Early Christmas & Fun at the Mall

Aunt Pam sent her Christmas gifts again this year to arrive the day after Thanksgiving. I am sooooo appreciative of this more and more. By Friday, we are all stir crazy and in need of something exciting.....these gifts do just the trick! The kids were so excited and screamed with joy each time they pulled out another item from their boxes. All the kids were very pleased with what they got.

On Saturday, we took the kids to the mall to visit Santa.....which was their reward for being "good" during the week (as posted on their charts). I thought for sure at least one of them would be weary of Jolly Old Saint Nick, but to my surprise, they were each excited (with the exception of Nicholas). Nolan got right up on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a Nintendo DS. Natalie stood in front of Santa and told him she wanted "all the girl stuff," and Nathan told Santa something about Thomas the Train (he spoke in an unusually quiet tone). They all hopped up on Santa's lap and had their picture taken. Check your mail for the result of the picture, as we ordered greeting cards of this!

Here are a few pics :)


Natalie and Nathan being "good" kids and sharing the computer.










Nicholas grasping the Curious George toy......he's getting over his pink eye in this picture :)









Natalie squeezing her pink stuffed animal :) It now follows her to and from bed as do about 6 other stuffed toys.











Nathan was shouting "ready, set, go!" as he ran across the foam pond at the mall play area!







Nolan, Natalie, and Nathan "hangin' out" on the benches around the play area. Nolan was busy reading something about the rent-a-strollers, and the other two came to join him.

Thanksgiving 2009

So we spent Thanksgiving at home this year.....just me, Matt, and the 4N's. Matt had to go to the grocery store this morning, and Natalie & Nathan tagged along, of course. Nolan and I stayed home (with Nicholas napping) and made some desserts. I just used some of the box desserts I had at the house. We made chocolate chip cookies and a pound cake. I let Nolan do most of the steps by himself....pour in the mix, crack the eggs, add the butter, etc.....we had a really good time, just Mommy and Nolan.

We ate our dinner around 4:00pm. It was earlier than we usually eat, so the kids really didn't eat as much as they should have....but they certainly saved room for dessert! I fixed my mom's broccoli casserole and Teresa's sweet potato casserole. Matt fixed the turkey and some dinner roles. All in all, the dinner turned out quite well, considering it was our first Thanksgiving dinner.

I tried to get the kids to say some things they were thankful for, but it ended up as a typical silly fest. They were thankful for juice, bears, blankets, and what not. But, oh well, I can't expect too much. After Matt and I said that we were thankful for our whole family, the kids followed suit. It was a long day for sure, but enjoyable nonetheless to do it on our own :)

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth!

I was right! Nolan will be wishing for his two front teeth for Christmas! He got off the bus this afternoon, and he ran smiling toward me, I said, "OH! You lost your other tooth today!" Nolan then got a look of shock on his face, flicked his tongue into the empty spot, and started crying. I was totally confused. I asked Nolan if he knew he had lost it, and he didn't even know. He said he fell at recess today and maybe it fell out then or he may have swalled it! Either way, it's out and the Tooth Fairy will be understanding about the missing tooth from under his pillow.





Say, "Sister Susie sittin' on a thistle..."




After Natalie saw me taking Nolan's picture, she wanted a little photo session of her own; practicing her silly faces!




You talkin' to me?
















Super silly!











I detect a little bit of "priss" in this one :)

The kids got extra points for dressing as either a Pilgrim or an Indian at Awana tonight. I did the best I could do with limited resources!

Nicholas is 1!!!

The day before his birthday, Nicholas started taking several steps.

His shirt is a mess from juice!

Digging into the cake.