Christmas Party

Saturday we went to E's Christmas party at work. The boys had a very good time. They both sat on Santa's lap and received a gift. They listened to Mrs. Claus read stories and there was a giant bouncy castle that S loved. On a non-Christmas sidenote, O's first tooth came through a couple of days ago and his second is almost through. He's been a little bit cranky, but not too much. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!

Yesterday I was in the kitchen making 6 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange my bible study was having, when the phone rang. It was E and he sounded a little nervous. He had just been to a meeting about the Christmas party at work and he had told everyone I would make cookies for it. I asked him how many and he said I could make as many as I wanted. (Translation: They need a lot, but I don't want to ask my wife to make a lot because she already made 12 dozen last weekend.) Okay, fine, I'll do it, I said. Then he takes a deep breath and says so-and-so gave me a gift and I don't know what to do about it. Would you mind making more cookies to give away to everyone in my office? So, because I love my husband so much I have made 25 dozen cookies in the last two days. That's 300 cookies. The good news is that I never want to see another cookie again, so maybe there will be some weight loss as a bonus. I hope everyone is having a great start to their holiday and you aren't spending the whole time baking.

Birthday Party

S and O went to a birthday party on Saturday for one of S's friends that is turning two. I think they both had fun. S is very social. He loves being with other kids and there was cake! O had a great time exploring a new house. It has become impossible to take picture of O and S looking at the camera at the same time. He was so happy there were party hats.
Breakdancing!
Their favorite place to play: under the kitchen table.

St. Nikolaus

Last week we went to a neighbor's house so the boys could see St. Nikolaus. He is sort of the German Santa Claus. Another man comes with him, who is dressed in dark colors, that whips the bad children. We were a little worried S would be scared, but he had a great time. Especially when St. Nikolaus passed out bags of chocolate. (He's just like his Mama.)
St. Nikolaus is telling S not to hit O any more.
My three guys.

That Time of Year

Walking downtown
All bundled up. It's cold here!
Just waking up.

I was hoping to post something new every couple of days, but I don't think this is the time of year for that to happen. I've been feeling completely frazzled, going to parties, wrapping gifts, decorating the house and tree, and filling out Christmas cards. And then I reminded myself how much I love this time of year and I should be thankful that I have friends and family to share all of these things with. And I hope every day I can stop for a few minutes and remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

November 29

Welcome to our blog. I was having so much trouble keeping up with the website, that E suggested I try blogging, so here goes. We had a good time in London, although we were all exhausted by the time we arrived home. We were planning a trip to Paris for this spring, but E and I decided we couldn't handle going through the pain and suffering of traveling by plane with two wild monkeys. Bless the security man at Heathrow that let us cut in front of the other passengers because we had two crying kids with us. Anyway, we were able to see most of the major sites, The Tower of London, The Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, etc. I am a little ashamed to say that the most fun I had was at Harrod's. It was crazy seeing how expensive some things were, but I was completely happy leaving with my $12.00 tin of Earl Grey.
We were bundled up most of the time.
S ran through most of the National Science Museum.

On a boat ride.
The boys slept through our tour of the tower.
At the zoo.
In front of Buckingham Palace.
Me and Big Ben.