Down and Out

Everyone has been down for the count around here lately. Abby is finally feeling better - we've never seen her that sick. Of course Hannah and Griff came down with the same thing, although Hannah seems to have it a bit worse than Griff. Mike and I also have it, not as bad as the kids, but enough to know how crappy they feel. There is lots of coughing and kleenex in our house right now, and I can't wait til everyone is back to normal. Little Hannah only has eyes for Dad when she is sick (actually, she prefers Mike most of the time!), so she's been attached to him for the past couple of days.

Abby did feel up to going outside with Mike today to try out a new sled. I think Mike had a bit more fun with it than Abby!

Christmas Day, Yipee!

Pictures of Christmas Day. A few cavets to note:

1. Abby is sick...not just a cold, but full fever, hacking cough, itchy eyes and runny nose sick. We were lucky to get a half smile out of her this morning.

2. We ran out of batteries half way through present opening (what kind of mom doesn't have extra batteries on hand on Christmas???), so you are only getting small sampling of the fun. I promise to get more batteries tomorrow, so you'll have pictures of the little monkeys playing with their new toys.

3. Even though Abby was sick, she said she had the best Christmas and loved all her gifts. Griff and Hannah were just facinated with all the new "stuff" around the house. They did like trying to climb on top of the mini piano Santa brought them. Griff also liked sitting in the dump truck my parents got him. We ended up putting that one in the basement, declaring it an outside toy it's so big!!

4. You don't get any pictures of the amazing beef tenderlion Mike and I had for dinner tonight (H&G were in bed, and Abby was too sick to eat). It really was incredible......and lucky us have leftovers for tomorrow!

5. We have some video of the morning, but again, we ran out of batteries! When we get more, I'll download the video and post it, too!

Merry Christmas to all!

T'was the Night Before Christmas....

The tree after Santa arrived last night......those little elves were busy! And then a picture of us going to mass Christmas Eve.

Cookies for Santa

Abby and I were busy baking and decorating cookies for Santa today. We rolled out the dough, got out the cookie cutters and went to town. I helped with the frosting, but the "decorating" was all Abby. She is the sprinkle queen in our house :-)

She has picked out two cookies for Santa; the rest, she says, are hers! She wants to leave Santa a note letting him know that it would be nice if he shared one of the cookies with Rudolph. Although, she has also asked if we can leave a celery stalk for little Rudy and the other reindeer.

We found a website that tracks Santa's sleigh starting tomorrow at 4pm (NORAD.com). She is very excited to check that out.

Hannah and Griff are busy as usual. Their new favorite word to say is "Uh-oh". Every time they drop, or throw, their milk cups, or drop food on the floor, it's "uh-oh". If they take an ornament off the tree and we catch them, it's "uh-oh". Hannah is also trying to say Abby. Both of them will go up and give her hugs and kisses if you ask them to. Their favorite activity is still jumping and falling off the couches and chairs. We've had some bumps, but it doesn't slow them down.

I'll be sure to post lots of Christmas pictures....that's all for now.

Little People

I should have pulled out the Little People for Hannah and Griff ages ago.....they LOVE them. Abby asked me to pull them out for her the other day, and H&G haven't stopped playing with them! They don't really play together, but it keeps them occupied for a good 1/2 hour......at least until one takes something the other was playing with!

The Nutcracker

Abby dancing to the Nutcracker - hopefully you can hear it in the background.

Away in the Manger

Ok, so I'm trying to post a video of Abby singing Away in the Manger - the song her preschool class sang. Hopefully someone will let me know if it works!

Painted Ornaments

Abby and I were busy this morning painting our ornaments. We used lots of paint, glitter and glitter glue. I think they turned out fantastic! We are waiting for them to dry before putting them on our tree - they will be a very nice addition!

Winter Days

As much as I don't really care for the snow, I have to admit it is very pretty. We've had a snowy December, and surprisingly, the snow has stayed pretty clean, so it is very white and crisp looking outside. It's a bit foggy today, and there is lots of ice on the tree branches.

Abby is off of school until after New Years, so I'm trying to find things for us to do to keep us busy. Today we made Christmas tree ornaments out of salt dough. We rolled the dough and used cookie cutters to make Christmas trees, gingerbread men, angles, candy canes, snowmen and bells. After baking them for a couple of hours in the oven, they are ready to be painted. Unfortunately, we ran out of paint, so we need to run out to Target after the babes wake from their naps! I'll post pictures of the finished product tomorrow!

Hannah and Griff are good. They spent most of the morning reading the Christmas cards we've received.

Christmas Celebration

Mike and I couldn't be more proud of Abby. She had her preschool Christmas Celebration tonight, and she a fantastic job. All the preschool classes were up on a stage, and they sang as a group, as well as individual classes. We are proud to say that we could hear Abby sing louder than everyone else, and she did all the little hand motions they were supposed to do. She really did an incredible job. She always tells us she wants to be on stage, and tonight she definitely made a strong case for it! You would never guess this was the same girl who wasn't so sure about school - you can tell she loves her classmates, and she certainly has a strong bond with her teacher, Ms. Joyce. A bit of a surprise for Mike and I was how Hannah reacted to seeing Abby on stage. She literally almost jumped out of Mike's arms and pointed to Abby on stage, and said, "Ahhhh" over and over again. We thought it was a fluke, but she did it again when Abby's class stood up to sing their own song. Little Hannah definitely knows her big sister!! Below are some pictures. I couldn't get a good one in the chapel - it was too dark and my flash isn't strong enough.

Quick Pictures before leaving for the Christmas Celebration!! She was SO SO excited!!


Abby is standing by her friend Cate, waiting to enter the chapel.

Abby's entire preschool class

All the classes on stage.....Abby is in the back, on the top riser (you can't see her in this picture)

After the show. Yes, we dressed Hannah & Griffin in their finest Christmas attire :-)

Preschool Party

Abby had a preschool holiday party today, and the parents were invited. I was able to get a sitter for the twins, so I was able to spend the morning with Abby, at her school. I'm glad I was able to go, and she liked that I was there to see her in school and to meet her friends. She has a Christmas Singing Celebration tomorrow night at her school, and both Mike and I are excited about going. She's been practicing her songs for weeks, and we can't wait to see her sing along with all her classmates. Here are some pictures from today's party:
Circle Time

Puppet Play
Abby and her friend Ella
Making Crafts

Parachute FunSmiling Abby

Another Craft