O' Christmas Tree...

Last year we purchased our first ever artificial Christmas Tree. So of course we put it up in November!! Kurt set up the tree after the kids went to bed one night and we planned to decorate it with M&A the next morning. Here's their first view:

Christmas Trees are fun to look at on display in Target, but apprently they're a bit overwhelming inside the house. Here's Kurt easing Aidan into the idea...

Maddie was less cautious and began naming the various colors of the lights on the tree:

M: "Um Mommy, are you sure all of our presents will fit under there??"

A: "TREE!"

The finished product! Gotta love the gate - but we're not taking any chances :-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Thanksgiving 2009...

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and we really enjoyed ourselves. It's still a bit chaotic since M&A are not quite at an age where they can play completely unsupervised - but I've been assured that in a couple more years, I'll be able to sit back and chat with the rest of the adults!!

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Auntie Deb's house and then went to Mimi & Buppy's the day after for leftovers. M&A were able to see all of their cousins over the course of the weekend and to them, there's nothing better than that!!

Here's Maddie playing with the canned foods I was trying to donate to the local food pantry. She was in hog heaven since the cranberry cans were "PINK":



I love they way she's started learning how to pose for pictures:




And we debuted our new "pig tail" look on Thanksgiving! How was I able to get her to sit still long enough to create this 'do? I told her they were "PIG tails". The girl loves her piggy!!!

Here's Aidan during the photo shoot with the Willner cousins. Unfortnately Maddie was having a "moment" and refused to participate.

Happy Thanksgiving! As always, we're so grateful for all that we've been blessed with. Especially our healthy, happy children!

Nature Lovers...

We know our kids are nature lovers, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Besides, isn't the term supposed to be TREE huggers?? haha




Note to self: Buy the kids some rain boots.

They're in the Army now!

It's an undeniable fact. Aidan inherrited Kurt's hair. There's ALOT of it, but it's very fine and therefore sticks up on end quite easily. So months ago we realized the only solution for a toddler boy who does NOT like his hair combed, is a buzz cut! We think it suits him quite well actually.

Of course the frequent haircuts needed to maintain his look are a bit of a problem. It's usually a pretty traumatic event since he truly doesn't want anyone (especially a stranger) near his head. SO, once we discovered that the children's salon does Daddy and Me haircuts, we thought we had our answer. Perhaps if Aidan sees Kurt in "the chair", he'd realize it's no big deal.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Daddy got the exact same haircut as Aidan (#3 blade on sides, #4 on top) and it was by far our least traumatic haircut to date. There was some whining (Aidan, not Daddy) - but he stayed completely still and did not shed a tear! WHEW!

Only downside is Kurt looks like he joined the Army. I think we realized just how extreme the choice was as we saw the oodles of hair falling to the floor. Of course at that point, it was too late. It'll grow back, right! Plus, I can't wait to hear about the ribbing he'll get from his co-workers on Monday.

Upside is Daddy & Aidan look even more like twins now (if that was possible).

Always an adventure...

(Maddie says "pink")

P-I-N-K pink

Maddie adores the color pink. In fact, I'd say it is a borderline obesession. Sometimes in the morning when she is wrestling with me as I try to get her dressed for the day, all I have to say is, "But Maddie, it's a pink shirt today" and she calms right down. She hoards pink crayons, prompting me to google how to purchase pink crayons in bulk. The other day at the grocery store, as the items were going by on the belt, she started screaming "PINK PINK" at the top of her lungs until I let her hold the items that had pink packaging. She even goes so far as to sometimes claim something is pink even when it isn't (balloon from Friendly's).

I'm not certain how the obsession started and really I find it rather comical considering I'm not much of a girly girl myself and can't recall ever encouraging her fascination. I guess some things are just undeniably in our nature!

(Aidan is non-discriminating when it comes to his colors - though he does show a slight preference for yellow and green).

Here are some photos from the weekend just to keep you up to date. Below they are playing peekabo with each other from opposite sides of the door to their dollhouse. I often hear "Peekabo, I SEE YOU!" while they giggle wildly. So cute :-)

Halloween Galore

This was Maddie & Aidan's first Halloween where they are at an age to really participate in the festivities. And they had a blast! Maddie dressed up as Snow White (hand me down from cousin Vivi) and Aidan was a NASA Astronaut (we won't mention the giraffe costume debacle).


Here they are doing crafts at the Mother's Club Halloween Party:



Our music teacher, Stacy Lake, performed at the party. M&A were a bit shy, but found a corner where they could dance to the music unnoticed:

We attended the Littleton town parade and marched with cousins Morgan (witch) & Vivi (bunny):

And here is our own little neighborhood parade on the big day. Followed by a pizza party, scavenger hunt (M&A preferred to collect acorns than to hunt), and trick or treating (no photos since they were pretty tired at that point):

Daddy & Aidan lagging a little bit behind the parade:

Our own little nature girl! She is Snow White after all...

"Helping" to pass out the treats (as per usual, Maddie collected all of the 'pink' ones):

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all of our family & friends. Hope yours was as great as ours!