Meeting Santa again

On Friday we went to this great little place called The Village Bake House with Marie and Evan.  They were having an open house with cookies, face painting, and a visit from Santa.  The kids got to decorate their own cookies.  Both of my children went a little overboard on the icing and sprinkles....but they sure had fun.

The Santa that was there was very nice but he had a mini conference with EVERY child so it took forever to get the chance to see him.  We got in line three different times and then we would go back outside and just wait until the crowd died down and tried again.  They had you fill out this piece of paper with your child's name, things he/she does around the house to help, things he/she needs to improve on, and things he/she can do for others.  

Tyler helped me with his...

Name: Tyler

Things I do around the house to help:  Feed the dog and pick up my toys

Things I need to improve on: Being a good listener (I picked this one) and coloring (he pick that one!=)

Things I can do to help others: We can use our money to buy presents for kids who don't have any.  He said this without any prompting...we shopped for two kids whose names we got from a gift tree so I guess it made an impression.

Name: Emma

Things I do around the house to help:  Pick up my toys.

Things I need to improve on:  going potty on the potty (hey I figured if Santa told her to do it maybe she would!!!

Things I can do for other:  Give lots of love.

So we finally get our turn and Santa starts his little conference.  As he is going over Tyler's he says, "Wow it looks like you are a good helper for your mom."  Tyler said "Yes"  Then he says, "Are you a good listener or do you need to get better at that?"  Tyler looked at him and said, "Are those toys in that basket?"  That's my boy...such a good listener!=)

Emma was very excited to see Santa.  When we got up there she turned around and yelled, "Santa!"  She wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap though so I started to crouch down with her and let Marie take our picture.  Santa said, "Oh, mom can sit on my lap, I like when the mom's sit!"  I guess playing Santa has its perks!=)

Our cute kiddos!

PJ Day

Thursday was pajama day at Tyler's school.  They read The Night Before Christmas to the kids and had a pajama party.  He insists on only wearing footed pajamas here at the house so we had to go buy him a new pair that he could wear there.  

Tyler's class saying grace before the end of the day snack.

Ms. Sheri and Tyler (oh, and Jonah...he was still tired from nap!=)

Tyler and Kayleigh, aka his wife, and some other little girl who ran into the picture!=)

Tuesday is the last day of school before break.  They are having a birthday party for Jesus and a gift exchange, Tyler can hardly wait!!!

Update

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post but there hasn't been too much excitement around here.  

Both of the kids are doing really well.  Emma just blows me away with her vocabulary.  She not only knows where all of her body parts are but she names them too!=)  Both she and Tyler have been doing a lot of pretend play together so come Christmas time the two of them are going to be in heaven with the arrival of Emma's deluxe kitchen.  She is still over the top obsessed with all things girly.  She always has a bow in her hair, a necklace around her neck, and some princess memorabilia in her hand.  

Every once in awhile my arms get lonely for a baby but then I think, "Good God, are you nuts!!!!!  Do you really want to go through all of that again?"  and I snap right out of it.    Babies are sweet and cuddly and wonderful but they require 100% of your time and attention.  It is really nice finally having toddlers who can be left alone for a few minutes while I grab a quick shower.

Last weekend we went to the Oro Valley Christmas Parade.  It was kind of a sad parade but the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves.  We found a spot that was not at all crowded so the kids were able to wander around while we waited for it to begin.  They had a hard time staying still and both seemed to want to be in it more than they wanted to watch it!

They finally spotted the beginning after a long wait.

Here he is taking pictures with the toy camera that he got there.

After church and naps on Sunday we drove up to Chandler to visit our friends and tenants Alan and Gretchen.  Grethen just had a beautiful little boy named Carson.  The kids were excited because the swing set is still in the yard and so is their sandbox--we never moved it down here because of our scorpion problem.  Our little daredevil, Emma just bailed off down the slide without a care in the world.  There was one stressful moment to the day and that was when Berkley, aka Marley, grabbed Emma's Cinderella and ran off with it in his mouth.  Everyone started yelling at once so the poor dog thought it was play time.  We did manage to get "Ra" back but he got banned to the crate for the remainder of the visit.

It has been pretty chilly the last few days and we have even had some rain.  It is nice to be able to dress in the few cold weather clothes that we have.

Marshall also enjoys it because both of the kids will cuddle up with him on the chair or couch for a little football viewing.

A Mom's work is never done!

You may have seen this before but it made me smile this morning and I thought that I would pass it along to my fellow moms out there!  

Click here to view

Have a great day and know that you are an amazing mom!=)

Our first Santa sighting

Santa was at story time today.  They announced that he would be coming a few weeks ago so I made sure it was on the calendar so that we would not miss it.    Emma has learned to say Santa and Ho Ho Ho and we have been reading lots of Christmas stories so the kids were both very excited.

As you can imagine every child under the age of five in Oro Valley that was not at daycare was in attendance.  I felt so sorry for the poor Santa because it was crowded and hot.  He kept saying, "I forgot how warm it is here in Arizona at Christmas time:" as he was sweating his ass off in his costume!

Both of the kids were big eyed as he entered the room but neither of them really wanted to get too close.  He was a good Santa and sang songs and read to the kids.

I tried to get them to sit on his lap but Emma freaked out so I didn't push her.  Tyler said he would talk to him but that he was not going to sit on his lap.  He visited with him for a minute then as we walked away he looked at me with big panicky eyes and said, "Mommy, I forgot to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas!!!"  I told him that it was ok and that we could just write him a letter and tell him.  I tried explaining that it was so busy there that Santa might forgot or might not be able to hear him so a letter would work great.  Tyler wasn't buying it and started to get worked up so we went back over and managed to sneak a quick visit in while a mom was fixing her daughter's hair for their photo op. He told him his wish and all was right with the world.  

I really am not sure that I am going to take them to the mall and do pictures this year.  If they wouldn't sit with him at the library I REALLY doubt they will do it there..and besides the Santa at the mall charges $25 for a stinking picture!

Tyler is funny!

Tyler has developed quite the sense of humor lately.  I have noticed that he really enjoys making people laugh.  He often says things that he doesn't realize are funny at first, but as soon as we laugh he grins his little "oh, I meant you to laugh at that grin".  It always amazes me what his little mind is thinking.

Here are a few of his funny moments of the past week or so.....

--Emma was acting silly one afternoon and I called her a silly goose.  She did something else cute and Tyler looked at me and said, "Mom, Emma sure is a piece of work!" 

--He and I were face to face and we were giggling about something when he looked at me and said, "Mommy, why are your eyes cracked?"  (He meant the crow's feet!)

--He did something that was naughty the other day and when I asked him if he thought Elvis (the elf) would be happy about it.  He said no, but then looked at me and said, "Mom, if Elvis isn't happy with me then why is he still smiling?"

--One of Emma's favorite words is poop.  As soon as we go outside she makes it her mission to find all the wiener dog poop in the yard.  I try to clean it all up, but on occasion I miss a piece or two.  Yesterday after I had already cleaned it up Emma spotted a piece and was yelling, "poop poop!"  I told her to leave it alone and go play...I went back to reading my magazine.  The next thing I hear is Tyler quietly saying, "Hey Emma, poop is really yummy."  You never saw my fat butt move so fast!!!

--Marshall was playing with Tyler and then Tyler came over by me.  Marshall wanted Tyler to come back over by him so he said his name.  Tyler turned around and said, "What do you want old man?"  (That one could be my fault!=)

Tyler is a crack up and I am entertained by him each and every day!

Family Pictures

I got all my Christmas cards done and mailed so I thought that I would finally post the family pictures that we had taken.

Click here to view them.  

I know that I am biased beyond all belief, but I sure do think those are some cute kids!=)