Ivan's Kindergarten Christmas Party

Ivan's class poses with their Rudolph noses for a quick snapshot. 

The Winner is a Loser?

The room moms had the idea to get the kids to play musical chairs, and Ivan was one of the last 2 children left, so you'd think he'd be happy to be a winner. The game, however, was twisted in that the kids who 'lost' were ushered over to the Christmas tree to pick a book to unwrap. You can see Ivan is getting annoyed that he is winning the game too much and not getting to go over and pick a present. At the end when there were 2 kids left, he just got up and went over and grabbed one of the last unwrapped books out of desperation. Poor guy. :-/ 

FOOOD!

Ivan and Bo settle in for the party chow down. Juice, pizza, and all-you-can-eat cookies. Everytime a room mom would come around with the cookie tray they'd look at Ivan with pity, "OH! You didn't get a cookie yet?" and they would give him another cookie, which he would eat before the next cookie pass. I think he ate 5 cookies that way. *sigh* 

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Ivan next to his stocking, wearing the scarf he got from his teacher for Christmas. 

A Very Berry Christmas

I had to grab this shot for the neighbors down the street. Alex was the only child with blue all over her face, and you can see her mother is pretty proud of that. ;-) Cute and sticky! 

A Giggle A Day...

Ivan's best friend, Bo, amusing Bianca with his silly antics. 

Ivan and Mommy Pause for a Pose

I usually forget to have someone snap a picture of me with my kids at these events, but this time I remembered. (Thanks Angie!) 

Ivan cracking up with Grandmommie in front of the tree in Ivan's classroom. Grandmommie came to visit for a day and a half before Christmas and we were all delighted. *hint hint* She should come visit us anytime she wants to! 

Christmas in Wichita Falls

This section of photos below are from our Christmas visit to the grandparents in Wichita Falls on Christmas day. It was a very enjoyable visit for all, and the children were delighted opening all their new presents too.
 

Puppy Lovin'

Terra was getting some puppy lovin' from Grandmommie. 

Great-grandmother and Her Camera

Most years we end up with photos of each other holding up our cameras. I managed to sneak a shot of her with the camera down this year. ;-) 

Tic Tac Toe Lessons

 

Playing Chess with Uncle Larry

Michael has been teaching Ivan chess, so (great-) Uncle Larry wanted to get in on the fun and see test Ivan's new skills. 

Unwrapping Presents Is Serious Business

 

Neato! Look what we got!

 

Sounds Like a Cool Book

 

Merry Christmas from the Mommy

Blah. I feel fat. :-( Cute, but fat. 

Playdoh Bears

The kids wanted to play with some of their new Christmas gifts, so we broke out the playdoh kits with parts to make bears and robots. Fun! 

 

Proud Girl

She climbed all the way to the top, reminding me several times, "I can do it by myself! Don't help me!" 

Monkey

 

New Year's Day

The kids had fun out in the backyard. Can you believe 80° on New Year's Day?! We could smell smoke in the air all day from the fires that were popping up due to the super dry weather and high winds. 

Fun with Eddie

Ivan and Eddie playing at Eddie's house. 

I'm Batman

Bianca enjoyed wearing Eddie's Batman mask at his house so much we had to buy her one of her own. 

In Disguise

Bianca wore this outfit to dinner one night recently. A purple princess dress over a normal day shirt with yellow pajama pants, Elmo hiking boots, and blue Bob the Builder work googles. Let's just say we pick our battles, and this was not one of them. :-)