A Merry Christmas Indeed

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and were blessed to have my parents with us. They were here for a nice long visit and we enjoyed so many activities together. They got to come with us to both Joshua's and Daniel's school Christmas performances/parties and we spent a lot of time just doing simple things like feeding the ducks at the pond behind our library, going to Family Buffet Night at our local Round Table (yum!) etc. Also, it turned out to be great timing that the boys and I finished reading the first Harry Potter book during their visit because we were then able to watch the movie with my Mom, who is a fan (we've since started on the Chamber of Secrets, by the way!).

Anyway, here are lots of pictures!

Daniel's preschool Christmas performance (he's on the left):


The kids sorting out the presents Christmas morning (even baby helped!):


Dad enjoying a classic gift (for those who know Dad!):


Sigh. What are we getting ourselves into? Wait, I don't mean that. I've talked to lots of moms and this can be a fun thing for our family without getting out of hand... right? We did make them wait over a year to get one and I'm hoping the delayed gratification will have some residual benefits:


Unfortunately our original Roomba didn't survive our move from San Diego so well. We had always intended to upgrade someday...and Jake decided to surprise me for Christmas and make someday now! Oh how I missed you Roomba and we welcome you into our home with open arms:


Remember TinTin? Joshua loves them and as you can see is very happy to have a new one to add to his collection:


Daniel being silly with our Christmas stockings. Lucas got his from my Mom this year and I was so excited! Don't worry, I made Daniel take them off right after I took the picture. You don't think I was encouraging him by taking a picture of his antics, do you ;)


Lucas loved his squishy squeaky blocks!


And his classic Fischer Price telephone (who didn't have one of these growing up?) Sorry the picture's fuzzy:


Again we were so glad to share the holiday with my parents. They were incredibly helpful while here and I am so thankful for the way they were able to spend time with the kids and get to know them better.

My little man in his sweater vest

I am so smitten

It just doesn't get much better than your little man smiling up at you in his sweater vest

Once again, Jen worked her magic and has given us these portraits we will always treasure. Plus, we had a lot of fun at the photo shoot itself. Lucas was cheerful and cooperative, Joshua and Daniel were both at school...so we moms actually got to talk!

I had the toughest time choosing which ones to post! Even tougher will be choosing which ones to frame. I think I'll definitely do a collage.

We have a walker!

Lucas took his first steps a couple of weeks ago but then didn't go much of anywhere with it. In the last few days though -- and especially today -- he has become much more interested in working on his new skill and now he is totally walking! It's very exciting and we're so proud of him! It's also a little bit sad, since crawling is such a cute stage and now it's ending, but it really is a good thing. This makes for our second baby who started walking at 10 months (the first being Daniel). Just in time too, since he turns 11 months tomorrow!

Sorry to not have a cute picture of him walking to accompany this post. In the spare minute I had this evening to try and take a picture of it things just really did not work out. It was already past his bedtime and he was walking alright, but he just kept coming after the camera and fell apart when I wouldn't let him have it. So I decided to not post a picture of him lunging at the camera with an angry expression on his face. Never fear, I had his baby portraits done last week and should be getting the cd back from that pretty soon. Rest assured there will be plenty of shots from that to post before too long. You know you can't wait to see him in his cute and festive sweater vest!

And Thus it Begins...

Tuesday night was Joshua's very first violin performance. Needless to say it was quite an exciting thing for our family! His violin school played a Christmas set at a Cultural Arts Center downtown for their "First Tuesday Night Art Walk." That meant that people could mill around, enjoy art displays and watch the performances. It was a very classy event.

Joshua loved it. He was in high spirits the whole time and loved performing with his group.

Just to explain a little, Joshua's school "The Suzuki Academy of Strings" is comprised of his violin teacher and her 20 students. Each student has weekly private lessons and also a weekly group lesson with their same-skill level peers. Joshua just started when school began in the fall, so he is one of the newest additions to the studio.

Joshua's teacher, Miss Kathy, is great and she works very hard at getting these kids out in the community performing (they have another Christmas performance at a "Zoo Lights" event this Saturday night, in fact). One of the things that drew us to her school is the way she has things set up to create a wonderful little community of kids and parents that we are now a part of.

It has been an amazing thing for our family in ways that I can't entirely describe, but I will say it has brought a richness and added depth to our lives. It has also brought a very big commitment, especially for me as the momma, but one that I most definitely welcome. I love it. And (whew) Joshua loves it too.