Ice Skating

The awesome lights and the cozy fireplace made it really feel like Christmas at the ice skating rink! Coming from Wisconsin this 80 degrees in December just doesn't cut it! :) Here was a view in at the ice skating rink when they were clearing the ice.Drew wasn't so sure about going at first. As soon as we got in by the rink he said he changed his mind. We figured we were in for a long couple of hours if we even lasted anywhere near that long. After seeing Madi and I laughing hysterically on the ice from the girl who can dance but could barely remain upright for more than 5 seconds... he decided to give it a shot! He did awesome! By the end of the night, the two of them could let go and Drew was picking up some speed! :) Madi and Drew took their fair share of spills and not many were very graceful... Marty went down a couple of times too... the kids pulled him down he claims! :)
Madi after the first round of slipping around the ice...

Drew holding on until he felt comfortable...

Daddy with both in tow...

Drew venturing off on his own...

Madi on her own...

My two sweet kiddos... well they were sweet today anyhow! :)

The property had a ton of Christmas lights all over so we walked around and finished our hot cocoa after we were done skating!

Bowling with Santa

The kiddos were so excited to go bowl with Santa! We ended up getting in 2 full games of bowling which was pretty good considering their were 5 children bowling in the lane. Drew was pleasantly friendly to the big guy much to my surprise. I figured that his excitement would die as soon as he came face to face but he was excited from the minute Santa walked in the door. He ran up and gave him a high five right away!He even let Santa bowl his turn for him...

What a fun time... we hope to make this a yearly tradition! :)

Ummmm... Ridiculous!

Ummmm... Ridiculous is about all you can sum this picture up to. I walked into the family room from cleaning the kitchen and this is what I stumble upon -- the three of them all on laptops. I guess my guiltiness comes into play since 2 out of the 3 of these are mine. It was quite an entertaining sight but at least Madi and Drew were playing on Starfall -- there was some educational value to the event. :)

Drew's Christmas Performance

It only took 3 years for Drew to actually go up front and participate. He was still shy but he did so much! Here are 2 of Drew's favorite songs they did...

Madi's Christmas Performance

Madi had her Christmas performances at dance... She did ballet and jazz. I always love watching how much she has changed since the last year....

Will we ever have a not difficult tree...

Each year I get more and more tempted to give up the fresh tree smell and try to convince the other half to go artificial... Our tree never seems to be a simple task. Last year was still by far the worst... It was a pain to get home, a pain to get up and in and just a pain in general. Then to top it off the branches never fell. This year seemed better... the tree was a lot more manageable and the branches had fallen some before we even brought it home. So we were thinking how great this tree was. When we got it we knew it was a little lopsided... oh well -- it adds character. Well... while Marty was attempting to plug in the lights down the darn thing went. It wobbled the whole time we decorated it to the point that there is now a board under it tilting it backwards so that at least if it decides to teeter over again it should end up in the wall. Needless to say the first tip did enough damage of gross tree water all over the carpet -- I definitely do not need a tip of smashed ornaments all over. I just know that one year out tree will be non problematic again... here's hoping for 2011. But for now... here's a peek at the festive leaning tree!

Making Naan...

The kiddos absolute favorite meal is our rendition of Chicken Makhni... Their contribution is helping daddy make the naan. Here are my three naan makers having a good ol' time! :)