Alfredo

Alfredo, our elf, made it's appearance back at our house right after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure he's had the intended effect this year of promoting good behavior, but the girls have had fun each morning finding his newest resting place in our house. Here's his final resting place before heading back to the North Pole tonight....

And of course, I couldn't resist taking this picture.  Grace got slightly mad at me today for taking away her jingle bells when her and Claire were fighting over it.  In typical Grace fashion, she stormed to her room and minutes later a handwritten note flies over the balcony.  Then Daddy immediately posted it on the wall for Alfredo to see....now this had the intended effect and amazingly enough, I got some beautiful love notes after that :)

Gingerbread houses again

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get our gingerbread house done this year :) But Christmas Eve afternoon proved to be a great time to take on this project. We waited until Tyler napped and then the girls and I dug right in.

Santa

Tonight we were invited to one of our neighbor's homes because Santa was making a special visit there this evening.  The girls were just slightly excited when I finally told them earlier today about seeing Santa!  Grace was one of the first ones to get to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what is on her wish list.  She was bashful at first. 

But quickly got comfortable, especially after Santa told her that she was on the "nice" list.

Tyler, on the other hand, had no interest in Santa and preferred to play with the train table the entire time!

When it was Claire's turn to see Santa, she started crying and ran away.  It wasn't until Daddy promised to go with her that she agreed to be in the same room as Santa! 

It took a while for Claire to warm up to Santa.  He started to get in Claire's good graces when he let her be the first one to see his special reindeer bells......

Of course, Grace had to get a turn shaking them....

Just before Santa was ready to leave, some of the kids got one last picture with him. 

And Claire even gave him a hug!

Playdate #2

Emma and Christopher came over again today so their parents could work on getting packed for the move.  Last week, Tyler was more than happy to share his chairs with Christopher, but today was a different story in the beginning.  Fortunately, this little problem didn't last long and they were both very content in their own chair. 

Tyler, of course, had to stand on his chair for a while......

And then roll around.....

And then give me a big smile.....

Hoping that if he were behaving well, I'd let him skip his nap.....

Not a chance, so while Tyler napped, the rest of the kids hung out on the couch.

Though it wasn't until shortly after this that Christopher snuggled up with me and fell asleep too.

Morning entertainment

Our neighbor's cat appeared on our back porch early this morning and entertained Tyler for quite a while, going back and forth from our back door to our windsill.

Technology

If one of the girls brings out their DS or gets on the computer, Tyler always seems to be right there with them.

Sisters

If only they could always be this loving toward each other :)

Chairs

Our former neighbors and friends are moving to North Carolina next week.  Since this is their last weekend to pack, we offered to watch their kids this morning.  Tyler and Christopher are a month a part in age, so it's sad they won't get to grow up together.  I had a lot of fun watching them today though, as they were great at sharing, especially the Phineas and Ferb dolls and these chairs. 

Rudolph

Claire's preschool teacher had a class full of Rudolph's today.  And here's our liitle Rudolph enjoying Grace's gingerbread house :)

Gingerbread houses

Right after getting home from Tyler's Christmas party, I quickly left the kids with Grandma and hurried to Grace's school because I had volunteered to help with their gingerbread house activity today.  Not that they needed much help...... 

Christmas Party

Today was party day for both Claire and Tyler's preschool classes. Since I was one of the party moms for Tyler's class, I had to skip Claire's party this time.  I just love how these toddlers sit so well at preschool!  If only I could get Tyler to sit at our table like this :)

Christmas program

Claire's preschool class performed their Christmas program this morning. Just like Grace two years ago, Claire was extremely bashful during the entire program, keeping her head tilted down.  Here's her class after they were finished....

And here's my little angel...

Kitty

Trying to keep busy while Daddy is on call this weekend. Thankfully we have another weekend of beautiful weather. Grace is trying out basketball this winter, so everyone is playing with basketballs lately (or b-balls) as Tyler calls them.

Well, we were playing with the basketball until our neighbor's cat made an appearance in our yard.  A sweet, friendly kitten, but annoying at the same time because it is constantly trying to get in our house.  Tyler, however, is enamored with the cat and desperately trying to find it here. 

There she goes...

So Tyler is on the hunt all over our backyard for her now...

Hey kitty, kitty...

Finally we're back to playing and done chasing the cat.  Can you believe it's December 3 and Grace is in short sleeves, shorts and wearing her crocs!