Leggo my Eggo!

"Mmmm, no pants and a toaster waffle."



"How could life get any better than this?"



"Why are you looking at me like that?"



"No, you can't have a bite!"



"I can't believe you touched my waffle!"



"It's mine!"



"Ok, I'm going to go ahead and eat this, but I'm watching you lady."



"Don't think I don't see you!"



"Boy, this waffle sure is good."



"Hey!"



"Leave me alone!"

Happiest at Home

They've closed all the sliding parks in Greenwich this year. I guess somebody must have sued the town or something, but no sliding is allowed anymore.

We've had to resort to our own backyard this year.



It's actually better in lots of ways.



The snow is clean. (no dogs allowed)



The traffic isn't bad. (no snow in my car either)



The hill's not too dangerous. (especially for Miles who can't quite seem to grasp the concept of "land on the sled".)



And most importantly, I can stay in the nice warm house with Calvin and be in charge of the hot chocolate!

Christmas Eve

After our trip to the train show, wrapping last minute presents, and eating our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Hawaiian pizza, we were lucky enough to be invited over to our friends, the Turley's home for a short program.

First, the spiritual portion, which most everyone sat reverently through.



Well, maybe not Calvin and Hannah, but everyone else did well.



Then, we sang a few songs, ending with a very spirited and loud rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas.



And lastly (and most importantly to somebody), Dessert!



It was a great evening with our friends.

New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Trian Show

Every year on Christmas Eve, we head down to the Botanical Gardens for their Holiday Train Show.

And every year, we get dirty looks or comments because of somebody's behavior.



Go figure.

It's no wonder, really. First they make you wait outside in the 25 degree weather until you can no longer move your lips.



Then they say "no strollers, no matter how heavy or squirmy your baby is."



Then they herd you into this beautiful building full of exotic plants and valuable trains right at kid level and say "don't touch".



Seriously, you think that little fence is going to deter a naughty 4 year old?



Luckily, there were enough interesting things to see, that as long as we kept him moving at a pretty good clip, we were ok.



Tate and I were admiring this lovely replica of the George Washington Bridge only seconds before Jake tried to put Calvin's eye out with it.



Sometimes, it's just not a good idea to put a baby up on your shoulders.



Miles was just too short for some of the exhibit, but lucky for him, he has a strong brother.



All in all, besides having to wear/lug our winter gear all around a very warm and humid building, we loved it. And amazingly, we didn't actually get kicked out this year!

Move over Mighty Mouse!

There's a new hero in town, and he's about 3 feet taller and way cooler!



That's right, Jake's book is on shelves at a bookstore near you! Way to go, Jake!

Who needs a security system?

Who needs a fancy alarm or pitbull named Killer when you've got yourself an attack-dinosaur?



All the villagers have fainted with fright.



Nobody's safe from "Rex".



We had people slowing down or stopping out front all day.



Jake and the kids also added a few other friends to the front yard.

We call this one "stumpy".





This was Lucy's new best friend.





In fact, I think she might be in love.



Oh dear.

Merry Christmas!

Well, because of this guy:



we couldn't get a regular tree and we also couldn't have one up for more than two days, but we did manage this little guy:



(which we had to take the tree skirt off of. Ten seconds after this picture, he had the whole thing ripped to the ground.)



My little elves decorated it all by themselves. I just love my little elves (especially the naked one!)



These two rearranged all the ornaments after the naked elf left the room. They wanted to make sure the naughty littlest elf wouldn't be able to grab anything.



So our tree may be puny, and we may only have 5 ornaments on it, but we have Christmas in abundance outside.



Thanks to Jake's terrifying tree-climbing skills, we felt very merry and bright every night.



There are actually supposed to be two more wreaths lit in the upstairs windows, but the baby was sleeping.



And you know what?

Who cares if your decorations are less than Martha Stewarty when you have something even better going on in the background!



The kids have come home every day this week to play in the snow and build "friends" in the yard.



How could it get more Christmasy than that?



A few days before Christmas, we decided we hadn't had enough candy yet, so I helped the kids make gingerbread houses.



Actually, I didn't so much help as I just put lots of stuff on the table and they all set to work.



Oh, and they weren't so much "gingerbread" houses as they were graham cracker houses.



But who cares? As long as it's covered in candy, it counts.




























Move over Frank Lloyd Wright.