Gymnast of the Month

In case somehow you haven't seen this yet allow me to brag about my amazing little girl. She received this honor yesterday! Out of all of the kids (of all ages) at Alia's gym, she is the Gymnast of the Month. I couldn't be more proud if I tried!

Alia's Gymnastics

As most of you know, Alia takes gymnastics as well as dance classes. She is really loving the new gym that we go to. Her coach is great and Alia looks forward to going each week. She is the youngest one in her class ... so keep that in mind when you watch this video :-) Here is a small little sample of what they do each week. I was able to capture their warm-up and 1st obstacle course. They also do trampoline, bars, rings, balance beam and another obstacle course that has a rope that they swing on! 

Santa Pics 2012

The kids (especially Alia) were so excited to visit Santa this year. They both practiced what they were going to tell him several times. Max was either so excited or so nervous that the second we sat him down on Santa's lap he shouted out "CARS AND TRUCKS!" before Santa even had time to ask him anything! Alia informed Santa that she would like to have "Minnie's Big Beautiful Bow-tique". I have received word from the north pole (and amazon.com) that both kids were very good this year and should have a wonderful Christmas morning :-)

waiting to see Santa

Thanksgiving - Video

Here is a little video from Thanksgiving morning. The kids REALLY enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree this year. And, in case you are wondering ... YES, Max has already broken one Christmas ornament. We are only 4 days in! We might have to restock next year :-)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Our tradition is that we wear our Christmas pjs to bed the night before, have special breakfast (Pillsbury cinnamon rolls) and then put up our Christmas tree and decorations. My mom joined us for Thanksgiving again this year (broken foot and all) and we spent the entire day at home ... except for that tiny little bit of time we spent at the gym doing our pre-turkey workout :-) 

Santa and her little elf waiting so patiently for special breakfast

Alia was thrilled to be reunited with Snoopy, one of her favorite Christmas decorations.

We did lots of turkey/Thanksgiving themed projects this month. Here is one that Alia did at Miss Jamie's house during one of her big kid play dates.

Hand print turkeys by Alia done at the gym childcare on Thanksgiving morning

Beautiful fall trees with leaves blowing in the breeze. Alia's is on the left and Max's is on the right. Made at home with Mommy

Harvest feast at school with Max's class. His class feast was on a day that the kids don't normally have school. We went in to join them and Alia lucked out and got to join us too!

My favorite Thanksgiving project this year was our "Thankfulness Tree" that we made at home. The orange hands are Max's and all the other colors are Alia's :-)

Family Pictures 2012

Here is a preview of just SOME of the amazing family pictures we had taken this year. Every time I pick out my favorites, I find a new one that I love. There are just so many expressions and little parts of their personalities captured! I love it!

"Slick"

In case you haven't heard this story or seen these pictures yet ... here you go! This one is going to go down in the Max Hall of Fame! Last Saturday, I sent him upstairs to put away something in his room. He didn't come back down right away. Usually, when this happens he is taking his clothes off and trying to put Alia's dance clothes on (yes, you read that right). So, I gave it a minute. It was very quiet up there and I was getting increasingly concerned. Finally, I decided I needed to go upstairs and check on him. This is what I found! One little two year old, having the time of his life with a large jar of Vasoline. The pictures don't really even do it justice. It took several days and several (like 10) hair washings to get him back to normal. My mom has now given him the nickname "Slick"~!

Big Kid Play Date

Alia has started doing "big kid play dates" with her best buddy Carson. He goes to preschool on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Alia goes to preschool on Tuesday and Thursday. So, that just wasn't working out for us! Now, we try to do a big kid play date once a week in the afternoon when the little brothers are napping. It has been a big hit so far! We do an art project and a snack project and play play play! Miss Jamie and I alternate houses so every other week one of us gets the afternoon "off" while the little boys are napping. Everyone is very happy with this plan except Max. He just does not understand why is not included in the big kid stuff. Poor little buddy!

BIG KID PLAY DATE #1

Carson and Alia making rice krispie treat pumpkins.

The formed them into balls, used frosting for the leaves and a gummy bear for the stem. There was considerable gummy bear sampling that took place during this project!

ANGRY FACE

SILLY FACE

Going for a "ride" together

Max was happy to be in on the fun after he woke up from nap. They played in his room and pretended his bed was a ship. He was thrilled!

BIG KID PLAY DATE #3

We did more of a Thanksgiving themed project this time.

Glueing popcorn onto our corn cutout

Sampling was half the fun!

Our treat that day ... one box of spice cake mix, one 15 oz can of Libby's pumpkin and 1 cup of chocolate chips! That's it! I did sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top just for fun though. 

Happy Halloween

We had a wonderful and very busy Halloween. We started with our usual early morning play date with baby Jack. Then we went to gymnastics, where Alia got to wear a costume. We decided on last year's dance costume because we thought it might be a little tricky to do all her moves in her mermaid outfit. Then we went to the kids school for class Halloween parties. Even though Halloween fell on a day that they don't normally attend school, all kids were invited! They enjoyed seeing all their friends in their costumes and then eating all the treats, of course! 

For dinner we had pumpkin shaped pancakes and then changed into our costumes and headed out for a lap around the neighborhood to do some trick-or-treating. Max really loved ringing doorbells and picking out candies .. the "orange ones" (Reese's peanut butter cups) of course. He was ready to be home when we got there, but I think Alia could have done a bit more. She really enjoyed it! Both kids did a great job holding our hands, and saying please and thank you :-) We really had a wonderful time!

I included a few pictures of pumpkin carving too! Max was REALLY into it!

Alia Ballerina on the balance beam part of the obstacle course at gymnastics

Monster Max and Alia the Mermaid (not Ariel, just a mermaid)

Max's class, the Happy Hedgehogs

Alia's class, the Chatty Chipmunks

2 amazing little helpers!

Little dude wanted to be right in the middle of the action

Love Alia's face in this one

The finished product ... on the left, designed by the kids, on the right designed by the parents