Reindeer Performances and ZooLights

Collin's preschool class had a holiday sing-a-long in mid-December.  And he had quite a cheering contingent with Grandma Libia and Lita, Grammy and Great Grandma B, Cas, Maya and me for their three song, two-minute performance.  

Our happy Rudolph -

Cuddling up with Daddy -

I jumped in to the family picture with Collin's reindeer hat.  He's gotten very into coloring lately and worked hard to create rainbow antlers.  We laughed at his elf that he made in class - every other student had appendages in the correct location, but Picasso-Collin put his shoes coming out of his head, his legs out his arms, all in an effort to create a "silly elf."

The Sunday night before Christmas, we met my parents and kids at the zoo for Zoo Lights.  We had bought and printed our tickets ahead of time, so when we saw the line with over 100 people, we laughed at the irresponsible folks who hadn't planned ahead . . . until we learned this was the line of pre-paid tickets!  We followed the trail with the masses, oohing and aahing at the lights - Maya shouting "wow" - and took some photos along the way.

Maya constantly wanted to be with "mammy," so my mom carried her throughout the zoo while I pushed an empty stroller and Cas and my dad walked along empty-handed!

Cas and the kids by one of the stunning trees -

Maya did not want to leave these drums.

Luckily our next stop after the drums was the chimpanzee area filled with blinking lights and music where Maya stood in the middle, making all the visitors go around her, and danced her heart out.

Right before the exit, there was a choir singing Christian Christmas hymns and my 19-month-old booty danced / twerked to the worship songs!

Family Pics 2014

In October, we met with a co-worker's friend, who is a local photographer, to take family pictures.  We love some of the shots she got of our kids and family!

Maya was not easy to photograph on that afternoon, she was not in the mood to smile and pretty much only content in my arms.  And not just in my arms, but for most of our family photos, I had to toss her up in the air, catch her, and act happy while sweat dripped down my back.  Our impressive photographer still got some cute shots of her though!

Collin was a dream - great smiles, very patient.  We took pictures for only 20 minutes but it felt like we were out there for hours!  We headed straight to a restaurant for chocolate and wine for me!

The handsome boys - 

My sweet boy -

Before the photos began, when we could slide on the playground, Maya was full of natural smiles - 

We took pictures on a Wednesday, so Grandma Libia and Lita were able to join us.  Maya was smiling because she was playing peek-a-boo.

These kids love Wednesdays with their grandma and great-grandma!

The whole group - even Kiki (who made the picture because she kept Maya happy) - 

Our Christmas card photo - 

Scared of Santa and Sugared Up

On the first Saturday of December, we were invited to a company family Christmas party.  This is an over-the-top event that we attended last year and seems to get bigger every year.  There are stations for Christmas crafts, wax hands, balloon animals, gingerbread house decorations, jugglers, Santa, and this year, huge piles of snow with sledding. 

We had been talking about it all week - and I thought we were over the stomach bug that made its way through our family after Thanksgiving - but Collin woke up looking and feeling terrible on Saturday morning.  I was disappointed - for our family and for him - but Maya and I hit the Christmas brunch on our own.  She was all smiles in her cute Christmas outfit from my mom (do you see her scar on her nose - this was 7 days later and much improved) -  

And then we put her on Santa's lap - poor girl!

When we got home for lunch, Collin was feeling better - so good in fact, he was up for making and consuming his gingerbread house!  Maya took a nap and we had a fun time creating art out of candy.

Posing with his house -

Later that night, my silly ones kept up the posing, this time with their Green Bay cheese head Cas brought home from the football game -

Since Collin missed out on Santa photos, we hit the mall on a Wednesday night to try again.  Sweet Collin tried to comfort her, but Maya is not a fan!

By the time they snapped the official mall photo, Collin was tired of smiling though Maya had calmed down a bit -

Merry Christmas!

Face Planting at Landa Park

I adore Landa Park in New Braunfels - a beautiful, calm setting with lots to see and do.  We took the kids there on Saturday morning, joined by my mom and brother, my uncle and grandma.

Maya was all smiles as we gathered the group - 

Posing with the family matriarch -

Collin feeding the ducks -

Maya threw her bread 6 inches to the ducks that came right up to the edge -

And ate some of the bread while she was at it -

Sweet Uncle Alex didn't get much personal space when Collin was awake - they shared a room in NB, always had to sit near each other at meals, and tumbled and wrestled whenever Alex wasn't on the tennis court.  Collin loved all the time with him!

This girl loves her "mammy" - though my mom is trying hard to teach her the "gr" sound!

Family pic at the park - Maya's the only one looking at the right camera -

My Uncle Larry and Grandma Jewell Rae headed back to the condos rather than to the playground and train, but took a photo of our crew before they left -

Shortly after this photo, Maya was running and face planted on the sidewalk.  It didn't look too bad on Saturday, but on Sunday she woke up with a Rudolph scab that lasted for weeks!  Luckily we were able to scoop her up, hit a playground, have some pb&j, and then ride the train, so she was distracted from her wound.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year - all with similar expressions!

Saturday night, Cas headed home to travel to Green Bay for a football game with a customer.  And Saturday night I was hit with a stomach bug.  So my wonderful family rounded up all the gifts we received (like new fighting men from Uncle Alex and Aunt Coady), packed our condo that looked like a clothes/toys/book tornado hit it, cared for my kids, and loaded up the car the next day.  Alex drove my car with my bike rigged up precariously to the back and dealt with dirty diapers and whining on the 3 hour car ride while I offered little to no help.

I had an incredible Thanksgiving long weekend up until 11pm on Saturday night (start of the bug), and I'm so thankful that we were able to spend time with all of our family!

Thanksgiving in NB

We reconvened in New Braunfels for our annual Thanksgiving/Hanukkah long weekend.  We love the facility - full of fields, playgrounds, and camp areas perfect for walks, bike riding, and playing with children.  

Last year Maya was along for the ride, but this year she was busy exploring the playground - 

Posing for pictures as we explored the grounds -

And posing with Uncle Alex in their IU shirts - 

Friday afternoon we flew kites in a field near our condo, and of course, took lots and lots of pictures. 

My sweet girl, I love her hugs - 

Happy in Grammy's arms - 

Running in glorious sunlight - 

I cannot get enough of their sweet interactions . . . if only they were always sweet!

Thanksgiving Eve

We continued our tradition of hosting a Thanksgiving Eve celebration with Cas' family, and enjoyed seeing everyone on Wednesday night.  We loved watching the cousins interact.  Maya couldn't get enough of Lorenzo or Nico.

 The cousins - this was as close as we got to everyone generally happy and looking in the direction of the camera -  

This girl - she has some personality - sometimes a little too much.  A few weeks ago I wasn't doing as she wanted and she made this type of face.  My reaction to it was to crack up and tickle her.  Now she makes the face all the time for that reaction!  Lip + eyebrows = laughter & tickles.  

My sweet kids - we are so thankful for them and all our family!