Snow day!

Well, we had our annual snow fall this weekend (seems we get snow every year this very weekend) and the kids couldn't wait to get in it. It started about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and when it was all said and done, it was about 4 inches. This morning when I got Miss C up, she ran over to the window and shouted, "This is going to be the best Christmas ever!" Somehow she associates snow with Christmas. Thank goodness she didn't ask if Santa was going to be coming tonight, otherwise we might have one disappointed little girl.

As soon as we got downstairs and the kids had their milk, they were ready to go outside to play. Unfortunately I hadn't had my coffee, so I made them wait. I think Miss C asked me every 5 seconds how much coffee I had left in my cup. Finally at 7:30, I was tired of the begging and got them dressed. Since we rarely have snow, we don't have any snow pants or suits around here. So it was good old fashioned long johns and sweats (or in our case, opaque tights and leggings). When I was a kid, that's what we always went out in the snow in. We never had snow suits either. We suffered with sweat pants (that were soaked about 5 minutes after being outside) and turtlenecks under our winter coats. Old school ghetto style.

We lasted outside for about 30 minutes (which was longer than I thought they would have lasted). The snow wasn't really conducive to making a snowman (it was wet, but I'm not sure why I couldn't get a snowball going) and we didn't really have any sleds (we tried using the skim board that J broke his foot on--it didn't work so well). So after about 30 minutes of trying to make snow angels and walking around, we called it a day and headed inside for hot chocolate and Star Wars. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

couple of things

Right after the new year, we took the kids to their first "official" movie. We had been to the theater before (maybe when Little J was about 13 months) but it didn't go well. We saw Shrek 2 or 3, I can't remember. Anyway, Miss C was scared of the movie and Little J was more interested in mastering the stairs in the theater. I don't think we even lasted 20 minutes. So, I count this as our first official show. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. The kids did pretty well, and were pretty interested in the movie until just about the end. Overall, I'd say it was a success.

Little J finally got his first haircut on 1/6/10. Well, about a week before that, he decided to give himself a little bit of a haircut. But we won't really count that. I took him to one of those kids salon's one morning because I was tired of the frizz. He sleeps most of the time on his back, so the back was looking a little scrappy. They cut a little too much off for my taste, but I guess it was necessary to keep it healthy.

Little J didn't love getting it cut and it took quite a few bribes (and threats) to get him to sit there long enough. I couldn't even get a picture of it because most of the time he had a death grip on me. But here's an after:

Now, Miss C couldn't wait to get hers trimmed (she knew that meant a lollipop).

Will someone please tell my kids that quiet time means being quiet. Mama needs that couple of hours to herself, without any noise. If you don't want to nap, fine. But at least sit quietly and read books or listen to music. Quiet time does not mean, however, singing at the top of your lungs, banging your feet against the wall, constantly yelling "mooooommmmmyyyyyy" over and over, or talking to each other through the bathroom door.

Nana sent the kids darth vader capes and they love them! I'm pretty sure this halloween (even though it is still over 9 months away) the kids will be something related to Star Wars. So here they are. Prince and Princess Darth Vader.

Parenthood

Have you ever seen that movie Parenthood? It's a classic. Now that I'm a parent, I appreciate it so much more. In fact, it's been awhile since I've seen it. I think I may go rent it soon and watch it again. Anyway, remember the part in the movie where Steve Martin is talking to Rick Moranis about kids (Steve's are down to earth, normal kids where Rick's is a brain child) and in the background Steve Martin's kid has a bucket on his head and is banging his head against the wall? Rick Moranis quips something to the effect of, "you must be so proud".

Well the other day I walked into the room and saw this:

As if that wasn't enough a couple of days later, I saw this:

I guess the other bucket wasn't big enough.

I swear, I can't make this stuff up. I'm so proud :)

Christmas and other what nots

So I'm finally getting around to sharing Christmas, only what, 17 days late?! Oh well, again, better late than never!

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Both kids are really starting to get into it. Miss C more than Little J, but I imagine next year will be his year. And both kids couldn't be any more opposite when opening presents too. Miss C is fast and furious, just ripping wrapping paper left and right. She barely has time to even look inside before she moves on to the next thing. You can bet that she's the first one done and probably within 15 minutes flat. Little J on the other hand is a little more patient and deliberate with his whole process. You have to coax him to even open a present. Once he does, he's content with playing with it for the next hour. At 2 hours into it, Little J had maybe opened 3 things and we decided to just move his pile aside and open them later. All morning Miss C asked, no begged, to open his presents (and all of ours). At some point we are going to have to get a little more control over the situation because she ripped through everything so fast that I had no idea who was giving her what. What fun to be 4!

The present du jour this year. She asked for a trampoline. I swear it must have been a hot item for 4 year olds because a couple of her friends also got one.

Little J and his tractor. We haven't had a chance to take it out yet since it's been so cold.

Taking a little time out before the mayhem

After much debate around here (well actually it was more like I was trying to put my foot down and J was calling me "lame") we decided to get her the original Star Wars movies. Well, episode 4 and 5 that is. Someone didn't tell Santa that you really can't have 4 and 5 without 6. What was Santa thinking?!

And a game for her leapster

Little J got quite a bit of construction items, including this tool set. He just loves it. I mean, really loves it. He walks around with the get up on calling everyone "Joe" as in, "what's up Joe", "See you later, Joe" and "what's going on here Joe?". Too cute.

And the favorite gift of them all. Light savers as Little J would call them. They play with these things constantly. I don't know why we even bothered with the rest of the gifts. Honestly.

And you knew this was coming. Bwhaaaaaa!!

Back off ladies, that's my man!

zzzzzzz

I guess the holiday's have been exhausting around here. Miss C has taken quite a few naps over the vacation (and she rarely naps anymore). Little J has even been napping too (and that's becoming rarer and rarer). I left to go run a few errands during nap time and when I came home I went to check on the kids to see if they had fallen asleep. Little J, check. When I went into Miss C's room and looked in her bed, she wasn't there. I peeked inside the bathroom, not there either. Then I look over.....

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! Of course I rang in the New Year snoozing on the couch, but that's to be expected when you have a 2 1/2 year old that still likes to get up right around 6 a.m.! Unfortunately they don't care how late mommy and daddy stayed up :)

This is the new year of resolutions for me. Last year I made a bunch of resolutions and never followed through with them. This year, I'm going to try to be different and actually stick to them! But before I can think ahead to the new year, I wanted to come back and blog a little bit about the things that I've been meaning to blog about.

1. Miss C is taking a dance class and loves it. Mid-November they allowed the parents to sit in on the class and observe. She did so well! I think she is going to be quite the performer, which is amazing since she used to be such a shy and reserved child. They have their annual recital in May, and I can't wait. Hopefully she'll get out there and participate!

2. Miss C got a new cat (not real!) for her birthday. Her name is sweetie belle. One morning, Miss C insisted that I take pictures of her and sweetie belle.

I wish she would have waited until it was a little brighter out (this was at 6:30 or some ungodly hour). Anyway, Little J was watching the whole time and before I knew it, he grabbed his most prized possession and wanted his picture taken too.

3. I never posted pics from Miss C's birthday party this past year. We celebrated with her friends at The Young Chef's Academy. The party was good, and all the kids seemed to have a good time.
Waiting for her party to start

I asked her to get a picture with her friends, and she was less than happy to cooperate. So look who decided to jump in instead

When she realized he was getting all of the attention

While we were waiting to get the party started. I think the people didn't realize who they were dealing with. You can't really spout out a bunch of factoids about pizza to a bunch of hungry 4 year olds. So this is the reaction they got:

Once the party got started, the mood changed

Getting ready for cupcakes

Now, this next picture is really disgusting, but this is how this kid eats. Shoves everything in his mouth at the same time. I'm not really sure why.

At the end, we asked them all to get together for a picture. Look at my two on the right there.

After awhile, she decided to show her face. Little J, still in the back with the hat over his head. Typical him.

4. We had Aunt K come to visit for the holidays. This is Christmas Eve making rice krispy treat ginger bread houses. Does that even make sense?!

Typical little J face

After awhile, they got tired of decorating and just decided to each the candy

Later on that evening, we had a dance party in the living room and then we took a walk around the neighborhood to admire all of the Christmas lights. The 'hood went all out this year. It seemed like every house was decorated. After our walk, we wrote our final letters to Santa telling him we were leaving cookies and milk out. Kind of a last ditch effort to score big presents.

I'm running out of steam here. I'll post Christmas later!