January has been a crazy month since James has barely been in school (cancelled for weather - NC really does not know how to handle anything below 32 degrees) and we have been scrambling to keep him from climbing the walls. With this cold weather we have to find indoor activities which are few and far between here, so we have done a lot of playdates and museums!

 

For New Year's Eve, we had a few friends over with their kids. We were all invited to an adults NYE party, which didn't start till 9, and we all talked about how we wanted to be in bed by 9... so we decided to have our own NYE celebration. We started the countdown at 8, gave the kids some sparklers, noise makers and sparling grape juice and then everyone was gone by 9. It was so much fun and so perfect for us. We even played a few rounds of duck duck goose just to keep it interesting ;) 

 

This was one of the days were we just had to get outside, no matter how cold it was. So I bundled up the kids and met some friends. Its amazing how it seems that they don't even register the cold!

 

 

Indoor playdate! Notice Madeleine's face - I don't know what this is, but she's all about the funny faces now.



And they are all pretty funny...

 

Until we are walking around Target and shes making them at everyone we pass.



I caught her here before she could make one!



 

We went with some friends to a place called Monkey Joes. It is basically a big room with lots of bounce houses and blow up slides. Its a perfect place to go on a cold day when school has been cancelled for the third time!

 

 

For Christmas, my Dad got them a big piano - like the one from the movie "Big". They love it! Its hard to get a picture when they wont stay still on it, but its a great time for them. Kind of annoying for John and I (they are just basically banging on a loud piano for half an hour) but they both think its the coolest thing.



 

Whenever I need twenty minutes of peace, the kindle and leappad are amazing. I know its terrible to put your kids in front of electronic devices but after a month of being home... sometimes I just have the need to get dinner on the table without someone yelling and crying!



 

They love the kids museum. I think it is so amazing how well they play together now. I pretty much just follow them around and they ignore me. Makes a boring trip for me, but a great time for them.



 

Finally school started again - so I bundled James up and off he went. He was so excited to get back and see his friends he was bouncing in the car all the way there.

 

 

She loves being on the big kid  swing, but hates to be pushed on it - she's got a strong sense of self preservation!



 

Its a good thing our banister is sturdy!



 

This was after a long morning of shopping at Costco. She loves it there because of all the food samples, but without fail she always falls asleep on the drive home - that store is just overwhelming!

 

 

Since his school is play-based, they don't really sit down and work with him on reading and writing unless the child initiates it. We just started working with James on learning some sight words and practicing his writing. The other night when John went in to check on him, he was cuddled up with his board and this is what he wrote - kinda melted our hearts. I just love how much he can absorb and how much he wants to learn. It is fantastic.



Christmas 2013

As you can imagine, Christmas Eve was a little crazy in our house. John's brother Stephen was finally back in the States after being stationed in Qatar, Saudi Arabia for over 6 months and was able to come up late Christmas Eve afternoon. We were not sure if he was going to be able to make it so we did not tell James - and the excitement of seeing Uncle Stephen after so many months was off the charts... and then he remember Santa was coming that night - and well, it took a very long time for his to settle down for bedtime. He was good though and didn't come out of him room, but we heard him in his room singing and chanting "Ho, Ho, Ho" for hours.



 

And when we went to check on him before we went to bed, he was sound asleep on the floor.



 

 

We didn't wrap a lot of gifts for Madeleine and we left some of James' bigger "Santa gifts" unwrapped - they were both very spoiled and loved by everyone.



 

 

 

It was a crazy mess of paper and boxes and toys - but so much fun to watch. When we finally got breakfast going, we popped in one of their new movies from Papa Steve and let them watch while they ate and we had mimosas!



 

We had to be at our friend's house for Christmas dinner at 4, and we didn't get out of our pjs until 330! Good thing they live half a block away :) It was a perfect relaxing morning and the kids really got to enjoy their gifts in their Christmas pjs courtesy of Nana.



 

Even though we are far away from most everyone we love, our hearts were with you.   



Getting ready for Christmas!

Last week when James told us that Santa's sleigh was pulled by moose, and then argued that we were totally wrong when we corrected him, we decided that we had done a terrible job of explaining the whole idea of Santa to him. Well, that and the fact that we need to start teaching him the differences between animals with antlers. So we went over to our good friend's house and had a Christmas party - one that included Christmas PJs, cookie making and the movie "Polar Express". I'm not sure how much it helped, but it was a really memorable night!

 

 

Our neighborhood had a breakfast with Santa - and he arrived on a fire truck! Nothing could have been more exciting for James, he was totally in awe.



 

He sat on Santa's lap and gave him his very "long" list of only stickers and candy. And then he made Santa repeat it back to him so that he wouldn't forget.



 

James is way more excited then he was last year, which makes John and I so much more excited too - Madeleine of course is very unaware of what's going on, but that's perfect... this year will be all about James. He's such a wonderful kid that he deserves one big Christmas before he has to share it with his sister. 

 

Can you believe Christmas is next week?? I feel like we just got back from Thanksgiving in Ohio a few days ago... I dont know where the time goes this time of year - but it always just flies by! The pictures above are from James' preschool. They had a photographer come and take some pictures - they turned out pretty cute I think. My two can be big hams when they want to. The picture below is James and his school friend CiCi. They LOVE each other so much, always trying to wrangle a few playdates and sneak into the others car on the way home. We've gotten together a few times out of school so they can play, but with the holidays here it has gotten harder with everyone schedules - so hopefully in a few weeks they will be able to see each other more. 

 

 

Since his school is a co-operative school, one of the many things that the parents are in charge of is the raking leaves. We came to help (and let the kids play) one weekend and it turned into a day long project, but they kids helped and had a blast.



 

They have started snuggling together on the couch, doesn't get much cuter than that!



 

When the weather is really nice (which is fairly often) a lot of the kids will stay and play on the playground after school - and all the siblings get a chance to play too! This time they all wanted to play Ring Around the Rosie, Madeleine did not quite get the part where everyone falls down - but she always laughed when the other kids pretended to fall.



 

Shes getting sneakier...



 

Our neighbor Parker came over for the morning a few weeks ago and we all just lounged around in PJs... She is a year younger than James and will follow him everywhere. They are so sweet together, kinda melts my heart.


 

As usual, I failed at taking a lot of pictures in Columbus over Thanksgiving week. But here are a few, the kids had a great time - they always love seeing their "Ohio Family".



We went and cut down our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the kids loved running around - Madeleine wiped out a few times over some tree stumps but shes tougher than she looks. James found us the perfect tree. Native NC trees look more like big tree shaped firs, but it works!



 

James is back to sleeping on the stairs... the kid has got great balance.



 

James' preschool will let the kids play outside no matter what the weather is (unless it is dangerous - but we rarely have dangerous weather - so they are always outside). Which is awesome because they get their energy out and have a blast... but then they come home covered in mud. I have learned to keep a change of clothes and a few towels in the car.



 

Amanda and Addison came and spent a weekend with us - James and Addison get along amazingly. Not that they are older, they have the most fun together. Its so great to watch. The top picture is of the boys three years ago playing together with a bin... and the two pictures at the bottom and of them playing with a bin this past visit (Addison is once again in the box!). Some things never change!

 

 

This is a day after school when he was just so muddy I stripped him and then immediately through him in the shower - what a day!



 

John bought himself a remote control helicopter - Madeleine just yells at it the whole time. Its a happy yell, I promise!



 

Future firefighters!



 

Our most recent family picture, not the best but better than most!!



 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!