The Countdown to Christmas

25 days until Christmas...there is a winter chill in the air and the snow flurries are falling so we decided this morning would be a perfect morning to bake Christmas cookies. Mom whipped together Great-Grandma Giesler's sugar cookie recipe and then Ryan and I were left to do the rest. Not really, Mom helped, but we had a blast using all of our different cookie cutters to make different designs in the dough. I think I made about 10 different choo-choo trains, and Lily was cutting out hearts faster than Mom could roll the dough. The end result was a few dozen cookies in our snowman cookie jar, and a few individual cookies in our tummies as well. Yummy! We can't wait to see what the next 24 days until Christmas have to offer here in our world!

Grafton Christmas Parade

Now that Turkey Day is over, it is time to get ready for our favorite holiday of the year, Christmas. We decided that the best way to get in the spirit was to take in a local Christmas parade. We weren't too keen on sitting outside in the 20 degree weather, but when Mom mentioned that there would be candy and we could bring hot chocolate, we were in! We lasted a whole hour and rushed to pick up every piece of candy we could find. Lily even dodged a few parade cars and marching bands to get every last piece. I think we succeeded...Mom mentioned her bag was a few pounds heavier upon leaving the parade. We didn't make it long enough to see Santa, but by the time we left we couldn't feel our fingers or toes so we were ready to head home. Despite the cold weather we loved every minute of the parade, and now it is time to eat some candy here in our world!

Thanksgiving Day

We had a low key Thanksgiving this year with just the four of us and Wrigs. We celebrated and had a full meal last Saturday with Gigi and Pop Pop so today, we thought, would be like any other day. At the last minute though, Mom and Dad put together quite a little feast and we had a yummy meal all over again. We loved the turkey and giant marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes best, until the pumpkin pie came out with homemade whipped cream. Delicious! I think I had seconds of everything, and Lily cleaned her plate up pretty well. Our friend, Jayden, made it over just in time for pie too. We were exhausted after all of that food and fun, and were more than ready to hit the sack. We hope all of you had a Happy Turkey Day!

The Rhino and The Potty

After my heart to heart with Dr. Dan last Monday, I decided to be more serious about this potty training stuff. I was already geared up with my wide assortment of underwear, my green potty chair, and my potty ring so I figured what did I have to lose. I've been pretty good so far averaging only a few accidents a day, although I'm not really sure they're accidents as much as wet pants due to my shear laziness in wanting to walk all the way to the bathroom every single time I have to go potty. This only occurs when I get really into an activity though so I'm making progress. I do have to wear pull ups to bed at night since apparently I'm expected to hold it all night long. That's crazy, but I've been good about telling Mom first thing in the morning so that I can use the potty and get some cool underwear to put on. Mom has also broken out rewards with me, which now Lily asks for. Mom happily obliges though since Lily basically trained herself, and it seems to be working for me. She decided that if a few weeks of mini M&Ms is what it takes then so be it. Not that I'm near mastery thus far, but Mom always says slow and steady wins the race!

3 Year Check-Up

Today was our big three year check-up with Dr. Hagerman. We were actually pretty excited about going, even though Mom warned us there may be shots. The appointment started out well. Now that we are big kids we get to use the big scale and the big tape measure. We even got to play with these cool balls that lit up when you bounced them. Our stats, particularly my weight, came in lower than Mom and Dad anticipated, with Lily coming in at 36 1/4 inches (30%), and 30 1/4 pounds (45%). I came in at 34 3/4 pounds (80%) and 37 1/2 inches (50%). Dr. Hagerman was happy with everything he saw, although he did pull me aside to have a little chat about potty training. We also talked a bit about my thumb sucking, but we decided to tackle going on the big potty first. After all was said and done with Dr. Dan, the not so pleasant part of the appointment made its appearance. After two shots and a nasal spray, things hurt so bad in our world!

Wayne's World

We made it up to the cottage for another long weekend of rest and relaxation. We didn't think we were going to make it up there after we spent 30 minutes searching for the keys after picking Grandma up. Turns out Mom left them on the roof of the car...oops! Then once we arrived at the cottage we couldn't even get all the way to the door because a tree had fallen across the driveway. Mom and Dad spent Thursday night and part of Friday morning chopping it in half so that we could move it. We weren't able to do a whole lot outside since it rained almost the entire weekend, but we did manage to sneak in our first rides on the four wheeler with Mom. The rest of our time was spent just hanging out. Mom and Grandma taught us how to play Candy Land, and of course we made our standard trip to the candy store for an orange and pink lollipop. Grandma surprised us with new toys when we arrived too, with Lily's Barbie being the biggest hit. Thanks Grandma! All in all it was a success and we're ready to plan our next weekend at Wayne's World!

Trick or Treat

Tonight, we experienced our first taste of Trick or Treating in Wisconsin with our friends, Peter and Jack. It was warm enough that you could see our costumes, but we did have to layer with long sleeve shirts and fleeces underneath them. We were told that this was considered good weather, which was new territory for us considering the last time we went Trick or Treating we wore very little clothing (see Halloween 2008 post) and we were hot. Clothing or not, it was still fun, and we of course got way more candy than any three year old needs. We learned a few lessons tonight as well, with the most important being, don't enter the house of a stranger. Mom had to talk to me after the first house because a nice lady with a huge bowl of candy opened the door and I just walked right in...wouldn't you??? A few hours, a hot dog, many suckers, and a bug climbing on Lily later, we called it a night and headed back to Susan and Bill's for some dinner. All in all we'd consider it a success, and we've already decided we're ready to give it another shot next year as Mickey Mouse and Cinderella. Happy Halloween!

3 Years Old

We turned the big 3 today, and Mommy and Daddy threw us a pink and orange themed birthday bash. All sorts of family and friends came from near and far to help us celebrate the big event. Our cousin, AJ, was able to celebrate with us too since he turned nine this past Thursday. We loved everything about our day from the pink and orange balloons from Grandma Jackie to the lollipop cakes and treats that Mommy and Gigi made. I loved the treats so much that I was still at the table long after everyone else had finished. I just couldn't let any of it go to waste. Our buddy Jack brought over his bounce house which provided all of us kids with some good old fashioned fun, and then of course there were presents galore. Good weather, good food, and good company made for good times here in our world! Thank you everyone!!!

Haunted Hoops

Marquette University hosted Haunted Hoops tonight. The men's basketball team scrimmaged and then they let all of us crazy kids parade around in costume. We got to decorate cookies, and there was so much candy to go around that we literally jumped to our car at the end of the night. I was a fan of everything, and even made friends with the candy lady. She had a whole pot of candy and I was so cute she couldn't say no! We ended the evening by taking a picture with the head coach, Buzz Williams, and the rest of the team. It is like an I Spy book...we're on the right towards the back. Mom tried to get us to take a picture with the Golden Eagle too, but his eyes were a little too scary for us. Now that we finally understand what Halloween is all about, we're getting pretty excited for the big day, and I know Lily is anxious to get her Sleeping Beauty costume back on and I can't wait to fill my bucket with more candy!