Year of the GOAT

We finished out 2014 strong. While Florida was warm and Sunny, NY and PA were frosty and fun. We returned to NY on the 26th from FL and spent one night in our beds before heading to PA for Christmas celebrations 2 and 3!

First stop, Grandpa's house where the kids were spoiled beyond belief with goodies. They both also received new bedding which always amazes me is such a hit with kids! Ben's is the L*go Movie and Emma's is fun purple and pink bubbles and swirls. (They made me put it on their beds immediately upon returning home!)

The next day we celebrated with Gramma Lou and the Burke cousins - more awesome goodies, that is for sure. The funniest part of the day was Ben's last gift that he opened from Aunt Lisa. If you recall, he specifically asked Santa for three lego sets - two of which he received and one he did not (because it was $100!!!). When Aunt Lisa came through with it as a combo Christmas / Birthday gift his reaction was PRICELESS. He ripped off the paper and screamed, "Yes! I always wanted a Republic Gunship!" and fell to the floor giggling and hugging the giant lego box.

The celebrations were fast and furious that weekend because Mommy and Daddy needed to get back to NY as we MOVED INTO A BIGGER AND BETTER OFFICE and needed to get it ready for a Jan 1st opening!!! We are very excited about this challenge and took a big risk - but with hard work, big risk can turn into big rewards - so our nose is to the grindstone! 

Best Christmas presents on a daily basis.

Em had a sleep over at her bestie's house New Year's Eve eve. As we were heading to our neighbor pal's house to watch the ball drop, I suggested she try to catch a nap New Year's eve afternoon as there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on at the sleepover. Em is not one to snooze during the day, so I snuggled in with her on the couch and the warmth was just enough to zonk her out for two hours! She was breathing quite heavy in my ear...

At least one of us snoozed!

We went to Molly's house three doors up the street with 4 other families to ring in the new year. I did not think we would make it to midnight, but once again I underestimated the excitement of a large group of kiddos! We "partied hard" but were all out the door by 12:10. Ha!

Ben is TOTALLY FAKING sleep in this pic.

We all blessedly slept in until 9:30 on New Year's Day! I made a wiggly toothed Ben a waffle for breakfast. An hour later he was talking to me and I noticed a gap in his grin. "Ben, your tooth is gone!" "Whaaaaaaaat?" he replied. He didn't even know it fell out and probably swallowed it with his waffle. As you can see, Ben - like Emma, is a shark as the adult tooth was already growing in behind it. The other bottom front is hanging by threads these days and when he smiles he looks like the purple snaggled tooth Minion which is totally awesome!!!

And yes, the exhausted tooth fairy almost forgot to visit!

New Year's Day was declared PAJAMA DAY and we stayed in pjs all day and played games.

The scrambled states of america - best game ever!

I'm not a fan of plastic no brainer games, but this connect four launcher game is a ton of fun! Sometimes this mama needs to chill out and just enjoy the moment. :)

There were serious battles on 1-1-15.

Ben is a huge geography buff and he also appreciates a fine donut, therefore I get random questions like this on a regular basis:

We googled the answer. It is NO.

We delight daily in conversations with this kid. He is so literal and FUNNY.

hahahahaha.

The Republic Gunship took a few days to build. Daddy had to jump in a few times to deconstruct and reconstruct a section, but he did the bulk of the work himself. He is so proud of the finished product and has it on display on his dresser.

I made this!

Daddy and I escaped the 11 degree January weather with a trip to Palm Springs CA for a leadership retreat. We stayed at the La Quinta Waldorf Astoria resort - absolutely gorgeous and sunny and warm.

Good times!

While poor Gramma Lou suffered in the bungalow with below freezing temps taking care of these crazy kiddos. Thank you, Gramma!!!

They braved the sub zero temps to get some fresh air!

Em started indoor lacrosse this month on Monday nights. She also has piano lessons on Wednesday after school (which she loves and is doing GREAT! Thank you, Abuelita!!). The mom-taxi is getting busy! Last Monday I was chatting with a parent and Ben kept interrupting. I was trying to teach him patience and politeness and this was his response:

Someone needs to put the technology to rest!

Emma was invited to a ice-skating birthday party last night. She has never been on skates and even though I was leary she was not. A few times around the rink clutching the wall and BAM! she figured it out. She had a few solid spills, but never complained and got right back up. It was only 20 degrees out and I was freezing watching her, but she had a blast and didn't want to stop!

I got this!

So proud of you, Emsadoodle!