Christmas Fun!

We spent the last weekend doing all kinds of fun Christmasy stuff!

On Friday we went to the Festival Of Lights.  It was really amazing!  I have never been there so I thought it was just going to just be a light show.  Boy, was I wrong!  They had all kinds of activities!  Here is Jingles from the Magic Show.

The kids loved the show!

Oliver loved the indoor train.  And Claire loved the responsibility of taking him for the ride.

Then Oliver saw Mrs. Frosty.  He has been loving Frosty lately so when he saw Mrs. Frosty he ran right up to her!

He is my little Christmas buddy.  He insisted on wearing his Santa hat the whole time.

The kids loved seeing Santa again.  Claire was all business but Oliver wanted to just chat away.  Here he is asking who the stocking on the mantle belongs to.  He kept saying "Whose stockings?!  Day the elves?!"

But we did get him to focus for a picture.

Claire loved the 3D house (once we realized the her glasses were too big and had to be smushed to her face in order to work).

 Daddy thought it was pretty cool too.

 We loved strolling through the Christmas Tree Forest.  

Afterward we stopped to eat and the kids were beat!  Claire kept asking us how late it was.  We told her is was super late and was pumped.  She felt so cool staying up waayyy past her bedtime!

On Saturday we went to Aunt Diane's for Jenna's birthday.  The kids had a blast playing with dinosaurs and trains.

Then they heard some bells and rushed to the door to see if it was Santa.

The kids loved reading with Grandma!

And they all loved reading with Mark.

 On Sunday we went to Chestnut Ridge to enjoy the Christmas festivities.    The line to see Santa was ridiculously long and Claire said "We don't need to see Santa.  We already saw him twice.  Let's do the craft and get a snack."  She is so logical.  Here we are enjoying a lunch of pizza and hot chocolate.

The kids loved "decorating cookies".

They did a great job.

We even got a nice family picture.

I also got a chance to take a few pictures of my girl.  She looks so pretty in red.

Oliver was too busy to pose for me.  But he still looks handsome.

I tried to get my chickens together.  

Cheeseballs.

I love these faces so much!!!!

We are having so much fun doing all these Christmasy things.  I am already getting sad that Christmas is getting so close!!!  I don't want it to be over!!!!!

Christmas Cards

This year I had the pleasure of taking a ton of pictures for my friends for their Christmas cards.  I was so happy to get great pictures for everyone to use for their Christmas cards!  I had so much fun taking all of these pictures but I will say there were many photos that did not make the cut but I thought were fabulous!  A friend of mine (thanks Pat) just kept saying people should do their Christmas cards with their REAL pictures of their kids!  So while I strive to get the "perfect picture"  I do love the ones that didn't turn out quite so perfect.  Therefore, I am dedicating a whole post to all of "those pictures" that didn't make the cut.

Here is Baby Brendan!  He was an angel the whole time but here is one where he is just screaming "ENOUGH ALREADY!  I AM FREEZING!!!"

"Get him off of me!!"

"I DON'T WANNA SAY CHEESE!!"

 

"WHAT THE H&^% IS WITH THAT LIGHT"

 "So I says to the Elf, he fits down the chinmey?!?  No way!!!"

"Uggghhh, I am soooo full!"

"Just keep smiling and look at the camera Zuess!"

"What the F&^*?!  Turn down the flash!!"

"NO WAY!  THIS IS JUST TOO RIDICULOUS! NO ONE IS GOING TO BELIEVE I AM REINDEER!!"

 "No Oliver!  You have to look there!!"

Say cheese!

If you could hear me I am saying "Just a few more guys!  Look at Mommy!!!  Say CHEESE!!!  I swear to God just look over here!!!!!!! SANTA IS WATCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So overall, I got some great pictures!  But these are the true Christmas cards photos that no one ever sees!  And just felt that they should be seen!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas Show

Today was Claire's Christmas Show for dancing.  This is her third year dancing and I cannot believe how big she is getting.  Click HERE and HERE and HERE to see the last three years.  

 Claire loves dancing with her BFF Giada.  They looked so cute in their costumes.

Claire looked great on stage.  She did her best and remembered almost all of the moves.

Even though she is starting to get shy in her old age, she still loves to be on stage!

Oliver loved watching the show.  He sat through the whole show and loved listening to the music (and snacking on goldfish and juiceboxes).  At one point he was blowing kisses at the ballerinas.

Oliver was so proud of his Sissy!  He couldn't wait to give her a hug after the show.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed watching Claire perform. 

Nana was sick so she couldn't make it but Papa was there to give his famous whistle when Claire was finished.

I was so proud of my baby.  She is growing up so quickly and becoming such a sweet young lady.

Great job Claire!  We are all so proud of you!!!!!!!!

After Claire's big show Oliver kept us all entertained at lunch by telling us "My eyes bwoken." So I gave him my glasses and he was all better :)

The Christmas Season

The Christmas season is upon us and I am loving every minute of it!!  The kids are at a perfect age to enjoy every moment of the Christmas season!

Oliver loved helping me decorate the tree this year.  He kept saying "These ornaments are booaful!"

Claire always loves putting the ornaments in just the right spot.

We have been wearing our Christmas jammies and watching tons of Christmas specials.

Oliver was very excited to see his favorite train again!

And of course, I have been taking absurd amounts of pictures!

My Christmas Angels.

My little Elves.

We started our newest tradition this year.  The Elf On The Shelf.  This Elf comes to your house and you must give him or her a name (ours is a girl elf).  Once she is named she is yours.  She will watch you all day and when you finally fall asleep, she heads back to the North Pole and reports back to Santa.  Then the next morning she returns and hides in a new spot to watch you for the day.  And you can't touch her or she will lose her magic.  The kids are LOVING this!  They named her Cozy (it was between that and Sparkle Train).  She first appeared in Oliver's stocking.

Then this morning she showed up in the upstairs hallway.  The kids love her and they are being on their best behavior so she will give Santa a good report.

I absolutely love this time of year.  Everything is so happy and magical!!  I love that the kids are really getting into every little thing!!  I am so happy with all of the traditions that we have started and I am truly enjoying every second of this season.