Christmas Activities

Visiting the tree farm again this year. Avery was able to help cut the tree down.


When we asked Avery which tree he wanted, he pointed to a tree that was a foot tall. We asked him why and he said it was because he wanted to be able to carry the tree. We didn't end up with the short tree, but he still tried to carry the 7 foot tree!




Placing the star on top. Avery really enjoyed helping decorate the tree this year. Alia was napping, but she was really surprised when she woke up!


We celebrated our Christmas on Saturday since we are driving to Wisconsin this week. I love the early morning Christmas pictures.


Avery loved his train and dress up clothes. Alia loved her doll furniture.




He LOVES this skitterbot. (It is the blue bug on the floor). It is a lot like the hex bugs but it has a remote and you plug it into your computer to charge it up.


Alia helped make our birthday cake for Jesus.


It was a peppermint chocolate cake, perfect for this time of year!




We went to the Atlanta Christmas Parade with friends earlier this month. It was a neat parade with really big floats.


Before the parade, we enjoyed a breakfast with Santa. Alia didn't like him at all and only sat there because I was holding her.

We also enjoyed an amazing live nativity scene a local church put on. I had never been to a live nativity, it was a great way to show Avery and Alia the real meaning of Christmas.

Thanksgiving Fun

We had one of the best Thanksgivings ever. My parents, sister and her new husband came down for the weekend. We had good weather and had a general blast the whole time.


Grandpa found his favorite game ever. Alia liked it too. The two of them would sit and rock every day. Alia was quite sad when Grandpa left and she didn't have a rocking partner.


Avery had the time of his life as the foreman of the fort building operation in our backyard. He would direct everyone as to where to put the sticks. The interaction went something like this "Whoa whoa; Grandma, whoa, look at Grandma she has lots of big sticks". "Okay there have to be sticks on roof, but not big ones. The big sticks don't go on the roof they go on the sides but don't knock down sticks on the side". Laura said that Avery did a good job not moving an inch and doing no work while keeping the whole job organized and under control.


We had an indoor day when it was rainy out. We randomly found a cassette tape in Brandee's old teacher bag. It was Willie Sterba with a bunch of crazy kid's songs. The kids especially liked Moonkees Da Na Da which I thought was Monkeys gonna die. Kids and adults alike were all dancing crazy, singing "Monkeys gonna die, monkeys gonna die"! We played that one multiple times. Tons of fun for all.


Avery has recently gotten into cooking and internal organs (but not necessarily in that order). It was no surprise then that he LOVED helping cook the turkey. Anatomy lessons while cooking, what could be better? Here he is proudly holding the liver. His favorite was the neck but it was too gross to show.


The whole gang for dinner


After the excessive eating we ventured out the next day to do some much needed geocaching. This was one of the more extreme trips in recent history. The first cache was covered in (fake) black widows. It made us jump at first. The next cache forced the brave Tony to venture out into the middle of a boggy swamp supported only by rotten, downed trees. Needless to say, he came back muddy, proud and a winner in my book for the most extreme find ever.


We packed lunch and enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the lake.


For our final adventure we went to Callaway Gardens for their fantasy in lights display. It was one of the largest light displays I have ever seen. They lit up miles of roads through the park. My dad took a picture of one of the bright "tunnel" section.

We had such a good time and we were all sad to see the family go. The kids really enjoyed the extended time and additional attention. They are already asking when we get to see everyone again.

Weekend in pictures

Scott started making our picnic table bench for the deck. Avery loves helping him and using the tools. Here they are using hand planes to even out the wood.


During quiet time Avery built a transformer with marshmallows and toothpicks. I tried doing this with him when he was three and he wasn't interested in building because he wanted to eat them. This time he was patient enough to build something and then eat the marshmallows when he was done.


Alia started potty training a few weeks ago. She is doing really well! She loves her big girl underwear, although you wouldn't know it from this picture. It was quite entertaining last week trying to train the puppy and Alia. Some how they would both have to go to the potty at the same time. Whenever I would bring Maia outside I would say, "Go potty!" I would look over and Alia would be peeing in the grass.


We trained Venus to ring a bell when she needed to go outside, so we are now working on doing the same thing for Maia. I love how low her bell is!


See, just the right height for her!


Enjoying some park time with friends.

Experimenting

Avery made me proud the other day. He figured out that if he tied something up to the light switch when it was on and I opened the door, the switch would turn off.

He used an entire roll of floss on the bathroom door and my belt on my closet door




I gave Avery an entire roll of toilet paper during quiet time just to see what he would do. He created a road for his construction trucks.




Once Alia woke up, they both had fun playing in it.


Avery said he was a penguin and Alia loves to copy him, so she had me tie one around her too.


Cute Maia


Friends already

Annual Friends Weekend

We had a blast last weekend in Milwaukee with our lifelong friends. Janna, Sarah, Irene and I have been friends since elementary school. Our families have gotten together every year since 2005. This year we rented a home on Lake Michigan. The morning sunrise was beautiful and the children enjoyed playing on the beach. I always enjoy seeing those girls, it's nice having girlfriends who have known me for so long. I especially enjoyed watching our children play together this year. The Zu Zu pets were a hit!










Sand angels!

Meet Maia

She's the newest addition to our family. The children adore her and Venus is indifferent, unless Maia's food is down and then Maia is her favorite. She is a mix between a Chinese Crested Hairless and a Miniature Pincher. She is about 2 pounds right now. Her parents are both 8 pounds each.

Dress up

We had a great night trick or treating with our friends this year!


Scott rocked it this year, Alia and I were lady bugs and Avery was a lion.


They are all ready to go!


I have awesome friends!




This was taken at Avery's school party.


We went through an entire laundry tub of candy!