Holiday Time!

We have sure been busy with the holiday season.  Since our last blog post Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrated and we entered a New Year!  We posted a lot of pictures but we did a lot of fun stuff with friends and family.  Enjoy!

Isabelle and Grampy being silly at Thanksgiving! Isabelle was a doggy and Grampy was feeding her!

 

Grammy worked so hard preparing dinner and it sure was great!  Special thanks to Grammy!  She had a great helper!

We all traveled into Boston!  Ellie got to ride the T and was super excited.  We went to Frog Pong, saw the Zamboni, went to a bar for lunch and even stopped by at Devotion St! It was a super warm day (for December) as well!

 



 

Ellie and Jack having fun in the car on the way home from the tree lighting!

 



All the neighborhood kids at the rotary for the tree lighting - every year we look forward to this as it "officially" kicks off the Christmas season.  The town looked great and the kids had a blast walking downtown. 

 



 

We had so much fun with Aunt Eileen at Thanksgiving!  The kids loved playing with her and Aunt Eileen sure tired them out!  We love this new tradition of Aunt Eileen visiting us for the holiday season!

 

Isabelle and Ellie being super silly in an unsuccessful attempt for our Christmas card picture!

 

Isabelle and Ellie were fortunate enough to get a Golden Ticket and invited to ride the Polar Express!!!

 



 

Isabelle, Ellie and their friend Caroline visiting Santa!

 

 

Ellie's teeth looked great!

 

Christmas dinner at Grammy and Grandpy's house!

 

Ellie listening to one of her favorite stuffed animals - Boomer!

 

Christmas morning!  The girls were super good all year and Santa was sure generous to them!  I am sure our Elf (Ernie) reported all the great things the girls did throughout the year.  They have a few things to work on (eating vegetables and playing nicely with each other) in the New Year!

 

One of Ellie's favorite presents - a Thomas puzzle!



The cousins enjoying Christmas dinner!

 



 

The girls looking so pretty at Nana and Papa's!

All of the North Shore cousins! Wow - they are getting so big!

 



 

The girls on Christmas morning being eaten by all the wrapping paper and toys!

 



 

Isabelle and Ellie opening their presents at the cousin swap!

 

 

 

Isabelle and Ellie played angels at the annual Christmas pageant!  Nana did a great job designing the costumes and organizing the pageant!  All of the cousins sang their hearts out and really brought in the spirit of the holidays!

 

 

Isabelle and Danny being cute!

 



 

Isabelle is doing a great job in Grade K!  She loves to read, count and practice her letters.  Her room is an extension of her classroom and she loves pretending to be her teacher - it is really cute.  We are so proud of her!

 



 

We brought in the New Year with some friends of ours!  Isabelle, Ellie, Grace and Riley stayed up super late and had lots of fun watching movies, coloring and eating Chinese food and sweets! We "jumped" in 2013 at 10PM ;-)

 

The girls being fancy!

 



Isabelle enjoying a backyard skate at Hailey's house!

 

 

The girls have been sledding and playing a lot in the snow!  Ellie "likes" to be outside (the cold and getting wet drives her nuts) but Isabelle really "loves" it!



Vacation, Halloween, and more Fall Fun

October has flown by. We have been busy with fall fun activities. Below is a peek at what we have been up to over the past few weeks.

 

We went to Cape Cod for a fall get away. The weather was amazing and we had a great weekend. We saw seals playing at the beach, ate ice cream, played in the hotel pool for hours, and we had so much fun all sleeping together in one hotel room. The girls have become really wonderful travelers.

 

 

 

The girls hanging at the beach at the hotel. We saw 2 amazing sunsets while we were there.

 

 

Ellie enjoying her ice cream. There was some serious sugar in that ice cream !!

 

A rare picture of all 4 of us. We had fun playing at the beach and watching the seals play right in front of us.

 

We had a fun morning walking around Chatam and checking out the pumpkin head contest.

 

The girls on Halloween. We had a great night for trick or treating. Here is a picture of the girls looking super cute in their costumes. Isabelle was dressed up as Dorothy, we didn't get a good picture of her ruby red slippers.

 

It has become a tradition to have a party at our house before the kids go out trick or treating. This is a picture of all of the neighborhood kids before they went wild in the neighborhood. 

 

 The final 4. This is a picture of the final 4 kids that finished out trick or treating. They lasted 2 hours and were the last kids out in our neighborhood.

 

 

 

Isabelle completed her third soccer season a few weeks ago. She scored her first goal during the final game. It was a amazing to watch. Truthfully, I think George and I were more excited than she was about the goal. But it really showed how far she has come since she started playing soccer.

 

She got another trophy and a cupcake. A great way to end the season.

 

Ellie had her first skating lesson with Daddy. She went out on the ice with George and Isabelle and loved it !! She is one step closer to becoming a goalie !!

 

 

Speaking of hockey, Isabelle has enrolled in a hockey clinic. Doesn't she look tough in all of that equipment?!

 

 

Uncle Marc came over a few weeks ago to give Ellie her birthday present. Needless to say she loved the gift and it was really nice to see Marc.

 

This is what happens when a hurricane hits and we are stuck inside all day. Ellie created an obstacle course in the kitchen and decided jumping from obstacle to obstacle was a good way to spend the day. She had fun and I got a workout trying to stay out of her way. 

Ellie's Third Birthday !!

 

It is very hard for me to believe that my little girl is 3 years old. How is that possible !! I remember the day she was born and we all met her for the first time. Ever since that moment she has brought joy into all of our lives and she continues to make us proud everyday. She also makes us laugh. She is one funny little spitfire. Happy birthday Ellie. We love you !!

 

Last weekend we celebrated Ellie's third birthday. She and 15 of her friends had fun on the Tumblebus that took up the whole length of our driveway !! It was a great day and everyone had fun, including the adults.

 

 

The Birthday girl waiting to get on Tumblebus.

 





 

Tumblebus !!

 

 

She looks so little next to the huge bus :)



Ellie dominating the rings inside Tumblebus.

 



As you can see from this picture, Isabelle also loves Tumblebus.

 

 



Grammy and Ellie.

 



Blowing out the candles. You can never be too careful, so she has her helmet on :)

 

 

The infamous Tumblebus cake. It tasted as great as it looked. Thank you Grammy!!!



 

The obligatory birthday picture under the sign.

Now both girls have Tumblebus shirts and they don't need to fight anymore. Woo-hoo!!!

 

The chaos of opening presents.

We also celebrated Papa's birthday earlier this month. Here is a rare picture of Papa and all 9 grand kids. Casket photo !!!



And another rare picture of all of the cousins.

 

The 2 birthday buddies !!

 

 

Ellie and Grace playing football.

Danny and the girls before his big game. He sure looks tough in all of the gear!

 

Below are a few random pictures of what we have been up to over the last few weeks.

The big 3 year old has also started taking gymnastics classes. She loves the class and she really pays attention to what the instructor says. Here she is using her concentrating eyes to watch the instructor.

 



The picture is not very clear, but she is on the balance beam. Her new trick is to do a somersault on the balance beam. It is awesome to watch.

 



 

 Isabelle is still doing soccer and loving it. She has come so far from when she first started. Doesn't she look like a pro in this picture?!

Ellie has also decided that she would like to be a hockey goalie. She is the cutest goalie I have ever seen.

 A few weeks ago we were able to see Meredith and to meet Ian. It was great to catch up and see the that crew again. We can't wait to see Meredith and Ian in March at their wedding.

Ellie has that big smile on because she is at the farm in her jammies. She won that battle and wore jammies all day. 

My little sunflower.

 

And my little crazy :)