More Christmas

Here are a few more Christmas photos to share.  Every year, my family has the tradition of making gifts for each other (as Kate says, this is mandatory).  Ryan brought the made gifts up a notch this year - he made the kids a tree house!  Martin, Maeve and Lizzie will enjoy this for awhile, I think.

 I made the kids these ribbon wands.

 Ryan also made saw horses for John and Dad.

 Martin and Lizzie both received these sweaters.  So cute!  Lots of made socks, bags, calendars, candelabra, candied nuts and jams exchanged this year (as well as future oil changes, which are really one of my favorite gifts to receive).

 Here is our tree Christmas morning.

 Our stockings too:

 The kids are up!  We were all very sick over Christmas, so the kids opened presents from the couch.  They were happy and excited about Christmas, but definitely more subdued.  I was lucky to get any photos taken, as I had a bit of the flu myself.

 There were a lot of books exchanged Christmas morning.

 The Rush family opening gifts.

Holiday time

What a busy holiday it has been so far!  Earlier in December, Lizzie had her holiday dance concert.  They did an excellent job and were so fun to watch.

 Another weekend, Lizzie and I went to the nutcracker ballet - we had so much fun!  Here she is in her fanciest dress.  We went out for pizza afterwards and then I took her to do her Christmas shopping.

 Today we had the Parker family Christmas - Lizzie barely fits in front of the tree with all of the presents!

 Both of the kids did a great job with there presents today.  Lizzie is so patient and helpful (see, she is Santa's helper officially on her apron!) and Martin was pretty excited with the new toys too.  Auntie smiling in the background.

 Patiently waiting for her stocking.

 Marty likes to follow Lizzie in most things.  He thought it would be a good idea to bring his drink to join her (did I mention how much I love these two?  I am so proud to be there mother!)

 Helping Mimi with her stocking.

 Lizzie lines up her presents - this was at the very beginning.

 Martin just wanted to play trucks, so he had Lizzie help him unwrap a few things.

 Marty kept bringing new clothes for Timber to help him try on - here they have new snow pants.

 Lizzie said, "Martin, want to hold hands?" and of course he did.  Here they are in there new chairs.  They are meant to be porch chairs, but are already taking of a prominent place in front of our wood stove at home.

What a great Christmas!

Halloween and November

I am a bit behind on my blogging!  Here are some pictures from Halloween.

 The next set on my camera are from decorating our Christmas tree!  There was a lot in between that I didn't get on film.  Thanksgiving, my birthday, Dan's birthday, bowling and the trip to Boston.  I will do better in December, I am sure of it!

Family trip!

Ryan and I decided to stick our toes in and go for a trial family trip!  This was a trial run to see how the kids would do in a hotel and in the car.  They did a great job!  We stayed in a hotel with a separate living space from sleeping space, and that helped with bedtime.

 Cinderella!  We took a horse and carriage ride to meet her in her castle.

 We all got to ride the rides!

I think this was probably Ryan's favorite attraction - the ball in the water!

 Lizzie chose to have her face painted like spider man.  She looked great and got lots of compliments!

I love that I get to ride the rides with Lizzie, so much fun!

September

I am a bit behind on posting our photos - here are a couple from September.    Apple picking, dress up play.  Lots of fun!