New Year, and kids photography

On New Year's day we went to the C's for our pork & sauerkraut fix. The kids had a great time playing Twister and generally wrecking Aunt Lori & Uncle Larry's house.

We had planned to hit Grandma & Grandpa B's annual Fertility Pork Roast too, but Andrew wouldn't nap on-the-go so we never made it there.

Nearly all of the following pictures were taken either by Evyn, or by Emily:

Christmas Village

On Wednesday December 30th we made our second annual trek to Koziar's Christmas Village. If you're in Pennsylvania and haven't been there, mark it on your calendar for next year!



As we posted last year, we had planned on going on a warmer night this time around. Unfortunately the night we picked a couple weeks ago didn't pan out (Evyn had a belly ache), so we ended up - again- going on a very, very cold night! And, unlike when we visited last year, there was a HUGE crowd. But we were bundled up and ready to have a great time.





Andrew fell asleep before we got in the front gate, and slept until we returned to our car more than an hour later. I'd put a portable heat pack behind his back, which kept him toasty warm.


Evyn, true to form, remembered every last little detail of our trip last year, and insisted she stop by the gift shop to get a Christmas bear for Andrew like she got the year before. They were out of the Christmas bears, so she picked a plush elephant instead.








Be sure to check out our pictures from last year.... we didn't get many good shots this year, as I was busy pushing Andrew's stroller.

On the third day of Christmas....

our tree

...we went to the C's for the Reed family gathering (Saturday December 26th). Andrew was extremely clingy - my guess is he was overstimulated from three days of celebrating- so I didn't have a chance to take many pictures. We ended up leaving pretty early, to get Mr. Cranky home and into bed.

riding Andrew's new trike before the party

Larry, Scott and Grandpa Reed talking bourbon

Alex, Evyn and Emily

Keisha

Olivia and Vince

On a side note, my plan to catch our blog up to date over the weekend was thwarted by a certain inquisitive little boy.... Andrew was able to find the end of the USB cord that connects our camera to our computer, and apparently shorted it out with drool. I can still transfer pictures manually - but it's a much slower process!

Christmas 2009

Today is the last day of winter break. What a busy two weeks it has been! Evyn has been home from school for 12 days - and I must admit, I've loved every minute of it. She is excited to go back to school. Yesterday she received a letter in the mail from her teacher, and a classmate stopped by, making her even more eager to return to class.

My goal for this windy, cold last day of winter break is to get caught up on posting our holiday pictures- starting with Christmas day~



Christmas morning both kids were up at their usual time, despite the late evening prior. Evyn quickly found the gifts from Santa* under the tree. Andrew, again, was less enthused about gifts than he was the bells and ribbons on the packages.






Two of Santa's gifts were instant favorites... a china tea set, which- by request- was immediately washed and put to use, and a working cash register (Evyn already has plans for more sales).




Andrew liked the saucer sled that Santa brought!





After Andrew's much-needed nap, we were ready for our afternoon guests - Grams, Pops, and Aunt Chris. And more gifts!




*A note about Santa- we'd been uncertain whether we would "do" Santa in our house. The first few years, we didn't. Scott's parents had taken Evyn to see a Santa each year, but she never really asked questions or showed an interest, until last year (which coincided with watching Polar Express for the first time). This year she made a decision - yes, by choice!- that she was going to believe in Santa. We have a funny video of her, declaring her decision, if I can figure out how to edit it I'll post it.