Twas the Night Before Christmas

We always spend Christmas Eve with Nate's side and always have a wonderful time.  The kids love seeing all their cousins and hanging out with Grandma and Papa Steve.  (Morgan especially loves his train displays).  Before we headed to Christmas Eve mass, we sprinkled some reindeer food in the lawn.  (Thank you snow, for covering that up.  Tessa is a smart little cookie and I'm sure would have wanted to check to see if they had eaten it at some point).

 Then we headed to Grandma Carol's for presents and time with extended family.  And then to Nate's mom and Steve's house for more presents with the cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so here is one cell phone shot.  I'm hoping Nate has some, in which case, I'll add to the Christmas Eve photos.

I love Christmas and am always a little sad when it is over, but the kids had a fabulous Christmas this year and still have two more to celebrate, with Nate's dad and with my brother, Cortny, and baby Elliott.  Good thing I'm off school for two weeks too, we've had a lot of illness in our house and several trips to the pediatrician.  At least I'm scheduled to be off, so it doesn't cause as much stress.  We have about two weeks until Tessa's birthday party and we all need to be well by then.  But once our health improves, hopefully we'll be able to hit up the museum and zoo at least once as well as the gym, shopping, etc.  I love my time home with the kiddos!

First Snow!

The kids had a blast in the snow yesterday!  By the time we came inside, their cheeks were rosy.  But for about 45 minutes, they were in pure joy!  Looking forward to another snow day soon, though it looks like we could go play in it again today if they want to.  Time will tell...

Christmas 2012

First off, let me say we are so blessed.  We had such a wonderful Christmas this year and I am so thankful my kids get to experience so much love around the holidays (and all the time).  I love this picture from last night.  My mom got all three kids (eek!  Three) matching shirts for when baby Nolan arrives.  So cute!  I think they should wear them to the hospital to meet their baby brother.

 Of course Santa came to our house.  The kids each received nine gifts (some much smaller than others) and had a great time opening.  Morgan was so enthralled playing with each gift that Tessa had to open the last couple of his gifts for him.  Ironically, this changed at my parents where he was REALLY into opening presents.

 Tessa got some new artwork for the walls in her bedroom.

 His first football!  I think we'll be taking this one outdoors to play!

 I just thought this one was cute.  He is such a little ham!

 Morgan got a dinosaur tail (like a dress up for boys) and loved wearing it while opening his presents.  Isn't that a great craft show find?

 Tessa was thrilled that Santa was able to get McKenna, the American Girl doll she really wanted.

 Morgan received two train sets (one Geotrax, the other Trackmaster) and was mesmerized watching them all morning.  I had to pull them both away from the toys, starving, aroud 11:30 to eat something, as hunger grumpies were starting to set in!

 Later at my parents, we all spend the afternoon and evening together with my mom, dad, brother, and aunt and uncle.

 Morgan loves these electronic dinosaurs!

 Another picture with the matching shirts!

 And last but not least, a cute pic of Tessa!

Merry Christmas!  Hope yours was magical!

More Holiday Fun!

Ah...these pictures are all out of order.  I tried several times and was just not going to individually upload, so here we go!  My parents were kind enough to get us a pass to the museum center as part of our Christmas present and we visited this weekend to see the holiday train display.  They had a new set up this year, so you had to walk through the boat and most of the history museum to get there.  I loved this impromptu pose in front of the steamboat.

 And now on to the randomness, Merry Christmas to me!  I am loving our new refrigerator!

 On to Breakfast with Santa, an annual tradition on Nate's side with all the cousins.  The kids had a blast meeting Santa, getting their faces painted, receiving holiday balloon animals and such.

 Not that this is holiday related, but we had one really warm afternoon last week, allowing us to walk down to the neighborhood park and play sans jackets.  So nice...it has been a warm winter thus far!

 Last Saturday the kids and I went to Happen, Inc, in Northside for a free paint-you-own-plate for Santa.  Morgan's was not very pretty...but he had a good time.

 Tessa worked painstakingly on hers and spent a lot of time.  Hope they look cute when we pick them up later this week!

 Another picture from the park!

 Last Saturday was their cousin Lexi's birthday party.  The kids always have a blast at their house playing with all the big kid toys.  Air hockey was their favorite.

 Face painting from breakfast with Santa!

 A couple more from the museum!

 And a final shot of all the cousins with Santa at the breakfast.  There are so many fun things to do around the holidays!

As for us, we are still sick and perhaps getting worse.  I finally got an antibiotic for a sinus infection, but received a call yesterday that Morgan had a 101 degree fever.  I picked him up around 11 (was glad I at least got in a half day) and am home again today.  Anyone want to watch him tomorrow?  It can be a paid position...

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

As I mentioned on the old blog, Morgan has been sick and these were all taken during his fever/vomiting virus, so really, not too bad!  We did two Christmas trees this year and this was Mommy's tree to decorate.  I think the pictures turned out pretty cute!  I used this second one on our Christmas cards, which literally just arrived in the mail this weekend.  Which means, well, I may not be mailing them.  It may be a matter of handing them out as I see you, so apologies in advance.  I'm just not on the ball this year and the sinus infection has not helped.  Anyways, aren't their pajamas adorable?  I bought Tessa's last year dirt cheap at Gymboree in January and bought the matching pair for Morgan at Crazy 8 this fall.  They love them, and frankly, I think they are pretty darn adorable.

I love how Morgan is looking at Tessa in these pictures.  He sure does love his sister!

A Visit from Buddy

Our little friend Buddy the Elf came back to visit on Thanksgiving day, and brought with him a nice note and a present!  The kids are enjoying finding Buddy each day (when Mommy and Daddy remember to hide him).  Sometimes he magically flies away while we are at school.  Tessa totally gets the concept of the elf, though I'm not really sure it's doing much to influence her behavior.  Morgan does not "get it" but he sure does enjoy finding Buddy each morning.

 And they both love playing with the puppet theater.  Tessa does a mean puppet show!

Anna's 5th Birthday

We are blessed to have the Polca's as family friends, and it is so nice that Tessa and Anna are so close in age, followed by Avery and Morgan being three months apart.  So easy to play together, as they are a perfect fit!  Anna celebrated her 5th birthday at Run, Jump, and Play right after Thanksgiving and the kids had a blast.  (Well, Morgan was actually a bit scared, but did come around and learn to enjoy some of the inflaables).

 My two little munchkins!

 The party room!

 Anna was so cute and shy once she became the center of attention.  I have visions of Tessa acting the exact same way here in a few weeks when we celebrate her 5th birthday at Kids First.  (She is having  a gymnastics party).

And thanks for joining us!  If you want to check out the last five years, please refer to http://cincinnatipalmerfamily.blogspot.com

I'll be posting here from now on!