9 months

Mary

One night last week Noah was picking up his blanket to take upstairs and he put it over his head. Micah said he looked like Mary. By the time they got upstairs they had declared that Noah was Joseph, Micah was Mary and Celia was baby Jesus. The boys are good at this sort of imaginative play but they really get into their roles.

While doing our family prayer I prayed for Celia's ears to get better and Noah said, "Mom, you mean Jesus." "I pray that Jesus' ears get better." :) Then I told Noah to get into his bed and he said, "You mean the manger."

Birthday with friends

We celebrated Noah's birthday with the Bentley family before leaving for Nebraska. Eva is Noah's favorite friend. It is so fun to spend time with them but six kids six and under gets pretty wild.

Instead of a cake they decorated cookies for dessert.

Five of six. Brielle snuck out of this one.

The birthday festivities have begun.

Cookies

Christmas cutouts, one of my favorite holiday activities.

Brains

Noah: "Micah, try doing this."

Micah: "No, because I might crack my head open."

Glad to hear he is using good sense.

A Day In The Life Of An Elf

This weekend we went to the annual Macy's holiday display. I love it. It is really sweet and magical and the kids are wide eyed the whole time. This year we braved the crowds and went on a Saturday so Shawn could go with us.

The boys running in.

There is a little mouse running on the floor in this scene. Noah said, "Mom is that a zhu zhu pet. Micah look at that zhu zhu pet running around." Ha!

Writing a letter to Santa.

A second Santa visit.

Gifts

Last night I finally opened all the Amazon boxes that were clogging up our entry and wrapped, wrapped, wrapped. The kids were excited to see all the presents under the tree. I'm hoping that we can keep these presents wrapped which is no small feat.

Noah started to look for all gifts with his name.

I love those just woke up faces.

Milestone

Shawn told me to come into the kitchen last night to see Celia's latest milestone. Yes, they do all eventually climb onto the dishwasher door.

I showed this photo to Noah and he immediately said, "Mom, were there any knives in there?" Captain Cautious, that's Noah.

Winter Fun

Taste Test: Pasta vs. Superhero Pasta

Tonight we sat down to dinner and just like we would expect from our fan of routine, Noah immediately said he did not like the pasta without even trying it just because it was a first time dinner.

N: I do not like this stuff on the noodles.

D: This is superhero pasta, just like Capt. America eats.

M: And Spiderman?

N: Mom, I tried it again and I actually do like it.

A few minutes later Noah was part of the clean plate club. Amazing how their minds work.

Countdown

Since Noah's birthday is on Christmas Eve we try and and make it extra special for him. Noah and I made a birthday chain countdown. Each night he takes a ring off marking one day closer to being 5. FIVE...wowsers!

Breakfast with Santa

A yearly tradition for us is attending Breakfast with Santa hosted by the Junior League. I'm not a member but am happy to partake in this event. This year the location changed and the tickets sold out so quickly that many of our friends were not able to come. We still had fun and the boys got to sit on Santa's lap and let him know what they are hoping will be in his sleigh for them. Since Celia starts crying the minute I walk out of a room we didn't dare plop her on his lap.

Deck the halls

The day after Thanksgiving Frisbee and Criddle, our elves, showed up so we knew it was time to start decorating for Christmas.

Now our stocking are hung and our tree is trimmed or at least as much as it is going to be. Here's to a great holiday season.

Thanksgiving

Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Jane and cousins Julia, Brooklynn and Hallie came for Thanksgiving weekend. We are so happy they came and thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

On Friday we went to Sky Zone. It has many trampolines that are connected to make a giant trampoline. It was fun for the little and big kids and it sure wore them out.

These two are great friends. I barely talked to Noah all weekend. He was having too much fun with his cousins.

Brooklynn was a sweetheart with my kids. Reading and playing with them. Love her.

Brooklynn and Julia doing flips.

Hallie and Celia happened to have the same pjs. Cute!
Shawn reading The Elf on the Shelf on Thanksgiving night.
Grandpa Dennis and Micah watching football. Micah was so exhausted he physically could not keep his eyes open.
Grandma brought crafts.

Brooklynn and Julia took their decorating seriously.

We went to the Holidazzle parade and thankfully watched it from the comfort of Barnes and Noble's upper level.

Fun weekend.