Christmas

Christmas day did not disappoint, the kids got everything they wished for plus some and Andrew and I were blessed to watch our kids excitement, joy, and love plus we had the day to share with Grammy Susan and Grampa Pete!

The loot!

So excited to see if Santa came

Mommy and William going to check things out.

Santa brought Olivia the "rocking baby doll" she had been asking for.

Abby got a new bike since she can ride without training wheels and in this picture she is checking out the locket that she got from Santa which was a last minute request!

I think William liked Olivia's scooter more than Olivia did!

Yay, new big boy cups for William!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful, magical Christmas eve.  The kids excitement was contagious.  I am pretty sure I enjoy Christmas Eve maybe a little better than Christmas day, I love the excitement, magic and anticipation!!  Here are a few pictures from the night!

Family picture

Silly faces!

Ice Skating

After watching all that hockey, the girls really wanted to go ice skating.  It was the first time this season and they both did really well!  It pays to have a Daddy and uncles who play(ed) hockey!!

Olivia in the "naughty box" 

She wasn't really being naughty, just getting a picture!

Here is Olivia on the ice!

Ana, Gingerbread Houses & the Stomach Flu

So, after our trip to Michigan my sister Ana came some with us to Ohio for a week.  It was so nice having her here (she should move in).  It was fun sharing the days with her and the girls were giddy having Ana all to themselves!  We didn't do anything to extraordinary, a little shopping, some lunch outings and lots of spending time together.  We did venture out one night to a friend's gingerbread house making party.  It was a fun party.  We had a potluck and everyone brought some candy to decorate the houses with.  The kids ran amuck with too much sugar and the adults were able to visit in between helping with the gingerbread houses and monitoring sugar intake!  The one thing we did not bargain for was getting the stomach flu.  It started hitting some of the friends that went to the gingerbread making party and not too long after we got it too.  It was highly contagious and people from the party were dropping like flies.  Several people from each family got.  I was just thankful it was out of our house in time for Ana to fly home and before Christmas!

The Christmas tree at The Greene

Making gingerbread houses

Olivia and her buddy Ella at the party

Dads and babies

Some of the completed masterpieces

Josie and William.

They are only about 17 days apart.

The babies:

Josie, Luke and William

 Ana and the girls cuddling

Lots of Hockey!--and a Haircut!

The weekend before Christmas we went to Michigan for a multipurpose trip.  We were able to celebrate Christmas with Andrew's family and we were also able to see my mom and the twins because Mikey had a hockey tournament in Detroit.  While we didn't see much of Mikey face to face we were able to watch him play hockey and I must say, he is amazingly talented!  We had so much fun going to the ice arenas all bundled up to cheer on him and his team and we made pigs of ourselves snacking between each period.  Ana and my mom loved spending time with the kids and they sure enjoyed seeing them too, its been far too long.

We all stayed at Josh and Laura's house and Andrew's parents met us there too.  Josh and Peter cooked some very yummy meals and we had lots of fun sitting around chatting and catching up.  We also exchanged presents with Andrew's family.  Its so much fun to see the kids playing with their cousin Tyler, and we are excited to meet another cousin in March.  -- I didn't get any pictures of the present opening :-(

Andrew and I are beyond blessed that our families get along so well.  Its always fun when we can all get together and that is truly what the holidays are all about!

Sharing a "Baffo" with Daddy

Cheese!!!

So tired.

Olivia and Aunt Ana sleeping in the car

Gram-cracker and William

Gram-cracker and Abby

The girls with Aunt Ana and Uncle Mikey!

Olivia was NOT pleased with Daddy's choice for where to pose for pictures!

 My Brother and Sister!

William also received his first haircut!  

It was getting so long and crazy, so we asked Grammy Susan to get out the 

scissors and try to make him a bit more presentable!

 Normally I wouldn't include such a wonderful shot of myself but I find it hilarious

and it was hard to think that this is the last of my babies having their first haircut!