The Extended-Family Christmas

Monday was Christmas with Debbie's family, which traditionally begins with the singing of Christmas carols.

Followed by opening of presents, starting with the youngest. Sometimes it's good to be little: Ethan got to go first! And it was a really big box, too.

A firetruck, almost as big as he is!

Meanwhile, Abigail got a lot of cooking-related presents, including a microwave (with sound and light) and a mixer.


Ethan got a lot of vehicles: besides the firetruck, he got a John Deere tractor that makes diesel-engine noises.


Mom and Dad got some good stuff too, but it wasn't nearly as exciting. As with most holiday parties, the Opening of the Gifts was followed by lots of rich, chocolatey food. Despite short naps that day and staying a long time, the kids did really well. It was Abbey's fourth Christmas (3 years old) and Ethan's second (22 months old).

Christmas Morning

The kitchen was a popular present: with both of them! Ethan's big present was a basketball game, which Abigail played with more than he did. Meanwhile, he was enchanted by the kitchen.

Christmas Eve

Abbey got a kitchen for Christmas, which was not "some assembly required" but instead was "ALL assembly required"! We started putting it together about 10:30pm and finished a little after 2am.



That's "A Christmas Story" on the TV in the background. By the time we were done, all the Christmas Eve movies and shows were over except for the service at St. Peter's in Rome.

Making Christmas Cookies

Making sugar-and-frosting cookies with Mommy, in mid-December.

Pictures with Santa

They turned out better than I expected. I actually like the second one better, as it's candid and not posed.

Christmas Family Photo

The updated family picture is here!

I suppose this will probably become our tradition: we talked all year about getting a family photo professionally done, before the busy holiday time, but that still hasn't happened. Today we went to the children's breakfast at the college, and I asked a friend to take our picture before we got in line to see Santa. I hoped to get a good picture before anyone got cranky, and besides I wasn't too optimistic that either Ethan or Abbey would sit with Santa, even if we were there. And I was right: Ethan freaked out just being close to Santa, even on my lap. So the Santa picture, when it comes, will not be flattering to poor Ethan.

But we did get a good family picture. Note that no one is crying in this picture, unlike the 2009 photo.

Setting up the tree

We put up the Christmas tree Saturday: here are the kids helping me out.

While we're supposed to be getting ready for naptime...

This was from last Sunday (11/21). Can you tell she's very sleepy? ;)

Holiday Season

Thanksgiving went well, though we had to cut our trip to the grandparents somewhat short in order to accommodate nap time. They just don't do well napping somewhere besides home. We even tried going for a drive: they both fell asleep, but woke up as soon as we pulled back into the driveway.

And now it's time for Christmas. We put the tree up this morning and brought out the Christmas books. Had lots of help from Abigail: Ethan was excited to see the tree but wasn't feeling all that well so mostly watched from Mommy's lap.

Slumber Party with the Cousins

The four girls enjoying their ice cream cones.
Striker is waiting for something to fall.

My nephew James. The lone boy in the group.

Abigail had lots of help building train tracks.
She loved it.

Making dinner

This is a typical making dinner scene at our house.
I wonder if that glass of juice ended up spilled. It
looks like I'm trying to rescue it.

More Fall Fun

Abigail liked to get buried in the leaves.

Fall Fun

The kids had fun making faces in the pumpkins.
Here are the finished pumpkins. Please ignore
the laundry basket:)

Fall colors on the way to the "new playground"

We went for a long walk this afternoon, checking out the fall colors.



Our destination: the playground at Mauck School (the "new playground" as Abigail calls it, because Bailey School is much closer and therefore we don't visit Mauck very often).


The first time we visited, she was scared to try this monkey ladder, but this time she went up it six or seven times.


Ethan slept through most of this playground trip, but he woke up towards the end.


The twisty slide! I don't recommend it for adults: too much static electricity on those plastic slides.

Abigail's ponytails

Only recently has Abbey starting letting us fix her hair, and allowed the hair to stay fixed for a significant length of time. It makes her look so much older.

Brushing teeth

Ethan likes brushing his teeth; Abigail is usually good about it, but sometimes gets stubborn about opening her mouth. They both get to do it themselves for a few minutes before Mom or Dad finish it up.

Ethan dances with Tigger, and Abbey feeds her doll

Ethan loves to dance with Tigger. And Abigail is really starting to use her imagination as she takes care of her dolls: besides feeding them, she also puts them to bed and changes their diapers.

Ethan's first shoes

This was taken sometime in early to mid August, shortly after he started walking. He'd just been to Walmart with Debbie to get his very first shoes.

Ethan's first peach

Ethan found a peach on the table and wandered off with it. Debbie said he ate about half of it, which is pretty good for only having his front teeth.

Ethan Making Friends with Striker

Striker hasn't been all that enthusiastic about having kids in the house. It's hard to find a peaceful place where they won't bother him. There are some benefits, however...

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Ethan's getting pretty good at feeding himself, although not so neatly. Sometimes he falls asleep before lunch is over.

Chic Abbey

The sunglasses were lost, and then they were found. Pictures were taken, and now they are lost again...

Abbey lost a fight...with a mosquito.

Abigail looks like she lost a fight, but it's just a mosquito bite under the eye that swelled up. Or maybe this is after she slipped at church and hit her head on the pew. Either way, we're thankful it didn't take long to heal.

She wasn't as miserable as looks: I think she just woke up in these pictures. :)

Siblings

Abbey and Ethan make quite a pair!

Fence Project, part 2

Stage two is the "temporary" fence between the garage and the house. The ground was rocky enough that it was easier to dig with my hands, although that turned to be not such a good idea when I found sheets of rusty metal underground.