Bonding

Chris had to go in to work last night so Hannah and I got some girl time. So what did we do? Paint her toes for the first time. She had seen her friend Hope's painted toes and had been asking to paint hers for a while. So we snuggled up on the couch, put on Lady and the Tramp, and painted toes.

It's fun to get to do these girly things with Hannah, and to watch her personality come out. She's not one to always ask to wear dresses, and hasn't shown any interest in playing with makeup (probably because I don't wear that much). But every now and then she gets those urges and I'm happy to indulge.

December 2010

I think this is my last post to be caught up on our family happenings. December, as usual, was a busy month. It was a really fun time though. Hannah was very excited about Christmas, and watching her excitement over every little thing (like Christmas lights in a store window) made me smile. We made an effort to impress upon her the significance of Christmas as a time to celebrate Jesus' birthday. She got the idea (I think), and along with it the idea of Santa as well. We didn't give her any gifts from Santa, or even teach her about him at home, but through school, store displays and TV she got her fill of info on him. So I'm not sure how to approach the issue for next Christmas. I'm sure Chris and I will discuss it again come December.

After Thanksgiving, Chris went duck hunting with his dad and grandpa. He brought home several ducks and tested out some recipes. Tucker was very anxious to try some.

Here is Hannah with a duck dinner. My picky eater wouldn't try any of it.

With all the rain in December we had to move our Saturday coffee date from Starbucks to our house. It's always fun to watch these girls play together and dress up.

The finished Christmas Tree. Both Hannah and Tucker wanted the ornaments this year.

Showing off her face painting.

This is Hannah in her preschool Christmas Program. The kids sang a bunch of songs, most of which we couldn't understand the lyrics, but it was still cute!

In all the December rain Hannah got to try out her new umbrella and raincoat that she got for her birthday.

On one of those rainy weekends we made a gingerbread house together.

Showing off one of her Christmas presents.

After Christmas, we had a lot of family come to visit. It was lots of fun, especially meeting Hannah's cousin Emily for the first time. Hannah followed my sister-in-law everywhere so she could keep tabs on the baby.

Hannah also got some quality time with Aunt Megan, playing the Wii dance game.

As I was going through all these pictures, I realized I didn't take any of our family together. Something I'll have to make a point of doing next Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2010

Yes, I know I'm rather late with this one, but better late than never, right? We traveled to Soledad for Thanksgiving with the Vanoli family. As usual, the food was amazing and the time with family was too short. On the way up, these two were our backseat drivers.This was the Tucker's first trip with us and he did great. He was great in the car, and loved running around the property at my in-laws house, chasing birds and barking at the cows.

Hannah loves to see her cousins. It's a sweet time to watch them play, especially since our visits are few and far between. While we were up there, we gave the kids their Christmas presents, which were matching pj's (except for Preston, he got his own set). This is as good of a picture you can get of 5 kids under 4 years old.

The day after Thanksgiving the moms and Nona took the kids to the Dennis the Menace park in Monterey. I had never been there and they all had a lot of fun. Of course, Hannah had to copy the big kids and go down the giant slide head first.

At the park is a full size steam engine car to climb on. Hannah and Stellan climbed up to look for Nona. This is how they looked when they finally spotted her. Priceless.

Just for Fun

These are just a few random photos I came across recently. And if you don't mind, I could use a little reader feedback, if indeed there are readers. Since I don't get many comments, I'm curious if anyone actually reads this. So, if you don't mind, please post just a little note so I know if I should keep this up. I'm happy to keep blogging, as long as I'm not the only one reading it. Ok, enough of the fine print, on to the pictures.

In her spare time, Hannah likes to ride around in the backyard...in just her skivvies.

One day when Ali was over, I heard Hannah run into the kitchen and open the fridge. I came out to the living room to find this...
At least they're sharing