Georgia's Gems

It's New Year's Eve and we have settled in for the evening. Georgia and Theo wanted to watch a movie, so I sat down with Augie and put him to sleep... Georgia snuggled up with me and we watched some Curious George.

Jon cleaned the kitchen and brought me a kahula and cream, at which Georgia said, "Ohhh, that looks good!" I let her smell it.

I said, "You can't have any, it has alcohol in it."

Georgia said, "When I get your age, I can have that."

I replied, "Yes. When you are 21 you can have it."

She said, "Or eight."

Cracked me up because it is all relative.

Flag Football

Jon's second annual NYE flag football game. This year he had it at the local junior high in town and ten men (and one woman) came to play in the snow. It was a crisp 24 degrees while they were playing but they all seemed to have a fantastic time. After the game, we toasted the New Year with drinks, sandwiches, and fortune cookies.

Jon and Augie

Here are two of my boys enjoying a snow day from the warmth of the living room.

Snow Day!

We woke up to snow falling and a good two inches on the ground. By the time it stopped, we had a decent three inches...enough for the kids to have a ball with. Georgia taught Theo how to lay in the snow and roll around, which they both thought was great fun. Jon and I watched for hours as both kids ran around the yard, ate (what seemed like buckets of) snow, and climbed on the snow covered rocks in the fountain. What a treat and we were sorry that Kate missed it. She is in Oregon at a church camp with some of her new Woodinville friends.

Happy Birthday Jon

Happy Day to my husband!

This morning I told him I was taking him for a surprise and drove him through an espresso stand (which I rarely indulge in) and then dropped him off for a pedicure. After his pedicure, we went home and I made orange chicken, broccoli, and rice for lunch. We ate, put the kids to bed for naps, and ran off to the mall while Kate stayed with napping Georgia and Theo. Around 3:00 pm my mom and Steve came up to babysit and Jon opened his gifts~all bicycle related since that was his big Christmas gift. We ate his favorite ice cream cake and then he and I went to dinner at Poppy in Seattle. It was a busy and fun and family filled day!

Wishing my husband a fantastic birthday surrounded by people who love him and lots of good eats!

*Side note: his shirt really wasn't dirty. The spots were from him working in the rain and getting soaked.

Augustus in the Bath

Jon took these photo's of Augie taking a bath. He loves water and often accompanies me in the shower. I just love his toothie look in the last photo...he truly did get his two front teeth for Christmas :)

Family Dinner

Grandma and Grandpa, Stacy, Megan, and Alex came over tonight for dinner at our home. I roasted a turkey and put out leftovers of ham, prime rib, cranberry sauce, spinach salad, rolls, and green bean casserole. For dessert we had brownies with ice cream and pecan pie. The kids loved playing pillow fights with Alex and I am certain that this will be something they will play together for a long time. We enjoyed having our extended family up for dinner and hope they will come again and stay longer.

After dinner we jumped in our cars and ran up to an over the top home display of Christmas lights. It is called "Winter Wonderland" and the man who runs it donates any money raised towards Special Olympics. Steve says this display is one of his lifetime top ten. I thought it was so good that the kids and I have gone back four different times.

Taking the Tree Down

I always hate taking the tree down. The anticipation of the holidays is over and our home always seems so bare. We take it down early because we get it early and I think it is important to move onto Jon's birthday and not still be stuck in the Christmas season.

Anywho, we all pitched in and took the tree down tonight. Theo cried when Jon took the lights off and again when Jon took the tree outside. He kept saying, "My tree. My tree." Georgia was a trooper and helped us sort ornaments in each box...horses, snowmen, birds, and Theo's diggers. Here are some last pictures of the kids with our 2010 Christmas tree.

Georgia's Bike

Here is Georgia's Christmas bike, all shiny and new. She loves riding it but will tell you that she loves riding her pony more. She is getting really good at turning and even can use her hand brake to slow down and stop.

Backhoe

Here is Jon digging up some stumps in our pasture with our neighbor's rented backhoe. Theo was reluctant at first to ride on it, but soon warmed up to the idea and even smiled as Dad started moving it around. Georgia jumped right in and wasn't afraid at all. I would have loved to drive it but little ones didn't allow for that. The next time someone rents a backhoe I am claiming "IT!" and driving it first.

Theo Opening a Truck

Here is Theo opening up his dump truck from Grandma and Grandpa. He has been saying for weeks that all he wanted was a "truck" and he was more than tickled to get two of them. Katherine was able to capture a small percentage of his joy in these photo's.

Food on Christmas

This morning we ate lox and bagels for breakfast and then eggs benedict for brunch. Two of my all time faves, and a tradition in our home. For dinner we are cooking a prime rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, and a fruit salad. I think we are positively stuffed to the gills!

Kids on Christmas!

Here are Aunt Jane (my aunt) and my mom, Georgia and Grandma in their matching pajamas, Georgia with her doll that pees and poops, and Theo with his adored truck.

Our Family Ornament and Tree

Here is our tree stacked with presents. I do believe there are some pretty nice gifts under there.

Every year I buy a family ornament and place a photo of our family in it. Here is our group for 2010.

Christmas Eve

Aunt Jane and Theo shared a room for Christmas Eve. I snuck in around 9 pm and took this picture of the two of them sleeping. Aren't they cute?

Christmas Eve Agenda

I may be too busy in the coming days to post much, so thought that I would get a head start on our expected festivities.

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I need to make a run to Whole Foods for chioppino fixings and we are expecting Aunt Jane up from Portland. At some point Jon wants to help our neighbor use a backhoe (who rents a backhoe on Christmas Eve?) and also needs to run and buy us a new camera lens to replace our broken one.

We plan to have a large dinner and hopefully I can convince my group to come to church services and then on to look at Christmas lights. My mom and Grandpa Steve have an invitation to spend the night at our home, but I am uncertain if they plan to take us up on this.

We will cap off the day with the kids opening one small gift each. Georgia is hoping for a bike from Santa, Theo wants a truck, and Kate wants a car. Sadly, Kate will be our only disappointed kid come Christmas morning.

Wow, is it really Christmas already? I think the time has flown much more swiftly for me since the kids have been ill the past two weeks.

Christmas Craft

This is the picture taken right before the storm. Kate, being the kind Big Sister that she is, decided to help the kids with their felted tree crafts. Just as I said, "Wait let me get the camera" and she said, "Mom, can you get the scissors" a tube of glue exploded on her face, eyelashes, and in her hair.

Theo kept saying, "uh-oh" and then laughed hysterically. Georgia laughed and then Kate wanted to quit and take a shower.

Georgia's Photography

Georgia took these photo's with her new camera. I love seeing what she sees and what interests her. Apparently, her feet and toys are big interests, along with her brothers~awe, sweetness!

Christmas Fun!

We received a package in the mail from Karen, my Dad's widow. The package was a big surprise and we decided to open it early. She sent $25 gift cards to Toys R Us for each of the kids, an Itunes gift card for Kate, pajamas for me, Bananagrams, and a gift card to Macy's for Jon. We also loved her homemade specialty chex mix recipe~yum!

The next day, we took the kids to Toys R Us and Georgia picked out a wooden horse trailer and another toy horse. Theo chose the wooden car transporter set and Augie got a popcorn popper plastic truck. The kids loved their new toys and have something to play with and tide them over until Christmas comes.

Here are some pictures of the kids opening their first presents of the season! What joy for them!

Christmas Elves

We were showered with good friends and family yesterday. Leah and her family stopped by in the afternoon to drop off Christmas gifts. Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Briana, and Uncle Brian all came over for dinner and more gifts. We ate roast, mac and cheese, sauteed spinach, cranberry sauce, baked potatoes, green bean casserole, and sliced oranges. I had bought an apple pie from Costco, but it was no match for Brian's heavenly coffee cake. We ended the evening playing Bananagrams with Jon, Brian, Grandpa Steve and Kate. What a fun night~reminds me that this is what the holidays are about!

Here is a photo of the kids table, Augie slurping up dinner, and the kids choosing which chocolate covered cherries to devour.

Sickies

I feel like we have been sick forever. I think we are so precariously balanced with routine and obligations that when something throws us off like a party or sick kids, the wheels fall off. I ate out with the kids this week, chores are piling up, and I just can't get ahead of things. Laundry is remaining in baskets on the couch and noone but Kate seems to care. I know it isn't the end of the world to let the chores pile up, but the problem becomes is that it just becomes more work for me later.

We assume that Augie has rotavirus. He has been ill since last Wednesday (9 days). Georgia has been down with croup for 3 days. Theo has a runny nose but no issues other than that.

Fussy, whiny baby I need to attend to. Gotta run...

Georgia and Daisy-Sugar

Every day now, even while sick with croup, Georgia asks to ride Daisy. She does some trotting with me leading her and she is now asking to put the bridle on Daisy and ride with reins.

Today I snapped these photo's of her and Daisy. They are just the cutest...if I do say so myself!