a little late

I have some Christmas documenting to do but everything computer based came to a halt three days before Christmas as our computer came down with a nasty virus (I blame it on either Real Simple, Martha Stewart or Pinterest, as I was collecting Christmas dinner recipes). At this point we've backed up all our information, and have tried wiping and formatting no less than five times.  Hopefully at some point something we do will work, until then I'm on a netbook occasionally.
And let me point out how useless tech support links to online sites are when you cannot actually get online.

a day uptown

On Sunday, our playgroup planned a trip to see The Velveteen Rabbit performed by our local Children's Theatre.  We've always been impressed by their performances in the past and Neland was very excited about this one. We rode the train uptown.

We had great seats for the performance and Neland was on the edge of his the whole time. None of us really remember the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, and we were all balling by the end. Neland did not really understand the story, even though he enjoyed it. After the show we visited the Ritz Carlton to see the HUGE gingerbread house and then enjoyed the singing bears in Founder's Hall.

Afterwards, the dads met us with younger siblings for dinner at Brixx. When I saw Chris walking towards us, I laughed. He had the stroller (Teague was not in it). In the stroller was NJ's jacket, which I had completely forgotten (we left the house at 8am and hadn't been home since). Chris was carrying Teague, along with his horse, dog, Elmo, blanket and water. Such a sight. After dinner we rode the train back. We took these at the beginning of our ride.

By the end we were sweating trying to keep Teague seated, had gone through a candy cane of bribes and had thought the train trip was about 15 minutes too long (it's a 20 minute ride). We were very happy to get off, Teague possibly the happiest. Neland had a blast with his buddies, so maybe that made the ride worth it.

the school Christmas party

Friday was Neland's last day of school and the long awaited class Christmas party! I planned the same crafts as our playgroup party, just with a lot more kids (and a tweak or two).

One parent offered to bring cupcakes and toppings for the kids to decorate, which of course was a total hit.

Since I was in charge of teacher gifts, I created this ornament to go along with the gift. It says "You make our LIGHTS shine BRIGHTER" with the teacher name. Then each light bulb I painted has a student's name. It made me think of the song "This Little Light of Mine". (and I am taking every opportunity to enjoy actually making class Christmas gifts that can reflect what Christmas is actually about, instead of a generic "holiday" gift).

 (of course if I made this again there are a few things I would do differently, maybe even stuff them with cotton balls, although even though they don't photograph well, the light flowing through the "lights" did look pretty)

At the end of the party we tried to get a good group shot. 

when's Christmas?

I receive this question every single day from Neland.  Every morning I hear, "Is today Christmas?" and then it's followed up by "When is Christmas?" or "How many more days till Christmas?".  We have Christmas marked on our calendar and we have a countdown (or up rather) to Christmas. 

We finally picked out our Christmas tree last weekend. I think we may have been the last people in town to get one. The boys had fun running around.  Neland even picked our perfect tree!

 

 I love these two pictures. The mischievous grin on one and the angelic glow on the other.

 The boys loved passing this big Santa every weekend.  Now they could actually touch it.

Both boys helped decorate. Neland loved it and was so careful. He'd unwrap an ornament, ask if it was breakable and if it was, he'd set it on the table, if it wasn't he'd hang it on the tree. Teague hung one or two, admired them and then headed up for a nap.  I recorded his reaction when he came downstairs after we'd finished decorating.  It was so sweet. He'd point out the different ornaments saying "bird", "George", "Santa", "Snowman". He knows so many new words!

a few days away

We spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa's to visit with Aunt Liz and Mumsie.  I wasn't sure how long we'd get to stay, but things worked out really well when Chris ended up with a project he could work on in the office near their house.  Neland was so excited, he stayed up until we were about 10 minutes away from their house (and it was about 10pm).  The next morning he was so excited to see the train around the Christmas tree. He talked and talked about that train (in fact Teague and I both woke up to the sound of the train).

 

 After a wonderful lunch with Mumsie and Aunt Liz, we headed to the Children's Museum.  Pulling up I saw they had a new Curious George exhibit!  How perfect for my little monkeys!

I love hearing Teague say "George" and in this picture he's saying "foot" which is kind of appropriate because Chris always asks him where his monkey feet are.

Dr. Neland

 This is Neland's train driving face apparently.

Teague served Aunt Liz some tea.

Neland flew Aunt Liz to San Fransisco a few times.  If anything, seeing the front of the plane made me even more afraid to fly.  And I was convinced they received the aircraft because it was in an accident (which a museum worker, or curator, told me wasn't true, it was specially made for them).  I'm not completely convinced since the emergency escape is open.  Neland probably spent the most time in the airplane and the train. I don't have any pictures of the post office, but that was a big hit too. 

The boys were able to feed a couple of bunnies.

 Thank goodness for a gated play area for the little ones. Teague loved this barn.

 Pure exhaustion. The best time to go is definitely nap time.  We had the place almost all to ourselves.

At one point Neland called my name and I thought he might want to show me something. I answered him and walked over and he said, "Where's Aunt Liz?" I pointed him in her direction and off he went. 

A special piano lesson from Mumsie on a two of a kind piano. The boys loved her home, from the cat which they terrorized, to the piano and the pop up books, they had a blast.

Teague was wiped out each afternoon. I used this opportunity to get a picture of his beautiful rainy day curls (and put ear drops in his ears, as he now has a double ear infection). After all the excitement of the past couple of days, everyone slept well once we arrived home.

happy birthday Jesus!

Monday night Neland was in a performance at school called, "Happy Birthday Jesus." I've been hearing bits and pieces of songs all week, and was pretty excited to see what was to come.  Neland was sheep in the performance, and in the back so it was hard to get a good picture, but he was still adorable.  Teague didn't quite appreciate the performance as much as we did, so luckily Grandma didn't mind letting him stand in the back.

 Teague went through four "pops" and that still wasn't enough to get through the performance.  I think he even ate part of a stick.

After the performance, we put the kids in their jammies and headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a couple of days.

playgroup crafting

Last year I decided to host a craft playdate and it ended up being a lot of fun.  The boys made some cute items as well as some yummy cookies.  This year we decided to have it on a weekend so the dads could come too.  We made an ornament, a magnet and a cute tree decoration.  Then ate some pizza and had a birthday celebration for Bailey who turns 1 on Saturday!

 Our group (and Teague is holding a slice of pizza, a fridge farm and his beloved horse)

 

 Happy 1st Birthday to Bailey!

Frosty the Snowman

 We weren't quite ready to get rid of our pumpkins, so we turned them into a snowman! 

Neland with his creation!  

It makes me think of a missed Christmas card opportunity.  When Neland was 2 we took this picture:

And we wanted to put it on our Christmas card and say, "Where'd Frosty go?", but we didn't.  Sometimes we think about recreating it... Teague will be 2 next year.