Whatever Sam does....

....Hannah does

 

Next time.... listen to your wife!

We have a gazebo type thing on the deck that gives us some shade in the summer - well i told Mark if he had plans to use it again next summer we should take it down for the winter.  He took it down for the hurricane but then put it back up - tsk tsk....

 

Look at it now....

Yep, its ruined....the metal brackets buckled under that wet heavy snow.... next time honey, listen to your wife! ☺



Our First Snow!

We had our first snow of the season!!

 

It started as rain but by 9am it switched snow - it was sooo pretty!!  When we got home Sam really wanted to play in it so we went outside for about 10 mins before dinner - we got about 3 inches and it was a wet heavy snow

 

 

 



Ketchup

Hannah hasnt been too fond of ketchup but whenever Sam has it she wants it to and then qucikly realizes she doesnt like it - but not anymore!

 

She liked it so much she was dipping her carrot in it and sucking it off - hahaha



Getting Ready for Christmas

Sam received some mail from the North Pole!

 

 It seems that Santa sent him a little note and he was excited for me to read it

 

 

Sam smiled when I was done.

We also brought out the Christmas tree and our 2 little elves helped Mark get it set up

 

Sam wanted to decorate the tree – just like last year they all went on the bottom, right.next.to.each.other

 

Fourteen made his appearance again. Sam thinks it’s funny that he is watching us and reporting back to Santa – although one day when he was being mean to Hannah I told Fourteen to tell Santa and Sam freaked out!!! He didn’t want Fourteen to tell – actually he wanted Fourteen to leave the house….forever… LOL

We also put a little tree in Sam’s room this year – he loves having his own tree!!

 

Here’s to the start of a great Christmas Season!

Happy Thanksgiving

We headed to Western PA for Thanksgiving again this year – it was a quick trip since I had to work on Friday. We headed to Mark’s dad’s place after we picked up the kids and got in around 8pm. Kids were off schedule a bit (Hannah took a 2hour nap in the car) so bed time was tricky… then they both woke up at 5am….yikes!

Sam played outside with Gramps while the rest of us got ready. We headed to Portage to see his grandma and then to Ray and Polly’s where the Vandzura Clan was. It was so great seeing everyone and catching up and sharing a wonderful meal together.

That afternoon we headed to see Mark’s mom and Aunt/Uncle for a visit. We stayed and chatted and had some yummy desserts! We got on the road around 6pm and got home by 10pm – it was a long day but so nice to see everyone

We are THANKFUL we have such a great family to share the holidays with!

 

Convo with Sam

Out of the blue

 

Sam: Hey Mommy, remember last year when I wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap

Me: Yep –I do remember that. Do you want to see him this year?

Sam: No

Me: Ok, that’s fine you don’t have too!

Sam: I didn’t like his beard

Me: Yeah its pretty big huh? That’s not the real Santa though – the real Santa is in the North Pole getting all the presents ready fro Christmas – those Santa’s are just his helpers

Sam: Can we see the real Santa?

Me: Nope! If you come downstairs he will disappear…like magic! Poof!

Sam: Eyes wide Well, I am going to put a spell on him so he stays!

Me: Oh yeah?

Sam: Yeah – I am going to come down the steps and put a spell on him and he wont disappear! Wouldn’t that be fun mommy?

Me: Yes it would! You should try it!

Sam: smiling

Pottery Barn Knock-off

I saw these at PBK and thought they were super cute....so did everyone else in blog land....so lucky for me I found a pattern for the boats!

 

PBK

Here are mine below - I thought they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

I will be bringing them to Sam's Thanksgiving Day feast on Wednesday





Helping Hands

I love it when Sam helps Hannah - so sweet!

 



How I know my kids are getting bigger

 

The wagon is getting heavy!  haha

Bad mommy

I got caught by Sam today.....but I blamed Hannah!

hahahha

 

Sam has been really into coloring - I mean like 5-6 per day - and they are ALL for me....what am I going to do with them all???

 

So...I throw them away when he isnt looking.

Tonight he found one in the trashcan...oops.... I said "Oh, I bet Hannah did that, sorry buddy, here, lets put it in a book to get the wrinkles out"

 

Next time I will hide in the trash better...LOL

PSU

Mark and Sam headed to the PSU game today

 

just arrived

thirsty?  lol

got to sit in the box seats

heading back to the car

I stayed home with hannah..... I forgot how easy it was to just have 1 kid.... that doesnt talk back! haha

Life with a toddler {hannah}

she found my ziploc bags

Operation Christmas Child

I thought this would be a good year to start teaching Sam about giving and gratitude.  I signed up to fill a shoebox for a little boy ages 2-4 and explained to Sam that not all kids get Christmas gifts, some dont have any toys at all.  I told him how lucky he was to have a house, and toys, and food to fill his belly.

I told him we were going to fill a shoebox with some goodies for a little boy his age who doesnt have many things - Sam of course wanted to get him toys and candy - I let him pick out a few things and then I guided him towards others, such as the toothbrush and toothpaste.

 

I am sure Sam still doesnt quite understand but hopefully in the next few years he will - here's to the start of a great new tradition!



Sunday Sweets

Life with a toddler {hannah}

Hannah found her tutu in a box tonight and refused to take it off.... Sam said we should call her Princess Hannah ♥

Halloween Parade

Due to the hurricane the kids Halloween Parade got pushed off until today - most of the parents said hello to their kids as they walked by...not me.... those kids who saw their mommy/daddy but couldnt get to the them cried and cried....so when I saw Hannah I hid behind the camera and took pictures

 

 

When Sam came out I tried to hide too...haha...but he was looking for me and saw me..... then he tried to hide from me - but I got pics anyway!