Look Mommy, I decorated!!

Ada has always been a little ham when it comes to getting her picture taken. One morning she pointed to the camera and she ran over to the Christmas tree and stood there looking so proud. She had taken some blue garland and decorated our Christmas tree with it. She was so proud of herself. She could have had her picture taken all morning long if we would have had time. Doesn't she look so old?

Thank You, Grandma!!

Benjamin and Ada just wanted to say thank you for their hats! They enjoy wearing them, but of course not when you want them too!! They also enjoy wearing each others hats (which works out just fine if they are both doing this but when one of them becomes protective of his/her hat it is game over). Don't they look cute? Oops I mean handsome, oops I mean beautiful (I think I will just stick with cute).

Mommy, Stop Telling Our Stories!!

What are people going to think about us?

Happy New Year!!

My co-worker Chris invited us (Dave, the kiddos, and me) to her house for a New Year's Eve Party. We took her up on the offer and had a great time. Dave was a little uneasy with the thought of the kiddos staying up late, etc. but everything went great. Ada is usually always in bed by 7:30 p.m. but that night she rang in the New Year! She wasn't even crabby!! She was sound asleep by the time we got home but you would never have known that she was only one year old and up way past her bedtime! Benjamin takes after us and can be a night owl if you let him. He has never really been a great sleeper--we are so blessed with Ada's sleeping habits! Both kids had a great time playing with Karyne (Karyne and Ada are 3 weeks apart in age) and the other kiddos at the party. There favorite thing to play with lately (the last few months) has been kitchen so they enjoyed playing with Karyne's kitchen. Chris and Vitaliy have two house cats that Benjamin and Ada fell in love with. They would search high and low for those two cats! Benjamin even touched one of the cats. Both he and Dave tell me that we should get a cat. We will have to see about that! Dave and I had a great time interacting with other adults and seeing our children interact with the other kiddos there. It was so nice to include the kids in our evening plans and not have to worry about getting a sitter, leaving the party early, or declining the invitation! Plus, Chris made some awesome food. My absolute favorite were her bacon wrapped water chestnuts! Yummy!!!! Thanks for a great time Chris!! We will have to get together again!

Round Three--Our Christmas

Benjamin and Ada were so cute on Christmas morning. They woke up and gave each the biggest hug I have seen them share. These two love each other and get along so well. They each get upset when they can't see each other. Now, don't let me fool you, they have their days when they are on each others nerves but overall they are the best of friends and I really hope that their relationship continues like this. As you can see we had to read each book after it was opened up! I am so glad that these two love to read but I really didn't expect to be reading each book after they opened them. It sure made the day ours and that being together was the most important thing we could be doing.

We made waffles, an egg bake, and orange julius for brunch/dinner on Christmas Day. We had potato soup and chili for supper. Speaking of food, we made pizza on Christmas Eve. Dave and I look forward to continuing our Christmas traditions with our children and look forward to the day when we take them to Christmas Eve mass. For now, we go on Christmas Day.

We had a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to many more traditions and memories!!

Our Christmas

Santa came and both kids were excited! Benjamin and Ada were both really into opening presents and seeing what each other got. They liked opening a present and helping each other out with opening each other's present and of course stopping to play with some along the way. Santa brought the kids some books, a Diego rescue pack with card games inside, safari animals, tractor, dolly, and a few puzzles. We have a small tree so it didn't take much for it to look full. Dave and I enjoyed seeing the excitement on the kids faces as they opened their gifts.

Our Christmas Eve

Since we did so much traveling over the Christmas Holiday and during December we decided to hold off on our Christmas for a little while. We actually did our Christmas before any of us had gotten sick. Since we are just starting to get back in the saddle with feeling better and getting caught up with everything I finally have time to post "our Christmas".

Dave and I always give the kids pj's on Christmas Eve so that they have something nice to sleep in (especially, with all the running we do that way I am sure that they are clean). After we put Ada down for bed we let Benjamin open one of his gifts from us. As you can tell we gave him the game, "Candyland". He loves it! He likes counting like a school kid and playing games with us. He was trying to bribe Dave into playing one of Dave's games (way to advanced for Benjamin) and Dave kept saying, "soon enough, soon enough". The three of us had a great time playing Candyland but Benjamin prefers spending time with his dad (that noise you hear is me sniffling). I think Benjamin is ready for Chutes and Ladders but he will have to wait until his birthday for that (unless the Easter Bunny brings along a surprise).

Benjamin was pretty excited about Christmas but he did not want Santa to come into his house and bring any presents.