A thief among us

On Christmas morning, the boys woke up to a trail of candy canes, left by Santa, that led from their room down to the tree. They followed it down the stairs, picking them up as they went. After a quick discussion between the two of them, they decided to leave some for Sara. She LOVES candy canes, so it was an extra special treat to find when she woke up! She picked them up one by one until she couldn't possibly hold anymore. We gave her a bag to hold them, thinking she would forget about the candy! Wrong! She started opening presents with one hand! (picture to the right) As you can imagine, it wasn't the smoothest process around! We finally talked her into setting down the bag but that was short lived! She found something even more exciting...Grandma Linda had put a candy cane on every present! She walked around the tree taking them all off! Wrapped gifts, unwrapped gift, gifts for her and gifts for others...they were all fair game for the Candy Cane Thief!!! (last picture) The boys were really good sports about the whole thing. They let her steal them all, knowing they would get them all back!

Believing

Wow, we've had a wonderful Christmas this year. The kids are all at great ages for the fun parts of the holiday. Iain was trying to figure out ways to stay awake all night so he could see Santa. Sean was running around the house wondering if Santa was getting close to our house and Sara was asking "Santa is, Santa is?" all night wondering where he was. Before we put them to bed on Christmas Eve we went on the computer to track Santa. We were able to see which parts of the world he had already delivered presents to, and how close he was to us. When we looked he was in Peru. At one point Santa and his reindeer flashed across the screen, we think as he was leaving Peru and heading to his next destination. Iain's mouth fell open and his eyed widened. He couldn't believe he was actually seeing Santa. All I have to say is, Thank You Norad!

Christmas morning was filled with even more fun. The boys opened all their stocking gifts and waited as patiently as could be expected for Sara to wake up, which was an hour and a half!! Then it was joyous chaos! They loved all of their gifts! We've spent the better part of the last two days playing with all of it. Skateboards, baseball cards, dolls, doll accesories, Wii games...there is so much!

Iain opening a much wanted Lego set.

Sara, lost in a sea of wrapping paper, with all 4 of her new butterfly clips in her hair. (and candy cane around here mouth!)

Seany and I after dinner

Look at all this wrapping paper! Yikes!I'm sure we will be enjoying all the gifts for a long time to come!

Dear Santa,

Iain and Sean sent letters off to Santa a week ago. Iain asked for a few toys and then asked for one special wish. He asked to ride on Santa's sleigh with him to deliver toys or a handwritten letter back from him. On Christmas Eve, he received a very special letter in the mail. Much to his surprise, it was from Santa! It said that he would love to have Iain come along, but it was a job that he had to do alone. Iain was a little disappointed but completely understood, and was thrilled to have a handwritten letter! Sean also wrote a letter, and wrote the whole thing himself I might add!!

They both said they wanted to save the letters forever! So do I...

3 days and counting

There is some excitement brewing around these parts lately! The boys can hardly wait for Christmas. They are counting down, talking about what they hope Santa brings. Just watching their little faces as they talk about Santa is so precious! Iain is trying to figure out what time he will get here and how he can fly around the world in such a short period of time. We have cookies to bake (they think Santa will like Chocolate Chip the best, I agree!!!) and presents to finish wrapping. Sara is definitely enjoying the season too, but of course doesn't get it as the boys do. She does clasp her hands together and cheer with delight when she sees a present so I'm sure she'll be having a great time come Tuesday morning.

These pictures are completely unrelated but still fun action shots!

Night on the Seven Seas

Okay, not really...but we were on a boat!! Last week we took the kids out on a Harbor Cruise to see some Christmas lights. The residents decorate the backs of their homes with lights and decorations. And boy do they go all out!!! There were surfing Santas, palm trees covered with lights, and huge nativity scenes. Not to mention the homes looked like hotels! The boys kept asking, "Is that one a hotel?". When we'd answer no they'd give out a little "ohhh" in amazement!

The way it's set up, we park and take a bus over to the harbor. Sara was screaming 'school bus' over and over, she was so excited! We see buses each morning when we drop Iain off at school, so to ride on one was huge for her! She loved it! Luckily for us she loved the boat too! She held on to the edge and stared out at all the lights!! She would call out "nanta" (santa) and "noman" (snowman) each time she saw one, which was alot! After about 30 minutes she was getting bored and wanted a change of scenery. Luckily it was only a 40 minute cruise!!

This was Santa getting barreled! Who knew Santa could surf!! The wave is wire wrapped with blue lights, then Santa is riding a longboard in the middle with a lei around his neck. If you look really close (really, really close) you can see the reflection of the longboard as well as the lei.

Our weekend

We've had a very fun and eventful weekend! It started on Friday with Sean going to have a special afternoon with Grandma. They went back to her house and put together this great truck cake! So cute!! Then they enjoyed dinner together! He had so much fun! When she left, he said "very thank you Grandma!" Another, so cute!!

The weather has been soooo cold here! I know, I know...a few of you are laughing at the idea that we even get cold weather around here! Really it has been in the low 60's during the day. That is cold! We even brought out the newly named Eskimo jacket for Sara. The only pics I was able to get were this blurry one and this adorable one with her Daddy!

Saturday morning we went to get our Christmas tree. Remember this post from last year? Again, I was very excited to find the right tree for us! I so enjoy looking at each of them, picturing it in our house. Iain on the other hand, still isn't crazy about my fickle tree choosing style! We finally went with tree #5. I thought it was a pretty short process, but I'm fairly sure I was the only one! The kids did enjoy running and hiding in the trees though. When we got home, Iain T. helped get the tree up and ready to be decorated! He sure is Daddy's little helper these days!

Iain and Sean came up with the idea of a patriotic tree this year. Sure, why not! Instead of the multi colored lights we usually use, we used red, white and blue! It turned out great! Here's Sara putting on her very first ornament! (sniff-sniff, she's getting so big) Last year she sat on the floor and watched! You can see the red and white lights. The blue are up at the top! I just noticed I don't have any finished tree pics, better get one!

This is getting pretty long and I haven't even gotten to the parade on Saturday night! That will have to be for another time!

Sara vs the mud puddle

Puddle wins!

Notice the bottom of her pants!

Was it that long ago?

A friend if mine gave me these pictures today. They're from her son's birthday party back in August. I know it isn't that long ago but for some reason I think we look so different. Maybe because we were all so tan!! Nothing like a tan!

Quick recap

I feel like my blogging has really taken to the back burner lately. It's such a busy time of year, that I'm exhausted and/or too busy once I finally have some free time. I do have a little time and energy right now so here's a quicky post!

Crazy hat girl here! We put the hat on her and the dancing began! The 'bracelets' on her arm use to be rings to a sorting toy. They are now the newest fashion trend around our house!

A few weeks ago, yes I know I'm behind, the boys both had Thanksgiving festivities at school. Iain's was "Grandparent's Day". The kids had been practicing songs for weeks. Iain's class dressed up like chefs (see picture) and sang about cooking a turkey. It was of course adorable! After Iain's party was over, we darted over to Sean's school for a Thanksgiving feast.

The kids had been chopping veggies for Stone Soup. After a quick story from his teacher, we all ate the soup (which was much better this year than last!) It was a wonderful beginning to a long weekend!