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I have uploaded a bunch of photo's from our Christmas here. Click HERE to have a look!

And so this is Christmas...

And what have we done? Another year over, and a new one just begun... Ok, so that is kind of how the Beatles song goes, right?

Christmas at the Clark abode has been another good one. Lots of cheer and the typical tear. Kids are both full throttle with their colds which has given their moods wide swings and naps off kilter. We started the week with a major dump of snow and ended it with very warm weather, wind and rain. We were lucky to have Bob, Jackie, Jenny and Erik join us for Christmas Eve and over night to wake up with Santa's treasures. We started the afternoon with cleaning and cooking and opened a few gifts once our guests arrived. Had our salmon dinner (I was pleased with the results, yay!) and topped it off with a traditional Christmas pudding made with care by my mother. I think I flubbed the sauce, but I was happy about the salmon, so I was ok with that.

After dinner, we opened a few more gifts and Dylan found his "it" gift. The red Dirtdevil vacuum. YAY! I was so close to not getting it. Bought it Monday morning after the snow storm had cleared. I asked one of the employees where the were and after a quick look said they were out. I was irritated with myself for not getting it last time I was there. Then after a minute or two he came back with one in hand YAY TARGET! This is the second time I had a floor worker come find me after looking further into a request I had. Anyway, Dylan spent the rest of the night vacuuming. It actually sucks up a little dirt!

He also enjoyed the mini dust buster. Here he is showing Erik basic operation technique.

Sophia's "it" gift still remains to be the sleeveless princess dress she got for her birthday. She got LOTS of clothes, mostly dresses, which I know she will enjoy wearing. Both kids have had fun with the toy airplane - screwing in and out all the screws to take it apart and put it back together with the toy drill it comes with.

Christmas eve ended with the normal bath, however, there were THREE babies, not two in it. Little Erik had a lot of fun with his cousins. I was all psyched to read Sophia her snowman jubilee book as I had built her that snowman earlier in the week and this book is about the night before Christmas. The snowmen come alive, have a big jubilee and help guide Santa's sleigh. then at the end of the book it says something like: you many find it hard to believe that the snowmen come alive on Christmas Eve, but look at your Snowman on Christmas day and see if he looks the same way. Well, I took Sophia to the window to have a look at her snowman the night before Christmas and what she saw was OUR Frosty laying on the ground as if he were assassinated.

I, of course, burst out laughing and felt terrible that she saw her snowman all, well, dead. She told me "Frosty all melted, mama". And I had to hide my laughter yet again. After putting her to bed, I went outside to resurrect our Frosty and was assisted by jenny in getting him all put back together.

Christmas morning had a staggered start. Dylan got things rolling at 5 and he was collected by Ethan who brought him down and had to wake Pepe. Jackie, Jenny and Erik were next shortly after 6 and I soon after that. Sophia took her time and greeted the day at 7.30 and we were off and running to get to our stockings. That dirtdevil took second chair for Dylan only to the chocolate and candy in his stocking. Sophia was accessorized with hers.

We had an early Christmas dinner at noon complete with a juicy roast beast and Bob's famous pumpkin pie. All compliments of our dear house guests. The house was cleared by 1 and I think the kids were still buzzed from the activity because they sure wouldn't go down for a nap. Was a quiet Christmas dinner here. The quietest for me that I have had. Feels a little strange to do three loads of laundry and vacuum on Christmas day. hmmmm.
So here I am, with one last gift thanks to my kiddios - a cold to bring me into the new year. Ahhhh. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Twas the night before the night before Christmas and no one was stirring, just Sophia hacking away in her sleep. Just in time for Christmas, Sophia has finally caught Dylan's cold. She has done so well until now avoiding the darn thing.

Things seem to be under control at the moment for us. I THINK I am all set with gifts. I did think this yesterday too, though, and then remembered another one I needed to get. I have been LOVING the 4wheel drive in the truck since the snow turned to ice on our street. I feel so empowered. "What's that noise, mommy?" "Oh that't just the neighbor's snow bank [crunching under our truck]" "Vrrrm Vrrrm Vrrrrm!" (Cindy) "rmmmm rmmmm rmmm" (Dylan).

Miss Independent

Sophia has been kicking me out of the bathroom after her bath lately so that she can use the potty, choose her underwear and get dressed all by herself. The clothes aren't always facing the front, but she doesn't mind. I guess that's what happens when you turn 3 :)

Sophia celebrated her 3rd b-day on the 12th and I have finally uploaded some pictures on at the shutterfly site. Have a look!

Never ending bug

Dylan's never ending bug has morphed yet again. Over the past couple days his little cough has gotten wetter and his nose is now oozing non-stop and his crying/ fussing at peak levels. He wouldn't touch his dinner today. Luckily I was able to get him to eat a bit of banana at his bath. Poor little guy.

I think I am all set with Christmas shopping. YAY! Still have a couple things I would like to pick up, but won't stress over them if I can't find them. Wrapping now looms over me.

Bracing for our winter storm tomorrow - 12inches coming fast and furious. I will hit the store for provisions, let the storm hit and then make snowmen,

A little ironic

So, I spent the first 5 years of living in Boston dying my hair. Since having Sophia I have been letting it go natural. After my hair was hacked off, the color grew much darker and it is NOW that everyone thinks I am coloring my hair. All I have to say, is if I was going to color my hair, why would I choose THIS one?! HA! My own mother asked me when I started going grey. I looked at her in panic and wondered where she spotted it. She said she didn't see any, just assumed it was there as my hair was so dark it had to be colored. Sigh, I want my wedding hair back. I have my wedding figure, why not make it a package deal?

Dylan has been waking earlier and earlier since my parents arrived. Started with 4.45 and has crept all the way back to 4am. Not cool. Going to try and skip his morning naps. Not that he doesn't need them, but his naps have been a struggle too and I am thinking perhaps there is something not in sync. Sigh... And the early bedtimes continue for us.

Princess Party

Pre-party primping. Mom and princess snuggle.

Setting the stage... Princess Sophia ruling from her thrown.

Sophia getting her enthusiasm on.

Princess castle cake decorated by mom.

Princess ice cream cones that held greater inner beauty than outer "superficial" beauty.

Sophia's party went well, despite yesterday's request for "no kids" yesterday. She started off shy with the family, then broke out, waving her magic wand, putting Zadie and Grandpa to sleep and then waking them with another wave. She got shy again when the guests arrived, however, not too shy to take their gifts and put them on the gift bench in the dining room. I had four crafts lined up - making crowns and tiara's, making bracelets and decorating shields and decorating my cardboard castle for Sophia. The kids kind of decorated their crowns, the bracelets didn't work (stretchy string supposedly made for kids to use wouldn't hold a knot and the shields were not really that exciting I think. I didn't even bring down the castle as there wasn't enough room with 11 kids and their parents in the living room. I think Sophia may not have wanted everyone coloring on it anyway, in hind sight, and therefore a good thing. Despite all that, I think everyone had fun. Little Madison really got into things and had fun with the tiaras, and the rest of the party. The little babies did very well playing on the carpet in the living room too. At the end, when the living room was clearing out, Ethan put on the music and Sophia and Clara had a blast dancing. Me-mere had a pretty good time too...

Party is done and I am glad to have those stresses over. House looks good too - not a disaster one would expect post kids' party.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sophia!

Sophia celebrated her 3rd birthday today. Party tomorrow! Yippy! Just before we were to sit down to blueberry pancakes thanks to Grandma, Sophia spotted her cottage. She asked me "what's that box, mamma?", all eager -like. I told her it was her new house and she was SUPER excited and played in it until it was time for school. After Dylan's nap, he took over and played in it having tons of fun. We had a pizza dinner and cupcakes with icing and sprinkles for dessert. Her favorite gift (next to the cottage) was her new princess dress-up dresses. Looking forward to seeing her wear it tomorrow. Until then...

A little gentleman

Dylan has become quite a gentleman already. He likes to help me off with my coat - insist, rather. At mealtime he pulls out my chair for me and pats it for me to sit down. He then likes to feed me his food. No wonder we both can shake our bug. We keep swapping it back and forth.

He is very much into the phase of monkey see monkey do. When I start wiping a counter he yanks down ALL the tea towels from the stove door and starts wiping the floor. He must sweep when I sweep, keeps insisting that he use the mop/ broom I have (we switch back and forth a hundred times)...

Lemonade

So, they say when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. So I did. I ordered a couple gifts online and instead of having them shipped to LA to the recipients, I had them shipped here (clicked the wrong box). They shipped the first item in a giant box about 3 or 4 times the size of the actual gift. I re-wrapped it to be mailed AGAIN and decided to make lemonade out of the box. Last night I cut and taped my way into a toddler sized castle for Sophia's upcoming Princess Party. I am pretty pleased considering the box wasn't even in great shape. Added an extra window where the kids punched a hole... I just hope now that this "lemonade stand" makes it to the party. Dylan already tripped over the draw bridge ropes and took the whole thing down on top of himself.

Today, Dylan became a man...

I have not been pleased with the only kids hair salon near us (only two cities away). The drive was longer than I liked, the price much higher than I liked and the "stylists" not up to par. Dylan has had his hair cut there twice and was fussy and squirmed while the hairdresser hacked away. The cut lasted about 5 minutes and set me back $18. The hairdresser was also kind of grouchy. I decided to try out a real BARBAR this time. A fellow mom posted the place she has taken her son IN Quincy, so I went on a whim today as Dylan's hair could almost handle a braid. Dylan was SO good in this grown up shop. He sat on my lap and was perfectly still the ENTIRE time! We were seated right away (I have always waited at the other place) and a young guy started with the razor as Dylan just hung out. He took about 10-15 minutes and then, a man who appeared to be the owner came over and took over. I think the young guy was still in training. The older guy then evened out Dylan's hair and cut and cut and cut... All the while Dylan just sitting there, not making a fuss. Personally I think he cut too much off the top, but I guess I didn't state clearly enough that I wanted it longer. At least it is a quality cut and cost $13, in addition to a bunch of gas I saved getting there. Yay!

Peek-a-boo

Dylan's new game is peek-a boo. He has recently been covering his eyes as if to pretend to hid. I find it hilarious, though as he usually is peeking through the fingers like this. SO CUTE. It has taken a while to catch on film, though, because as soon as the camera comes out, his hands go down and he cries and whines until I give it to him. Not so cute.

Dylan's "Blue Steel" look. I know you think you are tough, Dylan, but those ARE girl's sunglasses...