Christmas

 Christmas was a low-key affair.  We went down to Virginia the weekend before to see Uncle Dave (and meet his new girlfriend/soon-to-be finacee Beth) and spend time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Paul had to be at work on Monday so it was a short visit.

 The early risers.

 My favorite "late" riser.

 As predicted, he had more fun playing with the garbage than actually playing with his toys.  But it was so fun to watch!

 Lana and her long anticipated American Girl doll.  She's been begging for one for 2 years and Santa finally came through.

 Tanner and his big gift from Santa.  The Bowser's castle.

And Tanner's classic reaction to clothes for Christmas.  "Uhhhh..."

Christmas Eve

 On Christmas Eve, we usually go look at Christmas lights after dinner but I couldn't find any good places/neighborhoods.  So instead we decorated a Gingerbread village.  Porter actually ate his house.

 Sticky hands Lana

 Tanner is his daddy's boy.  He preferred only 2 types of candy decorations on his.

 Paul's masterpiece - We dubbed it "the outhouse"

 Tanner's masterpiece

 Lana's masterpiece

My masterpiece

Making Gingerbread Ornaments

 The kids had been begging to do something crafty so I broke out all of our Christmas cookie cutters and let them go to town.

 This cute baby was happy to watch the cookies in the oven and even eat a couple that broke while I was trying to tie on ribbons.

 I think Tanner was playing "let's see how much flour I can get away with before mom gets mad".

The finished product.  Most of them ended up in the same general area, but I'm not complaining!

December roundup

 I've decided that instead of toys for Christmas, I am just going to break out our old moving boxes, give the kids scissors, markers and crayons and done!  The kids spent hours playing with this thing!

 We finally had our first "real" snow fall here in New Jersey.  It came on a Sunday and the kids were in heaven.  They spent quite a bit of time outside just playing, shoveling and making snow angels. 

 Most of it melted by Monday afternoon.  No snow day, but they did have a delayed start so it was nice to sleep in a bit.  Except Lana got the stomach bug so really there was no sleeping.  At least she is big enough she can make it to the bathroom now.

 Tanner is just funny.

Porter has now discovered how fun the balcony is.  He can climb the stairs all by himself and he stands up there waving and squealing at all who will look at him.  When he gets bored he locks himself into a room and starts yelling so someone will come get him.  I love this goober so much!

Happy Thanksgiving Birthday Tanner!

 Tanner has been obsessed with Despicable Me 1 & 2, so this year for his birthday treats I found this brilliant idea on Pinterest for his class treats.  So simple and Tanner loved it.

 One of the presents we got Tanner for his birthday was a stomp rocket.  I think dad and the uncles had more fun playing with it. 

 Tanner's birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year.  We had so much fun hosting the Judson's again.  Thankfully we have a bigger house this go around.  (12 Adults, 6 kids, 2 babies and 1 baby in utero...not me, Emma  :) ) Most everyone had their own room or private space.  There was plenty of food and we discovered that a 2 Liter bottle of root beer can disappear in 3 minutes 10 seconds  (not from someone guzzling it).  Black Friday was lots of fun too!  I hate that people have to work on Thanksgiving, but I do appreciate not having to wake up at the butt crack of dawn as well.  This year we hit Old Navy, Khol's, Walmart (but only for eggs and milk for crepes in the morning, and for a few dvd's) on Thanksgiving night and then on Friday we went to Best Buy and back to Old Navy because they just had awesome deals!

The Big Apple

First view from across the Hudson

 We have been wanting to drive into the city before it got too unbearable cold to walk around.  Well unfortunately for us, we chose the wrong weekend.  It was cold and windy and we were completely unprepared!  Thankfully I had brought Porter's hat and two blankets, plus he was in the stroller so he was ok but the rest of us were frozen to the bone!

Wall Street Bull

 Driving around NYC is INSANE.  I would never survive.  The cab drivers are seriously crazy and then mix in the tourists who don't know where they're going and it's just heart pounding chaos. I think I'd rather take my chances on the subway.

Times Square

Toys R Us

ABC Studios

Manhattan Temple

We only did a drive by of the temple.  By the time we got through traffic, the kids were tired and getting cranky.  It is great to see this beacon of peace amongst the chaos of the city.

Great Falls - Paterson, NJ

 So we headed out on an adventure this morning to somewhere new.  Great Falls in Paterson, NJ.  Just a word to the wise, lock your doors on your way in if you take the "historical route", it's a little scary.

 The falls themselves were pretty neat.  The kids loved it.

 Paul discovered that the bell really works, so then Tanner had a go.  It was pretty loud!

 After the Falls, we stopped at Burger King for lunch and then decided on a whim to do some more sight seeing.  We stopped first at Atlantic Highlands.  Apparently it has the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of Maine.

 It was so nice and serene there.  The weather was fantastic today.  It definitely doesn't feel like the first of November!

 This was a great shell beach!  This was a clam that we found that still had the clam in there.  Paul threw it back in the ocean.  Hopefully it survived Tanner's dropping him because T thought it was going to open and bite him (like the giant ones do in Super Mario Bro's).

 Funny story:  So you see the brown stuff in the picture behind Tanner?  Paul kept telling the kids to  not step in it because it's whale poop.  Tanner continued walking and picking up stuff to throw in the water.  He picks up a big brown shell and Lana yells, "Tanner, that's whale poop!"  Tanner completely freaks out and drops the shell laughing hysterically, "ugh!  I just touched whale poop!"  Meanwhile we're all busting a gut cause Lana just pulled one over on Tanner.  It was totally awesome.

 I could look at this handsome face all day!

 A very cool shell Lana found

 We were wondering how much the houses on the cliffs were going for. Probably more money than I will see in my lifetime.  Water front views of the Manhattan skyline.

 Climbing on the rocks

 If you zoom and squint you can just make out the Manhattan skyline.

 Next we stopped at a beach on Sandy Hook, NJ.  Tanner enjoyed chasing squawking and chasing the seagulls away.

 

My 4 favorite people in all the world