Day off with the kids..

and where we do we go? Gymboree!! We are also celebrating her 27 month birthday. :) I blew dry my hair straight this morning and Lyssa wanted her hair done too. She looks completely different. Rob did not like it. :(

Caught Tyler by surprise playing in the big tunnel....can't wait for his friends to see this in 5 years!

Christmas Day!!!

Santa brought Lyssa a kitchen, needs 14 batteries. he forgot the batteries. We decided that we would not put the batteries in until she grew bored of it. So far, she has mastered making Mommy and Daddy coffee with creamer, waffles, pizza, and 'dough' which is what Mommy says when we are making cookies. Only a matter of time when she discovers that dough beomes cookies.
Alyssa opening up her present from Noelle. Pink heart earrings which she will actually wear on her 3rd birthday.

Kids had a wonderful time opening up their presents. Lyssa thoroughly enjoyed the unwrapping of gifts, even those that were not her own. :)

Christmas Eve

We had a very busy today. Finally decorated the tree, nothing like waiting till the last minute is there! We spent a lot of time at Church between regular service and Christmas Eve service. I spent an hour after the Eve Service and passed out cookies and punch while Rob and the kids were playing around the fountain and sitting by the bonfire roasting marshmellows for smores. We aslo went to my cousin's and spent a little time mingling with my family. It was a very nice day!

PS. We also spent three hours wrapping presents and getting things ready for Santa!

Air Tyler

Last year Tyler's PE coach told us a funny story about how he (the coach) had finally beaten him in a game during PE. When I looked a little confused he went on to say how proud he was at finally beating Tyler because Tyler is so good at basketball. I was shocked because Tyler has never played basketball. So at the Coach's insistance we put him in a league at the Church where they played but they also taught him. Tyler loved it! So we encouraged him to play for his school't team and boy is he good! The Coach wanted to put him on the A team (similar to Varsity) but thought that he would have far more playing time on the B team. We agreed. I thoroughly enjoy watching this action packed game. It was interesting to watch the first few games because Tyler would rarely (I would pretty much say never he might have once) steals the ball or gets into his opponents face in order to prevent the shot. 7 games later, he is all about stealing the ball, packing the ball (slapping the ball out of someone's hands when they are preparing for a shot-much different than blocking a shot) and going up for layups. He loves to shoot the ball and often makes it averaging 15-20 points per game. The Coach says that he needs to practice dribbling because well, he can't. Not ever playing the sport doesn't really help the cause. With Tyler already a little over 5 feet 7 inches at age 12, this is a great sport for him to enjoy. :)

Santa Claus is coming to town...

A few days ago Alyssa and I were walking around Target and she asked me 'Mommy, who's that" I was trying to decide on which toy to buy and so without looking up I said "I don't know sweetie who is it?". She replied in a really low whisper "that's Santa Mommy!". I looked up and this older grey haired man with a full beard and mustache was looking right at her. She was totally quiet. As soon as he walked around the aisle, she asked "whered Santa go Mommy?" Well, we walked around the same aisle and there he was! Lyssa became so excited yelling out "Santa right there!" By the way, this older man was wearing jeans and a flannel jacket, no Santa suit. He looked at Lyssa and winked and then walked away. We never saw him again. Although for the remainder of our shopping experience it was "Whered Santa go Mommy?". We go to Gymboree which is literally two doors down from the mall's main entrance which is the place where you can get your picture taken with Santa. We see Santa at least two times a day, four days a week for the last three weeks.

Tyler took her up to Santa and she was all smiles right up until he went to put her on Santa's lap which as you can imagine she was having none of it. So, Tyler had to sit on Santa's lap and then Lyssa sat on Tyler's lap. What a great big brother right??

We will put up our tree tomorrow I promise!! between two church services, a small outing to our cousin's house, taking a friend to the airport and taking a baptism class...oh and a 2 hour nap. It will happen!

Cutting down our tree

It didn't take us very long to find the perfect tree. The boys cut it down while we surpervised....

we will post a picture once it is up and decorated.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What an exhausting day!





two girls at the salon.


What an exhausting day! A little bit of playing...

Buddy Joe getting some snuggles.... and my very first pie-apple pie AND it was tasty!


S

Happy Halloween

Lyssa as a Priness...hannah still not in any clothes. Tyler being the best big brother around, walking Alyssa around AND holding Kiki..
Everyone at the Halloween Party
and all of the kids... aren't they so cute?
It was just the three of us as Daddy had to work late.. :(
and Kiki, the one eyed Pirate.

A wonderful present for the girls and I

Amelia's gift to Alyssa....a wagon built for two!

but if you look closely, you will see that she has her baby Hannah!

We enjoy taking wagon rides around the block a few times a day and walking to Starbucks on the weekends with the entire family...even Kiki joins the fun!

taking some time from presents to pose for the camera

My new bike!

Jim flew all the way to Germany to bring home Buddy Joe's birthday gift for Alyssa. A brand new bike!

a kiss for her first cabbage patch doll

thank you Grams and Gramps!

and a bed to put her in...

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa

A beautiful day.

She discovered rainbows....

Finally, her birthday party

We spent the day at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We had all of our special friends with us (no family members :( ) but they were with us in spirit.

Her party consisted all of her favorite things: A choo choo ride...

birthday cake...
yum!
okay, so the neigh neighs were one of her favorite things. She was all excited while waiting in line and then the man put her on the horse, looked at us and said 'Neigh neighs ewww!" Apparently horses tend to stink if they are in a small corral and she was not happy about the smell. I don't think she smiled the entire time and at one point she started to cry because her pony stopped and shook and she shook right along with it...wonder if there will be any more neigh neighs in her future.

and last but not least, mounds of presents! Yee haw!

A pedi and a party

If Rob and I were into arranging a marriage, this would be the boy that we would choose for our daughter. Nathan Marino. He is such a cutie and a ham.
Lyssa's cousin Sarah who is older than her by 3 days. Big height difference, huh? They used to spend a lot of time together and I think they know it because even though they don't see each other as often as they used to they still have a special place in each other's hearts...like if one of them sees a picture of the other one they wil carry it around with them. awwwww.... And Alyssa wearing Sarah's high heels. I told myself that I would not let her have these darn things....but after walking around the house in them, wearing them up and down the stairs, and running all over the house chasing the other kids she definitely earned them. (I bought them a few hours after leaving the party) Teenage years are going to be rough...on Daddy. :)