Preschool Christmas Program

The kids did a Christmas Program at their preschool on Wednesday. Benjamin has been excitedly practicing "Feliz Navidad" for weeks and weeks. They were so cute getting dressed up for the show that morning....

Anna's class sang Jingle Bells and shook little bells. Unfortunately, you can't see her very well b/c the microphone was right in front of her from our view. Even more disappointing was that she knows all the words to the song, but barely sang a word during the show. Just kind of shook the bell and looked around with a confused look. I videotaped them both singing their songs later that day though.

She keeps us on our toes that one. They took the kids back to their classes after they sang their songs. When we get to Anna's class to pick her up, she wasn't there. She had just walked right out without anyone. The halls and stairways were packed with people - kids, parents, grandparents, etc. Thankfully we weren't worried for too long as I found her just standing on the stair case looking around. Her poor teacher was so upset and worried. I hope she learned a lesson from us afterwards, but I'm not going to count on it.

Here's Benjamin getting his maraca. See him in the back row?

He was so cute how he would excitedly tell us that they shake the maraca while singing "Feliz Navidad....."

.....and then they were to pretend it was a microphone when they sang "I want to wish you a Merry Christmas....."

Christmas Prep

Benjamin modeling a cute pilgrim hat he made at preschool.....

We've had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas this month. We started by putting a tree and our nativity scene up in the basement. The kids did great at helping put the ornaments on and were so excited!

They were so cute decorating in their Christmas jammies that their Grandma gave them.

Benjamin was excited to be the one to put the angel on the manger this year. They have also been taking turns putting our advent calendar together and counting down the days until Christmas.

Anna really loves our nativity set. She plays with it almost every time we go in the basement.

They were excited when I explained to them about their baby ornaments that has their birth info on the baby booties for each kid.

Benjamin helping feed Collin. They are so cute with their baby brother! And Collin is so cute with them. I love that he says their names (or at least tries to)....."Nana!" and "Be-ah-mah!"

We got our first big snow last week and the kids were so excited to get out there and play in it! (We actually already got another big storm today!) When it snowed for the first time (just a light covering) and then melted away the next day, Anna sadly exclaimed "That means it's not Christmas anymore?!?!"

She's not going to throw that big snow ball at me, is she?!?! ;)

The almost five year-old was after me too!

It's okay though b/c Benjamin saved the big ones for his Daddy!

Got him!

Ah, oh! My turn!

So much fun!

We had fun making our annual ginger bread house and having Anna help us for the first time.....

I got the kids some ornaments to decorate this year. They were so cute, diligently coloring them in.....

the finished product.....

Dave filled a bowl with snow and brought it in for the kids to play in one morning. It was the first time Collin had played in snow. At first he didn't like it. But once I grabbed some kitchen toys for them to play in it with, he really got into it!

He kept eating the snow too!

Benjamin has a new spider-man costume and Collin and Anna drive him crazy b/c they are very interested in the mask and he doesn't much like to share. Collin looks so cute playing with it, though.....

My parents got a new Christmas tree and offered us their old one. The kids did great putting this one together with us too. It's next to our stairs and Dave would lift them up on the steps so they could put ornaments on the top. They are too adorable!!!

We had Christmas clothes on for church, so we posed with our new tree and got a family picture. Dave wanted me to include this bad take. Collin was looking at me and so Benjamin pushed Collin's head to face the camera (see the hand) and Collin for some reason actually smiled while being shoved. :)

Here's the good take!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the Christmas season and enjoying celebrating all the joy of Jesus' birth with your families!

Joy

Anna wanted to get in on the fun too. She's been really clingy to me this last week. I feel bad b/c she acts so sad when she wants (needs) me, but it makes me pretty happy as she's never been much of a needy/cuddly kid. I definitely am enjoying this side of my sweet little girl.

In the pictures above, Benjamin is so tickled because I was trying to get him to give me a kiss without laughing. Once he starts laughing....he can't stop himself. So I started kissing the two of them....

...back and forth quickly between the two.....

.....and a whole new set of giggles were started!

I am one blessed Momma!

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent a whole week at Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving. Or as Benjamin told everyone he saw, "eight days!!" He actually picked out all his clothes for the trip for the first time and helped me get ready. One evening we had fun watching Toy Story 3 with Grandma and Katrina who hadn't seen it yet.

Anna ate more than twice as much popcorn as anyone else...

Happy girls!

Collin competed with Anna in the eating category, but he was scarfing down crackers instead of popcorn.

The kids had fun playing with my cousins on Thanksgiving day.

I enjoyed capturing this Thanksgiving moment. Benjamin pulling on his Daddy for his attention, while Dave continues to watch TV. :)

Look how beautiful my niece is....

My sister's beau, Matt (see below), introduced us to a new Wii game that included sword fighting or swording as Benjamin says. This was the cause of much happiness and gaming and I enjoyed capturing the silliness.....

Gotta love watching your parents who mostly refuse to touch a video game go at it! :)

This was my favorite competition.

Collin liked it too. He laughed and laughed and laughed!

During our Thanksgiving trip, our nephew Will had his first birthday party. He and Collin are about 5 weeks apart in age and it was so cute when they started playing the piano together. It was also cute when Collin tackled Will with a big hug, until Will cried for Collin to get off of him anyways. :)

Benjamin and Jack were cute playing the big piano together. They sang and "played" Happy Birthday to Will and some different theme songs to their favorite cartoons.

Anna enjoyed some Go Fish with Grandma.

My sister Katie was really sweet and helped Benjamin learn how to use the Wii a lot more. When Benjamin was introduced to the sword fighting game, it was love at first sight.

While he was competing I overheard him confidently whispering (to no one in particular) "This guy is good. But I'm good too."

Collin got three new teeth over Thanksgiving. He did really well with them and now has 7 highly functioning teeth. He also is almost exclusively crawling up on his knees instead of his army crawl.

Peek-a-boo.

Some recent funnies:

-Benjamin and Anna have been pretending to be Peter Pan and Wendy a lot. They "fly" and have endless amounts of fun and laughter doing this. The other day, this conversation ensued- Anna: Hi, Peter Pan. I'm Wendy! Benjamin (not wanting to participate): You're not Wendy. Wendy doesn't even wear a hat. (Anna quickly throws her hat to the ground) Benjamin: Wendy doesn't have toys either! (She eagerly throws the toys to the ground) Benjamin (indignantly): Well, you're still not Wendy!

-Benjamin to me while talking about learning the letter M at school. B: Guess what? Mommy starts with M. Me: I know, I'm a mommy. B: No, you're not! Me: I am too a mommy. B: Well, you're not the scary kind. Me: There are scary mommies? B: Yes there are. They're the kind of mommy that has a mask and papers all over it. :)