As promised...

Pictures of Christmas Tree Removal (& our conversation as we got the tree out of the house...)


Let's just push the tree out the window so we don't track needles all the way through the house! Great idea!



Mo-mmmmy... I knocked over the watering can..

That's okay -

Xavier will help clean it up...

But the tree appears to be stuck...Daddy's not going to liiiike this...





That's okay, we'll push it out!!





In the end, we did get the tree out of the house...and that's really all that matters!

One month later...

What a December. First, we did have another real snowstorm & I had a sore back & arms to prove it. The girls loved the snow & we made snow mountains out front from all the snow dumped in front of our driveway for them to slide down.

They both rolled snowballs to make snowmen, but then Sofia was too pooped to add their arms & eyes! My four year olds make me laugh more than any people I know.

Their diet pretty much consists of macaroni & cheese, chicken tenders, peanut butter & jelly and soynut butter & jelly and yogurt, BUT, the one thing I found that they love is HUMMUS! If they only knew what it was made of! But here they are showing a little Patriot pride & some product placement for Tribe Hummus:

Now on to Christmas . . . Here is our beautiful tree - It was the best one we've gotten ... EVER, in my opinion - plump & perfect. I say 'was' because we disposed of it yesterday. That's a whole other story I'll share next time I post - what a ridiculous comedy of errors and a big mess, too.

For this picture, I wasn't in a very good position to get the star, too, but it's up there. It is just very difficult to get everyone to sit still & smile for a lot of pictures, so I take what I can get!

We went to Nonni's for Christmas & then to Aunt Sandy's & Uncle Andy's. Here are some pics of the girls in actual dresses!! They looked so adorable I couldn't stand it! I just wanted to eat them up. I took a lot of pictures, but I won't overwhelm the blog with all the pictures! (fyi - Sofia's on the left & Ava's on the right)

Most of the pictures I have of them look something like this one on the right. One is making a strange face, the other one is talking...which is funny because bring them around anyone else & they don't talk much at all. At home, however, I find it hard to get them to stay quiet...

So it's hard enough to get my girls to stand beautifully together, add in their cousin Jack & then it becomes one tough assignment. The trick? Mmmmmm...COOKIES!!!

All in all we had a great holiday & it's always fun to get to see Christmas through the eyes of children. It was awesome to see everyone and I am very grateful for all the love in our lives.

Oh yeah, I'm sure I'll catch grief from someone if I don't include a picture of me & Garry, too . . . So here you go!

Aaaannnddd, here's an even better one with all of us:

Now we're all famous on the blog!

Oh wait, I need the one of the godparents, too!

Phew. I think I'm done now...Until the next post.

First Snowstorm!! . . . sort of . . . who said there's no global warming?!

This morning, Ava & Sofia looked out the window & were absolutely thrilled to see snow on the ground! They immediately wanted to run outside & play. They got their boots, hats, mittens & coats on & rushed outside. It was funny & cute & a little sad all at the same time. Ava was pretty funny saying that it wasn't a very big snowstorm and that they could only play in one corner of the yard.
They asked me to help them make snowballs . . . It didn't work out that well . . . But they had fun & that's what matters!



After playing in the "snow" we ate lunch & went to see Santa at the imPossible Dream playground. They had crafts set up & they had pony rides & "fishing for toys" where the girls put a fishing pole with a hook over a wall & then magically there was a toy attached to the end of their fishing pole. It was a pretty cool Christmas party & something different to do on a Saturday. Ava & Sofia had the most fun with the crafts, but they didn't smile much at Santa or when I went to take their pictures on the ponies...They did smile the whole time they were riding the ponies, though!

Christmas Tree Farm

Yesterday we went out to the Christmas Tree Farm & bought this year's tree. It always feels a little bad choosing a tree to cut down & essentially kill just to bring a little beauty & sweet smell into your home, but I think the Christmas tree likes to be used for a wonderful purpose bringing joy & happiness into a home...but that's only a guess.

There were a lot of trees to choose from & Xavier, Sofia & Ava had tons of fun running through the fields. It was pretty cold but the girls were bundled up. Xavier is 14...I think that's enough said about why he didn't have a hat on. I guess they're just not cool enough for him...Alas, I tried...Hopefully I won't be blogging next about the pneumonia or flu that he got...



We got it home... Ummm... in the car next to Xavier. Tight squeeze, but on the plus side he said it smelled really, really good.



When we got home the girls really wanted to start decorating, but I told them that the lights have to go on first . . . So they put the lights on...












Bella got into the Christmas spirit, too...She doesn't like getting dressed up. I can't imagine why - she's so darned cute!

Thanksgiving

TG pictures...

We had a really yummy & fun Thanksgiving this year. Holidays are definitely yummy with a Chef in the family. The past 11 years of my life have definitely been filled with delicious food. Good thing I exercise!

Here are some pictures from TG this year. We ate & then we all went outside to throw the football around & Garry got tackled by 3 defensive backs...I think they were defensive backs. I don't know. I don't talk sports, I just watch football by default. However, my father-in-law did say I have a good arm & I put quite a nice spiral on the ball. How do you like them apples, Gregg?!

November

We had a ridiculous amount of leaves in our yard & on our driveway this year. We raked over 30 (close to 40) bags of leaves. Unbelievable!! But - the girls & Xavier had a lot of fun playing in the leaves. What is it about leaves that kids love so much? Who needs toys? You just need a lot of leaves . . . and . . . a cardboard box . . . (see below)









Ava & Sofia love cardboard boxes. Ever since they were toddlers, they've loved playing with boxes - putting things in them, drawing on them and of course getting in them themselves! The girls haven't seen Nonni for a while and so they found this box & asked if I could send them to Nonni's in this box. I told them that they probably wouldn't fit . . . Of course they had to prove me wrong. I then jostled the box around quite a bit & although they said it was fun at the beginning, they decided it wouldn't be a very comfortable 3 day trip, so we'll travel by car.

Halloween

I am determined to catch up to "real time"...


But first...here's a few from Halloween! Sofia & Ava got to wear their elephant costumes to school for a Halloween party. Then after dinner we went out on a long trick-or-treating trip. I say long because there is a very bright purple house that we drive by on the way to school. This purple house has a yellow car & if you remember, when they were babies if there was a purple piece of clothing, Sofia would be in it & if there was a yellow piece of clothing, Ava would be in it. Now those are their favorite colors, so that house is their absolute favorite house. Anyway, it's about a mile away, which is pretty far for 4 year olds in the evening. They made it there & halfway back, but their "legs were tired" when we were halfway home, so mommy & daddy were lucky enough to give piggy back rides the rest of the way! Fun fun fun! Their bags were so heavy that the handles were stretched to the limit! Despite 2 sore backs the next day, we all had a really good time.