Our holiday recap

 Everything is packed up and stored for next year....and most of the frosting is gone.  The Saturday before Christmas, we hosted 30 of our closets kid friends for our Annual Gingerbread Party.  We started this back in 2009 when we moved here as a way to meet others and slowly it has grown as our PA friends have become our second family.

I think Ryan will cap it at this though...we had over 60 people and while it was so much fun it is also a TON of work.  I build the houses and then the kids come and decorate them and play, we have dinner, drinks, and lots of sugar!

Christmas was rather low key...I was not feeling super and the kids had been on the go for quite some time.  We hosted Ryans parents who were a ton of help and provided the kids with some great gifts and fun times. We decided against technology this year and opted for bikes instead...Jackson thought that was a great idea.

We continue to be blessed and are looking forward to 2013!!!

Coming out from the holidays....

Today was our first "real" snow of the season and the excitement went on all day.  I will recap our holidays tomorrow but I am ready to move forward to 2013!!!  A great time of year but utterly exhausting when your kids are little.  Boy did we have tons of fun though.

The snow did not disappoint!  We played for several hours came back in and then went out for some night sledding!

It's COMING

 

 

This weekend is our Annual Gingerbread Party....and the biggest one yet....the houses are built and we are excited to celebrate the season with our friends and family.

 

 

 

 

The Longest Day....

This morning I wanted to rewind the clock.  Normally I look forward to Mondays.  We have a routine, everyone goes to preschool and school and I spend the morning with Jackson.  Today, I wished it was Sunday and we could stay in our pjs and watch movies all day.  I dreaded the drop off; I did not want to send my first grader to school.

We lived in CT for 10 years...it is a place I will always refer to as our first home.  We have friends that were deeply impacted by the events on Friday and my heart is breaking for them.  School is supposed to be fun, exciting and rewarding...and today it was scary even for me.

As I headed out to complete our preschool drop off routine, I wondered how many other parents were feeling the same way.  We told Aly in the shortest and most toned down version we could possibly think of...but we wanted her to hear it from us and to ask the questions in the safety of our house.  I held her on Friday night as she calmly listed all of our family friends in CT and asked if they were okay.  We cried for the families that were affected, the lives that are forever changed, and the children that will not be home for the holidays.

After I had dropped off Aly and headed to the high school, I drove past her school.  There was a police officer in front of the building.  As I pulled up to the high school, there were three  officers right out front..  I could not help feeling sad, that I was secretly glad they were there and the comfort that they provided.  Why?  Why has it come to needing police officers at our schools for a sense of security. As I dropped the last child off, I sat in the parking lot and cried.

Normally, I cherish the this time to get stuff done and to rejuvenate from my parenting duties.. but I find myself longing for them to be home with me.  As I headed to physical therapy, I exchanged texts with a dear college friend who is a teacher.  The were on lock down, in the corner with all of her students, awaiting news that their building was safe....and a police officer finally unlocked the classroom.  When does this end?

I want my kids to embrace going to school, to love learning, and to believe that there are lots of good people.  I hope that we can heal and grow and embrace the joys of the holidays...but right now I will wait for the familiar sound of the school bus coming up the hill.

NYC and Cookies!!!

On Friday, We headed to NYC for the day to catch the Christmas Spectacular and catch up with some friends.  Aly, was so excited to see this show.  We picked up my mom from the airport and we headed into the city.  It was nice, not too cold and the weather seemed to keep the crowds from being crazy.

A great show...highly recommend it.  My mom saw it about 50 years ago, so it was fun to go back with her. We met up for lunch at this great place that is Alices Teacup.  My good friend Sabrina, lives in the city and picked it out.  We had tea and sandwiches and caught up since it had been a while.

We headed over to the show....it was beautiful inside.

The city is magical during the holiday season.  We were able to get to the tree and the girls were troopers with all  the walking we did.

Saturday morning Ryan left for Vegas...and we started some holiday baking...TOO much holiday baking.  The kids had a blast making some cookies and really eating all of the great treats that Gram made for them.

My mom cooked so much food for us for the winter...she is insisting I go out and buy a small freezer...no joke..we are good for the winter.

the happiest time of year

Bullet point because we have been busy!

• The Christmas spirit is alive and well here.we have been busy baking and planning and enjoying the season of giving.

• I am enjoying some down time...not getting up before 5 and having more time to get things done around the house.  I am swimming with the high school team at times during the week and that really makes me feel OLD.
• We are taking the girls to NYC on Friday to see the Christmas Spectacular and I am pretty sure I am more excited than they are especially because my mom is flying down to meet us.
• We had our first snow - of course it is gone since it was mid 60s this week but it was fun for the short time it was here.  We are going to try to take the kids skiing over the holidays.

 

• Ryan has been super busy at work...which has left him unable to come home the last couple of weeks and I am really looking forward to resuming that normal schedule ;)
• I love the magic of Christmas with these ages...it is so fun.  They talk about being good for Santa and it just makes me smile..they have written lots of notes and letters over the past few days.

and December is here......