Christmas 2010

Ben & Maddie's gifts from Santa this year were the wooden rocking horses that my Dad made for me and my brother for our first Christmas. I had them sitting out in front of the fireplace this morning when the kids got up. They looked at them, touched them, but neither wanted to ride.

A couple hours later, Ben climbed on and discovered he loved it. Maddie kept acting like she wanted to get on, then would refuse when you tried to help her on. Oh well. She'll warm up eventually.

From 2010-12-24

From 2010-12-24

Their other gifts included a bowling set and a train with a station -- no tracks -- that allows you to load stuff into the train car(from my brother), several books, toy cameras, a clock puzzle and magnetic animals. They played with each for awhile, then got distracted by something else.

Here's a pic of my brother, David, reading to Ben & Maddie this morning:

From 2010-12-24

For Christmas Eve, we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Stillwater. We had a great time, especially the visit from Santa.

Ben was in awe when he saw Santa walk in the door...

From 2010-12-24

And eventually sat on his lap....

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From 2010-12-24

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Maddie didn't want to go anywhere near him, but she kept her eye on him the whole time.

But Ben & Maddie REALLY liked the marshmallow treats that Santa gave them (their first time having marshmallows)

From 2010-12-24

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Here are a bunch of misc pics from our night...

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From 2010-12-24

Playdate with Hazel

Today we had a little playdate with Hazel, the daughter of one of my co-workers. Hazel is just a few months younger than Ben & Maddie but you can't tell much difference when looking at them or listening to them talk.

HEre's Hazel:

From 2010-12-23

And some other pics from the day:

From 2010-12-23

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Cross-dressing

There's been a lot of "cross-dressing" going on in our house lately. Usually it's Ben insisting on wearing something of Maddie's (occasionally it'll go the other way). Today Ben insisted on the pink pants, and of course it totally didn't match the shirt I had picked out for him. but we rolled with it. The women at the YMCA child care center were kind enough to not laugh too hard, at least.

From 2010-12-18

From 2010-12-18

From 2010-12-18

Christmas Tree!

I decorated the Christmas tree while the kids were napping yesterday, so they were quite in awe when they first saw it....

From 2010-11-27

From 2010-11-27

From 2010-11-27

Thanksgiving 2010

My brother David came to our house for Thanksgiving again this year. We had a fabulous, quiet day. Just what I needed! He made us some great treats, including pumpkin pie, homemade bread, cookies and O'Henry bars, and helped me make dinner. The kids took to him right away, no fear, even though they haven't seen him in five months. It was a great day.

From 2010-11-25

Trip to cabin and Bayfield

I had the week off work so we trekked north on Monday, stopping for one night at the cabin and then another night in Bayfield with Jamey's grandparents. We might've stayed longer except that a storm was coming through on Wednesday and we wanted to beat it home (which we did). Plus my brother is coming for Thanksgiving, so we don't want to miss that!

Our only minor crisis (which turned out better than we expected) was that we got about a mile down the road to head to Bayfield and I realized that we hadn't packed Maddie's lovey -- her prized possession, which she must have when she sleeps. So we turned around and Jamey and I ransacked the cabin trying to find it. But no luck. So we kept going on the assumption that maybe she tucked it into a bag when we weren't looking (she does things like that). Plus we were late and had to be there at a particular time so Jamey could take his grandfather to a medical appointment.

But when we got to Bayfield and unloaded the car -- and ransacked all the bags -- there was no lovey. Amazingly Maddie rolled with it. We let her have whatever she wanted in her crib and she chose some of her clothing. We tried to avoid giving Ben his lovey but he started crying "veee, veee" and we had to give in. I was stunned that Maddie didn't shed a tear. Clearly she was puzzled at bedtime, but i think she was also a bit overwhelmed by a whole new environment and new people, etc.

When we got back to the cabin today, I opened up a cabinet on a TV stand and there it was ---the very first place I looked! Isn't that ridiculous?! The look on Maddie's face was priceless.

Bayfield had a lot more snow and Ben & Maddie got to have their first ride in a sled...

From 2010-11-22

From 2010-11-22

From 2010-11-22

Here's a picture of Jamey's grandfather, Jack, trying to read to a very distracted Ben (and yes, Ben is wearing his favorite color --- pink!).

From 2010-11-22

At the cabin on Monday, the kids had some interesting choices of clothing.

Here's Ben with Maddie's pink sweater and a hair clip (and no pants):

From 2010-11-22

And Maddie wearing a blanket (as a toga) and notice the can cooler she's wearing on her arm sort of like a glove (and no pants).She's covering her eyes because she thinks the flash is too bright:

From 2010-11-22

Dad and the little ones

From 2010-11-19