Pre and Post Christmas Fun

I was so hoping to catch up on Christmas I forgot that I had some things I wanted to post about that we did before Christmas!  Here they are:

We went to Chick-fil-a where Papa was "working" one Saturday.  He's helping Santa by being Santa for a few hours one day and we thought it would be great to get the kids pictures with Santa (aka their Papa).  We did not realize that almost 2 year olds will not sit on Santa's lap even if it is their Papa!  We tried to put them on Papa's lap and they both said "no" and were just crying...

So Geoff and I had to jump in the picture too :)

We sat and ate lunch just feet from Santa where they smiled and waved.

After lunch Nana tried to put Riley on Santa's lap again, thinking she had warmed up to him...

Riley just wasn't having it!

We had a great time getting together for Christmas with Grammy's side of the family!  There are lots of kids to play with and this year was so fun because Quinn and Riley were loving all the big kids to run around with!

They loved their new baby cousin, Cora, too!

Christmas poppers!

My handsome boy :)

My pretty little girl :)

And getting a good picture of me with both my children...

that's not happening either!

Nana gave Riley this sweet pink hat that she will only keep on for about 30 seconds!

Documenting Riley's latest injury, a fall hitting the corner of the coffee table.

The funniest part was that the corner guard, to protect her from such falls, was in her hand when she fell.

They like to get on mommy and daddy's back and I caught Riley trying to get on Quinn the same way.

He put up with her for about 30 seconds and then was yelling for me to get her off!

We ventured out to the Lights Before Christmas at the Zoo with some friends.  This was the first time we have been and we had a great time.  Aunt Jana was in town that night and came with us.  It was cold but so very fun!

Kids all bundled up!

Towards the end we let them get out and walk, Quinn and Jace are holding hands!

The next morning Riley went to spend some time with Aunt Jana and Uncle Joe-Joe at their house before Christmas.  She had a blast spending some special time with her Aunt and Uncle, and Quinn enjoyed getting all of mommy and daddy to himself for a few days!

After Christmas we had cousin Ford over for a little spend the night party!  They kids had a great time playing with him.

Riley is giving him one big hug!

Quinn liked laying on the fun pillow Ford brought!

The next morning...watching cartoons in our bed!

Ford went to lay at the bottom of the bed and Riley and Quinn followed!

I love how much they look up to their big cousins :)

After daddy made a great pancake breakfast I had to go to a dentist appointment.  Geoff was going to run an errand with all three kids.  When they finished the errand he decided to take them all to Rush's for ice cream, at 10:30 in the morning, in December!  The girl at the counter looked at him a little funny when he ordered ice cream.  He said, "It's dad's morning out and dad gets to do what dad wants to do!"  The kids had a great time and still managed to eat some lunch later! 

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas!  The kids are such a fun age this year, they loved opening presents!  They didn't always care what was inside but they definitely had a blast unwrapping all the gifts they could, we joked we could have just wrapped empty boxes and they would have been happy!  We also enjoyed helping the kids learn the true meaning of Christmas and celebrating Christ's birth.  They loved manger scenes and looking at baby Jesus.  At Grammy and Pop's house they would go tell baby Jesus "night night" before bed each night.  We also made a birthday cake for Jesus that we got to have after breakfast Christmas morning.  Yum!

We started our celebrations the day before Christmas eve with my family at Nana and Papa's house.  The kids all had a great time playing together, and of course loved opening their presents!

Riley's new baby doll, with a stroller to push her around in :)

Quinn needed something to push too...a shopping cart :)

So here they are "helping" their cousins open their gifts!

My sister and I got all the kids to make a plate with their hand prints for Nana!

On Christmas Eve Uncle Pete came to town and we went to the Christmas Eve service at Grammy and Pop's church.  My parent's came by and we tried to take some cute pictures before we left.

We told them to kiss and this is what we got :)

Looking at Grammy's tree!

Family Picture 2010

Grammy and Pop

Nana and Papa

At church we saw our friends and got a picture with both our families!

(I love that their oldest, Kiran, is standing with me)

  

Christmas morning, in their new pj's!

Riley loves her daddy!

Grammy and Pop got Quinn a tool bench!

They got Riley a kitchen!

Nana and Papa came over for breakfast Christmas morning

Uncle Pete spoiled these kids! 

He had a different wrapping paper for each of them and Quinn figured out what "his" paper looked like and just kept opening them as fast as he could.  He really didn't stop to see what was inside but he was so sad when he was out of boxes.  It was so cute and funny!

On Christmas night it started snowing, but was already dark out. So daddy went and collected snow and brought it inside for the kids to play with!  They thought it was so fun!

The morning after Christmas we played in the snow.  Quinn immediately loved it!

Riley only agreed to get on the sled if she could be in my lap.

When we tried to put her down to play in the snow, this is what we got :(

So Riley had mommy or daddy hold her and she was just fine :)

And this boy, he loved the snow!

He really couldn't do much because of the mittens on his hands but he loved being out in the snow,

so much that we had to bribe him to get him to come inside :)

22 Months

I am such a very bad blogger right now!  I can't believe it is already 2011!  Time is really flying that's for sure.  I am going to attempt to get caught up on here.  I have tons of cute pictures from our Christmas and New Years that I want to post so here goes catching up...

Quinn and Riley are growing up so much!  They turned 22 months old the day after Christmas.  We are having so much fun at this age with all that they are learning and understanding.  These pictures are from before Christmas.  I will do the Christmas post soon :)

They will pretend to go "night night" and they want to be covered with a blanket.

This was so cute when they laid down in the pack and play together to go "night night".

They also love to make tents, a sheet over anything and they are in heaven!

We made our own homemade play dough and they have enjoyed playing with it.

Of course we didn't have an actual "tools" to play with but measuring spoons and plastic knives work.

 

The loved the Christmas tree and helping daddy give it water.

We got them bear ornaments this year that they loved putting them on the tree.

They would play with the bears and then give them kisses,

 and put them on the tree when it was time to go to bed!  So cute!

Geoff squished them on the train together and we were amazed that they both fit!

They have been busy helping mommy do the laundry!

I think Riley looks like such a little girl in this picture and I am reminded how fast they are growing up and how quickly their second birthday is approaching!

Thanksgiving Trip

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Geoff's grandfather and dad's side of the family in New Jersey.  Well, technically we spent Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania at Geoff's cousin's house but we actually stayed at his Grandfather's in New Jersey.  We were only there from Wed.-Fri. so it was a busy few days.  We had a direct flight there so the travel time was great and with the kids under 2,  they got to fly for free...on our laps. They did great and on the way back the plane was only half full so they actually got to sit in seats, which was good for everyone!

Geoff's grandfather, turned 90 this year, and was a great host to put up with us and the kids!

Uncle Pete flew in as well and the kids loved seeing him!

Grammy and Pop brought their dog (they drove up) and Quinn loved walking his imaginary dog around on the leash.  We asked him what his dog's name was and he answered "BOO".

It was super cold but they still loved getting outside!

Thanksgiving day it even snowed a little, didn't stick but it was pretty!

Grammy and Riley getting ready for dinner!

My two handsome men!

Quinn loved the older cousins!

Riley was the only girl but she held her own!

Pop and his brother, John!

Daddy and his little reindeer :)

Geoff's cousin Jenn who hosted us all and her mom, Aunt Heloise.

They were both great chefs and made quite a feast!

Mommy's boy :)

Too many cooks in the kitchen? 

Uncle Pete with Riley in armor, she's defending herself from all the boys!

Grammy, Quinn, Geoff, Pop Pop, Brenna, Riley, Pop

Family picture minus Uncle Pete whose taking the picture :)

Riley on the airplane in her own seat!

Quinn flying home!

They look so grown up in their own seats.

We had a great time and have so much amazing family to be Thankful for!

One cute story from the trip was that Geoff's grandfather has a large kitchen window with a wide sill that the kids could stand and sit in and look out the window.  The sill was even big enough that we put the kids seats there and that's where they ate.  The loved that window, and got their hands, mouth, nose prints all over it.  During one meal they were eating strawberries and got strawberry handprints all over the window.  We left on Friday and on Saturday Geoff's mom was cleaning all those prints off the window.  Geoff's grandfather commented, "you're wiping away my special momentos."  Love that he thought that!