Someone is FOUR!

Paige was SO excited to wake up today and FINALLY be FOUR YEARS OLD!!  She was literally dancing and hopping around the house.  She announced that since it was her birthday she would wear a bathing suit if she wanted to.  OK?!?  Luke was very sweet.  He snuck downstairs early and  "made" breakfast for the two of them. Too cute. 

 

 

 After breakfast we quickly switched into party planning mode.  Luke and I decorated the house while daddy picked up balloons and cupcakes. Paige wanted to be surprised so she waited in her room until we were done - someone loves her birthday just a little bit.

 

She had a kid party with the kids from the neighborhood and special appearance by Will and Olivia who were luckily coming through on the way to their grandparents on the cape.

 

Waiting for the pinata.

 

 I wasn't brave enough to buy the kind you whack.  Pull tabs seemed much calmer to me.

 Happy birthday!

 Mimi came a bit later to celebrate with us too!  Paige opened her gifts.

Maxwell our Elf

We are lucky enough to have an elf visit us every year around the holidays.  Maxwell is his name.  I think this is his third year coming to us.  Year one he was pretty quiet and didn't cause a lot of fan fair.  Last year he did get crazy once or twice (fishing in our sink, etc..) but this year he is really coming out of his shell, either that or maybe he gets bored sitting around on the shelf all day long.  Here are some shots of Maxwell and his shenanigans. 

 

Sneaking candy and gum -

 Hiding in the candle -

 Roasting marshmallows -

 Bubble bath?? -

 Riding Luke's toys -

 Oh no, Maxwell got sick around the same time Luke did -

 

Got into the kids Christmas stickers -

 

 Thanks for "hangin" with us again this year Maxwell.  We'll miss you but look forward to seeing you next year.

New Pet?

This was the conversation with Luke today:


“Mommy, I think we should have a raccoon as a pet. If we had a raccoon as a pet we wouldn’t have to worry about taking the trash out because it would eat all the trash. “

Pause

“But raccoons are nocturnal so we should probably put him in Marley’s crate at night so that he doesn’t mess up the house. You would be mad about that, right? I bet if we left him out during the night he would get into some of the food in the kitchen. The difference between our pet raccoon and Marley is that Marley sleeps at night like us because he is not nocturnal so we don’t have to worry about him walking around at night. Our pet raccoon would get into things during the night. Marley only gets up at night to throw-up sometimes. “

Another pause

“But wouldn’t that be cool to have a raccoon as a pet? Can we get one?”

Mommy: “Ask your father”

Videos -Christmas Dancers

Videos - Christmas Dancers Cont...

Prepping for Christmas!

We are having a busy December getting ready for His Jolliness.  Kids are having a great time this Christmas season.

Opening stocking on St. Nick's day.  Not sure they 100% understand the holiday but I try my best to explain.  Since it involves getting a stocking full of goodies, they are all in.

 Christmas parties are a must.  We always enjoy having our annual with the Acton friends.  Working on a craft.

 The traditional present book exchange. 

 Trying to get a good couch picture.  We'll be doing this when they are in college.

 Making Christmas treats.  Rice Krispie treats to cut out and decorate.

 Good thing Paige is wearing her Sunday's best for a day at home.

Gotta get our tree. We tagged it the weekend of Tgiving and went back mid-Dec to cut her down.

Paige thought this one looked good.  Watching too much Peanuts, I think!

Daddy had to measure it out, not an exact science as you can see.

Tagging "Our" tree.

 Finished product (might need a little V8).

Time to see Santa.  Paige told him she wanted lipstick and Luke said he wanted a hot wheels car.  Santa is getting off cheap with these two!

Just in case he forgot our order, we decided to go back and tell him again, this time bringing the cousins along.

 Christmas fun at the zoo.

Holiday card picture.  Don't typically care for posed pics but went with it this year.

School performance at Paige's school to close out the year -

Boston & Teddy Bear Tea

Today, Paige and I had a mother-daughter day in the city.  I took the day off work, we got dressed up and we headed into Boston for some holiday fun. 

First we walked through the commons and said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.

Then we stopped for lunch on Newbury Street.

After lunch, we stopped in to get our nails done.  The nail ladies were eating Paige up, said she could stay and work there.  I told them she would probably be back in 15 years!

After some shopping on Newbury Street (mostly window) we headed to the Four Seasons for the Teddy Bear tea.  I got tickets in August after a friend told me about this event (yes, they sell out that early). It was super cute.  You bring a new teddy bear to donate to a needy child.  Paige name hers "Teddy" and wrote a note to the child it will be going to and placed it under the bear tree. 

Here she is with Truffles the Bear.  Paige had a thing for Truffles (imagine that)  she is partial to the character animals - she will be in her glory when we finally go to Disney.  She kept hugging Truffles and talking to him.

 Paige and Teddy

 Loving all the bears as the place was decked with them.

 Placing Teddy under the tree with all his other donated friends.

 Couldn't resist getting up close.

 Time for our fine treats.  We each got an assortment of goodies, Paige got hot chocolate and tea for me.

 At story time, guess who was all snuggled up close to Truffles.