Merry Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve Mass... (abby refused to having her picture taken)

Abby stole Santa's cookie...

The loot.... (The LED lights are giving off a weird glare..)

Mommy trying to get Abby interested in opening the gifts...

excited Mary

happy Gabby

really happy Mary.. (she loves Aurora!)

anything Star Wars works for Toe

Gabby loved her Ariel doll

Abby loved stealing everyone's candy

grand finale!

pre-k christmas party

The trio's pre-k class had a christmas program party which we all enjoyed!

Mary was a reindeer in one of the skits... (this was her walking in)

Gabby was a stocking in one of the skits... again, her walking in.

Mateo was obviously happy to be a sugar plum...

still giving us that award winning smile!

(I wish someone would have told me to brush my hair!)

winter fun

It was the perfect scenario... one day we had about 5-6" of snow (and lots of fun in it!)... and even on the 2nd day, most of it was left (insert pictures below). But by the third day, most had melted...

smarty pants

Little Miss Abby is too smart for her own good. As the days and weeks go by, I notice her "thinking" and making changes in her behavior to correspond with what she has learned. Just to name a few:

Sippy cup no more. Abby refuses to drink out of a sippy (which alleviates spills and messes) unless she is really tired, or really, really thirsty and not up for a fight. But normally, she insists upon drinking out a regular kid cup, or even Mommy's cup!

I have also noticed that she recognizes when I "count" the number of time we can rock in her chair before nap/bedtime. She would rock all night, if I let her. So I had started to count the rocks to ten...giving her a deadline. By the third night, when I started to count, she started yelling "no!" and dug her legs into me as I neared the number 7. There went that idea... (Guess who is back to rocking her for 15min ?)

She also knows when she is going potty in her diaper... and depending on her mood, will either run away from me when I try to change her... or run to me, so that I can help her get clean!

toe & lucy

As I mentioned before, Toe has found a few friend... Lucy, his caterpillar. On this particular morning, Toe wanted to dress Lucy in matching shirts.

(Since the picture was taken, Lucy isn't making as many appearances... she has been replaced by Star Wars, Batman, and nerf guns.. (Ahem, thank you, Miss Katie... for the guns!))

I just don't want to forget....

Just some short recent stories/tidbits that I don't want to forget...

Tonight, the girls were picking out soft animals to take up to bed - Christmas reindeer and bears and snowmen. Mateo was upset that he didn't have one (and that he didn't like the remaining choices) but I was holding the very hungry Caterpillar in my arms and he conceded. As we were getting ready for bed, he told me that he had named his Caterpillar, "Lucy." For the rest of the bedtime routine, Lucy participated. I think he (yes, he) will be around for a while.

Two nights ago, when we were doing our shower routine, the news was on tv. I wasn't paying much attention as I was trying to lotion them up and dry the girls hair, but Mateo approached me and told me that he had seen someone on tv. I stopped at his insistence to find out that he had spotted a picture of "Abraham Lincoln"... who was a "president." Amazed, since I know he didn't learn this from me.. I asked him how he knew... he paused, and said, "I used my brain."

Abby has taken a liking to singing. Her favorites are "Rudolph" and "happy birthday." Be careful, though... when she sings happy birthday, she likes to blow out the candles. Well, rather, she likes to thoroughly spit on the pretend candle. "Brpt!!!!!!!"

Right now, the trend is for Gabby to help Mateo in whatever he is doing "no, Mateo... it is like this!!! and for Mary to encourage Abby to follow her around. "Come on, Abby!."

kringle's inventionasium

Tower City has a Christmas Feature called "kringle's inventionasium." It is a 35min tour where children get to help brainstorm and invent toys, make snow, and have their own personal meeting with Mr. Kringle... quite the fun experience for a child!

While we were downtown, we also spoke with Bruce the Spruce (a talking Christmas tree). (Mateo is still trying to figure out that one!) And enjoyed a train ride around the mall.

It was a special holiday treat!



waiting to go in....


waiting to go in...


watching snow grow!


think, Mary, think!


let's get creative...




Waiting to see Mr. Kringle...


woo hoo!


train ride in tower city