Merry Christmas!!!

 Merry Christmas!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house yesterday with lots of festivities and fun. Harrison and Declan were very excited to see that Santa had come and fulfilled their wish lists and Kevin got to share it with us. It even snowed in the evening and we woke to several more inches of snow this morning!

 Santa brought the number one item on Harrison's list...a great big 'Jake the Pirate Ship'!

 Harrison picked out a scarf all by himself for Kevin. He said he wanted to get him a scarf so he would be warm when they were making snowmen. Harrison wrapped Kevin up in the scarf after he opened it and made sure Kevin took it to work with him, too!

 After we opened (and played with) the gifts Santa brought, we headed downstairs to open the rest of the gifts.

 Declan loved this little teapot that make boiling water sounds!

 ROARRR!! A new dinosaur!

The merry mess of happy kids!

Merry Christmas!

Getting Ready for Santa - 'Christmas Eve'

 Since Kevin won't be able to be home on Christmas Day, we talked to Santa and convinced him to come to our house a day early so we could all have Christmas together! So, today is Christmas Eve at our house and Harrison and Declan are all snuggled in bed with 'visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads'. They had fun putting some cookies out for Santa and barely resisted the temptation to eat the cookies themselves!

Christmas Play Date - 12/22/12

Finn came over yesterday for a Christmas play date with presents, cookies, and lots of fun! Everyone had a great time and it's easy to see the excitement building for Santa's big visit soon!

Gingerbread House Construction - 12/17/12

Harrison's preschool teachers coordinated a Gingerbread House Building Party for all the kids and their families for today. It sounded like fun, so we all went over to the school to try out our engineering skills! It was a lot of fun! I don't know what they mixed into the frosting to make it so good for construction, but that stuff was like concrete when it dried!

Figuring out how to eat the house once it dried was no challenge for Declan! If it won't pull apart, just pick up the whole house and start chewing!

Cookies for Santa - 12/12/12

We have been hard at work making holiday cookies for Santa (and Harrison's preschool teachers)! Harrison and Declan are both great little bakers. They are also pretty good taste testers and cookie dough swipers...but, we managed to bake up a nice assortment of cookies for Santa!

Helping Shovel the Snow - 12/11/12

 

 Harrison loved helping Kevin clear the snow off of our driveway and sidewalk yesterday. He loved it so much, they even cleared the neighbor's drive!

 Now, he can't wait for it to snow more, so he can build a snowman!

Holiday Hayride on Gaylord Street - 12/8/12

 On Saturday evening we headed over to Jane and Doug's house to partake in more holiday festivities! There was a festival in their neighborhood called 'Holiday Hayride on Gaylord Street' with horse drawn rides, roasting chestnuts, an open fire, hot cider, and more. It was cold, but perfect for a holiday outing...and it even started snowing while we were out!

 Happy Holidays!

 Through the streets of town singing Christmas carols all the way (literally)!

A little time for window shopping (with visions of sugarplums)....

.... and a look at our holiday hayride escorts (they were beautiful horses).

 A visit with Father Christmas, whom Declan loved! He peeked around the little hut that Father Christmas was sitting in and then ran into his arms and onto his lap. It was very sweet.

Keeping warm by the 'fire'. 

It was snowing at this point, but you can't tell it by the picture. Harrison was very excited about the snow and yelling 'yippee' all the way back to the house! What a fun holiday outing!