All dolled up

Santa brought Aubrey a trunk full of dress-up Princess clothes. She also received Princess shoes from Aunt Diane and Uncle Don. So, first day home, Snow White has come alive. She is our little princess...

Ho, ho, ho!

Christmas Day is here! We had a busy day planned and after a late night on Christmas Eve, we had to wake up both of the kids at 8am. Aubrey was excited to get downstairs to see all of the presents left behind by Santa. We weren't able to take any pictures during this time since we each had one of the kids. But, we did get a picture of the stockings. They were too heavy to hang so they are just "placed by the chimney with care" instead.

After opening gifts and playing for a bit, we packed up the car and drove to my parents' house for a few days. Christmas day is the day we celebrate with my extended family. It was nice to see Grandma and Grandpa Harkey. As they age, I know my visits with them will be few and far between so I try to appreciate the moments I have. I know Grandma was thrilled to be able to spend the day with all three of her kids as well.

It was day three of opening gifts and Aubrey was still excited! Luckily there were only a few to open as her steam runs out quickly. She got some furniture and family members to go with her new dollhouse from Santa so she was thrilled. Tyler has just as much fun with the boxes and paper. We expected as much though.

Saturday was day four (the last) of Christmas celebrations. My brother and sisters came over with their families to celebrate. Again, many more presents. Aubrey wanted to open presents right away but since she was to wait, she didn't want to open them anymore. So, Daddy and I did all of the opening for both kids. We know the day will come when they both tear through them so fast that we won't even know who they came from.

Aubrey's face before and after receiving her presents

Tyler helping with presents and wearing his new Sox hat

Once again, our trip back home was much too short. But, with the kids, it was all that we/they could handle. Tyler still doesn't sleep very well and it's even worse away from home. When he doesn't sleep well, neither do we.

We had a wonderful Christmas and cherish our time with our family. We know the kids will grow quickly so we want to appreciate every day when they are little. Only 363 more days for the kids to be good so they stay off of Santa's naughty list. :)

'twas the night before Christmas...

...and off to Aunt Diane's house we go! It is time to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Sandberg family. It is a large gathering with lots of kids. The oldest grandchild is 16 and Tyler is the youngest at 10 months. I would guess there are about 25 in between! Santa made a guest appearance, once again. This time, however, Tyler wasn't so excited to see him. As soon as he sat on Santa's lap, the tears came rolling out. Amazingly enough, they stopped once he was back in Mommy's arms. Poor little guy. Aubrey was much better than at the Zoo and sat on Santa's lap. She even conveyed her desire for a "Mickey clock" to him. It was nice to see all of the cousins that we only get to see one, maybe two times a year. It's hard to believe how quickly they all grow up. I'm sure we'll blink and our youngest will be old, too. Slow down time!! We left the party at 9pm and got home in time for the kids to get to bed before Santa paid a visit. Both were so exhausted and slept really well.

the kids in front our tree on Christmas Eve

excited, yet sleepy, while waiting for Santa

not happy to see the man in red

Caitlin and Natalie were both "good" this year

Aubrey could have sat there all night long

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Walk first. Jump serve second.

Tyler loves to play with balls. His favorite is the volleyball! He has mastered the ability to stand and hold it. Now we are working on teaching him the jump float serve...

Santa came early

Yesterday was the day we celebrated Christmas at Jeff's parents' house with his immediate family. To prepare, Aubrey and I decorated some cookies to look like Santa, Rudolph and even Mrs. Claus. The cookies turned out cute and Aubrey had fun eating, I mean, decorating them. :)

Once we finished the cookies, it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids had no idea what was in store for them. Grandma loves to shop and Christmas is her favorite holiday. So, as I put it, Santa comes twice every year! :) Luckily, even though Aubrey saw all of the presents, she was still oblivious and just as happy to be playing with Grandma's toys. However, once it was time to hand out presents, Aubrey's excitement level rose instantly, She couldn't contain it and started opening her presents before Grandpa could distribute all of them. Unfortunately, she was done opening her presents once she got to the Little Mermaid music box...definitely a hit! The kids got a lot of new toys, clothes, you name it. Once we got it all home, Aubrey didn't even know what to play with first. Tyler, of course, just wanted to play with/destroy whatever Aubrey was using at the time. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Sandberg for all of your generosity. We had a blast and are very grateful for you and all that you do!

the Sandberg grandkids




Jeff's year for "the shirt"

Jeff playing the frog game with the kids

Time for a tea party

This is a common occurence for Aubrey. She loves to throw her tea parties and always makes sure everyone has a full glass. She will be a good hostess someday!

Random decorations

I took the kids shopping to Target today and let Aubrey pick out a couple of decorations. She chose the Snowman cling pictured below. Also for this year's ornament she chose Tinkerbell. She is so proud of her new decorations!

celebrating Christmas at the Zoo

It's time for the annual Legat Christmas party. This is the third year they held it at Brookfield Zoo. It is so beautiful this time of year. You can still see a lot of the animals and the lights are nicely hung throughout. It was a cold day but at least it wasn't snowing this year. We went an hour early so that we could walk around. The kids had a blast.

Once we got to the party, we were served a buffet dinner. The food was very good and we even got Aubrey to eat some. (She rarely eats in places where there are other distractions). She wanted to eat my lettuce of all things. After dinner, Santa came to visit! Aubrey was grinning from ear to ear. Even Tyler lit up. Santa handed out some presents to the kids and afterwards posted for pictures. Aubrey was a little leery to sit on his lap, but Tyler had no fear.

A great time was had by all! Only 13 days until Christmas!