Christmas

Our 2009 Christmas was laid-back and lovely. On Christmas Eve, we stayed home with a fire and plans for a Mexican feast. Daddy brought home a Christmas movie - The Grinch. Surprised that it was only 26 minutes long, we spent the rest of the night playing with the gift you selected to open (a BACKPACK!!), dancing, and being silly. Christmas Day was spent with Nana and Poppy this year, and we had to reschedule the final celebration with Nana & Papa 3 times due to the crazy snowstorm that gave us a white Christmas. We finally "wrapped" Christmas a few weekends later!!




As parents often admit...the gifts to a young kiddo are often outshined by something silly. You would have been happy with just that stocking full of "sucks"....!

The 12 days of Christmas wrap-up

The Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts have all been opened with glee (minus one left for tomorrow), and the days to Christmas have just flown by. I always take a bazillion photos for my mom so that she can watch the process unfold from afar. These are just a few of the photos that aren't compromised by bedhead, jammies, and bad breath. We tend to open the day's gift at the start to each day. It's such fun for the kids. Thanks Nana!

Rylan's gifts seem to hold an appeal for he and big sister. Good thing he seems to be slightly okay with sharing!





The countdown for Rylan has been sang out loud:
On the first day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... one soft Christmas pony.
On the second day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... Pat & Rusty.
On the third day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... three dinner time tools.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... 4 ocean rollers.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me....5 finger paints.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... 6 things with wheels.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... more than 7 window slicks.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... a boat with 8 accesories.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... a nine piece puzzle.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... a 10 playdough party pack.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... 11 yummy snacks.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my Nana sent to me... a book with 12 horn sounds...

These boots were made for walkin...

Christmas Countdown

As is Nana Bieker's tradition, we've received our 12 days of Christmas countdown and are enjoying starting each day off with a goodie from the stash and a little singing. Rylan has his own stash too, and it's helping the last two handfuls of days before Christmas fly by in a flash!


This year, Elfie, is watching again and reporting the kids' good behaviors to Santa. Fortunately, there hasn't been too much bad to report. It's fun to hunt him down each morning in his new hiding spot! We aren't doing an advent calendar this year to eliminate a tiny bit of Christmas chaos, but might do it again next year once Rylan is a little bit older and able to participate in doing each (or accidentally forgetting about) each activity. Regardless, it's shaping up to be a GREAT holiday season!

First snow

We had our first inch of snow land. In celebration, Daddy and the kids went out to catch a few flakes on their tongue as it was coming down. The next day, we enjoyed some outdoor fun in it, followed of course, by hot chocolate. Although Mama isn't a big fan of snow, I do like to take pictures in it...and now Rylan is fully initiated into the snow-loving side of the family! It's official, even the dog loves the snow. So, Mama is on the "wrong team." {family joke}

Choo-choo for trains

Since the little guy is becoming increasingly fond of everything trains, we spent the morning of Daddy's vacation day at the Union Station train exhibit. In anticipation, we had a bit of pretending at home with big sister whilst still in jammies.




And, then we drove the trek to the station and saw every bit of the huge train set they've compiled down there. Rylan wandered around with rather large eyes, taking it all in.


Upon returning home, we watched Thomas on the screen to unwind. This boy is nuts for trains!