The baby turns 2!

Oh the dreaded day...Emily Grace turned 2 :( I really enjoy making my children's birthday cakes every year. Each cake is specifically "designed" based upon their personality, their interests or just something cute that reminds me of them. This year since my sweet baby girl is such a climber, what would be more appropriate then a monkey cake. The day before her birthday we were hit with a snow storm and pretty much stuck indoors. I went through the cabinets and was thrilled that i had all of the ingredients for my girl's monkey cake. She giggled with delight when she saw the finished product and it made me smile--she's such a sweetheart and I cannot wait to see what this year brings...my final year of changing diapers!

Christmas Eve 2010

Here is a picture of my little angels Christmas Eve right before bed. Miss Brynn plated the cookies, Emily left a napkin, Dylan poured the milk and left Santa a note begging for specific toys (just incase Santa didn't get the 5 prior letters he wrote). Getting 3 little kids to sit still is very hard but once Stephen reminded them Santa was coming, I had quite cooperative children....

Christmas Tree

How could I possibly forget to post about our first real Christmas Tree? When Dylan was a baby I was so hesitant to get a real Christmas Tree because he started crawling right around Christmastime and would put everything in his little mouth. I was completely paranoid about him poisoning himself with pine needles that I immediately dismissed the idea of having a real tree until our children were old enough. The other problem I run into during the holidays is I had emmence guilt if I didn't get my Christmas Tree up on Thanksgiving Day because that was a tradition that my father started with us, and my grandfather started with his children.

My children know that right after the parade Thanksgiving morning, I go in the basement while our turkey is cooking and we start digging out all of our holiday decorations. I told the kids that this year would be special because we were starting our own tradition, the Sunday after Thanksgiving we would go to a Christmas Tree Farm and cut down our very own tree. Dylan was thrilled but a little apprehensive. The boy has watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation one too many times and was petrified that there would be a squirrel in the tree.

Anyway, the Sunday after Thanksgiving was unseasonably warm. Stephen and Dylan got into the truck and I followed behind them with the girls. We located a tree farm which had beautiful, fat trees which I love. It didn't take long until we found our perfect tree and the "men" started cutting it down. Brynn and Em got in on the action too. It was a wonderful experience and I have to say, our tree did not shed that many needles! There's nothing like the scent of a pine tree in the house at Christmastime!

Green belt

Dylan has been taking karate classes for about 14 months. After A LOT of practice and some hard training, he finally made it to the rank of green belt! This is a major accomplishment for my little 5 year old boy. I honestly can say he trained very, very hard for this belt and I was shocked when he passed the test. I was even more surprised when he broke the wooden board the day of promotions! I was upset that I had my camera in my pocket and missed getting a shot of him breaking the board. He was thrilled to say the least. He'll be a green belt for a while....i'm very proud of him for accomplishing this--it was not easy

Abby Caddaby Birthday Party...

Miss Emily Grace has a birthday during a terrible time of the year...Christmas. I promised her that she wouldn't miss out on having a birthday party just because of the busy holiday season. She's such a happy baby and I thought that she and some family and friends would enjoy going to Build a Bear and making a new stuffed animal. My oldest children love going to Build a Bear and Emily had yet to experience it. I picked up some Abby Caddaby birthday supplies, set up a little area in the mall's food court and couldn't wait to celebrate Em's 2nd birthday. Well that really didn't happen according to plan. About a half an hour after we arrived my poor baby had an ear infection that hit her pretty hard. She whailed in pain for hours and then finally passed out. What a horrible way to celebrate your 2nd birthday with your friends-- She would have really enjoyed her first Build a Bear experience.

Shepherd (#2)

After soccer ended in November, the kids were back into the Sunday School routine. This year our church did things a little different and didn't have a traditional Christmas Pageant with a manger scene. They did a Christmas story told from the point of view of the ANIMALS that were in the manger. Dylan had a speaking part and memorized his line very quickly. He kept telling anyone who asked him that he was "Shepherd #2" The church was packed for the children's performance which took place in the middle of our regular Sunday services. My boy did quite well although he complained that he burlap sack costume was way too itchy. I can't wait to see what they come up with next year for the Pageant. This year's show was done brilliantly!

Brynn's Christmas Pageant

I was pretty upset that I was going to miss out on Brynn's very first school performance. When the Sing a Long at Dylan's school ended at 9:45 I was thrilled--I figured I could still make it to see Brynn perform! I probably should have gotten a speeding ticket but I made it in time to see (and hear) Brynn sing a traditional Philippine holiday song. Brynn's school has a theme this year "Communities around the World". Each grade level chose a song from a specific country for their performance and, of course since it's a Catholic School, the pageant ended with a traditional manger scene. Brynn looked absolutely adorable in her costume and I was so proud of her for singing so well and doing her little dance. I was happy I didn't miss any of it.

8 tiny reindeer...

Having the kids in two different schools was working out fantatsic until they both had activities going on at the same time! Dylan had his first holiday "Sing a Long" the same day (and pretty much same time) as Brynnie's first Christmas Pageant. Stephen decided he would go to Brynn's since it is closer to the office and would tape it for me since I couldn't make it to both of the kids shows. Dylan and his classmates looked absolutely adorable wearing their reindeer jingling-bell antlers and did a fabulous job singing and dancing to their song "8 Tiny Reindeer". It was so cute and I'm so glad I was able to see his first performance!