Catalogs...

Jake has a new hobby.....looking through EVERY ad and catalog that comes through the mail. Amazing that he's still only got 2 things on his Christmas list from Santa. Rumor has it that Brian would look through the JC Penny's holiday toy catalog for weeks when he was a kid. He probably had his Christmas list in a color coded Excel spreadsheet.

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus....

Jake and Mia were both a little tentative when we first arrived to see Santa (even though Jake had been talking about it for days and supposedly couldn't WAIT to see "his friend, Santa"!). Some of the expressions really are priceless. And how did they go from screaming/deer in headlights looks to grinning ear to ear? A squeaky duck.....seriously, I need to get me one of those! Brian and I are SO excited for Christmas with the kids this year....can't wait!! This was the first of MANY little things we will do this month......I LOVE the holiday season!!! By the end of December, I'm sure Jake, Mia, and Brian (he'll be first in line) will be ready to throw something at me when they see my pull my camera out.....again.

Let it snow!!!

Last weekend there was a BIG storm......we heard it was snowing a LOT up in the mountains, so we decided to be spontaneous (I know you're all shocked) and make a last minute trip to play in the snow. We decided to go at 7pm and by 7:30, the kids were in their jammies, strapped in the car, and ready to go! It didn't stop raining/snowing the entire way up. Though the kids have been IN the snow before, they hadn't been up there when it was actually snowing....and oh, was it ever snowing!! I think they got about 5 feet in the 15 hours we were there. We all woke up and played in the snow.....lots of fun! We just stayed until mid-day on Sunday because we figured we'd better get out RIGHT after the snowplow came to clear the streets. It ended up being a good idea, as Papa and Tutu lost power for over 24 hours in a 48 hour period. I would not have enjoyed that.

Jake was having a ton of fun diving right into the powdery snow, until it all went down his jacket.....he was stomping his feet and saying "I don't like the snow...I want to go home". Of course, he was back at it less than 2 minutes later....

Snow angels...

Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive.....this was the car after less than 12 hours

My little snow bunny...

Mommy's sad, sad attempt at building a snowman

Not to worry, Daddy, Papa, Tutu and Jake showed us how it's done!! Now THAT is a snowman!

Big Preschooler

Let me just say that my jaw dropped when I opened up the preschool picture envelope and saw this ADORABLE, smiling boy. I was doubtful that he would take a picture at all, and I had no expectations for anything cute! And shocked again, when I saw him standing in the class picture, grin and all. I did notice that he's wearing his backpack, but hey, whatever it takes...right? Every child in the picture is looking at the camera and smiling....amazing. I don't know what magic spells or bribery these photographers used, but I'm impressed.....REALLY impressed! And by the way, my baby boy looks so grown up in this picture.....sniffle, sniffle :(

Hide and seek

Mia has a talent that we have discovered recently. She loves to hide!! We have referred to her as our silent ninja because there have been a few occasions where we've walked by her several times and not even seen her in the corner. The catch is that she doesn't announce that she's playing hide and seek, so all of a sudden we'll just realize that she's not in the room, and she thinks it's hysterical when we find her. Who knows how long she's hidden silently in her little nook before we realize she's "missing"!! This picture is of her newest hiding spot :)

Cute....

This picture doesn't do it justice....she had blue M&M juice staining all of her mouth and dribbling down her chin. Oh, how sad she and Jake will be when the Halloween candy stash runs out!!

Don't you love the outfit?

I heard her yelling "stuck, stuck" from the other room.....and this is what I found.

First Haircut

Mia was starting to sport a mullet, so we decided to give her a little haircut! She was easily bribed to stay still with a lollipop and Jake assisted with combing her hair.....

The new do

Baby Uncle Sean

Jake was SO excited that we got to watch Baby Uncle Sean (Jake's name for our newest cousin) for a little while the other day.....I was equally excited to get some snuggle time with the little man! Jake is 3 and while he's not sweet every second of the day, he was melting my heart this afternoon....his sweetness with baby Sean was just too cute! He was whispering things like "it's okay, sweetie", "you're so cute little guy".....etc.

Trophy

Jake received his very first trophy last weekend! He was SO excited about it that I couldn't even get him to look at the camera....he just kept staring at his beloved trophy. I have to admit that it was pretty cute.....and he couldn't have been more proud. First season of tee-ball, DONE....and he did come a long way. At the beginning of the season, he didn't really want to participate much (despite his adoration for all things baseball).....but by the end, he was doing it all!

Bath Time!

Bently-Sitting

We got to dog-sit Bentley for a bit and it was really fun.....the kids had a blast and oh, how this dopey guy reminded us of our Bailey. Mia shrieked (at full volume) "DOGGY" nearly every time he entered the room.....and he was so good with the kids....

Halloween!

We started out the morning carving pumpkins....relatively uneventful and the kids probably could have been just as happy skipping it, but Jake was happy with the finished product.

TA-DA! Those are some impressive pumpkins!


Grady, Jake and Mia.....amazingly (okay, there might have been some bribery involved), they all smiled and looked AT the camera! Next year little Sean will be on the bench with them!

My sweet nephews....Grady JUST turned 2 and Sean was 5 days old in this pic......love them!

The lovely blow up skeleton (affectionately named "Bones") has been out every Halloween at mom's house since......oh, maybe 1986? I'm not exaggerating. At least another generation is getting to enjoy his company. Jake wanted him in the pics with all of us.....

No, we have not gotten another dog (I swear, this dopey guy could be Bailey's clone). We are dog-sitting and took Bentley with us to go trick-or-treating.....isn't he handsome!!!

She is ON the move.....once she figured out the whole candy drill (the first few houses she tried to walk IN), she was rearin' to go.....she was hanging onto my hand and her little legs were going SO fast, trying to keep up with the big kids, I was amazed she didn't fall flat on her face.

All of the neighborhood kids together.....so cute.....we have the best neighbors ever.....so lucky!