Christmas part 2 - everything else

These are in no particular order because I'm too lazy to do any editing. 

Nana and Hannah reading while Smush tries to eat Nana's slipper

stockings

Micah's night-vision goggles

reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 (Abby is behind Caroline)

a pinata for Christmas?  sure, why not.

playing with Hannah's new nativity set

Micah using his new periscope to keep an eye on Matthew in the car.

cuddle time with Daddy

this guy was the first one up on Christmas morning

he wanted a head-start on the presents

all the cousins: Micah (5 1/2) holding Smush (6 mos.), Caroline (4 1/2), Anna (18 mos), Hannah (3), Abby (3),
and Ezra (16 mos.)

Ez tasting his new tools

yum...drill bit.

Uncle Jack reading books at lunch time

Anna and Ezra 

Christmas part 1 - The Children's Museum

I think one of the best purchases Nana and Grandpapa have made is to get the "grandparents' pass" at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  That place is amazing.  My kids were looking forward to going almost as much as they were looking forward to presents.

First stop: the polar slide.

Micah clearly cheated to beat me.  Note the look of dismay on my face.

the Frahers

the Kollers

Nana and Hannah

Next, the carousel:

 Then we hit the playscape, which is geared towards ages five and under.

Ezra

 After a break for lunch, we played for a couple more hours before the grown-ups were tired and needed naps.

The four girls had matching purple shirts, thanks to Aunt Laurie.

ice fishing

6 months

the love of vehicles begins

 I've caught Matthew several times trying to hold himself up on his hands and knees.  He always gives me a big grin like he's saying, "I'm practicing!  Get ready!"  Even if he can't crawl, he can still get where he wants to go.  When he gets suspiciously quiet, you might find something like this:

(Note: one sock on; a different sock in hand for chewing)

what?

aw, we're so cute

and....back to reality.

"I want to eat the camera!!"

Matthew last week

Hannah at 7 months

Everyone talks about how similar Matthew and Micah are, but Hannah has some common genes, too.  

Hannah enjoys playing "Sorry" with the rest of the family, but she often prefers to play it by herself.  Apparently her princess friends aren't quite as particular about rules and accurate counting.

Micah's Christmas play - he's the innkeeper

Christmas Card Rejects

The Christmas cards I ordered were delivered today!  (which created a tediously difficult conversation with Micah because he didn't understand why the mailman would bring us our own Christmas cards)  I'm looking forward to getting them ready to mail.  (Note to self: buy stamps.)  Until you get the real thing, you can whet your appetite with a few pictures that did not make the card.

I knew it was time to give up when she started dancing like a monkey.

Thanksgiving

The kids and I flew to NH the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Scott joined us later in the week).  Scott got a special pass to come through security with us, so it was actually a really easy trip.  On the plane, the bigger kids were excited and very helpful.  Matthew ate, then cooed and smiled at everyone.  Uncle Eric and Poppa met us when we got to Boston.

We spent the afternoon at Eric and Meredith's new house and ate dinner with them before driving up to Gramme and Poppa's house.  That afternoon and for the rest of the trip, I was amazed at how well the cousins all played together.  (You may notice that there are a lot more pictures of Natalie than Lucy.  It's only because Lucy was at school for the first few days, so we got some extra time with Nat. :)  )

reading books at the Northwood library

making blueberry pancakes with Gramme

throwing snowballs at Poppa

One afternoon we went swimming at a local hotel's indoor pool.

Micah learned how to play one of my childhood favorites - "Sorry"

This guy had a lot of trouble sleeping, but was always happy anyway.