It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas has snuck up on me.  It all starts so innocently... a gift bought here, a Christmas song sung there and then before you know it it is Christmas!  The recent snowfall has certainly helped usher in the season.  We have already been to a Christmas concert and Adrian and Vivian are both hard at work preparing for theirs at Sunday school and Preschool.  Adrian takes this business quite seriously. 

I have embraced online shopping in a big way and have nearly all of my shopping done.  It is quite fun to arrive home to a big box of goodies.  I have a couple downstairs I haven't even opened yet.

This Saturday is the Santa Clause parade.  I am as excited as the kids because I know this is magical for them.  I am not sure why but there is just something so bizarre for them about standing on the street at night watching lights go by and getting candy thrown at them.  (Okay, now that I think about it I know why it seems bizarre to them!) Let's hope for some good weather.

Vivian had her first romp in the snow and it was adorable.  Mind you it wasn't technically her first as she was out last winter but in her mind it was.  When she saw the snow out the window she couldn't stop pointing as if to say 'What on earth is that?'.  It was just a powder but we still got out on the sled and pulled her around and she thought it was fantastic and had a giant grin plastered on her sweet little face the whole time.  (That is until Adrian rolled the sled and she did a face plant in the snow.  Her love affair kind of ended there.)

So we attempted yet another holiday family photo.  This time I decided to skip the department store photo studio and found someone from kijiji to take them in her basement.  She did a great job and was very patient but Vivian refused to look at the camera and Adrian just got plain old tired of it after the first 20 clicks.  So again I am left with mediocre family pictures.  Oh well... at least some are funny. She did a great job!

This was the only way to get Vivian to smile.  Let her have a horsey ride.

Look my husband does smile!  And it is handsome at that.

Getting closer to a nice picture but not quite there.

 

Jamie had a sore back for the rest of the day.

Ah.  My handsome boy.  I love this one.

 

An impromptu hug from Vivian.  Oh they were wiggly that day.

 

Jamie looks happy but really he is trying to keep Adrian subdued... lol.  Can you see the little veins popping in his forehead?

Not a great picture but I thought it was funny that Vivian had her hands like me.  She refused to pose with Jamie so unfortunately we don't have any of the two of them.

Happy Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween!  I really enjoy this holiday as it is so stress free and easy.  Well sort of.  There is nothing Adrian likes more in the world right now than candy so he was very hyper to get going.  Vivian has her first ear infection and is feeling rather grumpy about it so she was not in the mood.  I let them 'do' their own makeup which they both found quite funny and I guess it got Vivian in the mood because she voluntarily put on the top of her costume (unicorn) although still refused to put the hood up.

Vivian made it to about 10 houses and then Jamie took her home in the wagon.  A good first attempt at Halloween I must say.  Adrian was so excited he could barely contain himself.  After running full tilt about 1km in our subdivision he was exhausted and we ended up just walking straight home.  He actually said "Mommy, I have enough candy... let's not stop at any more houses."   

"Trick or treat"

All Adrian wanted to be this year was a Construction worker.  It didn't really even look like a costume once he lost the helmet and put on a coat... lol.

A moment of excitement.  FYI... don't try to come between Vivian and her bag of candy.  It is not pretty.

Sorting some Halloween party (we went to 2) candy.  They love to play with it.

Examining his loot.  Boy he loves candy. (And mostly the gross sugary stuff, he doesn't care much for chocolate!)

So much candy... so little time.

I think this picture accurately sums up her mood this Halloween.  We had a war of wills trying to get her to say 'Thank-you".  Sadly, she won this round.

Country Pumpking 2010

All I really wanted was a cute picture of the two of them in the pumpkins.... is it too much to ask?  While the pictures below are funny they aren't quite what I had in mind.  Adrian couldn't sit still and Vivian refused to look at the camera.  Little monkeys.

Vivian gets an A+ at hiding.

When Adrian was a toddler he would hide on me all of the time but he couldn't contain his giggling nor could he last more than 30 seconds without moving.  So it was pretty easy to find him.  Vivian, as usual, is a different creature.  She can stay in the same spot indefinitely without moving or making a noise.  This is not good for me because I will loose her and be frantically calling her name and she doesn't budge.  This weekend I found her in the pantry... good hiding spot Vivian!  Luckily she tends to pick the same spots over and over again. I am pretty sure she was in and out of the pantry 100 times that day.  Funny girl.

Sleeping arrangements

Do you think it might be time to move Vivian to a big girl bed?  *SIGH*  Look how much she fills out her little crib.  Of course it would help if she would sleep horizontally but of course she does not go with the flow.

 

Check out Adrian's little habit that has yet to fade away... he still sucks his thumb.  One of the only pieces of baby Adrian I have left so I won't rush it away... even if it does cost me thousands of dollars in braces some day.  (Also check out his orange wall that was a labour of love for me.)