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!

Thanksgiving 2010

I have so much to post, but little time to do it (and I lost the cord to download pics from my phone). This year's Thanksgiving was extremely enjoyable. As we do every year, we spend Thanksgiving with the Poley Family. I cook dinner which I love to do. Thanksgiving is always and entertaining night with lots of laughs. This year Dylan got his Pop Pop to even play Wii with him. The girls played with their cousin Abigele and the football games were on in the background. The Christmas Tree didn't go up but I did deliver a tree to the cemetery with the kids to put on my dad's headstone. There's certain Douglass traditions that I won't forget, but now that I have my own family, some traditions can go on but changed a little--

Here's a pic of my beautiful kids wearing matching turkey outfits.

Halloween 2010

This Halloween was something else! I felt like the parties never ended, and, oh my, the CANDY!!! The kids were wonderful this year. They got dressed, could not wait to knock on doors and politely said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You", without the unnecessary song that last year snuck it's way in at every house (you know what song I'm talking about). It was freezing out and Emily fell asleep after the 4th house we stopped at. Brynn and Dylan loved walking in the 32 Degree FREEZING temperatures. After several houses I reminded Dylan that we wanted to go home and scare some kids and hand out Halloween candy to Trick or Treaters at our house. He was a little bummed when only 4 kids showed up. Maybe next year we'll have a better plan and Dylan can stay closer to home and really scare some kiddies!

Pumpkins

I'm so far behind blogging I'm going to try to catch up. A couple of days before Halloween the kids designed their Jack o' lanterns. Dylan I have to say really enjoyed this experience this year. He drew a face on his pumpkin, took his shirt off (I guess it was easier than pulling up his sleeeves) and cleaned out his pumpkin all by himself. He then (with daddy's assistance) cut the pumpkins face and couldn't wait to see it lit up. Brynn also got right in the pumpkin and while making some hysterical noises (she was slightly grossed out), cleaned her pumpkin out and explained to daddy what her pumpkin should look like. Emily, oh sweet Emily, was grossed out and even with a spoon didn't really enjoy the jack o lantern experience. The faces she made were too funny. Until next year....

Cruise 2010

Stephen and I left for our annual Fall vacation together last Monday. We had such a wonderful time but missed the kids terribly by Thursday when we spent the day "out at sea". The cruise ship was much smaller than the ones we typically go on. I actually cruised on this same boat with Dylan four years ago. Not much has changed and apparently we were informed that the week we vacationed was the last week the boat would be sailing this year because it was going to be dry docked for refurbishing. Key West was a ton of fun and Mexico was beautiful. We went to an old Spanish church, toured a tequila factory (and of course sampled some authentic Mexican tequila), visited a Mayan relic, the City of Cozumel and relaxed at a nice beach front resort before heading back on the ship. What beautiful views and sunsets Cozumel has to offer- Cannot wait to start planning our next family cruise vacation! I'm sure the kids would have loved this trip but sometimes Mommy and Daddy need a little break-- It was much needed and I cannot wait for our trip next October! It was hard leaving the 80 degree + weather and heading back to 40 degree New York temperatures I can tell you that~!

The final camping trip of the season

Purchasing a camper at the beginning of the Summer had to be one of the best things I think we have ever done. We camped 6 out of 8 weekends during the summer and went camping Labor Day and this past Columbus weekend. It was a little chilly but when you camp with the wonderful group of people like we do, there are NO complaints! My kids carved a pumpkin, played from the minute they woke up with the beautiful fallen leaves and relaxed by the fire before bedtime. I LOVE camping in the Fall. We cleaned our little summer home out when we got home Monday night and I cannot wait for Spring to arrive for our Memorial Day weekend at Gilbert Lake

Michelle's Wedding

My sister Michelle was married last Saturday, October 9th. My kids are thrilled to have a new uncle. Here are some pictures of the beautiful day....

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

I am embarrassed to admit this but I have NEVER gone apple picking--NEVER. It is something that I have always wanted to do, and have attempted to do, but never got to the orchard. Since Dylan's soccer game was cancelled yesterday afternoon, my favorite family, the Siegels, invited us to pumpkin and apple picking with them in New Paltz. The sun was shining and I had plans of cleaning the house all day but I literally ditched the broom and vacuum, hopped in to the shower and dressed my clan...we were finally going to get to the orchard!

I had so much fun and I don't think I put my camera down much. Emily was hysterical eating all the apples she could pull off of the tree. Dylan and Will were giggling running around the orchard chasing each other and Brynn and Jessica, the princesses of our group just enjoyed checking out the beauty of the orchard. It really was beautiful.

After trekking through a very muddy corn maze, picking 60 pounds of pumpkins and paying, we tailgated for a bit and went to the Gilded Otter for a late lunch/early dinner. My kids were EXHAUSTED but thanked us at least 20x on the way home. It was a lot of fun and now definitely part of our Fall plans every year.