Elfie's back!

Elfie made his grand appearance on December 1!  He brought Claire and Fielder a note and some snow donuts straight from the North Pole.  (notice he is enjoying a donut himself)  When Claire saw that he had also set the table for her with a Christmas place mat, plate, and cup she said "Wow, I guess Elfie really is magic!"
Looks like Elfie might be stepping up his game from last year...

December 1st was also the Parade downtown.  We squeezed in an hour of parading between Fielder's nap and lunchtime.  It was fun, but I think next year we'll plan a little better, get there early and set up camp.  Claire loved Rudolph and Frosty the best.

The parade is the most random mix of floats, bands, groups, and balloons.  The strangest is the Star Wars people that are totally dressed up and look exactly like from the movies.  I was cracking up because at one point Claire was covering her eyes and scared to death while Fielder was high-fiving Darth Vader.  I wish I had a picture of that!!

 

Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!  This year I am thankful for antibiotics  :-)  The day before Thanksgiving, I was sure we were going to have to miss out, but luckily after a visit with the pediatrician we were deemed "not contagious."  Both kids on antibiotics and a day of rest allowed us to go to Mimi and Papa's for turkey day!
(Sorry Mere, I totally forgot to get the picture you requested, but this one in the backyard turned out cute anyway.)

The kids all had fun playing outside in the teepee - it was such a beautiful day!





Claire and Samara did a great job of making a mess.  They pulled out Mimi's "jewels" and got dressed up.  Then they headed upstairs to the toy closet and pulled out just about everything.  (the next day Mimi went upstairs for something and noticed a bedroom door closed.  The girls had put the baby doll in the crib for her "nap" and turned on the box fan.)


The kids each had gifts to open before dinner....they were excited to get Pete the Cat's Christmas book!  And Fielder got a Santa board book - thank goodness he's finally slightly interested in looking at a book!

Thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner !

Cardboard Creations

We've been going a little crazy with the cardboard boxes lately (ok, mainly me.)  It started with Claire wanting a rocket ship.....which ended up looking more like a coffin.  So then I made the "cars" which weren't very exciting but the kids loved.  I've been keeping an eye out at work for the perfect box to make a house and then one day we were outside and saw the neighbors getting their furnace repaired.  This huge box was just sitting there calling my name.  I went up to the workmen and asked if I could have it - I'm sure they thought I was nuts as I was dragging it across the neighbors' yards while holding Fielder in my other arm.  It was so big I couldn't even fit it through the door, but by that point I was determined to have this box.  After work that night, I turned it into a cool playhouse to surprise Claire in the morning.  They played in it all day!  Fielder thought it was great fun to open and close the door and deliver mail. 


It was perfect timing to have something fun to play with at home because Claire was sick (sinus infection....actually both kids have been sick all month) and we couldn't really go anywhere.  The next day we took Claire to the doctor, got her on antibiotics, and she spent the day resting.  She even fell asleep in the box for about 2 hours!

Now that the box has lost it's initial appeal, I have to figure out how to get it out of here!  I guess we'll be playing with it for another week until Recycle Day  :-)

1st Birthday Party

Claire was very excited to make this sign for our front door.  (She wanted it to say "party for Fielder and Claire"....hmmm, maybe a little jealous?)

How do you like my birthday wreath I made?!  After several trips to the craft and dollar store and 300+ balloons, I think it turned out pretty cool!  I loved seeing Fielder's photos all lined up.  Claire said the first 3 pictures were "another baby."

Birthday party day!  We invited the family over for brunch and celebrating.  I had to wake up the birthday boy to come join his party.  He was very clingy and to me, seemed more "shy" than his normal self, but I guess that's what happens when you wake up from a nap and there are 15 people in your living room. 

the kiddie table

cardboard box "cars"

The girls all helped Fielder with his presents.  (He liked the tissue paper best of all.) 




No surprise that Fielder loved the cupcakes.  I put one down on his tray and he scooped up all the icing in one hand and shoved it all in his mouth.  Then the other hand grabbed the rest of the cake.   

Thanks everybody for coming and celebrating with us!   And thank you for all the nice gifts!!

1 Year!

"Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born."

 

 

Happy Birthday Fielder!  Our little man turned 1 on Saturday November 10.  I celebrated it by running a half marathon!   I kept an eye on my watch that morning and as soon as it turned 7:08am, I told everyone that it was my baby's first birthday.  It was my slowest 1/2 ever, but I had fun and ran with my friend Christy.  We decided not to truly "race" it, but to just have fun and do a Galloway type thing to try and save our legs from being sore the next few days. 

 

I actually didn't see my birthday boy until about 5:30 that night because Rob had taken the kids to my parents house while he was at a football game.  I had several hours to be at home relaxing and getting ready for his party. 

 

This past year has certainly turned our lives upside down, but of course it's all worth it.  Fielder is a wild and crazy boy (every bit of the "boy stereotype") and he keeps us BUSY!  At 1 year, he is walking all over the place and getting into plenty of trouble.  It's hard to see in this picture, but he has a bruise on each cheek and his forehead.  He's been very moody lately - I think from having a cold and teething.  I'm hoping that phase will pass soon!  I just can't believe I don't have a little baby anymore....officially a mom of a preschooler and toddler!  Happy birthday to my boy....you completed our family and made me such a happy person.  I love you so much.

Election Day 2012

Election Day could not get here any faster.  The ads...the constant phone calls...the facebook posts.  I couldn't wait for it to all be over!  I was nervous about taking both kids with me to vote and keeping them occupied during a long wait in line.  Luckily we hit a great time and there were only about 6 people in front of us.  Claire was really excited about going with me.  I showed her my ballot and how I colored in the little circle.  Then she colored on the ballot she had made at home a bit and proudly handed it to the lady.  After we got outside and I took this picture, Claire says "OK.  Now where is the face painting area?"  I guess she was expecting a little more than just voting and going home. 

 

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  We were so excited to be back at school on Wednesday....especially because it was parade day!  Claire insisted on being a witch for school so we put this costume together from what we had at home.  Photo above - she's making a "witch face" waiting in the carpool line.  The parade was so cute watching all the kids and Fielder had fun waving.

After school and rest time, Mimi came over to help out with dinner and getting ready for trick-or-treating.  (Daddy was sad to miss out, but he had to work late.)  It was a little crazy - I took both kids out for a short time while Mimi handed out candy, back home to put Fielder to bed, then Claire and I handed out candy until Daddy got home and then Claire and I ran out to do more trick-or-treating.  I was exhausted!

Claire had so much fun trick-or-treating!  She was a like a ping pong ball bouncing all around from one house to the next.  She knew the drill and said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" like a pro.  At each house she'd check out what was thrown in her bag - "A LOLLIPOP MOMMY!!!"  What a fun night.  Can't wait to see both kids running around next year  :-)