Candy, Candy, Candy....

Ever since Alex and Will took their very first bites of baby food, I have been so proud of how they are such good, healthy eaters. We have never really had any feeding issues with them and there are very few foods that they will not eat. This love of food, particularly fruits and vegetables, does not, however, mean they do not enjoy their sweets! In fact, with all the holiday festivities, both the boys have been really feeding their sweet tooth's lately.

I certainly do not mind a little treat here and there but the sugar consumption has reached new levels around here. Every morning I have to patiently explain that "no, you do not get a cookie because you ate a good breakfast...it is 7 a.m." and "a candy cane is not really a snack". I am pretty sure January 1st will entail a full on sugar detox for the entire household. Until then, I am just accepting that the holidays equal sugar rushes...at least at our house!

To feed our recent sugar cravings we have toured a candy store where each of the boys picked out a treat (chocolate bells for Alex and gummy worms for Will), baked countless batches of cookies and brownies, and even been a part of a friendly gingerbread house decorating competition. Aunt Robin, Uncle Scott and Cousin Hannah challenged us to a little competition and we of course could not turn it down! We gathered at their house with an arsenal of candy ready to win! Now, it is a bit difficult to decorate a house while snacking on it but we did our best despite little (and big!) fingers grabbing adornments faster than they could make it on the house. Scott, Robin and Hannah could rival Martha Stewart with their gingerbread decorating skills and I am not 100% convinced that they were not coached or, at the very least, spending hours practicing before our arrival. I am willing, begrudgingly, to admit defeat but am already thinking about next year! I have included some pictures from our competition..our house is the one on the left. Just kidding...we are the house on the right. Don't look too close or you will probably be able to see actual bite marks in some spots!

Obviously we had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year. But, seriously, we are totally going to win next time! Meanwhile, we are still picking gumdrops off our house for "snacks" and thinking of ways to feed our collective sugar tooth's. Chocolate Santa's for breakfast anyone??

A Call From Santa...

The other night Will and Alex got a very special phone call. It was just after supper time when the phone rang and the caller ID flashed an out of area number I did not recognize. When I picked up, a woman with the nicest voice you could ever hear asked to speak to Will. Now, Alex and Will get lots of phone calls from people I recognize like Nana and Grammy but this was a new voice. When I handed the phone over to Will he listened intently and then his face lit up like Christmas which was completely appropriate as he was speaking to MRS. CLAUS!!!

Mrs. Claus was very nicely acting as secretary for Santa and patched the big guy through to speak directly to my boys! Alex and Will were completely, over the moon excited. Santa knew that each of the boys wanted a scooter and even knew they had been very good boys this year. I guess Santa really is watching every thing they do!

As the boys talked to Santa I managed to take a few photos and I think you can tell by looking at these just how excited the boys were...

Pretty thrilled, wouldn't you say?? The excitment sure is building over here and this call really got things going. A great big thank you to Auntie Joyce who has some pretty important connections to the big guy, earning us this special call!

Our Tree...

After getting our beautiful tree, the boys were super excited to decorate it. The second it was in the tree stand they were ready to help with the lights and put up all the ornaments. This year we decided to go a little "light" on the ornaments especially the glass ones. In light of the fondness the boys have for moving decorations about we thought this was probably the smartest move.

Will and Alex were so excited about each ornament they pulled out and kept exclaiming "I remember this one" about each. It was so cute. They put most of the ornaments toward the bottom where they had easy access but did allow Tom and I to put a few near the top. We had the Christmas music playing and it was definitely one of those times where I was overcome with gratitude for our little family. These little faces, bright with excitement and anticipation, just filled me love...

Unlike years past, the tree decorating did not last just one evening. The boys are perpetually moving ornaments around and including Tom and me in the fun. It is tree decorating night every night at our house! I think it was a very wise decision to keep those breakables either off the tree or on the very top this year! Here is a shot of our Christmas tree as it stands right now although, as I type this, I am sure two sets of hands are making some minor adjustments...

O Christmas Tree...

Last Sunday, to our delight, the Christmas house note instructed us to head to Aunt Moe's and Uncle Tom's to cut down a Christmas tree...love those elves! We had cut our tree down with them last year and were super excited to make this an annual tradition.


After enjoying some time playing in the first snow storm of the year we packed into the car and headed to Casco. We met Aunt Moe, Uncle Tom, Ant, Hannah and Nate at the tree farm and began our trek into the woods and even Ruby was there, riding along in her sling. Luckily, we did not have too far to go before we found 3 perfect trees...one for each of our houses! The trees were very tall but with just using the tops gave us some beautiful trees. The guys got their saws out while the rest of us supervised. Here are some of my favorite tree cutting shots... After selecting and cutting down our trees we headed back to Aunt Moe's and Uncle Tom's for some more fun. Aunt Moe had gingerbread cookies all ready for Alex and Will to decorate with candy and they got right to work on that. Sure, most of the frosting and candy skipped the cookies and went directly into their mouths but they definitely had fun! Meanwhile, Ruby had fun being passed from everyone's eager arms and spent most of our visit sound asleep except for when she was with her Gee Gee who she could not take her eyes off... Immediately upon returning home Alex and Will were ready to put the tree up and decorate it with ornaments and lights. We managed to talk them into waiting a couple of days until the tree dried out a bit but it took some real persuasion. Stay tuned for some pictures of the final product...

Three Year Photos...

Each year around Thanksgiving I get Will and Alex's yearly pictures taken by a professional. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the boys do not love having their pictures taken. As soon as I mentioned going to get pictures taken Alex and Will started to cry. They really were not into it and I could only imagine the scene if I decided to force the issue. I certainly did not want to upset them but I did want some nice shots of my boys at 3. Luckily, the boys agreed to let Tom play photographer with them on the condition that they did not have to go anywhere to have pictures taken. Deal! We have a pretty nice camera and Tom has a real knack for getting good shots and I was thrilled with how the pictures came out. Here are some of my favorites...

Little Ms. Smiley Face...

For the past week or so, Ruby has been giving us some real smiles. She has been flashing that big gummy grin and it just about melts our hearts. Me, Tom, Alex and Will love to act silly trying to make our Ruby smile and will think nothing of acting like lunatics in order to get one of those big grins. Of course I have not had the camera handy to snap a picture...until now. Here is Baby Ruby rewarding us with one of her smiles....pure heaven for this Mama!

First Snow...

Today was a big day here...the first big snowfall! While we did not get a ton of snow we did get 4-5 inches which was good enough for Alex and Will. When the boys got up, they had already peeked under their shades and seen the snow and they were ready to go out and play. Once downstairs they excitedly ran from window to window to see the snow from every angle and what exactly it had covered. It was fun to see them so excited. While I stayed nice and cozy indoors with Ruby, Tom headed outside with the boys for some shoveling and some fun in the snow. I am sure I will get lots of other turns this Winter to get some play time in the snow so I was more than OK with skipping this time! Here are my guys enjoying the freshly fallen snow...