Scary Elmo

Some friends of ours, who apparently don't like us as much as we had thought they did :), got David this Tickle Me Elmo toy for Christmas. David hasn't quite made up his mind about it yet....

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was really fun this year. David understands more about what's going on. Instead of saying "Merry Christmas" though, he's been running around saying "Happy Birthday!" because we've been talking a lot about how today is Jesus' birthday. It's so cute! I tried to vary the types of toys he got, instruments, trucks, flying screeching monkeys, but of course his favorites were the two trains. Oh well! He's been giving the other toys a chance as the morning progressed, mostly as hills and mountains to drive his trains over...what can I say, the boy loves his trains!

Christmas Eve Dinner

We had some friends over for Christmas Eve dinner--well it was decorated for Christmas, really I cooked Thanksgiving.  I don't have a huge repertoire of holiday dishes!  Since we were having company I put together a centerpiece and cute place settings.  I think it really helped make the evening feel more special although David didn't appreciate having a whole fish bowl of "balls" that he wasn't allowed to touch.... 

Our Handsome Boys

Brothers are for Sitting On

This is one of David's new favorite pastimes. He thinks it's hilarious to climb under Henry and let him bounce on him, Henry also enjoys the brotherly attention.

Our Box Fort Creation

Okay, so maybe it's more like my box fort creation. David was not much help during the construction phase but he had a lot of fun peeking out of the windows once everything was put together. He thought it was especially funny when I held up Henry outside of the windows and he could pop up and scare him!

Smiles & Hats

That's right, he wears hats now.

Leaves Are For Throwing...

I think little boys must have a built in knowledge of what to do with a rake (obviously they are for raking leaves and chasing dogs) because as soon as he got his toddler sized rake that Chris bought him this week that is exactly what he started doing. And he's been loving every minute of it--Raliegh, not so much....

A Day Out With Thomas

Last weekend we went to the Day Out With Thomas at the Strasburg railroad station. David loved it! He met Sir Topham Hat, rode on the train, met the conductor, and took a spin with grandpa on a mini train too. Aside from an initial meltdown over whether or not he was going to wear his hat (I think the pictures speak for themselves as to who won that battle of wills), everything went wonderfully.

Salt Dough Ornaments

I really wanted to make handprints of the boys, and after a failed attempt with a bad batch of Sculpey I bought at Michael's, I decided to try my hand at salt dough. It was more difficult than I had anticipated to get the dough soft, rolled out, cut into discs, and convince the boys to let me press their hands into said discs hard enough to make an impression before the dough started hardening. Ah, the joys of crafting with toddlers and infants....The handprints aren't as deep as I would like and the discs aren't as smooth, but that gives them character, right?

Baking with a Toddler

Yesterday David and I made cookies while Henry was napping. He was really excited to help. He dumped all the ingredients into the bowl and did a little mixing. It was hard to account for the ingredients that didn't make it into the mix--once the cookies were in the oven I realized that a lot more sugar ended up on the floor than I had originally thought. David didn't agree that it's better to clean up while you cook than to wait until you're finished, he didn't agree that you should clean up at all really...oh well, I guess we can work on that.

I Can Do It Myself

It's a little more messy this way, but I think that's part of the fun.

Trains, Finger Painting and Questionable Cups

Is it strange that I literally spend hours thinking of new track designs for David's train table? I am particularly proud of this one, it took quite a bit of thinking to work in the new Morgan's Mine piece that my mom gave him last weekend but I totally nailed it. David doesn't seem to understand why it makes mommy cringe when his dinosaurs rampage the table when that is obviously just as much fun as running the trains along the track I've decided that the train table is just as much a toy for the parents as it is for the kids. I've found that the key to train fun is tons and tons of track so that the layout is always changing and the ever important male-male and female-female connector pieces...if you've got a train set you know what I'm talking about....

                                        
This is David's first masterpiece. I may have helped a little, but those smears are all him....I haven't had the heart to get rid of the original yet, but I suppose it can't live on top of the refrigerator forever. He loves finger painting but hates having dirty hands. We had to stop at least five times for me to clean him off before he would continue. Artists can be so finicky.

I came across this as I was sweeping and it begs the age old question: Was it milk or was it water? I think I'll wait for Chris to come home and let him find out.

Family Photo Shoot

On our way home from NC, we stopped in at Kate's to do a family photo shoot. Kate took a ton of pictures and we got a couple of the whole family with everyone looking in the same general direction and not making faces that are too crazy....We did get a bunch of great photos of Henry though!