Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas. It seems like it gets better every year. Andrew and Mari had a great time.

#2?

Mari started potty-training on Sunday. She went the whole day without an accident. On Monday, she went the whole day without using the potty. The final straw was when she peed on me during dinner. We decided she wasn't quite ready. This morning I had her in a diaper, and she said to me 'I have to go poop.' OK. So I guess she is potty-training. She made it all day today without an accident. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Some New Videos

Elliot Clapping




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Mari & Elliot Singing & Clapping




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Mari Singing




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Andrew Singing




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Worn Out

We had a fun, tiring weekend. Elliot and Andrew have not been sleeping well, and we have all had a little cold. It seems as though Mari is the only one still going strong.

Not much got done this weekend. Friday night we ran errands, I think. Saturday we also ran errands. We had plans to hit 'Holiday at the Farm' at Gorman Heritage Farm, but due to the rain we decided not to attend.

Sunday included more errands, and Susan and I even got to have a little date. Mer-mer and B-Bob (I still have no clue how to spell their grandparent names) watched the kids while Susan and I celebrated our four-year engagement anniversary. Then we enjoyed a nice chicken noodle soup dinner at their house, before heading home to put the kids to bed a little early.

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a fun weekend. Friday night we stayed in, ordering some pizza and getting the kids to bed early.

We spent Saturday taking care of some errands and some chores around the house. Saturday night we hit our first Christmas party, which was fun.

Today we hosted some visitors. Susan's friend and former roommate from CAP, Annie, stopped by with her five-month old daughter, Cecilia. It was nice to see Annie, as we had not seen her in a few years. She and her family recently moved to Hamilton, OH, which is only about half-an-hour from where we live. After she left we hung up some Christmas lights outside and then my parents came over for dinner.

Sledding

We got a little snow (/rain/sleet) a couple days back, and Andrew has been wanting to get out sledding, so today when I got home from work today, he, Mari and I headed down to the church playground (where there is a very little hill), and hit the slopes. Andrew had a great time, and I think he is finally getting to the age where he could spend a lot of time outside in the snow. Mari did well, even going down the hill a couple times by herself, but she was done in by a tandem ride where she and Andrew both fell off, him landing on her, her face landing in the snow. She did stay outside, but she was done sledding.

We came home to play in the back yard a bit. I taught Andrew the basics of frisbee golf while Mari swung. He actually hit his first target (which I bet was about 50 feet away) in just three tries, which was pretty good. We finished off our time outside by enjoying a fresh round of 'snow cookies', with the kids delighting in the taste of stale snow.

Jekyll & Hyde

Last night was a mess. The kids were tired & crabby, and on different schedules. Andrew cried and whined his way through dinner. Elliot skipped his afternoon nap so he was a fuss. Mari did not skip her nap, so while the boys were asleep by 7:30, Mari was an hour later.

Tonight was one of those nights when things just come together. We had a nice dinner, with all of us sitting at the table for about 1/2 hour enjoying ourselves. Holly stopped by after dinner with some advent calendars, which the kids (& Susan) loved, and will continue to love up until Christmas. After she left we hung out for about half an hour, listening to some nice Christmas music and playing. Before bed we read Todd Parr's Peace Book (The Peace Book, is the title), which I love, and the kids also enjoy. We were upstairs for bed by 7:30 and all the kids were asleep in a timely, relaxing manner. Nice.