Misc. December Moments

 

 

 

Willem received a mystery letter in the mail from the President thanking him for the artwork he sent him. Willem says he knows nothing about this and I asked his teacher and she knew nothing either. Either way he got a neat picture of the President and Bo the Dog and a letter from the White House addressed to Willem. I think Jason and I were more excited than Willem, he mostly cared about the mailing label having his name.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Jason!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audrey's 1st Movie

I gave Les Mis two thumbs up but Audrey thought it was a snoozer:)

Crazy Light House

Train park was a no go this year. We attempted it twice-once with the Cherny's for Members Only Night and it ended up raining. Then this evening we tried again to arrive to police directing traffic and a 2 hour long line to ride the train. Instead, we went to the Crazy Light House and low and behold ran into the Bertolinos. For the past 2 years we've met up with friends at the Crazy Light House to check out the display and play in the bubbles and I guess it was meant to be for year 3. Cannot believe the magic this family creates each year in decorating their house. So appreciate their efforts!
 

 

 

Willem playing Basketball

 

Willem played basketball this winter and loved it. We are definitely a basketball family so I was secretly routing for him to love the sport as well and so far he does. He was thrilled to be playing on a big court and shooting baskets. There are a few 5 and 6 year olds on the team who have been playing for a year so he likes watching them for tips.
 

Audrey's been an on the go baby. She sleeps anywhere and has lots of adoring fans at the kids activities. Here she is 2 weeks old at her first basketball game.

 

Little Hands and Feet

About a week after Audrey was born we realized we hadn't made a print of her hands and feet. With the other kids the hospital nurses had done it as part of the protocol. So we made a family activity of it. The kids thought it was fun watching us put the ink on Audrey's feet and hands.  

 

 

 

Gifts from Ellie

Ellie made a few gifts at school to give us at Christmas. But the day she brought them home she wanted us to open them right away. She has such a big heart! She is quick to say "I love you" and gives long hugs. We have really enjoyed seeing how much she loves going to school and how much pride she has when showing us what she's made. She was really happy when we hung up the wreath she gave us, taped her Christmas tree to the wall and hung up her ornament.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoo Lights

The magic of Zoo Lights. Popcorn, friends and a talking giraffe. Doesn't get much better than that.  

 

 

 

Ellie observed Willem and Jason and Marina and Bill go down the Artic hill. Then as we were about to move on she declared she wanted to do it. She just made the height cutoff and was quite nervous about her trying it but we encouraged her interest and Jason stood in line with her. They made it to the top and Ellie looked down and at last decided to wait until next year. Whew!! My baby girl is growing up too fast. 

Kicking off the Holiday Season

There was much anticipation on December 1st as we kicked off the holiday season with the opening of the #1 drawer on the advent calendar. It seems like December can fly by so for the past few years we've been working toward being more intentional with the holidays and making time to create family memories and traditions. The advent calendar has been a huge help. The kids love it and it helps Jason and I figure out what all we are going to do with the kids and put it in our schedules. We didn't do everything we hoped to this year but we had a good excuse with Audrey:) Its fun because this year Willem remembered some of the things we'd done last year and was really excited each day to open the drawer and see what we'd be doing each day. The paper in the #1 drawer said we were going to build a gingerbread house. Many years we have purchased the kit but it has never gotten built. Not this year!!

 

After much fanfare, we gingerbread newbies learned it takes a day of letting the icing dry before you are supposed to decorate it. Willem was patient though and was just excited to be building the house with Daddy and Audrey.

The next day I helped the kids decorate the house and played guard to the candy. Though some did go missing while I wasn't looking.

 

 

 

 

Definitely being added to our family tradition list for next year. Though a little elf told me Costco sells them already assembled. Note taken.