Happy New Year!

We spent the night at Grandma's on New Year's Eve as we have most years since my Dad passed away.  Since we live in the same town, overnights visits are a rare and very exciting event for the kids.  We had special snacks and movies, New Years party favors, and Emma & Mama got to try out a Wii princess game.  I think the main attraction was going outside in the morning to blow horns and scream HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 promises to be a very busy and interesting year for our family!

Family

This year my family came in a little at a time for Christmas so our celebrations stretched over several days.  How we enjoyed seeing them all!

Samuel & Cole

 Samuel giving Grandma some "love"

 Reading with Aunt LuAnne

 Good times with Aunt Jeanne & Jenna

 Nathan & Rachel

 This hat was a hot item!

 37 weeks pregnant on Christmas Sunday with two sweet kiddos!

Christmas Day

What a fun Christmas Day!  The kids were up by 7am (except Samuel who slept until almost 8am), Grandma joined us for her first Christmas morning at our house, and the kids were delighted with the whole experience!

Grandma checking out the Sing-a-ma-jig Emma asked Santa for:

We went to Grandma's in the afternoon to make cookies, play in the snow, and hang out with Tom & Steph:

 Sliding down the same hill (in Grandma's yard) that I went down as a kid...

Emma, the snow eater!

 Daddy building a fort

 Samuel was asleep during most of this fun, but he came up with his own ways to entertain everyone:

After his attempt at "jumping", which was just stepping off the hearth and then falling on the floor

Emma and her new doll

Merry Christmas!

CHRIST-mas

Christmas Eve

We had a very nice Christmas Eve... a yummy candle light dinner of steak and shrimp...

 Listening to Grandma read the Christmas story...

 Celebrating the true reason for the season with a birthday party for Jesus... (singing Happy Birthday)

 (Samuel enjoying his piece of cake)

 We watched a Christmas movie together and surprised the kiddos with a gift for each of them to open.  Then they got ready for bed and of course left cookies and milk for Santa!

 Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas activities

We've had a busy household, full of Christmas activities the last several days... baking, wrapping gifts, Christmas projects, and special dinners in the living room watching Christmas movies.  It has been a fun few days and some of these things have helped to balance out the sickness in our home.  We are hoping that everyone feels good for Christmas day!

Nathan making Christmas cookies

All dressed up and ready for some fun!

 Every year we do a gingerbread project... this year it was a TRAIN!

Samuel helped eat some of the decorations

 All Done!

Grandma's Tree

Yesterday we got to help Grandma decorate her tree!  The kids really like her tree because it is full of angels!  Samuel was able to hang several ornaments on all by himself!

 

I even got a decent picture of all three kids!

Brothers, 8 years apart

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of Samuel wearing this outfit and sitting by a Christmas tree, just like his older brother Nathan, almost exactly 8 years ago...

Samuel, age 19 1/2 months

Nathan, 2002, age 19 months

Children's Museum

My Mom and I took the little ones to the Indianapolis Museum yesterday.  We had a great time and we look forward to a few more trips there in the next year as we got a great deal on a family membership!

Playing in the sandbox with Grandma

The whole place was decorated for Christmas!

Checking out some dinosaur bones that were found in Indiana!

Dinosaurs trying to break in! (Emma LOVED this!)