Christmas with the Lewis's

My parents and brother got here the day after Christmas and we have had a great time with them! We had our last round of gift-opening, in which Aidan got a little baby grand piano! Avery also got a little "house" to play in, and a Tupperware shape sorter just like one my grandmother had when my cousins and I were little. Then tonight we went to Kobe Steaks to celebrate Daniel passing all of his CPA tests! It was the kids' first experience there and they both loved the food!

Pigtails!!

Check out Avery's new 'do!

Christmas Day

Grandpa, Nanna, Aunt Kathleen, and Uncle Jacob came over on Christmas Eve after the kids went to bed, so we got to wake up with them on Christmas morning! Santa brought Aidan a miniature airport with ramps for his cars, and a dollhouse for Avery.

Christmas Eve

We have had a very Merry Christmas! We spent our Christmas Eve with Gigi, Cookie, Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Cody, Aunt Amy, and Cousin Sage. We had lunch at our house, opened gifts, and took some cute pictures of the kids. That night we read "The Night Before Christmas" and the nativity story, let Aidan and Avery open new pajamas from Mommy and Daddy, and left cookies for Santa. He must have liked them because they were gone the next morning!

A Typical Evening

Aidan loves to "race" with Daddy on MarioKart. And Avery has become a fan of taking things out of something and putting them back in. She also loves to show you that she is "so big"! Aidan still has a virus that is lingering a bit so we are hoping and praying that he's better by Christmas...and that no one else gets sick!

Well, We Tried...

This morning we spent a looong day at Northpark Mall so that the kids could see Santa. I think he's the best one there is and Northpark is always a really neat place to be at Christmas. Santa has a storytime at 11 and then visits with kids, but only if you have a ticket, which they start passing out at 9am. We got our ticket at 9:30 and were 72nd in line! So we saw a neat miniature train exhibit first, then after storytime we had lunch and waited for our turn. Even though Aidan is a little goofy-looking in this picture and Avery obviously freaked out, both of them were very good throughout the day and crashed on the way home.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

This morning was the annual "Reindeer Trot" and Christmas Program at Aidan's Mother's Day Out. His class sang "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" with guitars, although Aidan's guitar was backwards and he did more standin' than rockin'. But at the end when all the classes sang "Away in a Manger" Aidan stood front and center with Kaelyn and did the hand motions he'd learned. My camera completely flipped out and I couldn't take any pictures, so thank you Tracey for covering for me!!

Christmas Past

Our family has been sick with the stomach bug for the past 3 days, and the kids are just starting to get their appetite back a little. We are taking the kids to see the Northpark Santa on Friday so I'm anxious to see how they react. Maybe they will re-enact this picture of me and Uncle Jason, circa 1980!

Friends and Ouchies

Here are a bunch of Aidan's playgroup friends from Mom's Club, that he's known almost all his life. We met with our Cooking Club at a friend's house on Wednesday, and I was determined to try and get a picture. Poor Avery got her first real injury by losing her balance and bonking her chin on the brick fireplace. I think I was more upset than she was. She's tough!

Fun Bus

Today we went to a birthday party for Aidan's friend Kaelyn, and the kids got to play on the Fun Bus! You may have seen something similar if you are a "Jon & Kate Plus 8" watcher. The kids had a blast burning off some energy on the bus while the adults went inside the house to eat and relax! Oh, and I almost burned down Tracey and David's kitchen table. I offered to light Kaelyn's candles, and the match snapped in half and fell on the table as soon as I lit it. Luckily nothing caught fire and the table was fine. But it was very exciting for a few seconds!