Time with Grandma Marcia

We were so lucky to spend time in December with my mom...aka Grandma Marcia. She visited a few times to the 'rillo, and once the kids were out of school...we got a little OC time as well.


Making Gingerbreadmen




Cassidy in her new "christmas dress" playing w/Daisy




These are just a few of the GREAT memories we've made!

Disney On Ice World Of Fantasy

How lucky we are!!! Grandma Mona and I had been wanting to take the kids to Disney on Ice for awhile. We talked and talked about it...but never booked it. Finally...we booked it. Cassidy was VERY excited to go...Kaden was so so...next time it will just be the girls! Although the stories were a bit hard to follow if your not a Disney "officianado", Cassidy LOVED it. She swayed in her seat and danced in the aisle.

Friends and Gingerbread Houses

We had a great time with a few neighbor friends over for a quick holiday soiree! Now the main event was decorating gingerbread houses...but Grandma Marcia was in town...so the kids had their faces painted as well.

Grandma Marcia and I put all the houses together ahead of time...too many little ones not to. Each family brought different bags of candy for decorating...and there you have it...a party.

Introducing Tiggley Wiggley

Now the Elf on the Shelf seems to have caught on with many families we know and is such a cute tradition. This was our 3rd Christmas with Tiggley...and he comes to our home each year after Thanksgiving to be Santa's helper. He watches the children and reports back to Santa each night, letting him know whether they were naughty or nice. The next day he appears (in a new spot of course), and the children rush to find him each morning.

Kaden had a special love for our Elf this year and really wanted an Elf costume...so he could be just like Tiggley Wiggley. I mentioned it to my Mom...and wha-lah...a few days later the most adorable Elf costume accompanied her to our house!!! Thanks Mom for endulging him! Honestly...I think he actually looks a lot like him...don't you?

December Highlights

Alright already...it's January 10th..which means it is time for procrastinators to start blogging about December. So, I had every intention of getting all the lights up, tree up, decorations out, christmas spirit in check, all for once we got home from Kauai. Now most of it got up and out pretty quickly...but for the entire month I felt a bit behind schedule. Being gone for Thanksgiving was AMAZING and I wouldn't trade it...but I did miss having that weekend to "get Christmas out". As soon as we got home...I got the house decorated and it seemed like events and things to do were fast approaching.



Cassidy's preschool had a nice performance that she was all dolled up and excited for. All except for right as we drove up...her oh so sweet big brother...told her she was going to cry...because she wasn't with Mommy. Urrgh! Matty and I almost lost it on him... she ended up bawling sitting on the floor in the front row...So sad! I had to capture the moment...even though I was annoyed! Glad I did...cause it is pretty cute (atleast to me now)! In her defense, there were an awful lot of people in a small space that she didn't recognize. Hopefully this won't be a habit at all group performances...we'll have to wait and see!

It's good to be back...

Hello! Happy 2010. I've been absent for awhile...Christmas got the best of me and blogging got the rest of me...(that was nothing b/c I haven't blogged since coming home from Kauai). Not to say we haven't been having a blast...because December kept us BUSY!!! But...in mostly good ways.

Now I have some serious picture downloading to do and I will catch you up on all our favorite December memories. I was mostly excited to enjoy moments/days with the kiddos and watch the magic of Christmas do the rest. I thought Cassidy's reaction to Christmas would be my favorite (it was good), but I was pleasantly surprised but the awww that Kaden had towards the entire season. More to come on that...I will be using my camera and back tracking my favorite parts of December...but just in January.

More Pics from Kauai 2009

Kaden and Cassidy in Poipu


Awesome park near Lydgate Beach


Cassidy on waterslide at The Waipouli


Kaden was a sliding machine. He created a game where I gave him scores for his slide and he would only accept 10's so he could count by tens and reach 100!


Kaden at "The Spouting Horn"...it took about 40 tries to get him to look at the camera at the same time it was spouting up. He didn't want to miss it!