It's been a while since our last post, so we start off way back at Thanksgiving. Busia and Dziadzia and Aunt Steph and Jason braved some nasty weather to travel to our town to celebrate.
Everyone seemed to enjoy Daddy's Thanksgiving dinner ... except Mitchell, who wasn't a big fan of mashed potatoes:
Speaking of dinner, Zoe has become a great helper in that area. She loves to feed "my babies," as she calls Mitchell and Alyse: 
Zoe helping out at feeding time is cute, but her desire to help with certain tasks has actually become quite a luxury. She now insists on feeding Mitchell his pre-nap bottles twice a day, and about 75-percent of the time they'll both have enough patience for the process to end in a full tummy and a sound-asleep baby. It's kind of ridiculous, when I take time to think about it, that I need help from my 3-year-old to make it through the day. But I do, and she's great at it.
Switching holidays ... Santa came to our town via a parade through downtown. Zoe and Daddy had a great night on the town while Mom hung out at home with the babies. The night started with a little Christmas shopping and was followed by watching the parade from a park bench on Main Street, cookies and caroling at a local business' warehouse and, finally, dinner out together.
Here we pause for a photo in front of our town's oft-photographed clock tower.
Zoe waved to Santa and Mrs. Claus on their sled, but opted not to visit with him at the post-parade party.
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She got another chance to talk to ol' St. Nick at preschool a couple days later. Mom, Dad and the babies were invited to school that day ... and when the door swung open and the jolly old man came "Ho-ho-ho-ing" into the room, Zoe bolted out of her Indian-style stance like her pants were on fire. She spent the rest of the visit on Mrs. Buss' lap, as pictured below. "Maybe I'll talk to Santa when I'm five," Zoe told us later.
She had one last chance a couple days later at a local department store (not noticing, thankfully, how distinctly different Santa looked each of the three times we spotted him over a six-day period). She passed, and we opted instead to email him her wish list: A purple mirror, new fingerpaint and roller skates. .
Daddy's birthday falls somewhere amid the anticipation for Christmas. Here, Alyse and Zoe watch his cake baking:
And, later, Daddy contemplates his fleeting youth (or fantasizes that somebody wrapped him up a nap):
And then ... Christmas is finally here. The first one, anyway.
And, later, Daddy contemplates his fleeting youth (or fantasizes that somebody wrapped him up a nap):
And then ... Christmas is finally here. The first one, anyway.
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We found enough nooks and crannies in the house for twelve members of the Honeycutt clan (plus Charlie, a.k.a. "Mini Wheat) to sleep when they came for a Christmas prequel.
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Here, Mitchell and Aunt Shawnie capture the mood of early in our little celebration. A good time, indeed.
And here, a very tired Honey and Alyse sum up the end of the night:
One of Zoe's favorite new toys is a wooden train set from Honey and Papa. You can't play it, of course, without a conductor's outfit:
And just in case a train set might be considered too masculine, it was complemented with his Cinderella dress.
For the first time since Sonja and I first co-habitated, we woke up at our own home on Christmas morning. While it was strange to change what had become our holiday traditions, and it was a bit sad not to be celebrated by our extended families, it was certainly worth it to see our children experience the whole thing in their own house.
And here, a very tired Honey and Alyse sum up the end of the night:
One of Zoe's favorite new toys is a wooden train set from Honey and Papa. You can't play it, of course, without a conductor's outfit:
And just in case a train set might be considered too masculine, it was complemented with his Cinderella dress.
For the first time since Sonja and I first co-habitated, we woke up at our own home on Christmas morning. While it was strange to change what had become our holiday traditions, and it was a bit sad not to be celebrated by our extended families, it was certainly worth it to see our children experience the whole thing in their own house..
Here's Zoe, who was quite thrilled that Santa finished most of his cookies and milk -- and the reindeer apparently enjoyed their carrots.
Mitchell and Alyse seemed to thoroughly enjoy their first Christmas loot:
And it didn't take Zoe long to get the hang of her new mini-trampoline:
Busia, Dziadzia and Aunt Steph joined us later in the day for lunch and more (many more!) gifts. One gift from Busia that we tried to keep secret from Zoe was put together in her bedroom on Christmas Eve ... while she slept in our bed. We kept her out of her room without much effort for much of the morning, but she wandered in while Mom and Dad were putting babies down for a nap. She might have had the reaction we hoped for ... but if she did, we missed it.
And, whaddya know, Zoe must have been a good girl. She got everything on her list, including the roller skates. (That item was added to her list after watching a Little Bill episode in which he learns to skate. Thankfully he didn't learn to ride a horse.)
Up next, New Year's Eve. Boy, that holiday has changed a little for Mom and Dad.
Mitchell and Alyse seemed to thoroughly enjoy their first Christmas loot:
And it didn't take Zoe long to get the hang of her new mini-trampoline:
Busia, Dziadzia and Aunt Steph joined us later in the day for lunch and more (many more!) gifts. One gift from Busia that we tried to keep secret from Zoe was put together in her bedroom on Christmas Eve ... while she slept in our bed. We kept her out of her room without much effort for much of the morning, but she wandered in while Mom and Dad were putting babies down for a nap. She might have had the reaction we hoped for ... but if she did, we missed it.
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Here Busia and Zoe relax on her new princess bed. Sonja spends a lot of time in it, too, saying it's the bed she dreamt of as a child.
And, whaddya know, Zoe must have been a good girl. She got everything on her list, including the roller skates. (That item was added to her list after watching a Little Bill episode in which he learns to skate. Thankfully he didn't learn to ride a horse.)
Up next, New Year's Eve. Boy, that holiday has changed a little for Mom and Dad.
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Our crazy bash was held at noon at Chuck E. Cheese. Although, in this photo, Mitchell actually looks a little like Daddy used to look on New Year's Eve!
And Zoe actually did get that horse. One ride, at least:
To top off the day, Mom and Dad watched a movie ... and Mom actually stayed up past midnight for the first time in four years! Such a big girl!
That catches us up on all the holidays. We'll try to report again before Easter!
And Zoe actually did get that horse. One ride, at least:
To top off the day, Mom and Dad watched a movie ... and Mom actually stayed up past midnight for the first time in four years! Such a big girl!
That catches us up on all the holidays. We'll try to report again before Easter!
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Hope y'all had as much fun this holiday season as we did. We heart you.
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1 comment:
The Ann Arbor Chuckie's might not have a merry-go-round, but Bay City doesn't have that neat horse.
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