I ♥ the Snuggie

Although I did not ask for a Snuggie, Santa thought I might enjoy it. And turns out, Santa knows best. Not only do I like it..so does someone else in the house. Although..I do wish it was more like a poncho..maybe with a hood.

The stockings were hung...

This Christmas was a wonderful. We had so much fun just enjoying each other as a family. And it was really Lillys first Christmas that she would enjoy. We hung our homemade Auntie stockings by the chimney with care, put out our cookies and milk and even sprinkled our reindeer food on the lawn. We were READY! Santa seemed to be more prepared this year. He had his elves help with wrapping in advance. Lillians big surprise that was left out was her huge Tigger and Pooh stuffed animals, Ryans was an electric drum set. As soon as they walked in to the playroom where the tree was their eyes just lit up. Ryan immediately ran over and started playing the
drums, and Lil went right up to Pooh and started talking to him. It was great!!

I think Ryans favorite was, of course, all of his Legos that Santa brought. And oddly enough Lils were the Tigger and Pooh tubby toys Santa had brought, along with the bag that her baby's accessories came in. Oh! She also really loves the magnets that came with her Pooh book. Although you are supposed to put the magnets in the magnetized book, she just puts them in her "pocket book" and carries them around. A great day had by all.

Ryan vs. the Donut

Dan and Ryan had been eyeballing these extra large donuts for a while now at Dunkin Donuts. Well, Dan finally came home with one for Ryan. It was literally about the size of Ryans head. After all the talk about it, and discussing, and the excitement. Ryan only ended up eating about one quarter of it. Probably better that way, I guess.

The Mysterious Mustached Man

On Saturday morning Ryan was in the Christmas mood and decided to make us all presents. We each got our very own homemade Lego Christmas present. Ry also went in his room, wrapped them in paper, and wrote out tags and put them on. Well, the anticipation got to him, and we had to open them right there and then. I got a Lego dog, Lil got a Lego penguin and Dan got a Lego spaceship. It was adorable, and will forever be a Christmas memory for me. Well, shortly after that Ryan went in his room. He came out with a little slip of brown paper taped to his mouth..and proceeded (in a manly voice) to say, "Good Evening Everyone!" I was DYING laughing and couldn't miss a photo op! :)

The Perfectly Imperfect Tree

Every year we have all sorts of plans to go and pick out our own tree and cut it down ourselves. We actually have not been able to get to cut our own yet. Every year we go to a little side of the road tree place, and Dan spends about a half hour picking up trees and holding them up so I can hem and huh at them. I walk around them, poke at them, pull the branches down..they have to be just so. I like the triangle trees..not fat trees, not tall skinny trees, they have to be just right. This year, we felt as though Ryan was old enough to have some input. Although I wasn't ready to relinquish all the picking privledges, Ryan really did pick a nice tree. It is a little flat on one side, and the branches are falling on the other side, but it is perfect for us. Perfect, because Ryan picked it. Next it was time to decorate the tree. When the boxes came out of the basement, both the kids faces lit up. They each picked out their favorite ornament to hang on the tree. Although Lillians favorite had to be moved up to where she couldn't reach it. Lils favorite ornament is my Winnie the Pooh one from 1979. She saw it, and just fell instantly in love! Ryan had two favorite ornaments. Her first favorite is, of course, the pickle. He knows the pickle ornament is special, but I am not sure he knows why. I think this year we may have to start playing the pickle game at home. And his other favorite ornament would be the two racoons talking on Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup can phones. On top of our Christmas tree sits our little angel that Nanny Butler had given to Mom back in the day. Ryan couldn't wait to see it up there! Up next? Our Gingerbread house!

Must be Santa!

This year we decided to take the kids to the Union Hall Kids Christmas party. We had been told by a couple of people that we needed to get there early. Needless to say we did not get there early enough. We got there about ten minutes before the party started..we walked in and saw TONS of people waiting in line..two different lines. We got our name tags, and were unsure of what to do next. So we hung out for a few minutes, and just waited. Once the doors opened it was like the doors opened into a childrens winter wonderland!! It was beautiful!! There were tables with Christmasy table clothes, tons of Christmas balloons, tables filled with snacks, a screen on the wall playing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and most of all...SANTA! :) We hung out for a little bit, had some snacks and drink..then decided to wait in line to see Santa. Lillian saw Pooh walking around and got super excited!! Once Lillian got close to him though, it was another story. She clung on tight to whoever was holding her and repeatedly said, "no pooh, pooh, pooh!" After standing in line for about 40 minutes we finally got to see the "big guy". After I warned Mrs. Claus and her elves that "this one might be a little tough" I carefully moved to the side to take pictures while Daddy went up with Ry and Lil to sit on Santas lap. You can all see how it turned out from the picture above. Needless to say, it did not go well. Ryan did get to tell Santa all about the Lego set that he wanted though..so that was good. We will be going next year to the party, and see if we can get a better picture.

Welcome, Stuart!!!

We have recently added a new addition family. Stuart has come to live in the Freeman household for the holiday season. Stuart is our new Elf on the Shelf. Santa drops Stuart off at the beginning of each Holiday season. He will sit and watch Ryan and Lillian all day, and then when they go to bed, he flies off to the North Pole to report on them to Santa. Each night Stuart, upon his return, will find a new hiding place to sit and watch. So it becomes a game in the morning, looking for Stuart. If any child touches Stuart he loses all his power, and will not be able to report to Santa. SO. Ryan is a little freaked out, and lot curious about Stuart. He thought it was very cool that he was in a new spot this morning. We will see how it goes!! Here is a little picture of Stuart in his first hiding spot.

Fun with Bugles

We have come to love Bugles in our house. Ryan has discovered all the fun things that Bugles can do. He loves to stick them on his tongue, make them into finger nails. Just recently Lillian has also discovered the fun things that Bugles can do!! Here are just some cute pics with our beloved Bugles.

The Village

So because we missed a lot of Christmas celebrations last year, due to the power outages, we have broken into the Christmas decorations early this year. Everything is officially up except the tree. The most exciting part to go up for the kids, was the village. Ryan gets to pick one little piece to add to it every year and Lillians face when she saw it is just amazing. We are all too excited to get our Christmas trees up soon!! I am pretty sure the kids will have theirs up by next weekend..but our big one will have to wait!

Is there such a thing??

As snuggling too much? I think Lilly sometimes thinks so. Ryan James just loves his sister so much, but sometimes it proves to be too much. How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful kids?

These boots are made for walking..

Lillian is a girlie girl. She carries a pocket book, she dresses up, she wears fairy wings to birthday parties..and above all..she LOVES shoes. These are Lil's new boots we just got. When I pulled them out of the bag, her face lit up like she was about to get a big lollipop. Her smile went from ear to ear, and didn't disappear until the boots came off. We just needed to post them so you could all see her new favorite pair of shoes!

It's Tubby Time!

Ok, so I am posting this for right now, until I can find the other picture that I am looking for. I am hoping it is on my other computer. I will finish the post when I can..but for now, enjoy the picture of Lillian in the tubby!! ♥

Just like Nanny..

When Grampy's house was cleaned out recently we all wanted to have something to remember Nanny and Grampy by. I decided to take a very small, goldish color carousel horse music box for Lillian, so that she would have a piece. This is something that I always remembered about Nanny. She loved the carousel and never passed up a chance to get on one. I can picture her little legs kicking out to the sides as she went up and down on the horses. (All too vivid from our Disney World video.) Well, Lil loved listening to that music box every time she was on her changing table. So when no one claimed this carousel (in the picture) I scooped it up for her. We have not yet found the perfect spot for it, so for right now it sits on her toy box in her bedroom. Lillian just adores it! She would play with it for hours if you let her. I have a hard time letting her really PLAY with it though, because this was always the one piece that we could not touch and play with. Eventually we will find the perfect spot for it, and eventually Lillian will learn where the beautiful carousel came from..

Grampy

As most of you know, Grampy Butler is not doing well. This is the last time I have seen Gramp. He was in a silly mood this day. Trying to fix Ryans faux tie on his shirt. Now a days he is spending his days at the Elliot Hospital. He is not doing wonderfully, but he's holding up. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Two Beautiful Brides!

October...ahhh..October...A gorgeous month to get married! We had two weddings in October this year. And the were both just beautiful, and perfect for each bride. The first was my friend Julias wedding. She is a friend that I went to high school with, but didn't really know in high school. She is now a wonderful friend. And her wedding was just perfect!

The next wedding that we attended was my good friend Mandy. Mandy was introduced to me a couple years ago and quickly became a fabulous friend! She had a big, beautiful wedding! Again, her wedding was just perfect!!

Pumpkin Carving

Ok, I know this is a little out of order..but here it is..our first pumpkin carving of the season. We had the town pumpkin lighting on a Friday night before Halloween. Well, we hadn't even carved our pumpkin yet!! So quickly we carved out the face, Lilly played in the pumpkin "guts" and Ry mostly just liked the finished product. At the Pumpkin Lighting we got Ryans first face painting, a pumpkin on his cheek. He loved it! Lots of fun!

Mmm...Pizza

As most of you all know, Dan is pretty great at cooking.

Well, he is always trying to help the kids learn about cooking. Every Friday night, Ryan gets to choose what they will make for dinner. The all time favorite it Dans special corn dog reciepe. But a lot of times, they just make pizzas. Although Ry is a pro now, this was Lillys first time making her own pizza. She didn't really fully understand the concept of making it, then waiting for it to cook. She was pretty upset for a while, but the end result...Yummy Pizza!

Fall Fun

Unlike Ryan at this age, Lillian LOVES the tractor. The first thing she does when she sees the garage door open is run over and climb up into the big yellow seat. So when Daddy actually takes the tractor out..OH BOY! Now a days, Ryan loves the tractor. But they each have their seats. Lil sits with Daddy on the seat, and Ry likes to sit in the trailer behind Daddy and Lillian. Well recently, Lilly decided she wanted to join Ry in the trailer. They had a BALL! Ryan loved holding up Lil, and feeling like a helpful big brother. And with every bump Lil's smile got bigger and bigger. We will all be sad to put the tractor away for the season.

Halloween 2009

I am Back! Trying to catch up on the blog. I have been slacking, since the start of school I guess. We have all been super busy, and the blog has been suffering. Ok, so here it goes, trying to catch up. Halloween. Was GREAT! Ryan is now at the age that he LOVED it, and we were able to do more houses. And Lil? Well she got the hang of it pretty quickly, once she realized that people were giving out candy. We eventually got the wagon and pulled them along, made it much faster. As you can see by the pictures, Ryan was a Transformer (Bumblebee in fact) and Lillian was a kitty cat. Lil even learned what a kitty says. A great Halloween!!