Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We spent the morning enjoying another beautiful day of skiing. Caedon skied the top of North West making great turns. In fact he was doing so well, we did not think we could get him off the mountain. We arrived home just in time for a quick break before cleaning up for Christmas Eve Dinner at my parents house. My mom put together a wonderful meal. Yes, it was choas at the kids table, but the adults had a pleasent meal in the dining room. The cousins opened their gifts from eachother. Each child took a turn so we could enjoy their faces as they opened the gifts. I am so happy we opened that gift on Christmas Eve as it made it more memorable. Christmas Day can be overwhelming, so opening the cousin gift on Christmas Eve made the gift special. I don't know how my mom has the energy to create a wonderful meal and cleanup, but she always does it with a smile!

A ski day with Caedon

I had the day off from work today. I was very excited to be able to ski with "the boys." It was truly beautiful with the snow glistening in the birght sunshine. Each time we go, Caedon shows progress. He is going up on the detachable chairlift and slowly graduating from Ponderosa and Galena to ski more challenging runs. We are so proud of him.

Madeline Grace's First Birthday

Maddy had a wonderful birthday
with her cousins, aunts, uncles
and grandparents, yesterday.

Maddy loved being in the middle
of her cousins opening her
great presents. What a lucky girl

A  room full of unconditional love -
the best birthday present ever.

Someday Jenna will be driving Madeline to school;
they are getting the practice in early.

Happy Birthday Madeline Grace!!!

Careful what you wish for

Last year my friend Ali gave us star-shaped ornaments that open up so that you can write wishes and put them inside. Well one of Caedon's wishes this year was for it to snow.  Now it won't stop snowing!!!

It is beginning to look like Christmas

This weekend turnded out to be a very busy, but fun weekend. We went Christmas tree hunting with my brother and found beautiful trees. Caedon was a trooper and did not complain about the hike or the cold. He was a big fan of Aunt Amy's hot cocoa. When we returned home, Martin put up the tree then Caedon and I went to work decorating it. We also made two ornaments, one with Caedon's hand print and one with Maddy's footprint. It was hard to make out the prints with white against white, so Caedon came up with the idea to put glitter on the prints. They will look beautiful on the tree. On Sunday it snowed, so we all went out to play in the fresh snow while Martin shoveled the walk. I think we will all sleep well tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving

                              

 

Caedon performed in a Thanksgiving program at school. He had several lines to memorize and recited them perfectly. We were very proud. I had to watch the performance on video because I was at work. After the program Caedon partnered up with his friend Courtney for the fiest. The corn muffins Caedon made for the fiest were a big hit.





                                                             

Keeping cozy as it gets colder

Halloween

I am a little late in posting the Halloween images. I was at a meeting in Chicago which started the day after Halloween. I am just getting around to loading the pictures now.

Entertainment for Maddy

She likes to help unload the dishwasher while you load it.

She enjoys opening the gate and climbing up the stairs!

She loves emptying out big brother's toy bins, throwing all his trucks on the floor!

She entertains herself by pressing buttons and changing the music on her mobile when she is supposed to be sleeping!

Caughlin Club Fall Festival

Tonight we went to a fun neighborhood fall festival where we ran into many friends. Caedon and Maddy had fun wearing  their costumes.  Caedon's costume is "BUMBLE BEE" the transformer and Maddy's costume is a flower. I can't wait for Halloween! Afterwards Martin and I went to Tim and Amy's 30th birthday bash hosted by my parents in conjunction with Amy's at a local bar. My favorite part was that they were playing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on a big screen in the background.

Good Night Legarzas

Every night we read books in Caedon's bed. Maddy just giggles as she climbs over everyone and rolls around. She is such a clown! This is really my favorite part of the day. We are all happy together.

Pumpkins!

I visited my sister this weekend and we took the cousins to this fabulous farm with tons of great pumpkins. The farm provided the complete pumpkin patch experience with a pony ride, a hay ride and a cute pot belly pig. I forgot my camera, so my sister was kind enough to send these photos ASAP so I could update my blog. We all had a delightful weekend. I am especially thankful for my niece's help with Maddy, which allowed me to have an uninterupted conversation with my sister. I can't wait to carve my pumpkins!

Caedon's first day of school with his cousin Alan.

Caedon's first soccer game of the season .