Our Trip to Build A Bear.

Trying to plan family outings when Ryan is home on the weekends is one of my New Year Resolutions. As often as possible, variety is good. (I wouldn't mind some ideas by the way.) However, thanks to Mimi and Papa this month our outings have been very easy. Our first trip was an afternoon out to Build-A Bear, some lunch and ice cream.

On our way into the mall.

In front of Build A Bear.

Choosing our new stuffed friend.

"Doggie!"

Waiting to fill our New Friends.

Stuffing out new friend.

Grooming out new friends.

"Doggie!"

Brush that bear.

Our new friends ready to come home with us.

Every Year.

Every new year I start out with all of these great plans.  Things that I want to accomplish.  Everything from learning to crochet to taking more family pictures.  Do I get everything done?  Heck No!  But it gives me a goal - something to work for through out the year.  Granted, the last four years I have learned A LOT about setting more realistic goals for myself and to make some of those goals family focused -  so at the end of the year I can feel good about what I have accomplished for the year. 

This year one of my goals is to post two entries to our family blog per month (at least.)  I am writing it down and making this commitment.  However, I would like to add a disclaimer - if I have to stop sleeping for whatever reason, I will be allowed a pass.  So, here we go.

Happy New Year!

Welcome Year 2011. 

A New Year.

A New Start.

A New Beginning.

What can we accomplish this year?

Let's see

Getting Ready for Christmas

This year in our attempts to get ready for Christmas I had this wonderful idea - lets do a Christmas-y activity every day before Christmas - 24 activities.  Well, I am running out of activities.  Here is what we have done so far.

1. Write and decorate wish list to Santa.
2. Finish Decorating outside.
3. Read a Christmas Book and Sing a Song.
4. Decorate mini Christmas cupcakes to share with our neighbors.
5. Buy and hang a new Christmas decoration for each baby.
6. Make snowflakes for decoration.
7. Make our own Christmas decoration.
8. Make and Decorate sugar cookies to eat and share.
9. Go to school Winter Festival and see Santa.
10. Watch Polar Express with real popcorn.
11. Make snowman pizzas for dinner.
12. Shop for new Christmas PJs.
13. Make snowman pizzas for dinner.
14. Drive around the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights.
15. Go to Neighborhood Christmas Festival and see Santa (again).
16. Eat Dinner around the Christmas tree.
17. Make Christmas gifts.

We have 7 days until Christmas and I am running out of activities.  I need ideas.  Have Any??

SUPERHEROS!

First practice and game.

Great dibbler, esp. the first day.

Checking out the competition.

Meredith with Sawyer - who she oddly bonded with very quickly.  He was adorable and very class clown like.

Meredith had her first season of soccer this year.  Her team was called the SUPERHEROS.  Six kids - a pretty even mix of 3 and 4 year old kids.  Her first game and first exposure to the game was a mix of fun, sad and scary.  Fun for Meredith.  Sad for me - she is getting so big.  And scary for both of us.    Her coach was a 16 year old boy with lots of soccer experience and good intentions, but no clue how to talk too 3 and 4 year old kids. 

Her first game was a lot like the soccer game described in a children's book.  Six kids running in a pack after a tiny little soccer ball.  Not really knowing what they were doing or where they were going.  During the first two games Meredith was very much a spectator.  On one occasion she actually stopped to pick some flowers she saw in the field.  It was a lot like a storybook.

By the last two games Meredith had a better hang of it.  Meredith was never an explosive player.  But she was consistent.  She had much better focus than most of her team mates.  Her coaches could count on her to go out when they needed her, to follow directions (mostly) and to participate when she needed to .  She was great.

Like Banging my Head Against the Wall

Last night - 12:48am.

Wyatt is up with a bad tummy ache (we think) - he has been crying and yelling for over an hour.  He is finally calm and I take out the tylenol drops for a dose that might actually help him sleep.  He decides that he wants to play with the bottle and the box.  It starts off well enough - he puts the drops in the box, he takes it out of the box, he puts it in the box and he takes it out of the box . . . and so on a so forth. 

As he gets more and more tired he starts to get more and more frustrated.  Now he is having a hard time  putting it in the box which makes him cry in anger and frustration.  Once he gets it in the box he cries even harder in anger and frustration because, wait for it, it is in the box.  SO, he cries when it is in the box and he cries when it is out of he box.

Sometimes, I just can't win.  Like banging my head.  After a few rounds of this most frustrating game I took it all away and distracted him with a piece of French bread.

Cuteness Check

Yep,  they are still the cutest kids ever!

Wyatt Finger Paints :)

Before inspiration hit, Wyatt painted like a normal child. 

BEFORE:

When his inspiration struck him, things went a little wild.  I believe that Wyatt may have been inspired by one of our favorite books, "I AINT Gonna Paint No More", by Karen Beaumont

AFTER:

Happy Halloween!

Getting ready for Halloween kept us busy.  Check it out :).

First, we picked out pumpkins.  There were many choices.

For reasons that are beyond me, our children seem to like the pumpkins with warts - Yuck!

We had plenty of time to be silly, or course.

Then we got to work. 

TA DA - We did good.  Good work all around.  Please meet our witch and our girl ghoul.

A few more decorations. We made 2 girl ghosts and 2 boy ghosts - take a guess which are which.

Then we get ready to trick or treat.

Candy!  Candy!  Here we come :) Please see "Tinkerbelle on the way to the Prom" and "Cute Monkey with his Treats."

They are just SO CUTE.

Wyatt is 1!

Wyatt had a pirate birthday party.  We were, of course, nice and clean pirates.  We had a cannonball war, a treasure hunt and splashed around in the pacific (water was too cold for the Caribean).  Wyatt took to the cake right away - he stuck his finger in and tasted the frosting, then he did a little finger painting.  He did not however, taste the cake. 

Meredith is 4!

Meredith had a Fancy Nancy Birthday Party.  She looked SO cute.  I mean she is gorgeous every day, but the Fancy Nancy style fit her perfectly.   We all dressed up.  We decorated the room.  We played musical hoola hoops.  Had a banana walk and hop.  Pulled a pinata apart and danced around to the song Toosie Roll.  We had fun.    

The Many Faces of Wyatt

"Oooh, What's that?"

"Hey, is that a camera?"

" I LOVE cameras!"

"Can I try it?"

"Here I'll help you hold it."

"Hmm . . . "

"Listen . . . "

"Trust me."

"So, can I play with it?"

"Oh Mama, Come on!!"

Is it my color?

So, our Mazda 5 is spending a few days at the car doctor.  In the mean time we have been given this lovely car to get us around.  Just in case you had not noticed it is an electric blue PT Cruiser.  What do you think ... does it match my eyes?

I feel so peculiar driving around town.  I feel like everyone is staring . . . of course that might be because people aaaarreere staring.