Christmas Eve

This year, we decided to venture out for an early Christmas Eve dinner and then we drove around afterwards to look at all of the beautiful lights. Mom has been looking at the spectacular Christmas tree in the lobby of her building every day for the last several weeks thinking that she should take the little people in to see it. So that is where we went.

We got some great photos of the kids in front of the wonderful tree.

And then we headed in to the restaurant where the kids were treated with the opportunity to play with some pizza dough. That was fun!

Natalie also managed to get in a little coloring before dinner was served.

But everyone was hungry and they devoured their pizza and macaroni and cheese as soon as it arrived.

Mom and dad also had a very yummy dinner.

We headed back to the gigantic tree for a few more pictures on our way out. Here, the girls pose with a little friend.

And here is a shot of the tree. It really is spectacular, especially at night.

Natalie made a nutcracker friend, as well.

After we got home, the kids were lucky enough to open two presents. The first one was new Christmas PJs. They were excited and were happy to pose nicely with dad for some photos.

And then they sat nicely under the tree for another one.

Of course, all of that good behavior was in exchange for the promise of another present. While we were at dinner, a bag of goodies arrived on our door step from the wonderful neighbors. (See the prior post on how lucky we are to have such awesome neighbors all around us.) So, we let the kids open one more present and it worked out well as that one present kept them busy for the rest of the night. Natalie and Amanda received a craft and got to work right away.

And Will received a puzzle with firetrucks, airplanes and fast cars that all make noise.

They were all in heaven and then they went to sleep with great anticipation for what was to come on Christmas day!

Rolling, Rollng, Rolling

A few days before Christmas we had a nice sunny day and decided to head out to one of our new favorite parks. What makes this park so special is that there is a little mound in the very center that the kids just love to run and roll up and down and up and down. Click the video to see all the fun action!

Happy Birthday Mommy

Well, another year has passed for mommy. Sigh. But she is so lucky to be able to celebrate her birthday with these cute little munchkins! And there is no doubt that they LOVE cupcakes!!

Pasta Time!

We have the good fortune of having some of the nicest neighbors around. They surround us, which is wonderful, since our families live far away. A few weekends ago some of those awesome neighbors invited us over for some famous gnocchi. It was fabulous and it was fun because everyone got in the action. Here is everyone getting warmed up for the gnocchi rolling.

Will was very excited to get started and he received assistance from the lovely Miss Carly.

Next up was Amanda who got some help from Dad.

And last, but certainly not least, is Natalie, sporting the fake smile, who received expert help from Carol.

Everyone watched anxiously as Carol cut up the roll of pasta into bite-size pieces.

Carol then demonstrated the appropriate two-finger technique and our little pasta makers were off and running.

"Ta da" says Will to Carly, "I did it".

Natalie and Amanda also quickly mastered the technique (with a little help)!

Jerry delivers more pasta.

And Will has a few more "ta das".

Everyone worked up an appetite from all of that hard work. And everyone thought that Jerry's pasta and sauce were out of this world.

Here, Jerry thanks Amanda for assisting with the gnocchi.

But we know who did all of the hard work. Thank you Carol and Jerry for the yummy pasta, great wine and wonderful company. We had a great time!

And thanks to Sean for keeping the kiddos occupied for awhile after dinner. Mom and Dad got a nice little break!

Tree Trimming

Once we got the tree home, everyone was in a big hurry to get it decorated. Daddy could not put the tree up fast enough to keep the troops happy!

While Will napped, we played the rockin' holiday station on Pandora and the girls started unpacking the Christmas boxes. They found these little elf hats and put themselves right to work. There were many ooooh and aaahhs exclaimed as they opened up the holiday paraphernalia.

We got the tree "prepped" while Will was asleep and then once he woke up, we broke out the ornaments to a chorus of more oohs and aahhs as each one was unwrapped.

Will had little bed head!

Everyone had a wonderful time. It truly is a magical season for small children! And maybe next year, we'll get some outside decorations up too. The kids are already starting to pressure mom and dad for LIGHTS!!!

'Tis The Season

We trekked back up to the mountains over the Thanksgiving weekend to fetch a Christmas tree. It was a beautiful and sunny day and we had a lot of fun!

First up, picking the perfect tree. We hunted around for awhile.

Checking out this one and that one.

We ran down the hill.

And then back up.

Until we finally found the right one just behind this fence.

Then we waited patiently (okay, somewhat patiently) for the tree to get loaded on top of our car. A few candy canes made the time go by faster!

And then we marched across the street to take a ride on the train,

which was driven by good old St. Nick!

All in all, it was a great day! Next up, putting the decorations on the tree!