One Last Christmas Party

My family wasn't able to get together to celebrate Christmas until Friday night. Bonnie, Larry and Trinity drove in from CO to join us, Wyatt, and my mom and dad for dinner. Dinner was followed by (what else?) our present exchange. And once again the kids were highly pleased with their gifts. Tyler got a new cowboy hat - just like grandpas! At first he thought it actually was grandpa's so we had to pull out grandpa's hat to show him it wasn't. Then Ty decided that as long as they had their hats on, they should go out for a ride in the backhoe. Tyler brought Grandpa his boots, and even tried to put them on for him. He also brought out his coat and Grandpa of course couldn't resist all that so the two of them went out and moved some snow around until it was time to go home.

Kaitlyn's top present of the night was her digital camera. Say CHEESE!

I want to say one more big round of thanks to all those grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles out there that have helped us totally spoil the kids. We love you!

Project 365

In the coming year I would like to spend more time enjoying the little moments in life just as much as the larger ones. In an effort to focus on that I am starting a "Project 365" where I will take one photo every day. I started a new blog where I will be posting each photo. You can find it here.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful holiday and hope everyone else did too! It has been such a fun couple of days, and to top it off I think everyone got exactly what they wished for.

Almost there!

The past week or so has been a modge podge of cleaning, getting ready for Christmas, and going to parties, and oh yes trying to stay inside while it snows, snows, and snows some more. The excitement around the house has really been building as we try to keep ourselves busy. Everyone is fully aware that Santa comes TOMORROW NIGHT, right? Ok, just checking.

So here are a few quick pics to kind of recap our week. The one above is Kaitlyn in the Snow Tunnel she and Sam made the other day while he was out shoveling the yard. Since then, whenever we go out (on the sled) to get the mail she tries to expand the opening a bit more before coming inside. I think all that she accomplishes is a cave-in but at least she's having fun.

This is Tyler's new favorite hat. He got it from my Aunt Lenore, Uncle Brian, and their boys, who were all up here visiting this weekend. Kaitlyn just LOVES playing with the boys.

We all had a big family dinner on Sunday night, then played Blackjack and let the kids open presents. They each got beanies, a book, and a toy - so generous! and great present picker-outers too! Kaitlyn said "I don't know how they knew that I liked unicorns!" And Tyler, well he didn't take off his tractor hat until he was actually IN bed that night. He now insists on wearing it whenever he sees it, and ALWAYS wears it when he puts on his coat. He insists on wearing his gloves outside too, even if we are just doing a quick car ride to grandma's. I should probably be thankful he likes to get all bundled up right? I'm sure there are plenty of 2 year olds out there that hate to wear their hats and gloves.

And here is Kaitlyn. She insisted on posing for the camera too when I snapped the photo of Ty and his hat.

And that's it from me today. I have to go make some eggnog ice cream for tomorrow night. We are hoping to pick up some hot chocolate and go see the lights tonight - if we can find any good ones. Wish us luck - that it doesn't snow and ruin our plans, and that people in the valley have been in a festive mood and put up their lights. We have very few that have done so in our neighborhood :(

We wish you a very merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday - and that everyone made it onto Santa's "Nice" list! :)

Snow!

I guess it will be a white Christmas after all! (not that I was worried) We took these photos on Saturday. Can you believe the ground had been bare the night before? The snow we got on Friday melted by the evening. Now winter has hit, and hit us hard. But I'm not complaining. Nope. Nuh-uh. The complaining will start in January :)

After a fun morning at the pool, followed by naps for everyone (except me), and after rolling out and baking the cookie dough the elves had mixed up for us, the kids spent a bit of time outside in the snow. They had snowball fights, made snow angels, and even got a ride to the mailbox and back on a sled. Notice I'm not in these photos? Yeah, you aren't catching me out in that! :) I stepped outside long enough to snap a few pictures then retreated back inside to keep an eye on the cookies. But doesn't Tyler look adorable all bundled up?

And here is your laugh for the day:
Have I told you about Ty's obsession with hats? I guess for those times when you just HAVE to have something on your head, a box is a good substitute! :) (yes, he put it on his head all by himself and called it a hat)

Early Christmas Presents

"Oma" Rhonda had to head up to Oregon early to see her new baby grandson, Miles (who was born on Tyler's birthday!). So our annual party has been postponed. And Rhonda stopped by with gifts before she left. Christmas is such a fun season! The presents were a big hit with the kids - a race track for Tyler (with 2 cars so they don't have to fight!) and a frilly nightgown and robe for Kaitlyn. Thanks Oma! (and Dave :) )

And this morning we got to start opening the 12 Days of Christmas presents from Grandma Jackson. "Another countdown!" Kaitlyn said. She is liking the countdown concept. A lot. And these kiddos are going to be Pro Present Unwrappers by Christmas Day. Just look at Ty dig in to his :)

Again, the presents were good picks and the kids have been enjoying them. Thank you Gma Jackson!

And here is our "Awwwwww!" moment from yesterday. Tyler giving Kaitlyn a hug before naptime. He insists on doing this every day and it's so cute!

And yes, my kids did spend the entire day yesterday in pjs. Then they took a bath and changed into new ones last night. I thought it was a fitting activity for the first really snowy day of December. "Snow!! Snow!!" Tyler says when he looks out the window (but when he says it, it sounds like "no" so sometimes we get confused).

Elf-capades

I'm sure you've been wondering what the elves have been up to lately, right? Yeah, thought so! :)

Well, they spent one night making snowflakes and hanging them from the ceiling in the hallway.

Kaitlyn thought this was a fabulous idea and made a whole snowstorm to hang up in her room. Kept her busy the entire day!

They hopped in the car one night. We still have no idea where they were going - and boy were they hard to find! We wouldn't have spotted them if we hadn't been headed to preschool that day. Tinsel was on the steering wheel and Twinkle had on the headphones so she could watch a movie from Ty's car seat.

The bathroom must have looked like fun. Twinkle was found using Kaitlyn's toothbrush and Tinsel must have tried out the tub because his shirt was on the floor and he was wrapped in a towel.

And this morning - more messes! Our sweet little elves had been making cookie dough. Kaitlyn said "Mom, they must not have known where to find the bowl because there is stuff all over the counter!" But we did find the bowl in the sink, their one small attempt at cleaning up I guess.

Santa!

Tonight was the town tree lighting celebration. Such a nice, small town thing that we started attending last year and (I have decided) will become one of our yearly traditions. The kids get to see Santa (without standing in a long line to do so), have a horse/sleigh ride, and finish up with hot chocolate and cookies. Kaitlyn has been so excited to see Santa, claiming she wasn't going to be scared and telling Tyler he didn't need to be either. And she wasn't. She went right up to him and sat on his lap and happily told him she wanted "an Aurora doll." She usually includes "with a horse" when she talks about it but at the last minute she decided she didn't want to ask for too much. :) Tyler wasn't too happy about sitting on Santa's lap, but as soon as he had the candy cane he was content long enough to pose for a photo. He has an obsession with candy canes today and has been climbing over the fence all day to try to sneak them off the presents that I had tied some to.

It had also decided to snow on us today and what had been bare ground just this morning (I know! can you believe it held off this long?) was nicely covered in new-fallen snow. And it continued to slowly fall on us during the sleigh ride.

It was a great way to end a pretty good day. Too bad we pushed our luck and went to the diner for dinner and the kids couldn't seem to sit still for 2 seconds!

Kaitlyn would probably like me to share with you what the elves brought them today. She's been so excited/happy that she tells everyone she comes into contact with. This morning we found the elves in the process of decorating 2 mini Christmas trees. Kaitlyn had a great time finishing up the decorating for them and installing the trees in her room and Tyler's room. And those elves are just so great - they even brought Hello Kitty "jewels" for Kaitlyn's tree!

Tyler's Birthday

Again, Happy Birthday Ty! I'm pretty sure if he cold articulate the feeling he would tell you his birthday was a great one.

It started off with Ty sleeping in (for probably the 2nd time in his life!) and his daddy having to wake him up so he could open presents before Daddy had to go to work. His favorite was the backhoe Kaitlyn picked out. That thing pretty much stayed within his reach or in his hand the entire day.

The elves of course had to get in on the action. They had helped us blow up a bunch of balloons and slip them in Ty's bedroom while he was sleeping.

I jumped right in on the decorating for the party and by the time Grandma showed up to take Katy to dance class it was done. When Ty saw Kaitlyn putting on her coat he grabbed his and we just couldn't disappoint him by leaving him home. So he got to go with Grandma to the building to help set up, and I got a precious few minutes alone to grab a shower and pick up balloons. I arrived at dance class not long before it started so we let Tyler stay and see what did for one song. Yeah, he's not ready for dance class yet. He just wants to jump and run around like he does when Katy turns on her music at home :) So he and I left the girls in peace to finish up class and went home to get the food ready for the party.

The kids party was great - it was a Dump Truck theme (Ty's favorite!). Everyone looked like they were having a lot of fun and things ran very smoothly. They painted cookies, had lunch and "dirt cake" and then had free play time for the rest of the party. It was perfect. (I have posted more details on my craft blog)

Naptime. Dinner. Then we were ready for cake with the grandparents. Tyler and Kate provided the entertainment for the night, and boy did they have us laughing! Typical two year old, we could hardly get Ty to quit playing with one toy long enough to open the next one to once again have to talk him into putting it aside for the next one. The hit of the night was the front loader from Oma Rhonda, which the kids had a fight over before the party was done (that wasn't the funny part).

Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Alene and Wyatt got Ty a brand new set of cowboy boots. You know Ty LOVES boots and he happily tried them on. Then jumped around to show us how they worked.

This was followed by a stick horse race. Kaitlyn had to bring her horse out to show Ty how his new one worked. It was hilarious seeing him try to find the right place on the ear to get it to whinny.

We ended the night with more dirt cake. MMMMM!

Tyler is TWO!

I know I will say this every year, many times a year but...I can't believe how big Tyler is! Today my sweet little baby is two and I probably shouldn't be calling him a baby any more. My big boy is getting more independant every day. He tries to copy everything his sister does and can usually be found tagging along behind her. He is working really hard on improving his vocabulary and can say quite a few things now - including my favorite one so far, HUG! :) Ty is very affectionate and always has to be in on it if someone is getting a hug. He's full of mischief and always trying to climb up on something or teasing someone.

We love our little buddy very much. Happy Birthday Tyler!

New Family Photos

I had a great day yesterday. I got to go shopping ALL BY MYSELF, had lunch with Audrey (again, thanks for taking time out of your busy life Audrey!) which was great, and most exciting of all - picked up our portraits WOOHOO! For those of you that may not know this about me - I LOVE photos, especially really cute ones of my kids. And these do not disappoint. Kaitlyn is Miss Photogenic. And Tyler is a cutie, even though they only managed one decent shot of him on his own and in the others he usually wasn't smiling. Can you believe how OLD they look?!!

I've been sorting photos this morning and still have a huge mess of Christmas cards, photos, envelopes and all the rest. I can't believe how many photos I purchased! Ok, yes I can because I do that every time no matter how much I tell myself beforehand to go easy on them. But don't worry, I won't post all of them...just a couple more :)