Christmas 2010 Recap

I'm not even sure where to begin! We packed as much excitement and people-visiting into the holiday weekend as was humanly possible. Each day brought a new set of family or friends to visit with. Friday was Christmas Eve service, Saturday was Christmas with my family, Sunday was Christmas with my mom's side of the Family, Monday was a playdate with my friend, Nikki, and her two sons, and Tuesday was the car trip back to MN. As I write this, both kids are passed out in their beds. I don't blame them.

Highlights from the weekend include:
Aidan and Aubrey got in some hardcore playtime (and lots of shoveling) with Nana, Poppa, Kali, Kyle, and Reese
Santa brought Aidan a hockey stick, skates, and a puck
Aubrey's 1st tooth FINALLY came in on Christmas Day (closely followed by tooth #2, which came in today)
Aubrey is starting to crawl on her knees instead of army crawling
Both kids opened a mountain of presents---lots of new toys to play with and clothes to wear
Everyone ate over a million calories of delicious, delicious food on a daily basis

Christmas 2010 at Nana and Poppa's house can be broken into a few categories...
Playing outside in the fresh snow
Aubrey and Reese getting to know one another (and Aubrey trying to rip Reese's face off),
Aidan finding the "game closet" and getting out a new game or toy out every 20 minutes,
eating (lots of it),
present opening (lots of it)
family time (thankfully, lots of it)
In an effort to conserve time and energy, I'm consolidating all Christmas photos in to this one slide show. I managed to pare down over 200 photos into the Top 62.

Happy Birthday and Christmas 2010

First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad. He's turning the very young age of 57. :)
Aidan will be gracing him with a rousing, out-of-tune rendition of "Happy Birthday" later today.

Our Finn Christmas was very enjoyable. Aubrey's first foray into present opening went well and she stayed up a good two hours past her bedtime without any melt-downs. The magic of new toys to play with. Aidan was so excited to play with his presents this morning that he didn't even eat breakfast. Seriously, you know when Aidan doesn't want to eat he is REALLY into whatever he is doing. I think playing with toys instead of eating breakfast may be unprecedented. Favorites are the wooden construction trucks from Uncle BJ, the toy electric guitar, and the remote control police car, both from Grandpa Finn.

Grandpa Finn made a wonderfully delicious meal; Rock Cornish game hen, wild rice, and sauteed vegetables. Very tasty. I tried so hard to get a good picture of Aidan and Aubrey together, but after 139 photos snapped, not one of them is "Christmas Card" worthy. They are like oil and water when taking pictures together. Maybe someday they will both smile and look at the camera at the same time.

All I Want For Christmas

Dear Santa,
I would like money for Christmas. Daddy wants money, too. Aubrey wants toys. Mommy would like clothes.
Love, Aidan

That was Aidan's letter to Santa. Really? Money? What two-year-old says he wants money!?!? Clearly he is Kyle's child. When asked if he wanted anything besides money he replied, "I don't know." We visited Santa today (free at the YMCA) and he thankfully asked for a hockey stick, not money. I was going to be mortified if he asked for money. Aubrey responded like I expected; nervous and then upset that a stranger was holding her. After sitting on Santa's lap, the Y had two giant bounce houses for the kids to play in. Aidan enjoyed the slide that was attached to one of them.

Aidan at the top of the slide

Merry Christmas

Snapped within the first 2 seconds she was on his lap

Aidan and Santa. Buddies

Asking for a hockey stick

Snow Bunnies

8 Months Old!!!

Aidan refuses to take a nice picture anymore.

Look at that sibling love.

The holiday season is here, which means we (I) have been busy decorating and filling the house with Christmas cheer. Aidan's enthusiasm is contagious. He turns on the Christmas music and lights at every opportunity. Energy conservation is not in Aidan's vocabulary.

Today we made our annual trek to the tree lot to buy a cut Christmas tree. One of these years we'll get back to cutting our own. If it had been warmer, I would have insisted on it this year. However, carrying an 8 month old around in freezing temps didn't seem like the best idea. Pre-cut won.

We spent Thanksgiving here in the Twin Cities. Aunt Marsha was kind enough to host again, and as always, her food was delicious. Aidan enjoyed playing a dice game with "the big boys" aka: the adult males. Aubrey ate, napped, and played on the floor. Her usual day, just at a different house. Uncle BJ is in town for the weekend, much to Aidan's delight. I'm sure Aidan will insist we head up to Grandpa's house as soon as he wakes up from his nap today so he can see BJ.

Ice Time

Hockey is back in full-swing and I find myself short on patience lately. I thanked God every night this past week that I'm not a single mom, even though I felt like it during hockey try-outs. By Saturday morning I told Kyle that I needed two hours to myself and he was in charge. He graciously offered to take Aubrey to a JV hockey game with him, and Grandpa Finn took Aidan to run errands. Not two hours, but it was a nice, quiet 40 minutes. Hoping I can get out of the house today and buy some new work-out shoes. It's not looking good at the moment due to the freezing rain we got overnight. All the roads are covered in a sheet of ice. Maybe I'll just have to lock myself in the bathroom and turn my iPod up really loud. That counts as "me" time, right?

SNOW!

The first sign of winter dropped almost a foot snow on the Twin Cities. No light dusting or gradual cooling for us. It was 68 degrees on Wednesday and we got a foot of snow on Saturday. Only in Minnesota. Aidan could not have been more excited. Ever since we bought his snow boots back in early October, he has been asking, "Winter here yet?" I could finally answer YES! It was snowing before I went to bed on Friday night, so I knew what I would be waking up to. As soon as I heard Aidan rustling around I went into his room and asked him if he was ready to be excited. He was a little confused until I opened his curtains. The look of amazement on his face was priceless. "Winter coming down, Mommy! Get to wear my boots!" (yes, he calls the snow "winter") We played outside, built a snowman, dusted off the sled, and even walked up to Grandpa's house for some hot chocolate. It was the perfect first snow of the season.

Smiley

Aubrey has a lot of nicknames. I call her "Peanut", my dad is now calling her "Little Miss Puddle-Duck" (b/c of her Halloween costume) and Aidan and Kyle call her "Smiley".

Aidan is entering the phase where just about everything that comes out of his mouth is funny.
Case-in-point: Aidan wanted to watch Kyle's hockey video and he asked "Does Smiley want to watch hockey with me?"

Another funny question *because everything is a question with Aidan* "Where are Aubrey's teeth coming in? In the living room?" When I tried to explain that her teeth are coming in her mouth, he proceeded to ask if they were coming in her mouth while she was in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bathtub...he couldn't quite grasp the concept of teeth coming in. Even today in the car, randomly, "Is Aubrey getting new teeth today?" No. "Tomorrow?" Maybe. The questions never end. I think God made two-year-olds funny so you don't go crazy with all of their questions.

Picture Update

Aubrey's Pumpkin (carved by me)

Aidan's Pumpkin (carved by Kyle)

Finn Family Pumpkins
Owl on a branch (Courtney), Happy Face (Aubrey)
Scary Face (Aidan) Vampire biting a woman's neck (Kyle)

Ducky

Sporting a fireman's hat and balloon after a visit to the local fire station

This and That

"What that thing do, Mommy?" "What this thing?" "How was school today?" "You read books today?" "You have meeting today?" Over and over and over. Aidan has entered the questioning phase. Even when we answer his questions, he still continues to repeat them. I read somewhere that kids repeat questions, even though you answered them, because they have no frame of reference to attach your answer to. It's nice to know that he is a normal little kid, learning away...but, wow. Sometimes I just want to say "Shhhh, stop talking."

Aubrey slept the week away after catching some sort of virus. She had a fever Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Being sick knocked the wind right out of her. Kyle said that she wasn't awake for more than 45 minutes at a time. I think she's on the mend and will be ready to carve pumpkins, celebrate Grandpa Finn's birthday, and dress up for Halloween this weekend.

Last weekend we spent an enjoyable 4 days in IL with my family. Baby Reese was baptized on Sunday and I had the honor of being her godmother. She slept through the baptism, only waking up when the water was poured on her head. Aidan and Aubrey both got their "Reese Time" in and had fun holding her (Aidan) and chewing on her (Aubrey). I love watching them interact and can't wait until Christmas when we'll be together again!

J.O.B.

I've got a new job and it starts Nov 1. I am SO looking forward to this new opportunity. My sanity has been hanging on by an ever-unraveling thread, and it's questionable if it would have lasted through the year at my present job. There is only so much kicking/hitting/spitting/etc that one person should have to take in a lifetime. I've reached my quota.

Back to the new job, I will be teaching middle school students with learning disabilities (math, reading, writing). Six of them will be public school students, and nine will be private school students that will see me for about an hour a day. Oh, and did I mention it's part-time? Technically a .8, but I still get to be home by 2:00pm. That means no daycare costs for Aidan and Aubrey during hockey season and I don't have to attend boring staff meetings in the afternoon! Can't wait to get started!