Hello, 2016!

Emma would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Holiday cuteness

OK, just one more Christmas picture. But after this I get to put on a superhero shirt or something more fun. 

Christmas morning

Christmas morning, 8:15 a.m. 

Christmas morning, 8:17 a.m. 

Twas the night before Christmas

Emma's all nestled and snug, by and by
And I just put out Santa's midnight Buckeye.

I wrote him a note to tell him "thank you"
And then off to bed, in my pajamas of blue.

Tomorrow is Christmas, I'll be in gift heaven

But even I hope Emma sleeps in past seven. 

Christmas fireflies

Gotta be honest, I think these laser lights look better on the house then on me. 

Kindergarten holiday play

This week was my class' big Christmas play, and we've been practicing our lines and singing for weeks. And we nailed it all. 

I was one of the deer vying to be the decoration on top of the Christmas tree. There was a lot of subtlety and depth in the role, and I feel like you can sense the inner conflict when my group delivered our line. 

Dad was worried that the microphone didn't really pick me up, so we recorded the line again at home to make sure you get a sense of the enormity of the moment. 

Now I can't wait for our spring play! Our teachers are trying to decide between "Easter Bunny parade" and "Hamlet." Either one has some pretty good songs, from what I hear.

Christmas candy

Ohmigawd did you know that blueberry candy canes make your tongue blue?!?!

Just saying, that's pretty awesome. 

Christmas party at Aunt Jeanne's

Shane, this is fun and everything, but all the food is in the other room. 

Trimming the tree

First we put up the Christmas Village from Aunt Olga...

Then we confuse Emma by putting a tree in the house...

And then we have another room ready for Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

... cookies. 

Hey, somebody has to make sure we have something to eat at Christmas. There usually are so few options...

Out of season

It's December and this lawn still needs mowing? That's just crazy. 

Comfy chair

I mean, he's a little lumpy, but this is definitely more fun than the couch. 

Tommy's birthday party

There are just so many parties! Tommy turned 4 earlier this month, and we just got a chance over Thanksgiving to eat cake with him to celebrate his journey into kidhood. Aunt Beth made an awesome R2-D2 cake (and another one without icing for people who like their cake just plain, thank you very much.)

While Tommy was opening presents, the rest of us kids tested out Grandmom Shane's lap to see if it could fit everyone. Emma thought it worked out OK, but I would have preferred a little more elbow room. 

Visiting Aunt Olga

So, tell me again what Mom used to do when she was little. I always like to cite precedent when I get in trouble for stuff. 

Helping with Thanksgiving dinner

Grandmom says we're not supposed to eat food off the floor, but I guess getting it ready down here is OK. 

So sleepy

I'm not tired, I just forgot which side the pillow goes on and what the blanket is for. 

Friday night relaxation

Yo, Dad, can you turn on the game and toss me a bottle over here? 

Feeding the beast

Quicker. Quicker! QUICKER!!!

 

Learning to read

Hold on, Jonathan. You're saying the squiggles under the pictures say something too? But why don't we just put pictures on things we want people to read?

Learning about autumn

It's time to teach Emma what leaves are for:

Autumn fashion

Honestly, Dad, you can't expect me to do yard work when I look this cute. 

Air and Space Museum

We got a chance to go into Washington DC again on Saturday to visit the Air and Space Museum. Did you know they fit entire rockets into that building? How did they do that? That's sooooo cool. 

Emma and I got so see all sorts of planes and gliders and spaceships and other crazy stuff. We even got to walk inside some old aircraft, although they didn't let Emma fly any. 

Some of them were brand new, and some of them were really old. But they were all huge! I wanted to ride on this Predator drone, but Mom said she had all sorts of problems with that. 

 

Emma loved the whole place because she could keep looking up and seeing everything. But she is pretty short. 

Dad said this plane belonged to Amelia Earhart, but all I cared about was that it was another awesome red plane. He wouldn't let me take any home with us, but maybe next visit.

Playing cars

Don't worry, she's getting the hang of it. 

Happy birthday to Ollie

Sunday was Ollie's birthday, so that meant another party! He had a awesome Paw Patrol cake and big Paw Patrol balloons and Paw Patrol party favors. I hope the Paw Patrol puzzles I got him weren't too much...

We had the party at a big moon bounce indoor playground. Mom and Emma really liked the bouncy slides, but I was into all the climbing in and out of tunnels. 

Emma liked the trampoline house too, although she wasn't quite tall enough to dunk the ball in the net.

Lexi totally could dunk, but she didn't want to show up Emma, which was really sweet of her. 

We had so much fun, I've asked Mom and Dad to install a giant inflatable fort in our living room. I can see a lot of benefits to it, but so far they haven't put it up yet...

Happy Halloween!

Weird happenings at our house this year as a boy-sized bat showed up on our porch ready to Trick or Treat tonight. 

Luckily, we knew just who could handle a bat emergency -- Batgirl!

Plotting

Suspicious? Me? However could you say that?

By the way, I just figured out how to move the kitchen chairs into other rooms. No big deal. 

Getting in a little more practice

I'm not sure how much longer the nice weather will hold out, so I stretched out my legs and tried out a few new kicks so my skills will be ready next spring. 

Coloring origins

I don't know -- when Jonathan does this, it looks like things. Are you sure he started this way too? 

Happy birthday to Shane

Shane's second birthday was earlier this month, but we didn't have a chance to celebrate until this past weekend. Aunt Beth made a great Monsters Inc themed cake that she said had like 50 sticks of butter, so it tasted great. 

Shane got a bunch of great presents from everyone, and was happy to let us help him play with them. Emma couldn't figure out what to do with the Sully doll, but she is only one year old, so...

And Shane had the biggest Mike Wazowski balloon you've ever seen. Tommy and I tried to fit him in the closet, just like in the movie, but he was even too big for that. 

Cover to cover

There's nothing in this paper at all about Cheerios or teething rings. This is why print is dead. 

Pumpkin picking time

OK, Emma, it's time to pick out our Halloween pumpkins again. 

 

 No, I don't think you can pick any of them up.

 

No, you definitely can't pick that one up.

 

OK, we're good to go. Just start dragging the wagon back to the car and I'll keep these safe n here.

Where's Waldo, couch edition

Something is awfully weird about this one stuffed animal...

So comfy

Let me know when it's spring again. I'll come out then. 

Just a little off the top

Mom and Dad keep complaining that my hair is all over my eyes, so I went over to the barber with Jonathan this weekend to see what they could help with. 

Hey, where did all of you come from? And when did it get so bright in here?