It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

"Cian's Manger Scene"

We had a great Christmas this year! It is so fun to have Cian and see his excitement for all of the fun things we were excited for as kids too! We were able to spend a lot of time with family over the last week and managed to get all of our Christmas "chores" done early so it really did feel stress free. Cian made the above Nativity scene all by himself. Kevin made the wall parts with Cian a couple of weeks ago for a project. Cian found that and then made a manger with wood and made the people which he taped to paint bottles so they would stand up. We were so surprised to find this in the basement after Cian went to bed. We thought it looked like a manger scene and we asked Cian the next morning what it was and he confirmed it. How cute!

"Uncle Greggy~Soon to be deploying to Afghanistan"

We spent time at the Doyle's and at the Clarke's on Christmas Eve. For some reason I did not get pics at my mom's. We had a great time there though. I love spending time with my Mom! Next we went to Doyle's and they had a houseful. (The pic below shows almost all of the family that was there, believe it or not about 6 people that were there are not in the pic) Cian loved having most of his Cousins there. What a fun Christmas Eve!

Kamry and Anna...It was so fun to see Brian and Rebecca's girls together again. For so long they were the only cousins in the family. Now they live on seperate coasts and don't see each
other very often. We did not get a pic of Jordy and Mikayla for some reason!

Kevin's sister Gabrielle came home for a visit. It was so good to see her again!

Austin, Kyler and Mary! Lots of fun!!!!

We were able to be home for Christmas morning this year. Cian had a blast opening presents. He is so excited to give some of his old toys to Grandma Doyle for his little cousins to play with.
We are proud of him for being willing to share so well!

Cian got a punching bag for Christmas.....At first the punching bag was winning LOL.

Cian finally got the knack!

Even Fluffy got in on the action!

Cian's most Favorite Gift was this snow board. After coming down the stairs he found this first. He was sooooo excited!

We don't have snow yet to use it......Isn't that always the case on Christmas!

The Milne's come for a visit!

This past weekend Kevin's sister Rebecca and her family flew from Oregon to visit the fam in NY. We were so lucky that they could spend a couple of days with us at our home. We had a blast. It is amazing to see how fast her girls have grown up and to finally meet Kyler our 2 1/2 year old Nephew. We had a great time getting to know these "kids" again and seeing what great people they have turned out to be! Cian especially loved having his cousins around. I don't think we saw him much over the weekend. He was having to much fun with Emma. Emma is Cian's same age and they really hit it off. Cian said after they left that Emma is a "beauty girl". We asked him what what that meant and he explained that he liked they way she looked! Uh Oh! So funny!
No a ghost did not just walk into a room. The Milnes are so fun....they took several shots with different expressions on their faces. This one happens to be "shocked". I laughed out loud when I saw it, so I though I would put it up.
Most of the clan at Greek Peaks! The other half was still inside getting ready for the cold again.
Cian and Daddy at the tubing hill. Cian did not cooperate much with pictures while we were there. The little one in the background is Emma...Cian's "beauty"!
Emma and Cian. They are about 4 months apart in age. They were so independent at the tubing hill. They would ride up the "lifty thingy" all by themselves. Wait for the go sign and come down all by themselves. We were really impressed!

The sledding was so much fun after I got used to it. At first I was like "why am I doing this". I went down the hill so fast and screamed bloody terror! But after I felt comfortable it was fun. The best part was being out there with family. The Holidays are upon us. We are excited to start/continue celebrating . Up to Rochester tomorrow. We were supposed to go today, but great news from Kyle and Nicole. The babies will be born tomorrow. We will finally get to see their sweet faces and learn their names. I will keep you updated!

Snow Day!

Yeah! We had a snow day yesterday! Snow days are on the long list of why I love being a teacher...that unexpected day off that you are not penalized for. Plus, the fact that you don't have to drive clutching the wheel to work on those days. Cian was so happy that it snowed that he didn't really get too excited about no school. He was just excited to go and play outside. I convinced him to wait, seeing as though it was only 6:30 and still kind of dark outside. To help him wait, I put on a Tom and Jerry which was a big deal to him because we don't watch TV on school day mornings. He really caught on to the benefits of a snow day then! 8:00 hit and he was out the door and ringing our neighbors door bell. I felt a little bad, but I knew it was going to rain by late morning and if there was to be sledding that day....8:00 was the time! Luckily, Cade our next door 8 year old neighbor was up and they had a blast. Cian could have stayed outside all day. He loves the snow! After a warm up with Hot cocoa, Cian and I started in on our Christmas cookies. It was so fun. I am so enjoying this age...we have real conversations and I am seeing his development from last year when we made cookies. He was able to do all the tasks with minimal help. So cool! I love this little boy so much!

Picture This: Arm Pump While Saying YESSSS!

Driving home from work last week I was scanning the channels for a good song and I heard the sound of Christmas music! Now comes that part where you picture this. I literally did that without thinking and felt kind of silly afterward, but I am sooo excited. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas! Thanksgiving was one of the best ones in years. I am not sure what it was but driving home from Rochester, Kevin and I both remarked how nice it was! No one threw up this year too...which is always a good thing. We had Wednesday off, so we puttered around the house. It felt great not to be rushed to get up to Rochester. Thursday morning we headed up to Doyle's. As always there was tons of food and my favorite part was Kevin's mom's pumpkin cream cheese bread! She could sell that and make millions! We had a great late lunch and then parcheesi until the kids were ready for bed. The next day, we slept in which was a first for us. In the past we have been big black Friday shoppers...not this year. We waited until about 10:00 and still got the deals we wanted. Yeah! (Cyber Monday was much nicer....Did not know there was such a thing>>>Cian's wish list is almost done!) After a quick trip to Wally World we headed off to Stokoe Farms to cut down our tree. We have come to this farm for about 6 years now. It is a great tradition for our family. Tractor rides, Reindeer, puppet shows, Santa parachuting from the sky, hot cocoa and cookies! Perfect! Saturday was Thanksgiving at my Mom's house. We have always appreciated how they have Thanksgiving on the Saturday after. It is so nice not to travel to two different places in one day. It is great to spend time with each family and enjoy them! Thanks Mom! Dinner was excellent as usual. My Mom, who has had great success with weight watchers, gave Kevin and I a lot of info on the program. We are trying it (on our own) out as we speak. So far so good. I will keep you updated! Stay strong Erin!