Christmas Blessings

Well, even though I knew it would be over in a blink, it always surprises me how quickly Christmas comes and goes.  We had a wonderful holiday. 
We spent Christmas Eve at Mimi's house and then over to Grandma & Grandpa's.  Christmas morning we opened our own gifts from Santa, went to mass, then had brunch and presents at Nana & Papa's, then went to Grandma & Grandpa Smiths for dinner and finally ended the night with the Roope family at Aunt Terry's house.  Busy, busy (but great).  It's so nice to see all of our extended family and the kids love playing with all their cousins. . . . plus we got some really great presents.  I think Grace's favorites this year are all the little art/craft kits that will keep us busy through the long winter days.  And Lincoln really loves his 'scoop' and 'dump dump' from Grandma & Grandpa Smith (he's been scooping and dumping his rock and marble collection all day).  Luckily the fun didn't end at midnight on the 25th, we got to spend the ENTIRE next day at home in our jammies playing with all of our new toys.  Literally - we spent like 12 hours straight playing on the family room floor.
In case you don't believe how much fun we had - here are some pictures to prove it (in no particular order)

A New Season Is Here

Halloween and Thanksgiving were lots of fun and full of yummy treats, but believe it or not, Christmas time is already here.  To take advantage of the warm weather today, we started to "help" Daddy put up the outside lights and tomorrow it'll be time to decorate the inside of our home.

Tonight - to kick off the season (and celebrate my birthday) - we went to the zoo to enjoy the Festival of Lights.  It was really crowded, but we all had fun.  The kids and I are looking forward to several more trips before the lights come down.

Preschool is Cool!

This week was probably the most exciting week Grace has had a school yet.  On Monday I was 'Mommy Helper' - something we've both been looking forward to since schools started; AND Thursday evening was 'Daddy Night' (a kind of open house fair where all the Daddies get to see the school).
I had a great time spending the day with Grace's class - it was fun to see what she does when she's away from me. (I would like to have one 'Mommy Helper Day' every year from now until she graduates high school). We did two art projects, went to gym class, had our snack and sang some songs. Grace was very well behaved, like I knew she would be, and I was very proud to watch my baby act like such a big girl.

Fathers' Night was a really special time for Daddy and Grace that included nail/face painting, carnival games, meet-the-teacher, snack time and picture taking.  (I still have the picture of my Dad and I at Pilgrim's Daddy Night).  I think they both had a wondeful time.

Disney on Ice

Just a few days ago our family got to go see Disney on Ice.  We started with dinner at Skyline, enjoyed the show, then got ice cream after . . . it was quite an adventure.
This was Lincoln & Daddy's first 'on ice' experience.  We went with our friends Owen & Finn (and their mom & dad) and everybody had a great time!

Just a Few Words

Lincoln doesn't like to talk on camera, or when Mommy asks him to be polite and answer someone's question, but he does talk a lot.  Here are some of the gems he uses all the time:

"Kovu" - this is actually the name of a character in the Lion King II movie, but Linc uses it to mean any/everything.  It's kinda the word he says when he doesn't know what else to use.

"Mell the Fowlers" - since he was little Lincoln has loved to pick/collect/smell flowers.  Now that he talks about it as he's doing it, it's even better.  I love the way he pronounces this and hope he never learns to say it right!

"Cut off you head" - umm, I guess this is the rascally little boy side of my baby.  I think he also learned this from a Disney movie (goes to show you really do have to monitor what kids watch cuz you never know what their brain is going to absorb).  He doesn't use it as a threat, just a phrase to throw out when he's in a silly mood.

Fun in the Fall

Although I was sad to see summer end, fall has been a lot of fun too.  So far this month we've been to a Pumpkin patch with a whole crowd of family, Hallzooween two weekends in a row, painted some pumpkins, had a few campfires and played in the corn-box.

Another exciting occurence is that Grace has warmed up to school (she still doesn't like to get up in the morning, but there are no more tears).  She told me the other morning that, "I don't like school when I wake up, but then I change my mind" - translation, "I'm not a morning person."  Also, she frequently asks if it's going to be a 'short school' day - by which she means that school is so fun that time flies and it feels like a shor day.  Yeah!

Lincoln has also been living up the school experience - by having some special time with Mommy on Mondays and with Grandma & Grandpa on Fridays.  It's really fun for me to be able to focus on one kid for a while - kinda forgot what that was like :)

Here are a few pictures of our fun . . .

Sweet Dreams, Sweet Boy

Lincoln has a pretty eleborate 'going to bed' ritual that must be fully satisfied at nap & bedtime.  It started off simple enough but he keeps adding requirements.  He's a pretty creative staller (and he's so cute it's impossible to tell him to hush up and go to sleep).  Let me lay it out for you:

1. books or a movie

2. (bedtime only) get teeth brushed by daddy

3. prayers

4.  get in bed and have a drink of water

5.  make sure there is a truck/tractor/scoop sitting on his step stool next to his fan to "keep him company"

6.  give mommy a hug and kiss

7.  select a 'baby ball' (one of those small rubber balls that he likes to grip in his fist)

8.  and finally . . . have mommy sing a song (his favorite is 'the papa song' - aka hush little baby, don't say a word etc.)

I mean, where does it end??  Lincoln will probably be 12 years old and I'll still be singing to him before bed, but I guess that would be ok with me :)

The Beginning of a Long Journey

Today was the first day that our first kid went to school - really a pretty momentous event if you think about it. Which, of course, I have done a lote of. 

For the next 15 years (at least) we will be roped into the school schedule thing . . . waking up early, doing homework, looking forward to summer break, etc.  I'm still pretty shell shocked that I'm already a mom of a school kid.  I mean, last time I blinked we were just bringing Grace home from the hospital (now I'm tearing up) and figuring out how to bathe a newborn.  So cliche, but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?!?!

Grace had a great time today.  It was a more like a dress rehersal for school than the real thing because Mommy got to stay the whole time and there was not real structure, just play/explore time.  Grace met her teacher - Miss Kathy - and enjoyed playing with all the fun & new things in her classroom.  We also took a little tour of the preschool and met a few of her classmates.  It went quickly and our big girl was not happy about having to leave when time was up.  She's so ready to be a big girl, but am I ready for that?  (I think I'll probably be the only one shedding a tear when I drop her off on Friday).

Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd . . .

and we did!  Tonight Grace and Lincoln got to experience their first ever Reds game.  Thanks to Papa, we had 4 tickets for the Reds v Phillies game.  We all had a great time!  There wasn't much actual baseball watched, but we did have some yummy snacks, met some cool characters and saw lots of sights.

We got to the ball park a little early and enjoyed our packed PB&Js, then said hello to Rosie, Mr. Redlegs & the Gapper as they walked past the wall in front of our seats.  Next, Daddy discovered that we could get 'First Game Certificates' since it was just that.

We made it to the end of the 6th innning before the kids lost interest and we headed home, fully satisfied with our first family trip to the Great American Ballpark.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure the Reds lost :(

LM&M RR

That's code for 'Lebanon, Mason & Montgomery Rail Road' - we had an awesome time today taking the kids for their (and Tony's) first ever train ride. We hopped on the five car train and the conductor punched our tickets, we enjoyed a 1/2 hour ride out to the "junction" where Clifford the Big Red Dog was waiting. We visited with Clifford, made a little craft and had a picnic lunch. All in all it was an awsome day - I think Mommy & Daddy had as much fun as the kids.

'Smarter than the Average Bear'

Yesterday I realized that Grace knows how to read!! Numbers that is. We were playing a card game (one she made up) and she was matching all the numbers . . . 2's with 2's, 6's with 6's and so on. I was very impressed when it dawned on me what she was doing. Makes me even more sure she's ready for school - which is going to start in about 6 weeks - holy smokes.

ALSO, Grace had caught on to the tactic of spelling out words when we don't want her and Linc to know what we're talking about. She always asks, "Mom, what does that spell?" and I always have to explain that Mommy & Daddy weren't talking to her. Funnier though is that she sometimes "spells" things out when she doesn't want Lincoln to hear her. For example, "Now me and Baby Rose are going to the X-J-O-D-B-R-L-Q." Monkey see, monkey do.

Sleeping Beauty & Snow White

Snow White: (note the undies)

Sleeping Beauty: (isn't he cute?!?)

Independence Day

We had another WONDERFUL 4th of July holiday & here are the pictures to prove it: