Happy New Year to you all, and always remember, when in doubt, suit up!

Adam is 10 weeks old today

Eli had me laughing with his quick reply today. He was showering and says, “I’m Santa!” and did a step/jump to the side and slipped a bit (without falling), so I say, “Are you okay? Watch out, the shower is slippery.”

He quickly replied (continuing with the theme of his game), “It’s ice. Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!”

Colouring partners…..”Gogo, can I colour in your book?”

Slip ‘n slide fun

Opening presents

Playing with presents – Lego and kinetic sand got quite a bit of time

Testing out her new roller skates

Lego is always loads of fun. Eli and I built a hangar to park his aeroplane, as well as a tower, and observation deck.

Adam’s first Christmas gift was a Sophie the Giraffe.

Grace has been saying that she doesn’t believe in Santa for a little while now. It is not a belief that we feel we need to push in her in anyway, so we tend to take a, “Well, what do you think?” approach. I always want to be honest with her, so when she does ask directly, or say, “Now Dad, be honest with me,” I have to answer her with the whole truth. We do tell her that Santa is part of the magic of Christmas, so even if he is not real, he can still be a part of the magic of Christmas time.

Grace has been saying to Eli (who loves the idea of Santa) that he doesn’t exist. We’ve spoken to her about people’s beliefs and that it is not her place to tell him, or anyone else, that Santa is not real.

Today Donné came across Google’s Santa Tracker, and something about the idea of being able to track Santa from the tablet lit the magic in her and she started to doubt her belief that Santa was not real. What does Grace do? Devise an experiment: If Santa is real, then he will eat the food we leave for him under the Christmas tree (with Mommy and Daddy sworn not to eat the food).

We’ll see what morning brings.

Eli on the other hand, well he is just, “I love Santa so much.” He seems to be entirely enthralled with the idea of Santa, and doesn’t really appear to be at all fussed about gifts, just the thought that Santa will be coming tonight is good enough for him.

Grace’s letter to Santa, under the tree with the food. “Merry Christmas to Santa. I hope you are having a good time delivering presents. Love Grace, Eli and Adam.”

Such a smiley little guy

Getting some cuddle time with Grace’s precious Monkey

These three special, crazy, beautiful children are very dear to us….well, at least two of them are crazy, number three is yet to be determined…

Having some fun playing at the Wild Fig Farm during lunch

DJ Cheeks

Grace has been wanting to learn to play “adult Monopoly” for a while now, after she mastered the children’s version of the game. Fortunately Gogo and Gramps had a set, so she has been happily learning about buying property, building house and running the bank – and she is doing remarkably well. The games probably go on a bit too long for her, but she is already winning some of the games. All the working with money is good for her number skills, and she is developing into a ruthless property mogul.

Grace and Donné had an epic game today, with things hanging in the balance all the way – the hotels are Grace’s, but the little green houses are Donné’s…

Morning coffee fun at J.Bru

Puzzles and play dough cookie making