we had a busy, productive day at home today! our project of the day was making thank you cards. the kids had so much fun making them. they cut them out (mainly malloy) and painted them (rex's idea). i'm thrilled with how they came out! we sat down and made a list of everyone that got a gift for the kids. they were pretty good at remember who gave them what - i was impressed!!! so they new exactly why they were making the thank you cards. did i mention i'm excited about these?? who needs to buy them anymore?! 

this afternoon, we cleaned the living room. the kids each got a wipe and they cleaned whatever they could find: the coffee table, the floor, their toys. gotta love when cleaning's fun! then we headed over to katie's for a bit. the kids played very nicely and quietly (why wouldn't they?! they were playing with safina and emery's new toys!!) while i did katie's hair for her brother's wedding. 

when we got home, neal was already here and he had dinner for us! we had thai for dinner since our traditional chapman turkey dinner was actually done around thanksgiving this year. it was delicious!! malloy was thrilled that she got to choose shrimp in her pad thai!  

at bedtime, i was just joking with her and when i went in to say goodnight, i said "hey, fancy meeting you here! where'd you come from?" she replied "i live here! wait, tell me that thing again." so i asked her where she came from again. this time, she replied "africa" and went on to tell me that she lives there with a bunch of her kids. she goes swimming there with her bathing suit and puddle jumper and so does rex because he lives there, too. and daddy goes swimming so he lives there, too. there are red, orange, blue, and yellow lions and elephants that are blue and grey and blue and grey. she lives in a castle in the clouds and i probably can't come visit because you need a ladder. her ladders are made out of clouds and they're very tricky to climb. one time, daddy tried and he fell in the grass. i finally told her goodnight and i'd see her in the morning and she said "ok, i'm gonna go to africa but i'll be back in the morning." it was so fun to listen to her making up her story as she went along! 

cutting out thank you cards

rex tried out a few, too 

painting time!

time to just use fingers! 

all of their hard work! 

12/21 - the kids' had their christmas concert and parties. both malloy and rex sang their little hearts out on stage! the 2 yr olds and 3 yr olds sang jingle bells together. then malloy's class sang 'where is santa?' and 'the dreidel song'. ANS has asked the parents not to post videos and pictures with the kids in them, so until neal can work on blurring out everyone's face, no videos! :( 

after the concert, rex's class sang a few more songs. or tried to...they sang 'the little snowman' and 'rudolph the red nosed reindeer'. rex sang a bit of the first song and then stood there with a blank look during rudolph - i've heard him sing the song before!! 

after school, we went home quick and then were off to newark valley! the kids konked out on the way home   (this is unusual!!) which made for a quick drive. 

they were excited to be at grandma tappy and grandpa gary's. as usual, they came in and just started running up and down the hall and jumping on the bed. stir crazy little monsters! 

joey brought some books and toothbrushes!

writing her name on all of her friends' treats

the bag rex made

rex's thumbprint reindeer ornament he made :) 

playing with the camera

 12/22
today, we went to visit grandma val and grandpa don in the morning. in the afternoon, we went to visit great grandma jean, grandpa bruce, grandma diane, and aunt april. the kids got their first christmas presents!! they were shy for a short bit and then opened right up. they were laughing, singing, playing. then it was off to dinner at consol's with grandma tappy and grandpa gary. the kids were exhausted but did ok - they were using our phones for a lot of the time. i hate to have them do that, but we do what we gotta do to get through a meal sometimes!!

riding the train!

i found rex "putting on my earrings" 

  12/23
today we celebrated christmas with the boskets. malloy and rex had a blast wrestling with nathan!! they were all red and sweaty from all of the jumping and body slamming! we had a nice time and then it was off to uncle ryan and kari's house for dinner. the kids went right upstairs to bella's room to play before dinner. they play so nice together - although i guess at one point it was a little too quiet because apparently rex colored with crayon on the floor and walls. woops! sorry uncle ryan and kari!!! we put the kids in their pjs for the ride home but nope, they stayed awake! they did pretty well going to sleep, i stayed in the room with them to keep things quiet and they both drifted off quickly.

where's joey?

don't break the ice!

bedtimes stories with grandpa

 12/24

we had a very busy christmas eve!! the kids helped frost cookies and made some christmas tree ornaments in the morning. they had a good nap and then we got ready to go to aunt cathy and uncle joe's. the kids loved the office - it was decorated with tons of charlie brown toys and ornaments. we ate dinner and waited for bella to arrive!! i think i heard 'is bella here yet?' about 40 times in a half hour!!! aunt cathy made some punch - she called it magic potion. malloy was very interesting in watching her make the magic potion! she also loved drinking it! the kids were drinking punch and eggnog, eating cookies and candy - they were in heaven!! malloy is the best at opening presents!! she rips open the paper until she sees a glimpse of what it could be and she starts exclaiming "ooooooh! i love this! this is what i've always wanted! how did you know i wanted this?!" it's awesome!!

making sprinkle angels

watching elf on the shelf, cuddling with their new animals

painting project!

making green frosting

more art!!! 

i tried to get a good pic of both of them

they weren't very cooperative

first taste of eggnog - YUM!

"this tastes like milkshakes and candy!" 

waiting nicely to open presents

malloy was playing with bella's 'big girl' legos and said "you know why bella can do these and i can't? because i'm only 3 and 3 yr olds can't do things quite right yet".

loving his new zoo legos!! 

putting out the reindeer food

12/25 - MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

rex woke up first this morning. everyone else was asleep, so he came in our room and watched an episode of yo gabba gabba in our bed while we drifted in and out of sleep. i brought him out into the kitchen to eat a little something so that he wouldn't get too cranky. he's still young enough to not realize that it was christmas and santa should have come! malloy got up around 7ish and we opened presents!!! santa left stockings for the kids at grandma's house. then they got to open the presents from grandma and grandpa. malloy saw the big present and said "that's my dollhouse!" then went over to it and peeking in the bag and said "yup, it's a dollhouse." little stinker!!! i really thought that she was going to scream and be so excited! she did react that way to uncle paddy's gift - a very large princess doll! it's the biggest doll malloy's ever had. she was thrilled!!!  rex loved his firehouse and immediately started playing with it! 

malloy had a pretty huge meltdown after presents were opened. she was hungry and was hitting and yelling. it took quite a while for neal to calm her down!! she was fine once we got some food in her. after breakfast, we got dressed and headed to roro and papa hank's! the kids got a ton of presents - clearly nobody loves them! ;) papa gave malloy an altoids tin with coins in it. she went around and asked everyone for more coins. she collected so many that she needed a bigger container. so not only did she walk away with a ton of coins, but she got roro's charlie chips can, too! 

after roro and papa hank's, we had one more christmas to celebrate with the chapman's. the kids fell asleep almost immediately in the van. rex was passed out so hard that he slept on neal during our entire dinner. we tried to wake him up about every other minute to no avail! his head was just hanging back and his mouth was wide open - tired little bubba. malloy sat on my lap during dinner and ate her pork like a little angel - she handled herself so nicely. then dinner was over and she kept asking if she could open presents and then finally, out came the "can i open another one? is there another one for me?" she was exhausted and did so well up until that point! the kids got to play with their toys for a bit. at one point they were playing in their bedroom with aunt norma. they love norma, even though it takes rex quite a while to warm up to her (just like everyone else!) rex was very attached to uncle ryan and just wanted to play with him the entire time!! 

it was a long, long day! we finally said goodnight and goodbye to grandma tappy and grandpa gary and went to grandma val and grandpa don's to go to bed! 

before we went to bed, we said goodbye to joey :( the kids got to give him a hug because if he lost his magical powers, it would be ok since santa could swing by and take him back to the north pole! makes sense!! i think i may have been more sad to say goodbye to joey than the kids!! 

joey's last shenanigans of the season. swinging from the ceiling fan! 

giving grandma val his usual scowl

checking out the new firehouse!! 

mustaches!

wiped out on the way to grandma tappy and grandpa gary's!

saying goodbye to joey! 

rex put joey in his boot so that santa could swing by and give him a lift to the the north pole

12/26

the fun was over and it was time to say our goodbyes and head back home. the kids were being very whiny and miserable - made for easy goodbyes :) they did well on the way home - malloy fell asleep eventually. rex didn't.
when we got home, there were presents under our tree from santa! we put away all over the new toys (well, i did!) and played with them for the rest of the day!

so much stuff! 

keeping himself entertained

santa came to buffalo! 

cinderella legos

opening his rocket ship

loving her new headphones

where is this all gonna go?!

trying out the new headphones

12/27

we finally got snow!! the kids had a blast playing outside!!! they both took 2 hour naps today - even rex went right now without any trouble!! they needed to catch up on some sleep!!

fun with makeup

12/28

today, we ventured out to the gym, but that was about it! we spent most of our time at home!!

blue streak

how rex spends most of his time in the snow

playing in the snow in the afternoon without a nap isn't so much fun

going for a walk

peek!

12/29

malloy wasn't feeling well so we spent a lot of time cuddling on the couch today. rex came right over - i want a spot, too!!! 

as soon as she sees the camera, she starts in with the faces!

"monster bananas"

munching on a waffle bowl

sending daddy silly faces at bed time

12/30

 another sick day at home. both kids have a pretty bad cough. we laid low - played with our new toys and took down the christmas tree.
malloy's new thing is that she doesn't like anything. no matter what she's eating, drinking, playing. i know she likes it. she'll say "i don't like ___ anymore". not a fan!!

malloy took this picture - in between calling and hanging up on grandma val a few times!! 

lounging