6 months home!

Monday was not only Tatum's 2nd birthday, but it was also our 6 month anniversary of being home! Dennis had the day off from work so we all spent it together. Unfortunately, Dennis spent much of the morning shovelling about a foot of snow. We then went to the mall and had lunch together. The kids got to ride on the merry-go-round. I was going for the family seat, but Colin and Tatum really wanted the horsies. They had a blast and Dennis was able to get a few pictures. After that, we headed over to Build-a-Bear. Tatum chose to make a Hello Kitty that Dennis has named BooBoo Kitty. She loves that stuffed animal. Colin loved watching the machine that stuffs the bears! BooBoo Kitty has gone everywhere with Tatum since Monday.
We are very lucky to have such wonderful kids! Now, if they could just get over these colds!!!!

Tatum's 2nd Birthday Party

Today we had Tatum's birthday party. It was held at the local YMCA in the kid's gym for ages 5 and under. We had ten kids there including our two. They played with Ms. Kerry for 45 minutes and had a ball. It had a ball pit, slide, trampoline, balance beam and rocking horses. They marched around with dinosaurs and played shaky egg. The best part was when the parachute came out. Tatum and Colin both enjoyed sitting on it. They sang the ABC's and counted to ten. Then, we took them on a ride as we sang songs. You should have heard the giggles as they ran under the parachute and it went up and down.
It is just amazing how well Tatum has adjusted for being home 6 months! She hated the party hats and told everyone to take them off. It was so cute! The cake went pretty fast. It was delicious! It was so nice to have everyone together to celebrate her birthday and our 6 month anniversary of coming home! Time had flown by so fast! It feels as though she has always been our little girl!

New Year's Eve

Yesterday, we had another snow storm. We were planning on going to the museum with Nana, but the weather had other plans. We stayed home all day and did school work while Dennis was at work. Colin is working on the letter I for the next 2 weeks and Tatum just started her preparatory curriculum for the 2 year olds. She does seem to be enjoying it. Colin, however, would rather do school work than just about anyhting else. Ah, my little cerebral boy!
When Dennis got home, he had to snowplow the driveway and shovel the deck and the walkway. We then headed over to our friends' house for Chinese food. There were 6 kids and 6 adults. Colin did great with his dinner and even fed himself with his fork. Tatum ended up eating almost all her dinner, but it took her quite awhile.
The kids ended up in the office with crayons, markers and paper. Colin worked on a picture of Dora and let Aidan help him out. Tatum seemed to enjoy shaking the glitter. Luckily, it didn't open!
We headed home a little early. We decided to skip the second party down the street. We let the kids stay up late to play. Tatum went to bed at 8:30 and Colin went at 9:30.

Christmas

On Christmas Eve afternoon, we headed over to our neighbors' home to make cookies. All together there were 12 kids between the ages of 7 and 1. First, the kids used cookie cutters to create their shapes. Colin made star, a gingerbread man and a snowman. Tatum went with a flower and a gingerbread man. The kids played while the cookies baked and then came back together to decorate them. Colin used white frosting and loved the sprinkles. He ate one of the sugar decorations whole! Tatum enjoyed the chocolate frosting. When we got home, they each enjoyed one of their creations.
Nana came over around 4:00 to open gifts. Colin didn't like the whole unwrapping thing. It seemed that he felt he was breaking it by ripping the paper. Major meltdown followed! Dennis took him downstairs to regroup and he enjoyed playing quietly. Tatum on the other hand, thought that the ripping was the best part. Her favorite toy was a shopping cart which she filled with her new little mommy cleaning stuff. She also put her two babies in to get pushed around. When Colin re-emerged, he enjoyed his toys once they were unwrapped. His favorites were the puzzles.
On Christmas morning, we had cinnamon buns heated in our neighbor's oven. It seems something had spilled in ours and smoke filled the kitchen when we turned it on. No worries though...Dennis cleaned it as good as new! We opened gifts slowly and Colin did great. Nana came at noon and Bob and Moira followed soon after. The kids were happy to see everyone, but a little leery that Mom was about to leave. Once they realized that everyone was staying, happiness was had by all! It was so nice to spend the day with my family.

First Snow

It started snowing Friday at around 2:00 and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon. Dennis and I brought the kids out on their sleds for a ride around the neighborhood. It was Tatum's first time in snow! She was a bit concerned as to why we were putting her in all the layers, but she was good. Colin has gotten much better about wearing is hat and gloves. I think this year he realizes that he is much warmer with them on!
Tatum sat in Colin's old purple sled and Colin was in the new red one. Both kids fit perfectly! They were so cute! They kept giggling at each other and Colin stuck out his tongue to catch some flakes. We made it half way around the neighborhood and then their noses turned red. Dennis and I had a great time pulling them around and warmed up with some hot chocolate.
Maybe next time, we can attempt a snowman!