Christmas happenings

Ok, bear with me.  This is going to be a loooong post about several different events to help catch up. :)

Snow day in the park! Our neighborhood had a really fun event in the park where E's dream came true - he got to ride on a train! 

 look at that face!  

 we did have a little bit of a hard time getting off of the train and letting others have a turn. :)

 he also had fun in the bouncy house which he's usually unsure of

and had a good time making 'snow' balls with Nana.  (notice how everyone's wearing short sleeves?)

Fun with J&H.  Aunt Hannah and Uncle Josh came down for Christmas and we ate and opened gifts of course (but took no pictures - oops!).  Then we went to the aquarium for some fun... 

 uncle josh in the fish tank 

 touching the sting rays 

 hello tiger... 

this picture is blurry, but funny :)

Christmas Train!  There's a place a little south of here that does a Christmas train, so we decided to take E down there to ride.  It was a really long wait, but we still had fun and made it through. :)

 

 there were other small trains to entertain us while we waited

 

  the train!!!

super excited faces. :) 

 

we made it!

the Domines came along with us for the ride :)

Christmas!  And here are a few pics of E opening his gifts this year.  B worked on Christmas day, so we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve together.  The next day E and I hung out and then went over to Nana and Pops' house for dinner. 

 awww bear hug. (from Aunt C and Uncle L)

 

 he did great and was excited about opening gifts this year.  it was fun to watch. 

 we got him this set of FDNY trucks while we were in New York 

the best we did as far as a picture together.

 Nana and Pops got me this car to drive around

and then we played with matchbox cars.

Dad and Pops both got me train sets which I loooooove.  So now I have one at each house.  Spoiled?  

 Every year mom and Nana make sugar cookies and decorate them.  This year I got to have one and I started calling them 'krima' which mom thinks means Christmas??  She did tell me I could only have them at Christmas. :)

 

mmmm... yummy.  

then we got to have dinner with B's family.  (this pic is actually from Thanksgiving, but I had been meaning to post it... All the P siblings)

 

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Victor got me this really cool fire gear and helmet.  They even put my name on the back.  

whew!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! 

back on the blog wagon

oh man!  where did the last month go?  I wish I had some great excuse for all my many faithful readers out there ;).  like my computer crashed or something.  both of them.  but I don't!  a lot did happen, I turned the big 3-0, we went to New York (more on that later), E really started acting like a 2 year old, and I think we've all taken a turn being sick at least twice in the past few weeks. so here's a quick update for you to get me back on the wagon and then we'll do Christmas, New York, etc.  hopefully before the end of the year!

In the past month we did a couple of things we have pics for:

we had a fun morning at the park with some friends that also have birthdays in November.  so we got a picture of the boys (*not pictured: baby Liam).  I think this was the first round that E and I were sick... its hard to remember...

now for this little guy- he has been off and on sick, teething, and just plain strong-willed.  I know, I know, he got that from me.  that doesn't make it any easier.  :)  a couple of weeks ago he decided he didn't want to sleep in his bed anymore.  we tried every trick in the book.  so for about 1 week one of us had to either rock him to sleep or lay on the floor with him until he fell asleep.  it was exhausting.  for a mom that's sick and a dad that doesn't get much sleep as it is - it was torture.  he just wanted to be held.  when we talked about bed time he would point to his rocking chair or to our bed (no idea where this came from).  finally we put the toddler rail on his bed and really talked up that dada was making him a big boy bed.  some nights that trick works better than others, but so far he's sleeping in it!  pray it continues! 

of course he is still our sweet lovable boy.  he still loves anything to do with trucks/trains/cars.  (as you'll see in the Christmas pictures to come).  he loves reading books about them, looking at pictures of them, watching videos about them, and playing with them.  have I said that he started giving kisses?  its the cutest thing ever.  

I had a great birthday and a really fun trip I'll tell you more about soon.  my biggest present was this new dining room table that my dad and B built for me.   isn't it lovely? 

one cold night we drug our sick selves out in the cold for a good pranking... we had about 40 election signs that we put in the yard of a fellow prankster.  we were pretty happy with the result. 

and of course had a blast at the annual High Altitude Christmas partay!  (more pics to come on the HA blog asap.)

hopefully I still have a few readers out there and you'll hear from us again soon!  :)

family pics

We had some family pictures taken last month so thought we'd share some since our baby boy is so handsome! 

 

Tis the season

for gift shopping!  (among other things of course...)  But giving gifts is something that I love.  Since our budget is a little tighter this year, I want to make extra sure that we spend our money wisely.  So, I thought I'd share a few fun ways I have been thinking about to make our giving go a little further.


Support small businesses!
for example, our friends own this awesome store called Restyle in Pearland.

if you don't live close, you can shop online here.



World Vision
we sponsor a little boy through this organization, and every year they have an awesome gift catalog.  you can check it out here.

you can choose how you want to help (food, education, medical, etc) and even who you would like to help (orphans, etc.).  I wish I could pick one of everything!  They send you a card for each gift that you purchase so you can use it to let someone know what you gave in their honor.


TOMS
I love these shoes!  They are soooo comfortable.  Check them out here.

For every pair of shoes you purchase (or every shirt), they give away one pair of shoes to a child in need.


Purses from Haiti
This organization teaches women skills they can use to support their families as well as life skills to care for their families.  Each purse is uniquely handmade!

Click here to buy a purse or a gift card for someone. 


I'd love to hear your favorite ideas!

halloween

here are the pics of our little builder all dressed up.

we went to the festival at our church and then did a little trick-or-treating with our friend from down the street.

 

 

at First Fest

 petting a pony

 

with friends William, Zachary, and Luke

 

just chillin'

 

what else, but a pool of ducks with our bud Noah

 

share with me dada!

 

mmmmmmm...

 trick or treating with Mia