The joy of utensils

I finally decided to let Nora try using a fork, and boy did she love it. Dinner was full of smiles and laughs. She worked so hard to try to get food on the fork and even used her fingers to put the food on the fork and hold it there until it made it's way into her mouth.

Mealtime is so much more fun with a fork in your hand!

Christmas 2009

For some reason, Matthew decided that the best place for Santa's cookies was under the piano bench. They were so surprised when they saw that the cookies and milk were gone.

Okay, so they were prompted to be surprised by Jeremy. But they sure do look cute!

Corinne looking so surprised and happy about her princess jewelry.

Nora was actually allowed by the kids to open a present by herself. They just couldn't stand how slow she was about unwrapping the present.

This is a genuine look of awe when Matthew opened his present by aunt Amy. A few fights ensued later over who would be able to play with the Etch-a-Sketch.

Corinne so happy with her new dress, princess jewelry, and princess shoes. We had a fun Christmas morning opening presents followed by a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict and pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting. That may be a new Christmas breakfast tradition because it was so delicious.

Sayings

I just overheard Corinne while she was drawing saying, "P-O-O. That's my name."

You better watch out!

This is what happens to you when you lay down on the floor at our house: Nora hugs you! You better watch out! (Don't be fooled--she actually enjoys the hug until the very end.)

Christmas ornaments

For years I have been wanting to make these but it is always so busy around Christmastime that I never got around to it. This year I was determined to find time. I just mixed 3 cups of applesauce with about a pound of cinnamon and rolled out the dough and cut out the shapes with cookie cutters. I let them dry out for a few days before decorating them and putting them on the tree. They sure do make the house smell like Christmas!

North Pole

We've been talking a lot about Christmas lately and Matthew has decided that he wants to go to the North Pole. We looked at a map online and I explained to him that it's too far away and impossible to get there unless you have a sleigh and flying reindeer to get past all the snow and ice.

Well, today while I was driving Matthew to school he tells me, "Mommy, it looks like the North Pole outside!" I think someone is excited for Christmas.

First Snowstorm

We had been hearing all weekend about the big snowstorm that was moving up the east coast. We went early yesterday to the grocery store to stock up on food. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with that idea and the line to check out wrapped around the store. We encountered several "Scrooges" who were not happy about the situation and wanted to let everyone around them know. Right as we were putting our items on the belt for checkout Corinne yells "Pee pee! I have to do pee pee!" Luckily, Jeremy was there also and could continue to check out while I ran Corinne to the bathroom for her urgent bathroom need.
After this, we "hunkered down" at home for the rest of the day awaiting the big snowstorm. Nothing happened until around 9pm when it started dumping snow. We received the call that church was cancelled and awoke Sunday morning to the kids so excited and yelling, "Mommy, there's snow outside!" We made the kids wait until after breakfast to go outside where we saw this: about a foot and a half of snow on the ground and it is still snowing!

The kids were having so much fun despite hardly being able to move around in the snow. Corinne kept getting stuck and yelling, "help! help! I'm stuck!" I think the whole neighborhood could hear her calls for help.

Daddy came out too and made snow angels with us and threw snowballs at us. I think we were outside for maybe 30 min before we were all cold and ready to go inside.
What a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Love Letters

Apparently Corinne has a secret admirer that uses secret ink that only Corinne can read. She finds letters addressed to her all over the house and then brings them to me and reads them:
Dear Corinne,
I love you!
I think we will have to put her on lockdown. All subsequent letters will be confiscated and investigated.
Dear Secret Admirer,
Corinne is much too young.