We had a great, EXTRA long Christmas break this year! The Friday before break school was cancelled because of a big snowstorm. We were actually kind of disappointed because I had worked forever gluing gingerbread houses together for Andrew's school party, not to mention bought tons of candy for decorating, made cupcakes for the class to frost and Andrew had put together treat bags for his classmates. It was kind of a bummer, but the kids enjoyed the snow!
One day when it was warm enough, we went sledding with our friends Emily and Grace.
We found a nice hill in town and the kids had a blast!
Andrew discovered he loved going on his tummy and when he got a running start he went extra fast!
Kerigan realized she loved sledding, but especially with Grace!
Andrew and his new buddy Jackson from the neighborhood had fun one nice afternoon and built a snowman. Andrew had gotten this decorating kit for Christmas and was excited to try it out. It is so wonderful having so many kids around the neighborhood to play with! We have gotten to know Jackson's family and we love hanging out together! It was an answer to prayer because I have always wanted a neighborhood like this.
During break we went to Ga Ga and Papa's again- I had to run some errands and Kerigan's teacher from her old day care wanted to come by and give her a gift. It was so sweet!
Kerigan just loves Sarah!
We were able to see my niece, Mary, one more time before they flew back home. We loved getting to spend some time with her this year- it had been too long!
We also made a trip back to our old stomping grounds and got to see the kids cousins. Kerigan obviously loves her big cousin Evi! She gave us a huge bag full of dress up clothes and jewelry, which Kerigan thought was the coolest thing ever! And Aunt Rachel gave Kerigan her very first french braid! So cute!
This unicorn costume was one of her most favorite hand me downs from Evi. She thinks it's Minimus from her favorite show "Sofia the First." I seriously can't get it off her most days. She wanted to wear it to Walmart the other day, which is where I had to draw the line. Ha!
I had tried to get her to stand for these pictures and she kept moving and I kept telling her to stand still! She finally said to me "Mom! I want to be by my castle!" Quite appropriate I'd say!
Andrew was so cute one day just hanging out surrounded by all of his new toys. He looked at me and said "these are the best presents I have ever had in my entire life!" It was so cute. He was so thrilled with everything. He especially loved one of his gifts from daddy- his monster trucks and tickets to the monster jam!
He and daddy got to have a special date and go see the monster trucks!
Andrew was just in awe. Craig said he just loved it. He had strict instructions to take lots of pictures and I said I wanted he and Andrew in the pictures, not just the trucks!
So this is what he came up with- extreme close up! Ha! I asked him if there was anyone sitting behind them that he could have asked to take a picture! I was just impressed he took some because he is not a big picture guy. Anyway, they had a great time and I was so happy they got some special time together!
These were taken on New Year's Eve, they were so hard to get a picture of because they were so excited!
We decided to have a low key New Year's this year and not travel anywhere. We went to our friends house and had tons of appetizers and snacks and the kids all had fun playing.
I had forgotten my kids' jammies, and Andrew was so mad at me! Mandy came up with this outfit for him to wear in her stash of girls clothes! Ha! Grace and Andrew are so sweet together. They share the bond of special hearts, and they are both the neatest kids! Such miracles!
Kerigan played with Molly, another one of our friends' daughters. Kerigan wore these jammies of Grace's, and thought it was the best thing ever!
This picture is terrible quality, taken with my phone, but we had to get a picture of those of us that made it to midnight! Yep, moms (dad's were asleep long before this!) and the two youngest girls! Kerigan had taken a short afternoon nap and so she had fallen asleep in the car at 6pm on the way to their house so I let her sleep in the car for a while. So she was raring to go at this time!
She was more than ready to take a nap the next day though! She literally fell asleep like this, with all three of her princesses.
Andrew refuses to nap anymore, but he went to bed early! And I went in to check on him and he was covered up with his alligator! I asked him why he was sleeping like that and he said he was using it to keep him warm! Ha!
We are finally on a summer/winter break schedule with the dentist so we don't have to miss school for appointments. We met our new pediatric dentist (that came highly recommended by our old one!) and we loved him! Andrew's 6 year molars are coming in, along with a couple more permanent teeth!
Kerigan has been saying lately that she has a "big shark in her mouth!" It cracks me up, but she will sometimes whine and complain about her mouth hurting. She is just getting some teeth, which is what I figured.
Giving his sissy a check up! Ha!
Andrew got invited to a swimming party for one of his old day care friends. What a fun idea for a January birthday! It was freezing cold outside and there were huge windows so we could see the snow!
This is Andrew's old day care crew! These boys have been friends since they were about 2 years old. Their mommies have gotten to be some of my best friends and it is always fun to have an opportunity to get together, like birthday parties for our kids!
We were super thrilled to discover that our town has something called "Tot Town" which is in a huge gym that has tons of activities and things for toddlers to play with. I took Kerigan one Friday once school had started back up because she was going a little stir crazy.
Obviously, it was a hit! She loved it! They have it 3 times a week and we can't wait to go back! I think we'll make it a regular thing during these cold winter months!
Speaking of cold, we had an arctic blast go through our state last week, which cancelled school for 2 more days- the first days we were supposed to go back! Andrew was so happy to get 2 extra "stay home days" even though we couldn't step outside! It was literally -40 degrees one day! It was crazy to think it was about 110 degrees warmer in our house than it was outside! Brrrrr!
It has finally started to warm back up (into the 30's! Woo hoo!) and the kids are getting back into their routines. The first day I took Kerigan to day care, Ashley sent me this picture and I about died. Seriously? These are the sweetest little girls and I can't say enough how blessed we are that Kerigan gets to call this day care. Really it is just like a super fun play date she goes to a few times a week. Ashley is always sending videos and pictures of their adventures and Kerigan is definitely in her happy place surrounded by her little friends! It makes my heart so happy!
