Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas, and the three gifts turned out great!  Here are the kids “trapped” in their rooms so there would be no peeking, another one of our family traditions.  The rule was no waking up Mom and Dad until the sun is up.  I heard excited voices around 6:00 am, but didn’t get the wake up call until 6:30.

Being Hannah

Hannah took all of these pictures this afternoon and we made this slideshow together:

Being Hannah

Hannah Turns 3

I started this post on Hannah’s birthday, November 16, and never posted it until today:

I know there has been some debate about this, but as her mother I can say with confidence, “Happy Third Birthday Hannah!” Hannah is so tall, articulate and social that sometimes it seems like she should be turning four today, but our little Hannah was born in North Carolina about halfway through Rob’s last year of law school. It seems like we have known her forever though.

Hunter and Emma woke up early this morning to decorate the house as a surprise for her and when she woke up and saw it… she cried. She wanted to be the one to decorate. She eventually got over it and realized there was still a lot to help with. One of the things Hannah says most is “I do it my-sef.” She wants to do things on her own whenever possible. She is a sparkly girl and usually happy and sunny. She loves her “own milk” as it is known in our house. She outgrew her lactose intolerance long ago, but still will only drink soy milk. If she mistakenly picks up someone else’s cup of regular milk, she instantly makes the yucky face. That’s our girl, so unique!

She loves everything princess and sings along to all of the princess and Barbie movies and songs. Her favorite colors are pink and purple and she keeps telling me she needs more princesses in her bedroom. She is sharing a room with Emma, so we still have some compromising to do on that request. She loves to play and keeps me busy playing in her imaginary world. She is a super little sister and a great big sister too. We love you Hannah!!!

Preschool Friends

Ryan, Hannah, Krista, Lindsey, Joey

Hannah has preschool every Tuesday morning. The mothers of the kids participating teach the lessons, and it was my turn yesterday. Because it was Veterans Day, we talked about our country. We had a brief talk about why it’s great to live in a free country and did this fun flag craft. This group is still pretty young, so there isn’t a strong structure to the class, but we played freeze dance to some patriotic songs, played outside some of those classic kids games like Duck duck goose and London Bridges, marched around with the flags they made and had plenty of play time. We talked about the different colors on the flag as they ate their snack of jello (red), banana (white), and sprinkles (blue). This is a fun group and I always enjoy teaching them!

Super Readers To The Rescue!

Erica tipped me off that Super Why is Owen’s favorite TV show and I should check it out. My kids love it! Even Hunter and Emma don’t mind watching it. I think they like to see how excited the little girls get. Hannah and Sabrina both think it’s the best show ever. Hannah answers back when the characters ask questions, they both dance along, and Sabrina will bring me the remote and say, “Wuh-Why.” The kids have assigned themselves characters, so in our house Hunter is Super Why, Emma is Wonder Red, Sabrina is Alpha Pig, and Hannah is Princess Presto. The show starts with a common childhood problem like: Wyatt’s baby sister won’t stop crying. Then the kids all get together and go into a fairy tale to see how they can solve the problem. For example with the crying problem they go into Jack & The Beanstalk to see how Jack stops the giant from being so noisy. It’s a blessing and curse having TiVo, because you can save several episodes and play them over and over. I’m not sure what it says about my mothering, but we have had a couple of Super Why marathons where the girls watch it several times a day.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v14y8EQ8TWk&NR=1

Office Party

Hunter (Darth Vader), Sabrina (Cheerleader), Rob (Quarterback), Hannah (Sleeping Beauty), Emma (Vampire)

Halloween just wouldn’t be the same without some sort of costume trouble. Hannah’s crown was sitting on the stairs and as I was running down them calling out, “Let’s Go!”, I accidentally stepped on it and broke it. I hugged her and said, “I’m so sorry sweetie.” She was really good about it answering calmly but sadly, “it’s ok Mommy.” I cut some pink ribbon to tie in her hair and we ran out the door.

Rob’s office party was a lot of fun. It was the first time the kids had actually been inside to see Daddy’s office and that was what they were most excited about. We went trick or treating down the hallways, ate a yummy dinner, played games, and watched part of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”The kids were all very cute in their costumes and got lots of compliments. We are still waiting for word on the status of the scheduled Trunk or Treat for tonight. Rumor says it may be canceled due to the dirty air. The atmosphere would be great though. The moon glows an orange-red color that would be perfect for the festivities. 🙂