My baby boy turns 3--a little early

I decided it was time to teach my almost 3-year old how to properly dunk an Oreo.

He took to it immediately. It paired quite nicely with a reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

We've watched The Polar Express twice already, so while daddy was visiting this weekend we headed out with the kids on the Minivan Express to look at Christmas lights.

And for the full-effect your ticket must get punched.


Even M got a ticket to ride.

We went to a neighborhood that is known for going all out with Christmas lights. It did not disappoint. In fact, at the end of the court there was a home that had a tour of Bethlehem in their backyard that told the entire Christmas story. Amazing.

You know your children are getting older, but sometimes it takes that one instant when you actually look at them and realize how big they've gotten. It's shocking. When did they learn those words? When did they get so tall to reach up that high? How did my baby boy get to be 3 years old?

We celebrated a little early since the whole family was here with an Alphabet party, and had fun with letters. Seemed fitting since that is a huge interest of N's right now.

Coloring with our alphabet crayons.

Even M got in on the fun. I was so glad she didn't try to eat them.

Yummy homemade birthday cake for our boy.

Doesn't quite know to make a wish yet, but he sure understands how to blow out the candle.


Chocolate cake + milk = Bliss.

He has no idea what the presents are for, but I don't think it'll take too long to figure it out.

I had found Curious George and thought it'd be a fun gift since we've been reading all of the books. But this little miss scooped him right up as her own.

More Christmas fun

Oh boy, do I seem to be dragging this week. However, this one always seems to make my days a little brighter.

And I have no idea what led to my temporary lack in judgement to purchase $1 window clings but I did, and I'm sort of glad about it. I really don't care for these types of things, but they've kept little man busy which means quiet for mama. Which means money well spent, even if it means my windows are ugly.

We've continued on with our advent calendar this week.

Day 4 was hot chocolate night. We made homemade marshmallows earlier in the day to dunk into our hot chocolate at night. Yum.

I did the beginning steps of boiling the sugar while the kids were napping. Very smart.

And had N help me coat them in the powdered sugar.

I wish I had thought ahead to package the marshmallows up to share with friends. This plate is only half of what exists.

Mmmm.


Making marshmallow tips
*Expect to have a sticky mess to clean up when you're finished.
*Don't forget to put the vanilla in toward the end of beating the mixture. I didn't. But I almost did. Whew.
*If you have a kitchenaid mixer, use it. I don't know why I didn't. Instead, I chose a hand mixer. And while I was using the mixer and reading the directions, I realized I was going to need to be standing there mixing it for 12 minutes. Nice.
*Put something to catch the drips from the mixer when you're done with it and the bowl is no longer under it. If you don't, you will have a nice, sticky countertop like me.
*Do not lick the spatula or bowl after you're through. It does not taste good like cookie dough. Promise.

And it's a good thing I've got my running shoes on lately because I've been introducing the kids to these mint Oreos.

Day 5 was making reindeer cards to deliver to friends. N loved getting to put his thumbs in ink to make the face. Don't look too closely at the reindeer with the nose above his eyes.

Due to the excess amount of marshmallows we have, Day 6 was smores night...

...and reading The Night Before Christmas.

On the agenda for today. Singing Christmas carols.

And with bells nonetheless.

And while some ate the bells, others decided to pretend to fall asleep. Yes, apparently my singing is that good.

Holidays

WARNING: You are about to enter an extremely long post that is way overdo. Make sure you have food and drink nearby.

Daddy was home for Thanksgiving which was such a treat.

While he's been away, N kept saying Daddy was going to bring him a special treat when he came home. I have no idea where he got it from, but I let Lucas know what he was expecting. Daddy did not disappoint as he found this weird, crazy toy called the HexBug Nano. So weird. And yet, I have to admit they're kind of fun. Given the popularity of it with both of our children, I think we'll be adding to it for Christmas.

Such a sweet girl.

This little girl luuurves when Daddy is home.

And she finally got some walking shoes to dance around in. She was so excited to put them on and trip all over herself.

And I'm super excited about the new jogger/bike trailer we got ourselves as an early Christmas present. It has been wonderful to start running again and have something to take the kids in during the day. Hooray for early Christmas presents!

This year is such a magical age for Christmas with N. I love seeing his face light up with excitement from all of the new things he's seeing and learning about. I had wanted to do an advent calendar with him this year, and had really slacked on making a cute one myself or finding one to purchase that I liked, so on Nov. 30th at 11p.m. I decided to make a quick one that would work just fine for this year.

N LOVES doing the different activities I've written on the back of the tags to do each night. It is very important to us that our children understand the true meaning of Christmas and the excitement and anticipation there is to celebrate Jesus' birth. Our first activity was to purchase a nativity set (that the kids could play with) and to read the story of Christmas. I had wondered if it was really necessary to add another "toy" to the mix and get the nativity set, but I found it on a good sale and went with it. I'm so glad I did. While I read the Christmas story, N set the stage at the appropriate parts of the story and really seemed to grasp what it was all about. Here is everyone all lined up, excited to meet the baby Jesus.

Day 2 was making gumdrop popsicles via Martha Stewart. We had a good time making them but just don't compare them to what they're "supposed" to look like. Tonight will be Christmas movie night and popcorn.

Because we have our house on the market we thought we'd go easy on Christmas decorating this year and just do a few touches here and there. I caved. It felt so blah around here and with Noah being at such a fun age for it I ran out and purchased a skinny tree to decorate. I figured in the future it could be the kid's tree. And this way the tree was small enough to not overtake the room if someone came to look at the house, but we could still have some Christmas spirit as well.

Santa riding the airplane is N's favorite. I was thrilled to snag these Steinbach ornaments made in Germany from our local TJ Maxx. They remind me so much of my childhood as we always had them on the tree. I can remember unwrapping each one of them from their tissue paper and placing them on the tree. The funny thing is that the ones my parents have are actually from Germany when they lived there. Hard to believe I found them at our discount store nearby for much less.

Seriously in love with this tree.

More Christmas decorating tonight and then I'm calling it quits. Afterall, I have to start getting ready for a certain little boy's third birthday.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

While Daddy has been away, here are some of the things we've been up to.

After the kids' afternoon naps, I usually try to run some errands before dinner. This crazy-haired, static-cling girl looked like this after I tried 3 times to wet her hair down. I thought to myself, forget it. She won't care. And off to run errands we went.

Last weekend there was a Duplo Lego party at Pottery Barn Kids. I figured you can't beat free so I signed N up to participate. It was quite comical because after about two minutes at the table, the kids realized they were surrounded by other types of toys they'd rather play with.

N immediately headed for the stroller. He loves anything he can push around. And I had to take some pictures because, well, let's just say I'm sure his daddy would be proud that he's in the pink room.

Then it was off to the kitchen. I'm hoping he'll become a great cook to take the load off of me.

Don't worry. We eventually made it over to the boys' side where he was at home with the cars and trains.

On one of my errands a sweet lady at the store handed the kids two balloons. Seriously made their day, and mine. The red one somehow became separated from the string and is now floating around our vaulted ceiling.

We passed a concert at the mall's outdoor pavilion. I chuckled to myself as they were playing 90's music. I couldn't help but want to sing along with Tom Petty's "Learning to fly." N thought it was very loud.

We've been doing quite a bit of chatting on Skype with daddy. N loves the fact that he can see himself make funny faces on the computer. Here they are singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" together. We're super excited to have him home IN PERSON tonight!

And what do you do in your home when the kids are done eating and hands need to be cleaned?

In case you're needing some music for your Thanksgiving feast...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family. We are so grateful to have you in our lives.

Our days

We're at a fun age with the kids right now since they are starting to play together.

She's a little accident-prone but is typically all smiles. She really does have the best smile.

Our mornings are busy with Bible time and preschool activities.

This is the face of a one-year-old that is about to get into something she's not supposed to.

And how about some monkey munch to top off the day? N is a great helper in the kitchen.

I thought you might enjoy a little video of M walking around. It's opened up a whole new world to her....and opened up a whole new world of ways to get into trouble.