Mmmmm…Chocolate

We went to drop something off at a friend’s house and were rewarded with fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.

Jane enjoyed them immensely.

Quiet Time

Adam stopped napping a few months ago; partly because he no longer desired and partly because we arranged it.  It got to the point that, when he would nap, he wouldn’t want to sleep until 10 or 11pm. 

Unfortunately “no nap” meant no time for me to relax or get anything done.  So, as a New Year resolution I decided that Adam would have “quiet time” every day.  An hour in his room where he can play or read books.  Unfortunately quiet time = nap time and nap time = late bed time.  The solution is having quiet time earlier in the day before he is in danger of falling asleep.  Lesson learned.

What we did on our Christmas vacation

Over the last year or so, several bounce house places have opened in the Rochester area.  These are Adam’s idea of heaven.  He would play there from open to close (and has come close).  The day after Christmas we took Adam and his cousin to “Bounce It Out” for the day.

They had a great time and were sad to leave.  These places are amazingly fun for kids, but where you really get your money’s worth is here:

Admission to Bounce it out: $8.  A quiet 1 hour drive to Buffalo.  Priceless.

There are those moments…

when you glimpse a piece of yourself in your children.

Watching Jane shovel in the last bits of her Chipotle meal with her bare hands was just such a moment for me.

Oh how I love this girl. 

New Years Eve

I’m obviously a little behind on my posts (as usual). We had a great New Years Eve with good friends and good food. The city of Rochester does fireworks every year at 10pm. Shortly after the party got started almost the entire group piled into cars and headed downtown to see the show. One of our friends works in a downtown law firm and had access to one of their 15th floor conference rooms. It was perfect for viewing the show; and a whole lot warmer than standing outside.

After the fireworks it was back to the house to consume copious amounts of food and play Rock Band into the wee hours of the morning.

These three were having a private party, complete with cheese doodles and IBC Rootbeer.

Thanks everyone for a great party. It was so fun to ring in the new year with our friends!

Christmas 2009

There is much I could say about Christmas this year. It is the first time in a long time that we have stayed in our own home for Christmas. Because we usually don't stay home for Christmas we haven't put up a Christmas tree in years. It was such a nice change of pace to decorate our home and spend Christmas morning there. It was also the first year we've been able to enjoy the magic of Christmas from parent perspective, and we really enjoyed it. The kids each got one big gift and lots of little stuff. Jane's wooden dollhouse was, by far, the favorite gift. We had it sitting out when the kids came down and they played with it for quite a while before opening other presents.



The highlight of the morning had to be Jolly Old Saint Nick taking a walk down our street.

He got a little further down the street and one of his elves picked him up to take him back to the North Pole.

Later in the day Scott's sister and her family came down from Buffalo. Adam loves his cousin and they had a wonderful time together. Adam's dairy allergy limits what treats he can consume, but popsicles always win; even in the dead of winter.

It was a great day filled with fun family time and delicious food. We hope you Christmas was just as merry!