A Christmas Miracle!

November 29th, 2013

Let the holiday traditions live on!  I couldn't be happier to be sharing one of my most treasured Christmas traditions with Christian and Lindalee.  

Every year when I was little, we would bundle up and make the trek into the woods behind my parent's house.  And every year, a Christmas miracle would occur.  We would stumble upon a perfect Christmas tree.  We would "saw it down" and carry it home singing Christmas carols.  My memories of this tradition are completely magical.  We would play in the woods all spring, summer, fall and never see a Christmas tree.  But come Christmas time, it was almost as if someone magically placed a beautiful tree in the woods, just for us to find.  

Hmmm....

Lindalee walking Zoe into the woods.

A perfect tree and perfect size for our apartment! A Christmas miracle! 

Papa and Christian "sawing" the tree down.  Timber!!!

Christian was proud of his find.

  

It was pretty chilly outside.  The kids knew just what to do when we got back home.  Christian ran to the stove and turned the fire on, then they both sat by the fire waiting for Meme to bring them their hot chocolate.  Tough life!

Thankful for sharing a very treasured tradition with two very special little ones!

A Thanksgiving to be thankful for!

November 28th, 2013

So many things to be thankful for this year.  It is impossible to capture them all in one blog post.  To start off the Thanksgiving holiday, I was extremely grateful for not having to fly home for the holiday.  For eleven years I have had to fly to celebrate holidays with my family.  Flying around the holdays is no fun, espcially when two very busy toddlers are involved.  I was beyod grateful for being able to pack up some small bags and drive to where the celebrations would take place.  I was the most relaxed this Thanksgiving than I have been during any holday for the past eleven years.  Being so relaxed {which is a relative term when I'm talking about myself} I was really able to enjoy every moment.  I wasn't exhausted or running on empty, it was amazing!

When we arrived to Meme and Papa's on Wednesday, Thanksgiving preprepartion was already in full swing.  Christian was excited to participate

Christian and Meme made a beautiful apple pie together.  He was quite proud!

She may be beautiful, but she's just as smart.  Watch out, world!

A happy baby and tired Meme . Not the best picture of Meme {sorry!} but I had to include it because it sums up the day!  

A little piece of heaven on Thanksgiving Eve.

And onto the big day...

When cooking four turkeys, you need a system.  Leave it to Papa!

The amazing chefs.  Four turkeys, one ham, countless sides and pies, these two make quite a team!

The kids really enjoyed watching the parade on the television.  I've never seen Lindalee sit still for so long.

Table set and ready to go!

These are the napkin holders the kids made.  Christian came up with the reason he is thankful for each person. (Papa's is missing from the picture, but Christian is thankful for playing with him).  Christian also said an amazing prayer before dinner {Proud mommy moment}. 

 "Dear God, thank you for this wonderful food that we are going to eat.  Please bless all my family and keep them safe forever and ever.  Amen".

Making his daddy proud.  Super heros only eat entire turkey legs.

   

Lindalee enjoyed the pie. 

Auntie Pha loving!

Grant-Baker family photo.  Not easy when it's freezing outside and you have two wiggly kiddos.

It makes me so happy to see traditions being carried onto the next generation.  Growing up, my Aunt Judy always put on a "Coloring Contest" for the kids on Thanksgiving.  Everyone who participated got a prize.  It brought back such memories watching Christian and Lindalee partaking in the "contest".  Christian drew a "Big black boulder" and Lindalee drew a "Turkey" and "Dada".   

The prizes were always the best part.  A great way to kick-off the start of Christmas!  Christian won a train track to go around our Christmas tree and Lindalee got a children's nativity set.  With no surprise, "Baby" Jesus is definitely her favorite. 

Missing the rest of our family on the West coast, we were excited to be able to have a little webcam date with them all.  Usually, when we tell Christian we are going to webcam with the cousins, he starts bouncing off the wall with excitement.  This time, he was a little upset.  He asked why Grandma and Grandad where with them for Thanksgiving.  He wanted to know if they were going to spend the night at his cousins' house.  I sensed {quite} a bit of jealously.  He sure does love his Grandma and Grandad, and doesn't seem to enjoy sharing them, even with some of his favorite people!

No better way to end a great day with a bubble bath for the kids and foot soak for a tired Meme.  

Thankful for a day filled with family, food, and smiles.  Thankful for two beautiful, healthy children that make holidays magical.  Thankful for all of our blessings, too many to count!

Stories from school

November 26th, 2013

Both kids spent the morning at school.  Though it's only a couple hours, I miss them both so much.  It's rather ridiculous.

I went into Lindalee's classroom first.  I feel like the only reason she was excited to see me was so that she could tell me how she saw "brother" on the playground.  Her teachers love her.  They said that she has the best manners of any 18 month old they have ever met.  I'm glad to hear she says her "pleases and thank yous" when I am not around to remind her.  She enjoyed the craft activities, but the teachers said she seemed to enjoy cleaning up even more and didn't stop until the craft area was spotless.  I hope this trend continues!

Lindalee and I went into Christian's room.  He was in different clothes from when I dropped him off.  Another bloody nose.  The teachers said he handled it well.  They reported that the only time he got upset was when they went outside to play and he saw his "baby sister" in her classroom drinking out of a cup that "wasn't her's".  When I asked him about it, he started to cry and said he was very worried that she would get germs and get sick from drinking from another person's water.  I think he's just a little protective.  He can beat up Lindalee and put his dirty hands in her mouth, but no one else can mess with her.  Not even another kid's cup.

Thankful for their little school and stories like these that make the time away

Baby, it's cold outside!

November 24th, 2013

Sunday fun-day!  We got up and headed to Wellesley to meet up with the cousins for brunch.  Christian and Lindalee were excited beyond words.  Lucy and Riley joined us for the car-ride to the diner.  The conversations that took place were completely hilarious.  My face hurt from laughing.  Who knew we had a family full of young comedians?  I know I've said it a hundred times, but I'll say it again.  I love living close to family!

After we got home from our morning in the burbs, we decided it was too cold to go outside again.  Thankfully, our building has activities to keep us busy on freezing, cold, windy, arctic days like these.

"Dude time"

Ready for a little swim!

Little Fishy #1

Little Fishy #2

Both kids {and mommy} had a blast, as you can probably tell.

Thankful for a fun morning with cousins, big and small!

A perfect little Saturday

November 23rd, 2013

We always look forward to weekends with Daddy.  We miss him during the week when he has to work and we are out doing all kinds of fun things.  With too many activities to choose from, we decided to take a walk.  We made a stop at the public gardens and ended up staying and playing there for hours.  I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.  It was {picture} perfect!

Cuddles during their Saturday morning treat {a show}.

Lindalee enjoyed some duck riding and hot chocolate.  And yes, she insisted on wearing the tutu.

Serious pose!

Love my girl!

Lindalee is alive, don't worry.   

Christian jumped right into Professor World Band's performance.  Lindalee was a bit more apprehensive.

We went home for lunch and some rest.  Both of the kids napped.  Amazing.  Even more amazing, we woke them up because they were still sleeping and it was almost 5:00.  That has never, ever, ever happened.  It was glorious!  The best part was we could stay out late to see the lighting of the Christmas tree at Faneuil Hall.  It's the tallest Christmas tree in the Northeast at 80 feet tall with more than 30,000 lights.  

Christian made friends with a statue.

Getting ready for the lighting!

Lindalee had to get on Daddy's shoulders, too!

I have never seen Faneuil Hall so busy.  It was bustling and the air was filled with energy.  The lighting of the tree itself was rather anticlimactic, but I'm glad we were there to be a part of it.  It's officially Christmas time!  Yipee!

Thankful for a perfect day with my little family!