Holiday Time Off with the Kids

I was on vacation the whole week of Christmas and I wanted to take advantage of my time home with the kids! After the holiday hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we didn't really have any set plans. I've been wanting to take Leah to see the movie 'Frozen.' So on Thursday, we headed out to the movies. This would be Mason's first movie and I was pretty nervous as to how he would do. As I predicted, he lasted about half way through before coming antsy-pants. The theater was packed and he started being a little booger. Popcorn and other treats only went so far, so Rob had to take him out to the lobby a few times so he could release some of his energy.  Overall, the movie was super cute and Leah really enjoyed it. I love that Leah likes going to the movies. Afterwards, we went out for pizza before heading home.

Mason's first time at the movies!

Leah with her 'Frozen' Princess Anna doll from Auntie Amy

On Friday, we had plans with friends to go check out Ball Factory in Naperville. What a fun place for kids! Leah had a blast running around (I kept Mason at home). We'll definitely go back and I'd bring Mase with next time. After the morning fun, we packed up all the kids and went to McDonald's for lunch. We pretty much took over McDonald's - there were 11 kids altogether. Leah loved it! Thanks Melissa, Annette and Kim for a fun time! When we got home, Leah said she wanted to go do more fun things. We rested for a bit, but thought it might be fun to go bowling. Leah has been one time before and always talks about it when we pass the bowling alley. We only bowled one game because it is not fun when you have a one and a half year old with you! Mason, of course didn't bowl, but he wanted to have his freedom. He is a 'bolter' so there was a lot of chasing him around. Not so fun. Leah enjoyed herself though. After our one game, we went over to the gaming area. Leah played a handful of games. Her favorite is air hockey. We played two games and she beat me both times! She was not happy when it was time to go home (she was definitely tired from her busy day).

Once Saturday rolled around, it was unseasonably warm - almost 60 degrees. We thought it would be a great idea to hit up the zoo for the Zoo Lights. (Apparently everyone and their mother also had the same idea too)! I renewed our membership online and decided to grab an early dinner before hitting the zoo. The whole area around the zoo was so chaotic. Traffic was barely moving and it was just a mess. It took us almost an hour to pull into the zoo, get through the parking line and actually park. There were a few times we considered turning around, but Leah kept reminding us how much she wanted to go the zoo. Once we parked and went inside, the craziness continued. It was just a cluster of people. We brought the wagon for the kids and it was hard to maneuver it around because it was so tight. To be honest, I totally did not think it was worth it. It was dark, you could not really see any animals. Most animals were sleeping or just not viewable. Even though it warmed up, it was still chilly. The trees and light decorations were nice, but it was not worth the trip out there. We stayed for about two hours and I think the highlight of our outing was riding the carousel at the end. We will not be doing this again next year.

 Loads of fun at the zoo!

 That's better!

Starting to have more fun!

Sunday was a completely lazy day and we didn't leave the house! Before I knew it, my time off had come to an end and it was back to work on Monday! Boo. I sure loved spending my time off with my kiddos!!

Christmas Day 2013

After everyone left on Christmas Eve, I put the kids in their Christmas jammies. We put in a movie and relaxed for the night. I was hoping the kids would go to bed early because I was tired myself! Around 8:00 pm, we started to get the milk and cookies ready to leave out for Santa.

 Ready for Santa to come!

 Milk and cookies are all ready to go!

 Mason is excited for Christmas!

They sure do love each other!

Luckily, everyone went to bed pretty easy. On Christmas morning, Leah did wake up much earlier than usual (around 6:30 am). She claimed that she didn't sleep all night and was listening for Santa, but never heard him. She wasn't feeling too confident that he came. We went and got Mason out of bed and went downstairs to see if he had come. 

Santa CAME!!!!

Leah was super excited and noticed right away that Santa brought her a 'big' bike! A 'big' bike was at the top of her list! Her eyes then wandered over to her new art desk!! She loved it. Leah likes everything arts and crafts. Her new desk came with markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint, stamps and lots of paper.  She was in heaven!

 A big bike.....YES!

Her cool new art desk!

Leah ripped through her presents and was over the top excited about everything she opened. It made me so happy seeing how happy she was. She would take a few breaks and help Mason open his presents. Mason didn't really have any interest in opening the presents. He was more interested in eating the leftover cookies that Santa didn't finish eating!

 Sneaking a cookie!

 Those look yummy!

 

 Still has his cookies!

 Such a happy guy! :)

 Mase got a big wheel and bouncing tigger!

And a Batman car!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Ha!

We stayed in our PJ's almost the entire day. We didn't have any plans until the late afternoon. Leah and Mason had a great time playing with all of their new toys. Mom was able to sneak in a little nap too! We snacked on leftovers for lunch and were pretty lazy. Finally, later on we all got up and got ourselves ready. We were heading over to Rob's sister Amy's house for dessert. There we spent time with his Mom, Grandma and a few of his siblings and their kids. It was nice to see everyone. 

 Me and little man!

Rumchatta Shots!

Christmas Eve

This year, we were hosting Christmas Eve for my family at our house. In years past, it has usually just been us, my dad and my brother's family. This year, I was so excited that my cousin Kevin and his wife Dianna (who live in Michigan), my Aunt and Uncle, cousin Michelle and her family were all able to join us too! We used to always all spend Christmas together, but as we've gotten older and expanded our families, it has been more difficult to do. It was great to have everyone here! I planned to keep the meal more on the casual side. I wanted to it be pretty simple. I made Italian Beef and shredded BBQ chicken for sandwiches, mostacolli, salad, mashed potatoes and a few other sides. Everything turned out good! It was a great afternoon and I loved spending time with my family. Like always, it went by so quick!

 Me and my sweet girl

 Brother and sister love!

 Such a cheese ball!

 Me and my dad

 Leah loved her Hello Kitty alarm clock!

 My cousin and her family - Jim, Michelle, Liberty and Kenadie

 Papa, Mase and Leah

 BFF's

 She was SOOO excited for this movie. We've already watched it 5 times!

 KZ and JZ

 Kevin and Mase Man

 Baby Alyssa, Grandpa and A-Belle

 Jeff and Sarah

 Kevin and Dianna

 Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim

Rob and Masers

Holiday Baking

After the excitement at Winter Wonderfest, we decided to come home and bake our Christmas cookies. It has been so busy and we hadn't had time to squeeze it in. We took some short cuts and used sugar cookie dough in the tube instead of making it from scratch. Leah was a great helper and did most of the work. She cut out all of the cookies using the cookie cutters and applied all of the sprinkles. We made two dozen cookies and set some aside to leave for Santa. I wish we had more time to bake more cookies. I remember being a kid and going over to my Nana's house to spend the entire day there to bake all different kinds of cookies. Maybe we can plan that for next year. :)

After baking cookies, Leah opened up one of her presents from 'Uncle Jerry.' She got the Flipeez hat and was obsessed with it. Thanks Jerry!!