Polar Express and Santa!

Last weekend we went to the Polar Express at MacGregor Downs.  This is our third year going and the kids are still loving it!
Gary, our elf, brought them pjs upon his arrival which were perfect for the Polar Express!

I wasn't sure how Kate was going to react to Santa this year.  The past two years have been major tears!  She was very timid and didn't want us to put her down so I was just sure she was going to again this year....but NOPE! She sat on his lap and told him she wanted more barbies!  Max told him he wanted a Nintendo Switch and Claire just said gel pens and gum! haha!

Last year vs. this year!

Riding on the "Polar Express" read: decorated golf cart lol!

Hot chocolate for the first time!!

Cougar Cheer Season

Claire had another wonderful season cheering for the Apex Cougars.  She stayed on the tiny mite team so she could stay with her best friends (the perfect foursome!).  They had an awesome coach and even did a few stunts!

Halloween 2018

Another fabulous Halloween in our neighborhood!  Our neighborhood does Halloween right!  Houses are decorated, kids are everywhere, DJ has music and lights blaring and all is right!  I love that the adults get so involved.  Some dress up, but others make special treats for the adults that are trick or treating with kids! (read: pudding shots, witches brew, vodka infused gummy bears!)

This year Claire wore her old Dance costume and was a "hip hop dancer", Max was Darth Vader and Kate was Belle!

Kate was so excited to find this hair piece head band!

Extra large candy bars!

Neighborhood friends!

Track out fun!

The big kids were tracked out of school the end of October, beginning of November.  We packed up after Claire's cheer competition and headed to the beach! We went to Holden and stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's place with our best buds!

While it was cooler this year, the ocean was still plenty warm for the kids to play in!

These two! <3 td="">

Kate's face when she talks to Jake is hilarious! 

Best Friends!

One of these years we will get some of Max's buddies to come! He's a trooper with all these girls! He is also wonderful with the younger siblings!

Kate ~ Froggy class

I am so behind! Need to play catch up so I can document all the fun things the kids are doing!

Kate started her second year at Grow Preschool.  I love her school so much.  This year she is in the Froggy class (3s). She loves her teachers, Mrs. Colleen and Mrs. Barbara.

And yes, her bow is as big as her head! SHE picked it out!

Back to School!

Max and Claire go to a year round school.  This is our second year there and I am finally starting to get used to it! They go nine weeks on, three weeks off and get all the normal holidays off.   They started second grade at the end of July.

So far, we are loving their teachers.  They are in separate classes and that seems to work well for us.  Thankfully their teachers have the same lessons plans so homework is always the same.  Fingers crossed it stays that way!

Boston

In July, Justin and I went to Boston for a few days.  It was my first time going and it was so much fun.  We met another couple there for a Foo Fighters concert.  Our friend's brother in law in one of the band members.  We were able to get all access pass to Fenway park, backstage for the concert and  was able to hang out the band after! It was amazing! I liked the FF in the 90s and haven't heard any of their new songs. But being able to see them backstage was incredible!!

We also went on a Duck boat tour and walked the Freedom Trail.  Boston is a really cool city! We ate at some delicious restaurants, shopped and walked the city.  I feel like there is so much we still need to see and visit so hoping for a repeat trip in the future!

ELEVEN years!

This weekend Justin and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! We had planned on going out to dinner then his parents and sister decided to come up and celebrate his birthday as well.  It turned into a great family weekend.  We drank, ate delicious food made my his sister and her boyfriend, played games and danced!

Birthday boy! #43

11 wonderful years!

We are heading to Boston in a few weeks, just the two of us! It's been a while since we have done something just the two of us! Can't wait!

Swim Team

Last year we missed the lottery for our neighborhood swim team.  They had one spot available and, well, with two kids, you just have to pass!  We were super excited to try this year!  Max was more excited than Claire, but so far it is going well.

Claire had actually told me she did not want to do swim team.  There is a 10 day trial period that I told her she need to try.  She has been doing great.  I think her fear is the swim meets.  I'm thinking she can just practice and at least try on meet.

Max, on the other hand, is ready to go! His freestyle looks beautiful and he loves to race.  I really hope one of them loves swim team as much as I did!

first practice

Harper, Claire and Dylan.  Best buds!

Not sure if this video will upload or not, but it is Max swimming freestyle!

Kate ~ Three year old edition!

Our little Punky is three!! Kate is our threenager! haha. She is so full of personality and has given us so much joy over the past three years.

We celebrated at the beach with Grandma, Grandpa, and Darcy and, of course, Daddy, Max and Claire. (we are having a joint bday party with her buddy, Ben, next week).  She has asked for everything she has seen on commercials for her birthday, but the one thing that was consistent, was Baby Alive!

We spent the day on the beach collecting shells and playing in the sand!

Some things about Kate!
~She loves fashion! hahaha. She is obsessed with the yellow dress above and has three other colors in it!  She is obsessed with wearing leggings with her dresses....even when it's 95 degrees.  She will not wear shorts or t-shirts and won't wear bloomers with dresses, just leggings! lol

~She loves her brother and sister more than anything.  If she is upset with me or wants help with clothes, she always ask for Claire.

~She loves to sing, dance and do gymnastics!  She has a signature move (kinda like downward dog with one leg in the air) - her version of a handstand.  She likes to bust it out anytime she hears music or in the middle of dinner lol.

~She is obsessed with my makeup, specifically, my lipsense glosses.  If it's quiet, I can usually find her hiding with a stash of lip balm or lip gloss.

~She has two best buddies.  Ben and Remington.

~Favorite foods: yogurt, cheese, pancakes, cantaloupe, pizza, rotisserie chicken

~Her favorite things to play are dress up, play with her baby dolls or ice cream cart

~Still working on potty training.  She has the pee down, just working on #2 in the potty.

~We (Me and Nanny) just put together her big girl bed.  She still wakes up in the middle of the night and comes in our room.  It's annoying, but I know she is my baby and I secretly don't mind.

~After giving her paci's to the Easter bunny, and not sleeping in her crib, she has dropped her afternoon nap.  Some days she just can't hang and will fall asleep in the car.... which we just turned to forward facing on third birthday.

~Still a little peanut. Wearing mostly 2T clothes still. size 7/8 shoes

~Stats:
28 lbs (22%)
36in (24%)

This little light of Mine!

Our little punky is the best! She has been quite the challenge lately, but man, her smile lights up the room! She is independent, hilarious, beautiful, full of energy and all ours! 

This is her at gymnastics.  A local gymnastics studio has a free play for an hour for toddlers.  She gets to run around, play with her friends and wear her "nastics" leotard!

Ever since giving her paci's to the Easter Bunny, she has been sleeping in our bed more..... 

I would rather have the bed to ourselves, but look how adorable!

Big girl!

Kate has had a lot of big milestones lately.  We are about 80% potty trained.  She is doing great going pee, but every time she has to poop, she goes in her underwear/pullup.  I sent her to the gym today in regular underwear and she had a poop accident. ugh! She just says, "sorry" and shrugs her shoulders. haha.

She also just gave all of her pacis to the Easter Bunny.  We did the same with Max and Claire and it was a success.  It has been harder on me this time around.  She was so attached to them.  She had a sleepover in Max's room with Claire so the first two nights went pretty well.  She woke up one time and Justin told her he would call the Easter Bunny to see if he still had them.  She fell back to sleep a few minutes later! lol   I cried putting her down for a nap yesterday! She's slowly turning into a big girl. waahhhh! I need my baby to stay a baby!
It's also super hard when she is sad/tired/mad bc she used it to soothe herself.  Now she just gets mad and her crying/tantrums last a lot longer. :(

wishing I had a paci to give her! haha

I can't believe her third birthday is in a month! Next big girl move is a big bed! She has been talking about that for a few months now! Can't wait to finally decorate her room!