Christmas 2008

The kids had a great Christmas! Santa brought Julia a trampoline, a lava lamp, and a Spin art kit. He brought Aiden a train table, a big bulldozer and Spiderman toy. He brought Lexie a HUGE stuffed bear, a baby doll, and a pink pony riding toy. Then he brought the three of them a Escalade Power Wheels car to ride with a toy gas pump! They were so excited! They promptly named the bear Rosie and she resides in Lexie's room. They tackle and jump on her. They've also had a lot of fun on the trampoline, which we put in the playroom. And of course the car has been a big hit. We took it out right away after we'd opened presents on Christmas morning. The kids each took turns driving and letting Lexie ride. We had a very good day.

On Friday we drove to Prague for the Christmas market. It was so beautiful! We bought some Christmas ornaments and a few small things for the kids then spent the night in our favorite hotel. Aiden is always so excited to go to Prague so he can ride the train! He loves any sort of transportation! We walked around some more on Saturday before heading home. It was very spur-of-the-moment, and it turned out to be a nice trip.
We are very thankful to have had such a good Christmas away from home.

The haul from Santa....you can see part of the trampoline on the right.
Julia coming downstairs.
Checking out the new car!
Aiden opening his gifts.
Lexie and Julia opening gifts.
Daddy and Lexie....Julia and Aiden are up ahead in the car.
Lexie is getting so big!
Riding in the Escalade!
Riding down our street.
Daddy and Lexie in Prague.
All of us in front of the big Christmas tree!
Aiden passed out at the end of the day!
The market.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! It's late and so already Christmas Eve here. I suppose many of you noticed that I chose to go the e-card route this year. I hope no one is offended, the truth is that I should've ordered them online like a month ago so they had time to get to me here and then back to all of you. The postal service is very unreliable time-wise. I wasn't thinking about those types of differences that I am still struggling to get used to. So e-cards it is this year. I'll have to handwrite a few letters to a few friends who don't use the internet (crazy right? but they're out there!!) I'm kinda sad about not sending out cards to tell you the truth. It feels like something's missing, but maybe that's just because I'm not in Florida for Christmas this year. :(

Anyway, here are some pics of the kids. That Christmas photo on the card wasn't my favorite....but it was the best choice when presented with the group of photos I was able to get. Aiden was so cranky, Lexie had little patience... (She was just so excited to walk on the wooden floors in her Mary Janes! She kept tapping her foot.) ...and poor Julia was trying so hard to get them to look at the right time. Lexie wouldn't give up the paci, Aiden wouldn't give up the Mee mee. What a disaster, but a funny memory. So I posted a few outtakes too, just for fun. The other pics are of the holiday party that Wally's battalion put on for the kids. It was Dec. 7th. We had a really good time, there were lots of crafts, tricycles for the little kids, and a Christmas movie playing on one whole wall from a projector. It was really cool. Aiden just rode the trikes or watched the movie. He could care less about arts and crafts right now....but he does like to cut with child scissors and he really likes to help me cook. I took a bunch of pics of him on the trike but the lighting wasn't good and our camera was acting all wonky. Wally and I got a new one as an anniversary gift to ourselves. I have NO IDEA how it works yet, but hopefully the pics I'm posting will improve and you will be able to see the difference. I will post about our Christmas in the next day or two....I should get to bed!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday Wally and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! Here is a slideshow I made of our wedding a few years ago. You may have already seen it. :)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Recent Pics

Here are some recent pictures of the kids! They're all growing up so fast! :)

Julia...can you believe she'll be 7 in April??

Lexie....she fell asleep in the car like this...hat coming off, Pink Puppy wedged up by her head, too cute!

Aiden and his latest favorite toy....his "um-bray-ya!"

Wally and the kids on a horse-drawn carriage ride in Prague!

For some reason, people here LOVE Paris....everywhere we go, tourists want to take her picture! Crazy! Wally says we should start a blog just for her! :)

This is one of my favorite pictures EVER!! I just want to eat her! :)

Julia's Winter Recital Video

When the video starts, Julia is the girl to the immediate left of the teacher. Your left, not the teachers' left. :) You have to keep your eye on her they switch places throughout the dance. We were so proud of how well she did with the dance compared to some of the younger girls. She's moving up to the next level class in January!

Daddy's recliner = private property!

Yesterday I was sweeping while Aiden and I were home alone. Wally had taken the girls with him to the PX, and Aiden wanted to stay with me. He was playing and watching The Backyardigans and when he saw me move Wally's recliner he said "MAMA! Dada not happy you moo he chair! No do dat 'gain!" He shook his finger at me, and he looked so serious! It was so cute. I guess he's decided to be protective of Daddy's chair. It's his favorite place to sit, but there are certain rules he must follow like no eating in Daddy's chair. He got in trouble this past week for peeing in his underwear while sitting in it so I guess he was going to let me know that I had limits too. I made sure he knew that Daddy wouldn't mind me sweeping underneath his chair but he kept telling me "No do dat 'gain Mama!"

Of course when Wally came home and I told him the story, he gave Aiden a high five and told him "Thanks for looking out for my chair buddy!"