Disney on Ice

For Christmas, Grandma Joy got all of the girls tickets to Disney on Ice!  I was so excited to go with them too!  On the way there, Grandma Joy gave each of them a Disney princess and crown!  Of course, Mila got Rapunzel!  Mila picked out her whole outfit by herself--pink pants, a Frozen t-shirt, an Anna and Elsa bow, and one Anna sock and one Elsa sock!  The show was really good!  The girls had a great time!

I Want to Remember

Mila:
She is learning the Our Father! While praying together the other night I paused to see if she knew the words, and to my surprise, she did!

She is also very drawn to Hail Mary.  Caleb has been praying that at school, so he'll pray it some nights.  Whenever we ask her which prayer she wants to pray, she always picks Hail Mary!

On Christmas Eve, she had found some sequins that had fallen off of a picture frame.  Next thing I see, she is taping the sequins to her baby dolls' heads!  I asked her why she did that, and she exclaimed, "they look beautiful!"  I think it's because she watches a show on Nick Jr with these little genies who have jewels on their heads!

While taking the Christmas tree down, she would take and hide her favorite ornaments.  She kept telling me that Christmas was not over because there was still snow!  I explained that Christmas is over, but it's still winter!  She then said, "It is Valemtimes day!?"  I laughed and said that yes, it would be Valentines Day in a few weeks!

Caleb:Right after Christmas break, he read a book about Sea Creatures to his class!  I was so proud of him! I loved how proud he was of himself!!  He told his class, "This is only the second time I'm reading this whole book, so I might have to sound out a few words!"  He's so cute!!

One night, when he was obviously overtired, he started crying because he hadn't had any chocolate that day!  He wanted me to give him chocolate when we had already brushed teeth and were laying in bed!  I told him that was not going to happen!!  I proceeded to read him a book about different ways people celebrate Christmas.  It said that a boy in Mexico did a pinata with his family.  At the end of the book, Caleb started crying again and said, "That book just rubbed it in!  I bet there was chocolate in that pinata!"  I busted out laughing!!  I gave him a piece of chocolate in his lunch the next day. When I asked him about it after school, he said thanks and then said, "Sorry I had a cow last night!"

One night after dinner, Caleb was really excited to make a surprise for Erik!  He stretched out an Ohio State blanket on the floor.  Then on several pieces of paper he wrote, "Osam" "Amezoeng" and "Go Ohio!"  I wish I had a video of how excited he was to show Erik!  He said, "I just new you would love this!!"

On Christmas Eve, he didn't just leave cookies and milk for Santa.  He packed them up in this to-go bag, so that he could enjoy it while flying back to the North Pole!

Happy New Year

We had a fun NYE celebrating with Lisa, Nick, the kiddos, and our friend Gabe!  Lisa and Nick cooked a delicious roast for dinner!  The kiddos had a glow stick bath, King Julian's fake countdown, and threw confetti before falling asleep around 10 pm!  We watched Alabama beat Michigan St, toasted in the New Year with champagne, and then stayed up til 2 am playing a card game!  It was awesome to have a 3 minute drive home!

Then on New Years Day, they came over to our house for more football, pizza, and sledding on the hill in our backyard!  It was so nice to have so much time together!

party animals!

confetti time!

Roll Tide!

Merry Christmas

We had a really fun Christmas this year!  With Caleb and Mila being 5 and 3 years old, the magic and wonder of Christmas was very present this year!  They had fun looking for and finding Snowflake, the elf every morning.  They had several countdowns til Christmas that they did every day!  We watched LOTS of Christmas movies!!  We made lots of Christmas decorations!  They selected presents for each other this year!  Caleb learned about Advent at school, and we talked a lot about the birth of baby Jesus!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma Joy's for brunch and presents!  It was a fun and relaxing morning!  Then we came home and got changed for Christmas Eve mass.  The church was packed! At first I was disappointed that we had to sit out in the hallway, but then I realized we can pray and celebrate Jesus' birth anywhere!  After church we came back to our house for our traditional Ukrainian dinner,  We sang our Ukrainian Christmas carol with Natalie on speaker phone!  Then we opened presents with my parents.

Two memories that stand out include Mila cutting out Christmas trees from one of the wrapping papers!  She went and got her scissors right away, and sat there in the living room cutting away!

Then Caleb had been waiting for Gup S, a toy from Octonauts, for several months!  He told us that's what he had hoped Santa would bring him.  Since he's been asking my Mom for it since the summertime, we thought she she give it to him!  We were so excited for him to open it!  When he did, his reaction shocked us!  He said, "Oh Santa is bringing me this tomorrow!  Now I'll have two in case I lose some pieces!!"

I didn't even know what to say!  My Mom quickly told him that Santa can only bring one or two presents to each child, and that he really wanted Caleb to have this, so he dropped it off at her house for him!  I don't know how, because the boy child questions everything, but he bought it!!  Thank God!!

With these two amazing gifts, what more could I ask for?!?

Dido and Babtcha and the infamous Gup S!

With Riley's age and health issues, we were so grateful for another Christmas with him!

All ready for Santa!

On Christmas morning, we opened presents at our house!  The energy and excitement was so special! The kids had a great time opening and admiring their presents!  Erik and I filled each others stockings with a few small gifts, and it was fun to see what we had picked out for each other!  I told him what I really wanted was a card filled with his sentiments.  We both exchanged cards, and had a nice moment together reading what we wrote.

We then went to Pops and Nana's for more presents and dinner!  It was really nice to all spend time together!  This Christmas, I was grateful that the kids had received several toys, crafts, and games to play with and keep them busy during these next few cold months!  The amount that they received was just right!  I didn't want them to be overwhelmed, and to remember that spending time together and celebrating Jesus' birthday is what Christmas is really all about!