Moving on up.

Both kids have made the transition to their new classes. Piper ran in her new room the first day, and hasn't looked back. She has much more freedom and resposibility in her new room and it seems to suit her well. She grows everyday in her independance and it's a joy to see what satisfaction and confidence it brings to her to figure out how to do new things.


Boone took about a week to transition, as it was a bit rough going from several naps a day down to one. But he's also adjusting well and seems to really like his new room and all the new things to explore and do.


And his new classroom does a lot of art projects. And here is his first masterpiece from school. Much like his sister when she made her first masterpiece, it's hard to believe he's already getting so big.

Family Photos

Christmas 2009-Part IV

We spent Christmas at Aunt Heather and Uncle Davis's house this year. Right near their house is one of the Good Morning America's "Best Decorated Houses", so we made a trip over to see it and it was unbelieveable.

Santa there too, and Piper spent a long time watching him from afar and waving and wishing him Merry Christmas. She even wanted to go talk to him. She told him about the bike she wanted and got a candy cane, but this was a close as she wanted to get. And she sent me up ahead of her to check him out and to sit on his lap to make sure everything was ok.

Christmas Eve, we all went to mass together. We all joked that Piper was channeling DanDaddy that night, as she sang every song and hymn, loud and full of joy, whether she knew the words or not. And mass ended with Silent Night, another vivid remembrance of DanDaddy.

Later that night, Piper decorated cookies for Santa. They were frosted, sprinkled masterpieces.

Bube read Twas the Night Before Christmas and after she was done, we heard the sound of jingle bells on the TV, Piper thought it was Santa up on the roof and she yelled, "We have to go to bed now!" She practically kicked us out of her room, so she could get to sleep so Santa would come.

When she woke up Christmas morning, she was so excited to see if Santa had come. But paused for a moment to confirm that he wouldn't be in the living room when she ventured out there. She was so excited she busied herself the rest of the morning, opening presents, passing out presents, trying out new presents, etc and had a great time.

Boone and Jackson, still rookies, took some time out for snacks and such.

Piper, the gift-passer-outer on a mission!

Piper also received a very special gift that DanDaddy had picked out for her much earlier in the year. She got a camera, which she thoroughly loved and she has been busy taking pictures. It has a feature to download the pictures off of it, so hopefully I can post some of her shots too, the world through her lens.

We also went to the nearby acquarium and I'm not sure who had more fun at the touch pools, Uncle Davis, Ger or Piper?

Piper also made some special sugar cookies for Daddy's birthday. She made good use of her new apron and loved every minute of it.

All good things must come to an end, we had to load up and head home. Christmas 2009, it was a blur leading up to you, but we thoroughly enjoyed you and can't wait for next year.

Christmas 2009-Part III

This winter is the first time we've used our fireplace and we discovered we have two supervisors to help Ger each time he starts a fire. And one of the supervisors, likes to moonlight as a spectator too!
She lugs her chair out of her room, gets everything just right...

And enjoys the view!

My Two Favorites

Monday of this week, I was lucky enough to have the day off and to be able to spend it with Piper. We had a "girls' day", a leisure day spent at the zoo, followed by lunch, ice cream and an afternoon visit to the local park. Such a treat! I loved every minute of the one-on-one time I got with her. Of all our conversations that day, my two favorite comments made were:

"Mommy, I joyin' myself."

"When I grow up to be a chipmunk, will I be friends with the lions?"

Christmas 2009-Part II

Dear Santa,

I was so excited to go see you this year. I'd been telling my parents all about it and just could not wait for it to happen. On a Sunday afternoon, we headed over to your temporary SC home.

The closer we got, the more excited I got. Once we arrived I could see in the window and I was giddy with excitement. We made out way up the steps and walked inside. You were a little daunting, seeing you up that close, but I still kept on smiling and giggling, although I held onto Daddy's leg. Santa, you were so nice to me, talking to me and then you asked if I wanted to sit on your lap. I put my arms out for you to pick me up, and you did. Once I landed on your lap, I kept laughing, but I also started crying, just a little at the same time. I don't think I've ever done that before. Next they put my brother next to me, only Mommy didn't take his paci out, as he was also thinking about possibly crying too and she thought she wouldn't risk it. I just couldn't get the words out to tell you what I wanted for Christmas, I just kept looking at you and at Mommy and Daddy standing their with me. In the end, I decided a full on cry was justified and that's what was most appropriate for the picture as well. Afterward, I told my parents that it was ok if I didn't see you in my house on Christmas Eve when you came to bring presents. I think I like that you live in the North Pole and that I can love you from afar.

Love,

Piper

P.S. Thanks for the presents you brought me and glad you could read my mind.

Christmas 2009-Post I

Piper was very interested in all the Christmas decorations this year and was quite the helper with getting ornaments on the tree. We had a large concentration of ornaments on the back lower third of our tree this year, and to be honest, it made it all the more special.

Her pure excitement leading up to and during Christmas made it quite a joy this year, which was quite a blessing.

Piper also had her first ever school performance. We had the video recorder and digital camera and were there to cheer her on. Below are shots of both kids before we left for her big night.

Piper's teaches gave the kids plenty of descriptions of what would happen that night, i.e. parents would drop them off in their classroom and then would head to the fellowship hall, they would come into the hall with their class and perform and then go find mommy and daddy. So Piper spent some time relaying this important information on to us on our way over the school to be sure we were up to speed on what was going to happen-so cute!

And here's a picture of Mrs. Theresa's class (along with Mrs. Melinda and Mrs. Tiffany) and their big performance. All their rehersals were on the stage, but minus the audience and the lights, so Piper spent the first half of the performace quite mesmerized by both. After that she started getting into it and sang rest of the songs. They performed four songs, and I even got a "Mommy" shout-out during the performance, as she tried to squint and see through the stage lights at the audience to find us. We didn't quite make it through all the class performances that followed (i.e. "the older kids"), as it was getting late and out little pumpkin Boone was getting very tired. So we opted to head out of the fellowship hall to get everyone's coats on, and ended up running into many of the families with kids in Boone's class already out in the hallway! We loaded everyone up and headed to Sonic for dessert, we all enjoyed ice cream in the car, while Boone happily snoozed away in his seat!

We also went to the Lights of Lugoff Christmas parade. It was a really cold night, so we bundled the kids up and all had a great time. Boone opted to stay nestled under layers of clothes and blankets in his stroller and managed to wiggle his hands out once the floats started and waved at them all as they passed by. Piper sat as close as she could to all the action and watched all the floats come by and she would yell, "There's Santa, hi Santa, I been a good girl" at every man on a float that had a beard. We also scored lots of candy and I think she ate her weight in candy canes that night. We waved and wished everyone a Merry Christmas as they passed or "Merry Ristmas". Finally, the last float we got to see the real Santa and Piper was speechless. It was such a fun night and I think we'll look forward to going every year. Ger was busy taking pictures and got some good ones of everyone enjoying themselves.

Piper has been enjoying reading all her Christmas books that have been up in the attic. Her babydolls have gotten quite the earful. I think she can almost recite the Night before Christmas, as we've read it so many times and she loves it.