAIN!!!!  Ashlyn had the most adorable onesie on to let us all know that she is going to be a big sister.  Claire and Ashlyn had a blast running around together, they were super cute!!!  

As for Oliver's sleep training, things are going great!  He now only cries for a few minutes and he is out.  He no longer wakes up for the binkie in the night either!!  YAY!!!  The only problem is....the way that Oliver soothes himself to sleep is by rubbing the blanket on his face.  Therefore, he falls asleep with the blanket on his face and he likes to sleep that way!!!!