1 Family x 12 (March)

It wouldn't be March without a family photo at the waterpark!  More pictures from this trip to come....

Also - Dear Warm Weather - we have been waiting for you for a long time.  Please hurry up!  We're ready for swim suit weather.....

1 Family x 12 (Jan)

It's been a relatively warm winter so far but we've had a few large snow storms that brought lots of snow and the girls have been LOVING sledding this year.  In fact, most nights when there is snow on the ground they ask to out outside and play (which, I love) and I promptly dress them up and put them outside with the dogs while I work on dinner and enjoy the quite house.  It's honestly, amaze-balls so to all you Mommies out there with little ones, know that there is an end in sight and it's not far away!

Christmas

The days between Christmas and New Years are always a crazy flurry of activity, fun, food, drinking, kids, presents and events.  I look forward to them for MONTHS leading up to the holiday season, but when it's all said and done I take a deep breath (maybe a sigh of relief?) and think back on how crazy it all was.  This year was no different and I don't think I'd have it any other way.

So many fun holiday celebrations with friends and family near and far.  We spent the weekend before Christmas in Freeport, then Christmas Eve with the McGrath side of the family, Christmas day at our house with Erin/Will/Dan and my parents...a few short days home and then off to the lake to celebrate New Years with the cousins....all leading us back home where now, maybe, we rest!

The kids had a great Christmas and I think all of us adults would agree that we did too.  The best gift is probably a toss up between the giant stuffed animal tigers Mom got the girls, and the giant bounce house that Santa left a scavenger hunt to find.  It ended in the shop with the bounce house all blown up and the girls yelling "best Christmas ever" as they bounced with glee.  Just what EVERY parent wants to hear on Christmas morning.  Made my day!

And, just like that, another year has flown by.  Before we know it I'll be posting pictures of camping trips and swimming pools.  It all goes by so fast.  I just try to savor the moments and memories as they whiz past.

Christmas Train

Even though I tried checking in AUGUST for tickets to the real Polar Express train in the city, we somehow were still too late and couldn't get our large-ish family all together - so we opted for this cheaper and closer to home version instead this year.

We tried the Santa Train in Union (just a few short miles from our house) last Christmas season and while I am sure the one downtown is nicer, this version worked for us too.  The kids seemed to like it, and really, isn't that all that matters?

The pictures didn't come out great, but I did get this great one of Mom and I.  It was dark-ish inside the train, but you can see the look of excitement on Abby's face as Santa got closer to her seat.  She asked him for a "giant stuffed animal tiger" which, I'm happy to report, Grandma picked up for her.  And, I can tell you it's one of her favorite gifts from this year. 

1 Family x 12 (Dec)

I don't know about you, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Christmas Tree Cutting

Tree cutting became a family tradition when Ryan and I first started dating, and while location, and weather and group of people has changed over the years, one thing is always certain - we always cut a live tree the weekend of Thanksgiving.

I think that this may be the first year in over 6 years of tree cutting that I haven't been carrying a kid in a pack for this adventure!  I've said it so many times, these days the days feel like years and the years feel like days.  In just the blink of an eye, I've got two big kids!!  Kids old enough to carry themselves and to really actually HELP!

A trip to the tree farm would not be the same without a visit to Mrs. Claus.  Santa is FAR too busy this time of the year to give up full weekends to stay at the tree farm, so he sends Mrs. Claus on his behalf.  Abby asked for a giant stuffed tiger and Hazel asked for a baby doll that talks.  I sure hope the message makes it's way to the North Pole!

We're ready for Santa!!  I hope the girls made it on the "nice list"!

Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread houses are a family favorite activity over the Thanksgiving weekend.  We've been doing them since the girls were tiny...and now that the kids are getting older, they are getting even more fun and creative!  That being said, we still need a full fleet of adults to help with the decorating!  Especially when SOMEONE (read: me)  buys kits that need to be assembled before decorating.  I was not happy when I opened the first box and found a million gingerbread pieces that still need to be glued together.

Four kids and four gingerbread houses are a lot!  It's our first time doing it with all four kids, but overall, we had a great time. 

The kids, as always, wanted to put more candy in their mouth than on the houses...but, they are such sweet kids and listen really well to directions.  The adults ran the frosting, the kids ran the candy, and in short order, we had four houses ready for the holidays.

This will certainly be a tradition we continue for many years to come!