Christmas time

Santa Claus came as expected on Christmas morning and delivered lots and lots of presents for our wonderful children. Mary Grace got her Disney Kitchen and William got lots of fun toys too! Mommy and Daddy made each other very happy with their gifts and even Abby Shadow got lots of kitty cat treats.

We had a great time visiting with family and friends and the holiday season will be capped with a neighborhood kids New Years Eve party complete with a countdown to a mock-midnight at 8:00pm.

On this New Years eve, we would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year!

William's volume level

Lately, we've come to notice that William has just two volume settings. Loud and louder. It seems that when he cries, he tries to get the most sympathy by crying at the top of his lungs, and when he's excited, he screams at the top of his lungs! We've been trying to teach him to moderate his volume with "shhhhhh" and all he does is "shhhhhh" is back. Like a rude library patron; "shhh yourself!!"

I also remembered something that Mary Grace used to do when she was just learning to talk. I would ask her "what does Daddy say?", and she would respond in a low pitched "da da da da da". Then I'd ask "what does Mommy say?" and she would respond with a high pitched "da da da da da".

Alas, we've all been sick with a stomach bug for the last week, so there haven't been very many happy photos. Expect lots soon though.

Lastday, 3:00, the royal family.

Ask Mary Grace a question involving the word "yesterday" or "tomorrow" and the word she inevitably used is "lastday". Like "I went to the playground with Daddy lastday".

More interestingly, ask her a question involving a time and the answer is usually 3:00. Like "What time did you go to bed last night?" 3:00!

Finally, putting Mary Grace to bed tonight, we were chatting about the princess costume Daddy made for her and she wanted to make a prince costume for William. The she took it a step further and wanted a Queen costume for Mommy and a King custome for Daddy! So that will be our Sunday morning craft.

We all watched "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" tonight. Mary Grace was glued to the TV, soaking up detailed information about Santa's origins. How wonderful is it to see our kids loving the TV shows we loved as kids?!

Christmas Memory Game!

Last Christmas, when Mary Grace was 20 months old we used to play a concentration game with some themed Christmas coasters that have pictures of a church, santa, snowman, etc. We put those coasters away shortly after Christmas and forgot all about them.

Tonight they came out of their box and Mary Grace shouted "Christmas Memory Game!". Anne and Mamma couldn't figure out why she said that until I came into the room and heard the story and was reminded that Mary Grace and I did indeed used to use them as a memory game last Christmas.

We were quite surprised that she remembered them from last year! What a memory!