Christmas at Nana's

And here are some pics from the evening at Nana and Papa's house.
Alex and Papa got a few minutes to bowl in the hall.

Alex has a habit of beating Papa at crazy 8's. He's actually pretty good.

I've never seen Avril so excited over something than when she opened the gift from Nana that included at tutu, tiara, jewelery box full of bead necklaces and rings, and the Cinderella movie. But it got even better when the next one was a princess placemat, bowl, and silverware set. She immediately had to have dinner. It was pretty cute.

The kids loved this duck shooting thing. Alex is frighteningly good at it. I'll have to get it on video sometime.

Avril and daddy.

Christmas at the Cole's

Here are some pictures from Christmas at home. I'm learning this year, since Avril is old enough to care, that Christmas with two small children is not only fun and exciting, it is stressful and exhausting. I've had kids for five years now, and this is the first year I've been thankful the day is over. I can't figure out what exactly I can change about next year, but I'll spend alot of time trying to figure it out. Although all four of us are dealing with a nasty head cold, so that may have had something to do with it. All that aside, the kids really did have a great time and Frank didn't have to work, we spent time with the people we love. All in all a fantabulous time.
Here is Alex enjoying his new camera.

Avril really does love her robe, but I had just wiped her nose and she scowled at me. lol.

Alex.

Stockings.

Pics

Here are some miscellaneous pictures from Christmas. Busy day. Still recovering. This is my beautiful answer to prayer niece, Abby.

Alex being handsome.

Avril being cute.

Boys being boys.

Avril with her new love, playdoh.

Moving

So we've spent the last week or so moving my parents into their "new" house. Here
are some miscellaneous pictures from our adventures. The kids are having a good time and things are going smoothly. Not really a whole lot more to report than that.




Merry Christmas to all.

Saturdays

Avril has recently taken up an interest in potty training, but the problem is she has no clue what she's supposed to do when she's on it. It is actually pretty funny; a couple of times a day she enjoys going through the steps of getting the stool, putting on the seat, climbing up, climbing down, putting toilet paper in, flushing, putting everything away, and washing her hands. As you can imagine this takes about ten minutes each time and it can be quite frustrating because we go through all that and she thinks that is going potty but really doesn't get the point. But the last thing I want to do is tell her no when it comes to the toilet, so we go through the ritual. Maybe someday she'll catch on.

This past week has been a bit weird because none of us have felt very well, and now it is Saturday and I've got to clean the house, but all I want to do is sit around - I'm so tired. But the kids are feeling better, so we are doing the laundry and this is how they help. Their favorite laundry game - taking turns getting under it. I don't understand why, but this can occupy a half hour's time.


Mom and dad are getting ready for the big move. The current plan is to keep boxing up this weekend and next week move a little at a time as each room gets its final coat of paint. Friday and Saturday are the big moving days with the U-Haul. So one more week, and we'll be putting things away in the new house.