Little Snow Angels

Greg got home early today, so we took the kids out to play in the snow for the first time. Evan HATED getting dressed to go outside and pitched a fit (go figure). When we first got him out there and sat him down, he didn't know what to think (as you can see in a picture above). However; once we brought Leah out and he saw that she was fine with it, he began to enjoy it. Leah stood in one spot for awhile. Whereas Evan ran around the yard like a man on a mission. After about 10 or so minutes, we decided it was just too cold and went back inside. Of course, just like we thought, they cried to go back out. We went back out in the backyard and played for a little while longer. I wish we had a hill to go sledding. Nana and Papa, can we come over sledding soon?

Copycats

Evan and Leah both like to copy each other. If one goes to sit in their chair, the other follows. If one goes to play with something, the other follows. If one decides they want their clothes off and run around in their diaper, the other one starts tugging at their own clothes to come off. They are definitely two peas in a pod at times.

This is a video of them playing around in our (MESSY) kitchen the other day. I made a comment to Leah about how she was spinning and then Evan wanted to copy her. They are just too funny sometimes.

Christmas Day Pictures 08

Christmas Eve Pictures 08

The Christmas Season is always a busy one!.....In short....Christmas Eve morning, it has been tradition for the past 3 or 4 years to have my sister, brother-in-law, mom and dad over for brunch and then open our gifts from one another. Then, we usually go to church (which this year we opted, again, not to go due to the kids not being able to sit for an hour in one place QUIETLY!) Christmas Eve night we go to my Uncle Bob's house and spend time with my mom's side of the family. Christmas morning is spent with Greg's family at his mom and dad's house. Christmas night is spent with my dad's side of the family at my Aunt Bonnie's house. The kids LOVED climbing on the boxes of presents more than they did tearing off the paper! We are well aware that the novelty of this will wear off by next Christmas :) Both of the kids received wonderful gifts from family members. Clothes, books, puzzles, Elmo and Big Bird stuffed animals, DVD's, a picnic table, a slide/swing combo (my first swingset), shopping cart with veggies...you name it, they most likely were spoiled with it. Thanks to all of the family members who were so generous this Christmas Season! We are very appreciative of everything received! We had a wonderful time visiting with family members and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Getting Ready For Christmas

I was so excited this Christmas to be able to have Evan and Leah join in on the preparation of the Holiday Season. (Last year they were only a month and a half old! Crazy how time flies by.) We made homemade Christmas cookies while listening to Christmas music. The kids especially enjoyed partaking in the eating of the cookies. We also decorated our mini-Christmas tree which we placed in our dining room on a very high buffet table the kids couldn't reach. Greg and I decided we didn't want to constantly chase after the kids and tell them "No touch" for weeks on end with our 7 ft. tree we normally put up. The mini-tree is special to me as it was given to me by my mom's mother who passed away when I was in the 6th grade. I usually put it up every year somewhere in my house in remembrance of her (Christmas was her favorite time of year). So, it was very special to me to have this be Evan and Leah's first tree they were to decorate.

What kind of cookies to bake for Santa next year?.....Mrs. Claus says, "Why wait till next year?!"

Love to play with EVERYTHING!

The last week or so the kids have REALLY been going in our closets and our bathrooms if we have forgotten to close the doors or we need to be in there to quickly get something. Leah has found a purse of mine that had a receipt, medicine, a pencil, and an earpiece thing for my cell phone. Her favorite thing to play with out of the purse was the receipt (the other things I realized were in there before she did thank goodness!!!). She would keep taking the reciept out and putting it back in the purse. This kept her entertained for quite some time. The same day, she decided she wanted to wear Evan's Cardinals hat for a couple of hours (this is the little girl who before could not stand a THING on her head. Minnie Mouse ears for Halloween were a chore to keep on her!). She has also found my wonderful sanitary napkins in the bathroom and has emptied the box on the bedroom floor twice now!

Evan has become jealous of Leah having something to carry on her shoulder. So after they fought and fought, I went and got him a purse as well. He carried it around for about 10 minutes and was done with it. I had to get a picture of him with it though.

The other pictures on this blog were taken the day we tried to get pictures in front of our fireplace with the kids dressed up for our Holiday Greeting Cards. We had to take several breaks during the "photo shoot" and this is one way they decided a pay-back was in order for having to dress up and sit still. I am so gosh darn tired of picking all of these pieces of tupperware up! I definitely have to find a smaller cabinet and put just a couple of them in there for them to play with.

Shake Your Groove Thang

Forgive the sideways photo. Evan has just started showing us his dancing moves. Sometimes we have to coax him to dance, but usually when he hears music (especially anything from Sesame Street), this is what he does. Let's hope he takes after his mother's ability to dance....just joking Greg!