new year's eve

We did our usual spread of fondue but this year we moved it to the table. It was fun but a little hard trying to reach all the different pots. Everyone's sticks would get tangle now and again. It was neat we could share this tradition with G & G. Harkin ate a ton and said this was his favorite dinner ever!
After a bit of clean up, we celebrated the new year with the littles at 7:00. It was 12:00 somewhere, right? Thanks Grammy for the fun party hats and lovely horns. Then they were off to bed and we spent the night playing games trying to keep G &G awake(mommy and daddy also). By 12:00 we were all ready for bed. The big boys wanted to prove they were up till twelve. Thanks Grampy for the clock. Welcome 2017!!!!

sweets from my sweet

Eric's brother had a baby over the holidays. Being whom he is, Eric drove down to CT all in a day to meet his new niece. After visiting for a bit and before starting the journey back home my sweet man stopped in New Haven at some of my old favorite places. He came home with Pepe's pizza, then cannolies from Libby's  AND Sally's since I have missed them so much. There was such a variety and so many it lasted us through the long weekend. Everyone enjoyed them immensely. Thank you my love.

the fun begins, again

Grammy and Grampy arrived the Friday after Christmas, but it felt like Christmas all over again. There were fun things handed out just because and then when Daddy got home we had presents to open. It was all very exciting and having G &G get to see the excitement the kids had in opening their presents was so precious. We spent the evening playing with our new toys and it was hard to head up to bed. But tomorrow was a new day.  Issabelle slept with her new backpack that night.

the in between

The week between Christmas and New Years was awesome. We had nowhere to go and just spent our days at home. We played, read, snuggled, cleaned out the old to make room for the new. It was a very relaxing week just being us. Everyone was calm. We did go out once so the big boys could go to the movies with a friend and Harkin had his first playdate without anyone with him. Issabelle and I had a lunch date while all this was going on. Then  came home to anxiously await Grammy and Grampy's arrival!!

the blue track

The blue track was a huge hit. It was a family gift and everyone has had fun with it. They can set it up wherever they want ( it has been all over the kitchen and living room at once) and have races with cars for hours on end. Each time is like the first time. Such excitement.

christmas morning

We awoke to discover that Santa had snuck into our room and left a book for each of us. How exciting was that. The pure joy and look on their faces was so precious. We read our books for a bit so Daddy could sleep in(7:30) and then tried peeking downstairs while Daddy was making sure all was ready. Then it was time!  What fun it was going through the stockings and opening presents. Everyone was thrilled with each gift. Issabelle took most of it in for awhile and wanted to play with each thing she opened so it took her most of the day to finish. Harkin loved staying in his PJ's all day. Well, most of the day. He got dressed when I finally gave him and Issabelle their new sleds. They had to go outside and try them out of course. Landon went along as well to try out his snowshoes. William went just for a bit as he was happy reading or building. It was a really mellow day and fun for all.