New Year's Eve

Christmas at Home

Twas the night before Christmas.

Evy woke us up at 7 a.m. and then woke Charlie up. Charlie came into our room saying "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" Will had been up much of the night so we let him sleep and enjoyed opening gifts with the girls.

Lots of Star Wars gifts this year.

Santa brought Charlie a Barbie Pop Up camper.

We woke Will up around 9 a.m. and let him open his gifts.

Santa brought the Millennium Falcon for the kids and it might have been the biggest hit of the day.

Our "fancy" Christmas dinner. The girls thought it was so fun to eat in the dining room by candlelight.

Christmas "Break"

I was so looking forward to a fun Christmas break with all 3 of the kids at home and no schedules. On the first day of break Evy had her 7 year old check up and Will got his 18 month shots. On the second day of break Evy had an appointment with an eye doctor. On the third day of break we finally had a free day to have fun! We went to the Children's Museum with plans to go to Blue Bird for lunch. But, while we were at the museum Will slid down a slide with Evy and caught his foot, his leg twisted backwards and he would not put any weight on his leg. We immediately went to the pediatrician and X-rays confirmed that he fractured his tibia. UGH! We left the hospital with a cast and a sad little man who could not crawl or walk. The first night at home was rough----he was awake from midnight to 4 a.m. Eventually, he got more comfortable with his cast but he is still incredibly needy....wanting someone holding him constantly. I carried him so much that five days later I was back at the hospital for X-rays for myself! My back went out. I'm in physical therapy and hopefully on the mend. Not the way any of us wanted to spend our Christmas! Poor guy!

Star Wars Excitement

Episode 7 of Star Wars came out December 18. Scott had been preparing the girls by having them watch all of the old episodes. The girls are hooked! None of them could wait to see the movie so they went on December 19. Evy wore her Princess Leia costume. Scott reported that Evy was enthralled while Charlie spent more time going to the bathroom and being restless. In order to actually see the movie Scott went again the following week. 

Pre-Christmas Fun

All of the traditions that come along with Christmas is part of the fun!

For the past two years we have really enjoyed the horse drawn carriage rides in downtown Iowa City!

Our annual trip to see The Nutcracker. Evy is enthralled by the story and Charlie did pretty well. Both girls were ready to go by the end of the ballet.

This year I really let the girls get involved with cookie making and they did great!

They loved rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes.

There was lots of flour on the floor!

They also did a great job at decorating the cookies!

Evy wanted to add mini M & M's to our Christmas trees and they turned out great.

Scott and I enjoyed an ugly sweater party with some friends. Nice pants!

Charlie's Christmas Program

I've had such a fun time watching Charlie grow at preschool this year. She is doing fun things and making new friends and she handles it like such a big girl. Charlie got a new outfit for her program and she was so proud. It was absolutely adorable watching her walk into school and immediately drop her coat so she could show off her fancy new dress. 

So proud of this girl!

First Snow

Unfortunately, the first snow of the season made Scott and I cancel our trip to Chicago for the Bears vs. Broncos game.

Will's first time sledding!

He kind of liked it.

The girls love sledding in our backyard and they had so much fun going down the hill with all 3 kids on the sled! 

Florida Fun

We spent a week with Scott's parents in Naples. 

The girls loved the pool and we spent lots of time there every day:

This was Evy's nest for the week:

Morning walk to the park, man it was hot and humid:

As the girls get older the beach gets more enjoyable. One day it will be enjoyable with Will too! Charlie loved collecting shells:

Evy was braver this year and really liked spending more time in the water:

He's got his Florida style down:

No trip to Naples is complete without a trip to the zoo. Grammy and Papa typically spoil the kids by letting them pick out a stuffed animal in the zoo gift shop. The girls are on to them and I think that's the main reason they like to go to the zoo:

There is a great park that we love to visit each time:

And, let's not forget the children's museum! The girls loved making this masterpiece and it turns out the museum employee who helped them is originally from Iowa:

Scott and his Dad enjoyed a day of fishing:

We did manage to get a family photo:

 So thankful for a direct flight and so thankful that this is our last flight with a one year old. Will definitely kept us busy!

Vacation is exhausting: