Christmas Performance

Addie and Cam's preschool puts on a Christmas performance each year.  The kids had been looking forward to it for weeks.  Cam was up first.  He sang his heart out and danced to every song.  After it was over he asked when he could get back up on stage to do it again.

Cam pre-performance.

 Cam front and center.

Remember our neighbor Emmie?  Still in love with her.

 

Addie was up next.  I don't know what happened but things went south for Addie just before she got on stage.  There was no singing or dancing for her.  Plenty of pouting and crying though.

Addie pre-performance.

Addie throughout her performance.

 

Oh, and what you can't see in the picture are her neon pink crocks that she insisted on wearing with her dress. 

It was awesome all around.

FAAP

Over the summer when David was out studying for boards Addison asked what studying meant.  I explained to her that he was getting ready to take a test.  She then not-so-politely pointed out that my explanation didn't help because she also didn't know what a test was.  I tried again, saying David had to answer some questions to show that he knows a lot of information about being a doctor.  She sat quiet for a while and then said, 'Well I don't care what any test says I already know that daddy's a smart doctor'.  I almost cried.

 

On December 11th we found out David passed his exam.  I cried then.

Christmas Prep

The kids love decorating for the holidays.  I think Addison has every piece of our Christmas decor memorized and she scours our storage boxes for each of her favorite pieces.  Her bedroom looked like something out of the Griswold's Christmas Vacation this year but it kept the clutter down in the rest of the house :) 

 

I gave the kids free rein with the tree this year.  They unwrapped and hung almost every ornament themselves.  The huge clumps of ornaments and large empty gaps grew on me as the weeks passed.

 

Addison decided that decorating the tree was SUCH a special occasion that she wanted to dress up for it.

 

Cam just stayed in his jammies.

 

 

 

I think the kids love baking as much as they do decorating.  We did gingerbread cookies this year.

 

Addie's happy snowman.

Cam's angry snowman.

 

 

Meredith Grey

Grandma Karen has gotten Addie hooked on melty beads.  This fall she graduated from the biggie beads to the perlers. 

 

Dave calls her Meredith Grey when she's really in the zone.

 

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at our house.  David was off so he cooked, in his turkey pants.  Don't know how I didn't get a picture of them ... maybe next year.

 

Addie and Cam made the place cards.

 

 

 

Every Thanksgiving the kids decorate a gingerbread house.

 

 

Each year they turn out just a bit nicer than the last :)

Sofia the First

This morning we watched the new Disney movie Sofia the First.  The kids loved it.  Cam especially.  After getting dressed for school he ran back to his room and dug out a purple tutu to put on.  He came out and announced the he was going to be Sofia today.  And he was Sophia ALL day.  When we got to school he asked Mrs Marks to please call him Sofia, not Cam.  I brought my camera with me when I picked him up ...

Don't you love it?  Superman, Batman and Sofia!

As an added bonus Cam was special helper today.

He wore the tutu until bath time tonight and as I tucked him into bed he let me know that Sofia would be back tomorrow.  Can't wait.

Fishing

Would you believe I love to fish?  Some of my favorite childhood memories are of our family fishing trips in northern California.  This week my dad and I took the kids fishing for the first time.  We reminisced a bit as we got the poles ready for the kids.  At one point I said, "How did we (meaning my brother, cousins and I) do this without 'hooking' each other?"  My dad's instant response was, "well you kids listened".  What?  Was he insinuating that his grandchildren don't listen?!!?  Absurd.

Checking out the bait.

Anxiously waiting.

Learning to cast.

Waiting.

Waiting.

More waiting.

Friends

 

I snapped this shot during the kids' school field trip.  Loved it!

A Man Inside Me

A few weeks ago when Cam and I were watching TV a zicam commercial came on.  It was the one with the stuffy-nosed monster chasing after people.  Cam asked what the commercial was all about so I explained that the monster was "the cold" inside our bodies when we get sick.   Well sure enough Cam got a head cold last week.  At the dinner table one night he dropped his fork and said, "Mom that man's inside me!"  I had NO idea what he was talking about.  Around the third time he said it it dawned on me that he was talking about the mucous monster from the commercial.  HA!  I swear Cam doesn't listen to 95% of what I say but the one time I'm joking around he's actually paying attention ...

Halloween

We carved pumpkins Tuesday evening.  Addie and my dad worked on a witch while Cam and I made Spidey.

 

 

The finished products.

Here they are in their 'super hero' pose (Addie's idea).

 Out trick-or-treating.

 

 

When Cam's bag got to be too heavy he threw it around his neck for easier carrying (Cam's idea). 

 

We went trick-or-treating with our neighborhood friends Reagan (witch) and Emmie (Ariel). 

Cam has a  slight humongous crush on Emmie :)

 

 

 All our trick-or-treating friends.

 

Schnepf Farms

Every year since Addie was born we've gone out to Schnepf Farm's Pumpkin Patch.  I love it and the kids do too.  Pumpkin patches aren't Dave's favorite but I think it's grown on him ... note the jack-o-lantern shirt ;)

The kids love petting the goats.  It creeps me out.  I was surprised Dave went back in this year ... last year a goat peed on his foot.

Addie is so happy around animals.

The jumping pillows were a new addition this year - big hit!

The bee ride used to be the kids favorite.

Grammy Janet came along this year.

The kids got to participate in a dog show ...

Addison had no idea the dog had jumped over her she was so focused on the ants crawling on the ground.

Now the rollercoaster is the fav.

 

 

Happy Fall!