Various pics...

Santa Baby

Daddy brought home one of those PacMan type of plug in "video games" and Jake thinks it is the coolest thing. Here are Daddy and Jake playing their first round together.

Jake got himself all dressed to go and help Daddy in the garage.

Playing piano with Grammie

Pretty sure she can't see a thing when she's wearing this mask, but she loves it.

Yet another game of tackle......sigh.

One of her favorite things is to empty out this cabinet and then put the stuff back. But on this day, she decided to climb right on in and hang out. Guess she'll have to enjoy that while it lasts, cuz she won't fit in that cabinet too much longer!!

Nothing Daddy loves more than a snuggle from BOTH of his munchkins

Just sittin' in a box....watching some tv.....

Christmas Train

We bought this train for Jake for his first Christmas and we enjoy it every year.....he was "helping" Daddy put it together and has gotten a promotion to "Conductor" this year.

Pajama Playtime

This was a lazy morning and the kids were playing in their jammies.....they just looked like they were having so much fun together, that I had to take some pics. And I love Mia with her sunglasses and necklace, taking her baby on a walk.

Playgroup 2010

We joined this playgroup in 2007 when Jake was 3 months old.....and there were 9 babies all the same age. This is our 4th holiday gift exchange and here is the group now! The families just keep multiplying!! We are very lucky to have such a great group of friends for Jake and Mia!!!

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.