Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

We were happy to help my mom and dad celebrate their 44th Anniversary today! The best gift we can give them is being all together with our whole family, and here we are!!!
The kiddos enjoyed riding the Aunt Katy and Uncle Nathan horsies today, too!

Disney on Ice

One of my favorite holiday traditions is taking the girls to see Disney on Ice after Christmas. This year the show was Finding Nemo, and we really enjoyed it! Aunt Katy and Nana came with us, too!

Here are the pictures from our trips to Disney on Ice in 2008 and 2007.

More Snow Fun

Yesterday the kiddos and I decided to take advantage of the wet snow and the warmer temperatures to build a snowlady and a snowfort. Elijah was more interested in eating the snow! Sienna asked me to make her a chair out of snow.

We sent Elijah back inside and continued to build our snowfort in the dark.

Sienna stood on her snow chair to see over the fort.

The girls are ready for a snowball fight...

...with their snowlady standing guard!

Sadly, this is all that was left this morning!!!

If I had known that it was going to warm up (and rain) so much, we might not have spent so much time on that fort. Bummer!!!

Another Gingerbread Masterpiece

This has been the season of gingerbread house making/decorating!!! The girls made them at Thanksgiving in Erie, Isabella made one at school, we decorated some with the MOMS Club and now my dad's cousin, Doug, sent us another kit for Christmas!!! The girls never get tired of this fun (and delicious) activity! Aunt Katy was happy to assist them!

Once again, Elijah had to taste the decorations to make sure that they were okay!

Merry Christmas!

After the kiddos went to bed last night, Mike set his trap for Santa. Luckily, Santa got away, but his hat got stuck in the trap. (Look closely above the fireplace!). Mike also set up a video camera and caught a glimpse of Santa's hand writing "Can't catch me, I'm Santa C!!!" (If I can figure out how to upload the video off the video camera, I will post that video at some point).

The girls couldn't believe that we caught a bit of Santa on video and that his hat got caught in the trap!!

Elijah likes his new Shake and Go cars and racetrack!
After trying this out at Bass Pro Shops, Mike thought that Elijah "needed" a remote control truck for Christmas (even though it's for ages 8+). Santa thought that Mike might enjoy it more at this point! This proves once again that he's my biggest kid!!
Isabella asked Santa for a stuffed otter, and she got one! She still loves her stuff animals and prefers them over any other toy.
Bobu helped Elijah open one of his presents.
Isabella also asked for a hat like Mike's. Elijah likes making noise on his new drumset from Aunt Tracy, Uncle Jeff, Trevor and Sydney!!!
Sienna asked Santa for a CD player and a CD with songs about Sienna. (Isabella has a CD with lullaby songs all about Isabella). Sienna was thrilled that Santa brought her a CD player with Sienna songs!!!! We've never had any luck finding any personalized items for her before!

We had a great Christmas Day with Nana, Bobu, Aunt Katy and Uncle Nathan (even though I didn't get any pictures of them)!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

The girls are ready for Santa's visit tonight! They set out a note and some treats for him and his reindeer! They also sprinkled magic reindeer food (oats and glitter) on the driveway.
For weeks, Mike has been telling the girls that he's going to set a trap to try to catch Santa this year. They were concerned about this, so Isabella tried to warn Santa in her letter.

Here's what she wrote:

Santa and Reindeer,

Merry Christmas! Santa, you're one of the best persons. Be careful! Dada is trying to catch you.

Love, Isabella

We will leave you one half of a cookie and two carrots and the reindeer will eat a half of a cookie.

She's not trying to be stingy. Isabella has expressed concern about the types of snacks that we leave for Santa. She wanted to leave him something healthier which is why she only left half of a cookie for him!

When we were young, my Grandpa G. used to read us the book, Twas the Night Before Christmas, on Christmas Eve. I wanted my dad to continue this tradition with our kids.

The children were nestled...

all snug in their beds...

...while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Looking for Ornament (the Elf)

Today is the last day that Ornament will be at our house until next year. Tonight he will return to the North Pole with Santa, and hopefully, he'll return next year!! It's funny how Ornament always found the high spots in our house, so that a little munchkin (or three) couldn't reach him!

La Salette Shrine

Every Christmas we like to go see the lights at the La Salette Shrine. My mom came with us, and we got there right before the lights came on.

We had a quick visit this year because it was really cold!!

Up on the Housetop

We were supposed to go to a holiday sing-along at Sienna's school this afternoon. Unfortunately, we got a message at 2:00 PM yesterday saying that school was canceled today! The roads were clear by last night, so I'm not sure why school was canceled. Oh well!! Since we missed the sing-along, Sienna gave me a private viewing of one of the songs. I learned this song with a different set of hand motions when I was in Kindergarten!

Thankfully, my parents were able to fly in safely today despite the weekend snowstorm! We're looking forward to having them (and Katy and Nathan) here for Christmas!

Snow fun!

We had a huge snowstorm last night. It looks like we got about 12-14" of snow!!! Good thing our snowblower is in good working order this year! (It was out of commission for much of last winter).

As good New Englanders (and a former Midwesterner), we had to get bundled up and go play in the snow!! The girls could barely walk through our yard! Elijah wasn't so sure this was a good idea!

Ready for a ride!



Who is that little guy? Is that Elijah...



...or Randy from A Christmas Story?

Elijah actually seemed happier with my gigantic scarf wrapped around his face!Isabella and Elijah had fun sledding on the driveway! Sienna had already gone in by this point.

A wild ride!

Home Sick

Sometimes it's fun to be home sick! Isabella has strep throat and she has to be home from school until she's been fever-free and on antibiotics for 24 hours. While Sienna was at school today, Isabella and I made a homemade bubble solution (with glycerin-thanks, Mom!) and we had fun blowing bubble castles!

Giving Back

In preparation for the onslaught of Christmas gifts, Mike suggested that the girls go through their own toys and give some away to children who don't have many toys at Christmastime. Both of the girls went through their bedrooms and found puzzles, games, toys and stuffed animals to give away. One needed a little more prodding and guidance than the other! I peeked at Isabella through the crack in her door as she sorted through her toys. She had no idea that I was watching her. She had a "give away" pile and a "keep" pile. She has quite a collection of toy horses, and I saw her holding one particular horse as she looked back and forth between her two piles and the horse. It seemed like she wanted to keep the horse, but I heard her say to herself, "Those kids are more important than this horse," as she placed the horse in the "give away" pile. I was so touched and proud of her!

Mike researched different charities in the area and decided to make a donation to Cradles to Crayons -a non-profit organization which "equips homeless and in-need children with the basic essentials they need to feel safe, warm, ready to learn and valued." He felt strongly that the girls should go with him to make the donation. He loaded up the car with the girls' toys, some baby gear and other items and they headed off this afternoon. We want our children to be kind and compassionate and to think of others. This is another new tradition that we would like to carry on year after year (and throughout the year)!

Puzzle Time!

Both of the girls loved doing puzzles when they were little. This is the first time that Elijah showed interest in putting the pieces into a puzzle rather than just dumping them out! It's very exciting for this puzzle-loving mom!!

More Christmas Traditions

Last night when we got home after being gone all day, we found The Elf on the Shelf sitting on our mantle! We learned from the book that this elf is one of Santa's special helpers who watches over our kiddos during the weeks leading up to Christmas. He travels to the North Pole every night to report to Santa on their behavior and then returns to another spot in our house the next day. The girls named him Ornament. Noone is allowed to touch him because he could lose his magic.
Somehow I figured out that Isabella touched him (she's just as curious as her dad was as a little boy!), so I told her that she shouldn't be surprised if she gets one less present than Sienna. When she seemed a bit sad about that, I suggested that she write Ornament a note.

This is what she wrote:

Ornament wrote her a note back!

Dear Isabella, Sienna and Elijah-

I really like visiting your home. Thanks for giving me such a great name!

Isabella-I told Santa that you kind of touched me. He said that it's okay that it happened accidentally one time, but please don't let it happen again. I wouldn't want you to lose one of your presents, and I don't want any of my magic to wear off! Thank you for your nice note. Actually, your Dada touched me by accident a tiny bit, too, when I first arrived at your house, but he apologized after you all went to bed. It must be exciting having an elf visit your house. I don't blame you for being curious!

My cousins (Jingle and Rudolph) and I had a good trip to the North Pole last night, but I am tired. I need to rest a lot today!

Be good!!

Love, Ornament

The girls enjoy another old tradition of ours. They take turns hanging a miniature ornament on the Christmas tree on our advent calendar each day. This is the same advent calendar that my sister and I filled up when we were little!

Good news!

Does this look like a boy who had major brain surgery 18 months ago?!? I don't think so!! We got another great early Christmas present today (as we did last year at this time). Elijah had a follow-up MRI today and everything looked great. There's still no sign of the tumor! His last MRI was in June, and now we won't have to go back again until next June. If everything looks good then, he'll have another follow-up in a year. Yeah!!! He's doing great, and we are so thankful! He's a mini version of his dad and as mischievous as ever!!

This was the smoothest visit we've had to Children's Hospital Boston. Aside from the two hour drive (through the snow) to the hospital, everything went very smoothly. I requested to have someone from the IV team start Elijah's IV for his sedation since it always takes several tries to get his IV started. This is the first time that they listened to me and actually called the IV team before one of the MRI nurses tried to start the IV. Even though Elijah was screaming and it took four of us to hold him down, the girl got the IV started within seconds. Yippee!!!! I thanked her profusely! It took a few minutes to draw blood and tape down the IV and wrap up Elijah's arm, so I kept telling him that he was almost done. Elijah kept crying and saying, "Done! Done!!" He woke up from the sedation easily and he had his shortest stay in the recovery room (only about 40 minutes) so we were able to get in to see the doctor early. That never happens!!

Elijah was in a great mood when we got home. Here the silly boy still has his ID bracelets from the hospital on his ankles.

Elijah likes to line up his cars ("cows") and trucks.
Who said that slides are just for sliding?!?

Our little dare devil waves from way up high!

Look Mama, no hands! Check out his look of pure joy. He's not even a tiny bit scared.

We are thankful and amazed every day that Elijah is happy and healthy!!