Merry Christmas from the Twinkies

The Elves

Twelveteen

This morning Eli was opening his present book from the advent basket. Here was the following conversation:

E: What number am I looking for Mom?
M: Eighteen.
E: (Flipping past a few 20something books) Ok, eighteen coming up!
E: (He got to 22 right before 18 and I could hear him under his breath say) Twelveteen, no.... I found it!

A Message to Eli from Santa!

Thanks Pamela for such a great idea!

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/mbLgO2PaZF_YrgGiQp3unDw

Christmas Decorations

Here are some pictures of our house decorated for Christmas.

A Touch of Nan

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the decor, the music, the tradition. I love spending time with my family most of all. Christmases were always magical for me growing up. I'm excited for Eli to experience it all this year, and of course it's so special that it's the first Christmas for Ryan and Spencer.
The time leading up to Christmas this year has been different though. My grandmother, Nan, had gifted me with many Christmas ornaments and decorations over the years. This year as I put those decorations out, it saddened me to know that this will be the first year without her at Christmas. So many traditions included her, and I looked forward to spending so much time with her during Christmas week.

These are some of my favorite Nan Christmas things that remind me of such wonderful Christmas memories.

Nan made this ceramic tree a long time ago. She made one for my mom, too, and it was always on display at our house at Christmastime. I've always loved it. My mom brought Nan's tree to my house, and I love it.

This s'more ornament (or as we now call them- s'mornaments) was a gift from Nan. We saw them years ago at Country Cupboard and we both started cracking up. Over the years, we began collecting them and now have a small s'mornament tree, complete with s'more garland. The original s'more is still my favorite and a very special memory of my Nan.

This picture of her was taken last Christmas in my parents' kitchen. Although it's a Christmas picture, it's been on display in my house all year. The yellow basket below is another of her ceramic creations that she passed on to me years ago.

Good-bye RSV!

We're finally back to normal here at the Kim household after nearly 2 weeks of sickness. RSV swept through our house. The virus doesn't do much to adults- maybe some cold symptoms- but it's especially hard on littles. Thankfully we've been past the contagious part for a few days now, but they did all share with each other. So we've been through quite a bit of antibiotics, albuterol nebulizer treatments, and ibuprofen. Let's just say if I never hear "RSV" again, I'll be just fine.

Kevin was off with the boys all of last week and I took off on Monday. My parents came down to watch them Thursday and Friday so that I could get caught up on work. Life savers! They just left a couple of minutes ago to head to Nathan and Katie's.

We're settling in for a low-key weekend. We still have a lot to get ready for next week, but Mim and Pop got us all caught up with laundry and cleaning. (Awesome.)

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

As you can tell, this is one of Ryan's favorite spots.

Santa Train

This Saturday, just a few short hours before some unrelenting stomach flu swept through the Kim house, we visited the Walkersville Railroad and rode the Santa Train.

What a great time! Eli is so crazy about trains that I knew he would like it. Santa visited with each family and took pictures. I think Eli was more excited about the idea of Santa than sitting right next to him. But overall the day was a success. I definitely recommend it for anyone in the area.  

It's That Time of Year Again!

Oh how I love this time of year! The first day of December was a very fun day for Eli. It was the first day of our advent reading countdown to Christmas. It was a huge hit last year. Since we packed away the Christmas books right after Christmas last year, they will be all "new" again this year. Plus we've added a few new ones. Last year Eli picked a book everyday. This year since he can recognize his numbers, I labeled them. He's getting a kick out of locating the right one. Day 1 was Silent Night. It plays the song and is one of my favorites. Not Eli's though! He was much more into today's book- Snowmen at Christmastime.

9 Months Old

The boys had their 9 month check up today. They got two shots but recovered quickly, thank goodness. Here are the stats:

Ryan:
18lbs. 10oz.     10-25%
27.25 in.          10-25%
45.5cm            50-75%

Spencer:
19lbs. 8oz.       25-50%
27 in.                10%
43.7cm             5-10%

So the noggin is the biggest difference, but we already knew that.  :)

Thankful for my Litte Turkeys

The last picture shows our annual Thankful Turkey that Eli and I make. The list of what Eli's thankful for (in no particular order):

Uncle Nathan

Dump Trucks

Eyes

Mickey

Ryan and Spencer

Nose

Bulldozer

Mommy

Daddy (Mommy's suggestion)

Eli (Mommy's suggestion)

Trains