Seattle Christmas Party

The first Christmas party of the season at our house on Sunday, Dec 10th! Jeff and I wrapped the presents the night before the party. Then on Sunday morning, the boys got up (at 5:45, as usual), they watched tv, as Jeff, Chloe and I slept in. After an hour of Jay Jay the Jet Plane, we heard, "Hey, look at all these presents!" They crowded around the christmas tree and within minutes had identified their names on gifts. Jackson had surrounded himself with his gifts. We told them that they needed to wait until after nap, then Traci, Peter and Hudson were coming over and then after we eat, we can open the presents. About 20 minutes later (at about 7:30 am), Jackson was asking to go take his nap.

We went to the zoo that morning, to get their minds and hands off the gifts. Traci and Peter came over at 4:00 with little Hudson. Chloe just loves Hudson. She was looking at him and touching him. She went to get her baby dolls and was putting them in Hudson's car seat. Hudson slept throught almost the whole party, until the very end. He was 3 weeks + 1 day old.

Finally, our meal was over. The boys probably ate one bite each. It was time to unwrap!

Earlier in the month, I had asked the boys what they thought that Santa was going to bring for them. Sam said, "um, a clock!!!!" Jackson said, "monsters- Boo, Mr. Waternoose, Sulley, Mike and Slug" (Monsters Inc. movie toy action figures). Well, Sam got his wish, but Jackson's were only available through an obscure source in Hong Kong and I wasn't willing to bet on it. The boys opened Sam's clock and burst out, "A CLOCK!!" They were so excited about a clock. It has all the numbers on it, except for there's the date where the number 3 should be and they couldn't stop talking about that missing 3.

Now the clock hangs idly on the wall and what they're really playing with is the new wooden parking garage, fire station, gas station, wooden road track system and the new cars. This system hooks up to their wooden train tracks too. They love it.

Chloe probably mostly liked the wrapping paper. She was too busy playing with her babies.

Christmas in downtown

Christmas in downtown began awhile ago. Here we are at one of the boys' favorite downtown spots- the skybridge between two buildings. The windows are decked out with holiday stickers and the boys peer down at the cars and people who now appear green. Chloe darts back and forth to see out both sides of the skybridge windows. I try to keep her in check, as people are walking all around her. After the skybridge, we go into Nordstrom to see the fish tanks and Chloe also likes to look at all the shoes. Last night we went downtown too and Chloe kept wanting to go into all these stores- she's the complete opposite of the boys at this age. The second we'd try to set one foot into a store, they would scream. Chloe dragged me into a jewelry store, a hip clothing store and of course, the channel 9 (PBS) store, where she did not want to leave the shelf full of stuffed Elmos. The boys were thrilled to see the "snow". This one indoor mall has a nightly "snow" fall, where they blow foam soap pieces down from the fourth floor into the atrium; it looks like snow. Kari

Chloe- from baby to toddler

Chloe began walking on Thanskgiving and now she wants to be like everyone else in the house. She walks around and moves things from here to there. She thinks, "It must be very important to pick things up and put them in places. I think the toilet seems like an important place to put objects." That's what she was thinking, no doubt, when she plopped a small photo albumn into the toilet which Sam had just used. yuck! She keeps very busy.

Now Chloe is potty training with the boys.

Resident expert, Sam, shows Chloe how it's done.

Painting

Snow in November closed schools for three days. We decided to make some paintings for Sam & Jackson's room. Everyone pitched in to help.

Snowy in Seattle

The boys have been interested in the seasons. Today it was cold, Sam asked if it was winter. Later that day it began to snow and after dinner even though it was dark and cold outside the boys wanted to venture to the front yard to see the snow. With great excitement they scraped the white stuff from any surface that snow would stick and yelled "cocoa powder flew everywhere" as they tossed their not so round snowballs into the driveway. Being so proud of their icy find they each brought a snowball into the house to show Kari and Chloe. Sam took off his wet mittens and replaced them with his warm socks to keep his hands safe form the cold as he walked around the house with his prize. They gave one ball to Chloe in her warm bath. She tried to comb the snow with a little pink brush. The boys brought their snowballs with them when it was their turn in the tub. They watched with amazement and disappointment as their snow quickly dissolved in the warm waters of their bath.-----Jeff

Christmas at our house has begun!

Today was the day after Thanksgiving. After nap time we went to buy our Christmas tree. Everyone got to pick out a new ornament for the year. Jackson chose a metal airplane and wanted Sam to chose a metal train. Sam chose a box of brightly colored glittery balls. Chloe chose a cluster of jingle bells, but My Little Pony ornaments were a close second for her. I chose the metal train (for Jackson) and Jeff chose a metal old fashioned car (to continue the theme). Chloe was too tired to help decorate. The boys were so excited to help- giddy with glee! They placed all their ornaments, clustered in the center of the tree. But when we were done, they decided they should move theirs around to empty spots. They kept saying, "This one's very special; I have to get the right spot." I told them that in the morning, when Chloe gets up, that she's going to take all the ornaments on the bottom of the tree and play with them or eat them, so then they moved again. After we finished the tree, Jackson decorated the rest of the house with the stockings and little table top decorations. He insisted that the "socks" (stocking) were to be hung on the tree. --Kari

Chloe gets her driver's liscense

Chloe loves to ride in her car. She sits in there and turns the steering wheel and moves her feet to go backwards. Sometimes Sam gets in the other toy car and rides along side her; she loves that. - Kari

Traci & Peter have a baby!

November 18th, 2006 at about 6:40 pm, Hudson is born! I get to witness it all; how remarkable. He was 7lbs 6oz and so cute. And Traci was radiant too with her flat ironed hair and glowing smile. Peter was all action. They are very excited and will be great new parents. Sam and Jackson talk about Hudson all the time, especially Sam. He asks if Hudson is big yet. Chloe just points and says, "baby" and sometimes tries to poke his eyes. - Kari

Halloween 2006

We went to a friend's house for Halloween, they always have a pumpkin carving contest. Sam & Jackson were very excited to bring their pumpkins. They were firemen (again) and Chloe was a green dinosaur. Jackson was going up to everyone at the party and discussing their pumpkins. He wanted to see what kinds of seeds everyone had in their pumpkins. Sam was busy running around with the other boys, popping balloons and eating scary jello treats. Chloe was practicing her stair climbing; the house is a split level, so lots of opportunities for Chloe. --Kari

Sam & Jackson's 4th birthday

Sam and Jackson celebrated their 4th birthday with their friends from preschool at our house. They were very proud to show all their friend their house and toys. The motorized ride-in monster truck and cadillac car were a big hit with the 4-year old crowd, as was the pinata and candy.

The boys got bikes for their birthday from their grandparents. Sam was especially excited. This photo is his first journey on the bike. He most often rides his bike around our back deck. He gets going super fast.

Chloe had her one year old birthday party with the family. She ate her cake and got all messy- no hesitation to dive right in.

- Kari