New Years Eve

I finally made it to the end of 2011! Woohoo!

On New Year's Eve, it was unusually warm outside. S and I decided to take advantage and take down our Christmas lights, as it involves quite a bit of ladder work on our uneven yard and usually we have to wait many months for the snow to be gone to do this. Luckily, this year we have hardly had any snow at all and it was a day in the 40s.

Big brother, helping M on her trike  :)

We had a blast outside that afternoon

And....crazy S decided when we were done with the lights, to rake the boulevard....and then to mow it!!!

Oh my. Never a dull moment at this house!

Me and the hubs went to a concert with our friend AB and her bf. It was a great night!

And that, my friends and family, FINALLY ties up 2011 for the V Family! On to 2012!! Hope it's as great as 2011!

We love you all!

Chidren's Museum!

Grandma and Grandpa always stay a few extra days around Christmas(which we LOVE). This year, I saved some of my PTO days so the kids and I could spend that time with them. One day, we went out to the Children's Museum and had some fun!

The kids could dance in front of a blue screen and see themselves in a music video. Of course, this was M's favorite thing!

Cutest turtle I've ever seen!

Such a fun day!

Whee!!

Hiding in a tree  :)

M and her skunk friend she found

They found a friend...heehee

Have I mentioned we love when they come? ;) So much fun!

Thanks G & G for staying with us. We feel very lucky to get that time with you!

One more Christmas!

We always do a separate Christmas celebration with S's immediate family, as it is nice to have time just us and rarely are we all able to get together during Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It's so nice after the chaos of the actual holidays to have this low-key day. The kids play and we hang out for the day, eating good food, drinking good wine, and enjoying the company, as we only are all together a couple times a year.

The two littles, hanging with A

Presents!

Miss M LOVED her new, sparkly princess shoes!

Big surprise there...haha

Christmas Day

First, we went to brunch with my family...it was fun, but also sad, as my cousin K, who was only 22 years old, had died on Christmas Eve

So pretty

Cutest kids ever!

My cousin's JC's wife, DC, due in Feb and my Grandma C and Uncle B

Then, we went to dinner with all the V's. This year we went to the youth center of D & A's church. It was perfect! Lots of space for everyone, especially energetic little kids. The real highlight was a stage with a sound system. S' cousin RV was very nice and would play songs for the kids on the sound system and let them sing along on the microphones.

Uncle S, getting them warmed up

N, trying out the microphone

Love this kid!

No surprise here, but Miss M was the ham of the night. She pranced all over that stage. even when there was no music, she still held the mic and sang. It was so cute!

Christmas Morning!

When we got up on Christmas morning, the best present was that Grandma and Grandpa were here! Woohoo! They had actually come the night before, but were at midnight mass when we got home the night before, so we hadn't see them yet.

Then....the kids got to open presents from Santa and Mom and Dad.

I swear, she was much more excited than she looks in the picture!

Again, I swear...he was having fun! Haha

Showing Grandma her Boots doll

New backpack and pretty new crown!

Checking out his new airplane

Chatting with Dora on the couch

Giving Dora some loves

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve, we went to the H house. Very fun night!

Playing trucks while waiting for dinner

My two cute kiddos

Having a great time!

Ho Ho Ho

Singing Jingle Bells

Cute Little K

K, getting some lovin' from S

Reading the book of Christmas letters. Aunt D writes a Christmas letter in her book every year and each year we have fun reading them and reminiscing over years past.

Cousin A

Another weekday fieldtrip with Mommy

I had another weekday off in December, so we decided to take another field trip. This time we took the light rail to see the Macy's holiday, A Day in the Life of an Elf. This is a great childhood memory for me and I wanted my kids to have it too....even though silly Macy's keeps having the same display every year! We even got the delicious gingerbread man cookies at the end.

Miss M has worn her sunglasses like this ever since she has been able to put them on herself. She definitely has her own style!

Look at that cool kid!

So excited to ride the light rail!

Here we go!

Breakfast with Santa

The kid's school had a "Breakfast with Santa" morning. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there and lots of the kiddos friends and teachers. They got to play and do a few projects. I really do love their school. What a great group of people that work there!

A visit to the MOA

After we left the R's house, we headed to the MOA for our appointment with Santa! The kids were great! Grancy came and met us and afterwords, she treated the kids to some rides. What a day!

We love Santa!

Driving the big rigs!

M got to pick their puppy this time....Magenta it is!

Love this sweet face

Hi Mommy!

So excited!! Dora and Boots!!

N and his buddy Diego!

Swiper, no swiping!

So fast, that he can't not laugh out loud! Makes me laugh just to look at it! This is my kid right here. Love me some rides!

Playing in the castle in the new Disney store...mirrors everywhere. M's cup of tea!