Colin and the Bubbles!

I had some bowls soaking in the sink before washing and the phone rang. Kids know they have free reign when the phone rings, don't they. I can remember at least a few sneaky things happening while I was on the phone.

At least he was cute and somewhat clean afterwards, right? Gosh he was having so much fun, I just let him go at it for about a half hour. Just to let you know, he's 10x worse in the bathtub! Hailey joined in on the fun later on.

Getting Caught Up

So apparently I'll be blogging quarterly...lol. Oh well, at least I'm trying. I need to be better about blogging the day-to-day stuff, because if I always wait for monumental events, nothing will ever get written! So here are a few random happenings/ pictures that will let you see how we're doing!

I've been trying to take more pictures of Colin so he doesn't feel ousted being the poor 3rd child that he is. He is 2.5 years old now and is Mr.Personality. It does help that he talks really, really well, so we get to hear many of his toddler thoughts, which is often hilarious. He thinks the space between the railings are parking spaces. It's not uncommon for us to have a car in each and every slot, all along the banister. Funny kid.

Colin has a few items that are very precious to him. One is his blanket with the small blue zoo animals on it. He calls it his "elephant blankie." The other is the stuffed dog with the musical pull cord. Both doggie and the elephant blankie are necessary items when he's tired or about to go to sleep.

Being the only kid at home a couple days a week, when Hailey is in preschool enables us to get some one-on-one time. Here we opted to play in the snow! Boy did we get a ton of snow this year...actually, it just stopped snowing about a week ago. Thank heavens, I'm ready for warmer temps!

I Can't Dance

Adrian is learning a video editing program to help me with my website. He used this fun footage of the kids to assist in the process. What do you think?

Enjoying our Days Off!

Adrian's been able to be home several days this past week, so with the kids off school, we've done some fun stuff!

We went to the zoo! I know, some might think we're crazy but the zoo during the off season is so fun. The animals are out and running around and there are no crowds- perfect! Yes, it was cold, but we bundled up and had a great time.

We also braved the snow to go sledding! We found a nice little hill at a nearby park and spent about 40 minutes sliding down on the discs. Even Colin enjoyed it and he normally doesn't even last 10 minutes in the snow. Although he did want to go down the slide at the park and was a bit disappointed when it just didn't work. :)

Christmas 2010

A couple days before Christmas we decorated Gingerbread men. So fun! The kids went a little crazy, like always. Ok, so us adults may have gone a bit crazy too. There were a few anatomically correct gingerbread people on the tray afterwards that I had NOTHING to do with. LOL.

 We had a fun, relaxing Christmas this year! We had a few family members over during the day, but we stayed put, played with new toys, took naps and ate too much food. It really was a nice day- too bad we can't do that more often!  

Here are the kids before ripping into their stockings.

The kids enjoyed their gifts. Big winners for Thomas were all his new books and his iPod shuffle. Now he can listen to the Beatles on repeat all day long without driving us crazy. Wait! He sings while listening and it's totally hilarious listening to his words, so he still does drive us crazy.

Hailey got a cute little bear necklace from my mom that was a big winner! She also got two new Tinker dolls and the Little Mermaid that she loves!

Colin loved his chap stick the most. Never mind all the COOL toys and blocks he got, it's all about the new chap stick.

We had a yummy Christmas breakfast. I made cinnamon rolls from scratch, sticky buns and a delicious breakfast casserole. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

Here Colin is showing his cousins how to not "spill the beans." What a fun game for little ones!

Lots of Snow!

Much like the past several years, we've seen a good share of snow already! Here are a few cute pics of the kids playing in it, shoveling {we totally put them to work!} and even building their own snow men!

Check out our backyard! Wow! It serves the kids right when they leave their toys out, right?! Unburying the bike was sure fun! The thing right in front is their picnic table. They probably won't need that for a while!

Birthdays!

I'm trying to catch up with everything that happened in 2010 before I move on to 2011! Bear with me...

Birthdays!

In early September, Thomas turned 7! We celebrated by having tons of friends over for a Transformers party! They painted Transformer costumes, had a relay race with Adrian and ate cake. What could be better?!

Less than a month later, Colin turned 2! We didn't have a giant party, but trust me, he didn't notice. We had a fun time opening presents with family. I'd say he finally understood the whole "blowing out the candles" thing this year, huh? Cutie!

Oh yeah, and I turned 30. Let's not talk about that though.

First Day of School!

I know we're half-way through the school years. Oh well. At any rate, Thomas started 1st grade this year at Foxboro Elementary. It was a bit of an adjustment going from a half-day to a whole day, but after a week, he was OK with it. I look forward to the time when we can start school without tears! Ah well, at least I know he enjoys staying home with me. He's doing great now! He is a fantastic reader and it took his teacher all of 10 seconds to realize that. Now he gets to be pulled out of class 3 times a week to go read with a group of kids who are also beyond their grade level. We are so proud of him!

Hailey also got to start pre-school this year! Granted the school is just next door to us, but hey, it counts! She absolutely loves it. She's doing well learning her letters and numbers and writing her name. She'll go to 1 more year of preschool next year, before starting Kindergarten in 2012.

Trips to Yellowstone & California

During the summer, we took 2 family vacations, one to California to visit family, the other to Yellowstone.

California was fun, as always! We visited Adrian's family in San Jose- saw the beach and that cool amusement park in Gilroy again. Adrian and I were able to drive south for a day to enjoy a little alone time! Heavens that was wonderful! It had been 6 years since we'd been away from the kids overnight- long overdue! We went to Avila Beach and it was beautiful! {Good food too!}

We drove to Auburn to visit my family too! My mom and Michael lived in a cute house by this amazing lake, so we spent a lot of time there. We saw my sisters, Jenn, Julie & Carol and their cute kids too.

We took a trip with just our family to Yellowstone and had an absolute blast! We didn't care for the place we stayed in, but seeing the park was just incredible. They kids did so well with all the driving, but that's not hard to understand being as we saw tons of wildlife during those drives! We saw antelope, deer, a bear, a giant herd of buffalo and more. It was a fun, exciting trip!