Christmas in Ohio-2009

**Warning: An extreme amount of pictures in this post. Eric doesn't approve of posting so many pics... I say, who cares.

We just finished celebrating Christmas in Ohio. As always, it was full of lots of fun, and we had tons of good food and great company. Zach and Amanda (and Caden and Zara) came in Wednesday night and so we were able to have 3 full days of time with them.

First thing that Zara and Lucas did together... had a tea party. :)

Sweet Caden...Christmas day went a little something like this. Opened presents together. Ate a delicious brunch- this tradition includes egg souffle, fresh fruit, and cinnamon roll cookies. Then the kiddos played with their presents (and the adults played with theirs... we "wii'ed it up). Afternoon naps. Lasagna dinner. And then we finished our day by watching "Sound of Music" and eating Grandpa's popped popcorn and drinking Grandma's homemade grape juice. Enjoying some new toys... Looking at basketball cards... Drawing on his new easel... Check out his new paint shirt... just like Grandpa's work shirt!!
And a new combine... John Deere style...

Zara and Amanda put on a puppet show for us with Zara's new puppets and theater... Gathering for the movie and popcorn...

Visit to Downtown Indy...

My favorite thing this time of year is to go downtown and see the lights on Meridian Street as well as the Christmas Tree on the Circle (and I suppose enjoy a peppermint mocha from the Starbucks on the Circle).

First stop downtown, Borders. Lucas plopped right down and enjoyed a few Curious George books.

Next stop, the BIG tree downtown. Lucas' favorite part was climbing up and down (and up and down and up and down) the many steps. Sophie spent most of the evening bundled up in her stroller since it was so cold (and snowing!). She didn't mind one bit. After a yummy dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, we went back to Borders for some peppermint hot chocolate (loaded high with whip cream and candy cane sprinkles!!). This was our favorite part of the night. We enjoyed our drinks while listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas music in the background.

Love Lucas' smile (below).

Right before we were about ready to leave, Tyler Hansborough (Pacers BB player) walked in and got a drink. Eric convinced me to go ask him for a pic with Lucas, and he happily obliged. Lucas was pretty excited that he was a REAL basketball player. :)

What we've been up to...

Let's see...what's new with us. Sophie's on the verge of rolling over for the first time... Lucas has been getting an overdose of exerise playing basketball in the house, Grandma keeps the kids entertained (and us well fed!), stockings are hung by the chimney with care, Snoopy Christmas is a new favorite, and we consumed several dozen Christmas cookies in less than a week. Here are a random assortment of pics from the last week or so.

Decorating the tree...

We had a great time picking out and decorating our Christmas tree last weekend... Eric actually let Lucas peruse among the trees and pick the one out that he wanted. I must say, it's a beauty. According to Eric, they walked among the trees and Lucas kept saying, "Nope...nope...nope... THAT ONE!!!" Eric admitted, the one he picked out was one of the best looking ones out there.

Chugging along...

Doesn't get any cuter than this... melts my heart.

A lot has happened since my previous post. Nali and cousin Ashley visited, Thanksgiving came and went, and I returned back to work. Honestly, as I sit and think about this whole process of returning to work and continuing on with our "new normal"... my mind turns completely foggy. I truly love my job as a teacher, and I'm overwhelmed at times, with gratefulness that I have this great job in the midst of what's going on around us. But it doesn't make the task of walking out the door at 6:30 am without my kids any easier. I miss them. So much. Honestly throughout the day, two things keep me going... my short little prayers ("Lord, give me the strength to get through this next lesson...") and Beyonce's song, "I'm a Survivor"... (haha...). But as I sit at this computer, I can hardly wrap my mind around this whole transition thing... it's just too fresh. I'll sort my thoughts out later... for now I'm just going to post random pictures from the past few days... and then go to bed. I'm tired.

P.S. My mom is staying with us for the next few weeks since Sophie isn't old enough to go to TOTS until January. So very very thankful for that...

A few video updates...

Here are two recent videos I took of the kids... they capture each kiddo's personality lately. Love it...

Lucas has been REALLY into bands for awhile now... especially if they're in a parade. Here he is trying out all kinds of instruments.

Sophie on the other hand, has been making all kinds of noises lately, too.

My buddy...

Lately I've been laying Sophie down in Lucas' bed while we sing our bedtime songs together. Sophie doesn't seem to mind a bit, and Lucas loves it! He even asked if she could stay a while.

Seriously?!?!

I asked a simple request ("smile!")... and this is what I got in return?