The pictures with Santa slowly improve

The Santa at our church party was great. Despite the look on her face, Eliza thought getting her own

candy cane was pretty amazing! (she uses the word amazing all of the time. kinda kills me)

 Eliza can't seem to keep her eyes off that candy cane.

 Lexi and Chasey. That boy has a great instant smile. I never have to "make" him smile. It just comes naturally cute!

 Phil looks happy-Eliza? not so sure. If you ask her if it was fun she'll say yes. She's hiding it deep down inside.

I'm lovin' those Rockettes!!!

We decided the kids were old enough to see the Radio City Christmas Show in NYC, and I was so excited to take them! This was my 3rd time seeing it, and it never ever gets old! Right at the corner across from Radio City is I believe a hotel w/ maybe 8 of these nutcrackers in front. It was soooo cool. Especially since my kids are obsessed w/ nutcrackers at the moment.

There it is in teh background! The weather was perfect. We went in a few hours early to walk around the city and show them some of the Christmas sights. We ran out of time b/c we hadn't factored in how slow kids walk-but we still saw quite a bit!

The city is so fun to be in during the holidays. I think this is Chase bank. They were sponsors to the Rockettes show so they went all out at their buildings.

There were these cool huge ornaments, christmas lights and something else. So fun!

At Rockefeller Center we went to the LEGO store. The boys of course loved it. I'm realizing we didn't take a pic in front of the tree or the ice skating rink. The kids loved it.

Eliza was bored and instead sat at this window staring at the huge tree in Rockefeller Center and the skating rink. She was mesmerized.

The Star Wars section mesmerized the boys of course!

Then we went to the Nintendo store. They had this crazy interactive Mario. He was actually talking to my kids about personal things. He told Ty he liked his sweater, and when they were together he said that Chase must be the younger brother. We were so confused and in awe!

Ty couldn't believe it. Then later a worker told us the guy that actually does the voice of Mario was skyping w/ us from wherever he lives. So Mario WAS actually talking to us! He only does it 2 hours a day so we were lucky to be there when we were. He knows 8 languages and while we there he started speaking in Spanish to a little girl and blew her mind.

Of course the kids played some Wii.

Then we walked up to FAO Schwarz Toy Store. Home of the big piano from the movie "Big." In the LEGO section there Chase was loving Indiana Jones.

On the Big Piano! Pretty cool!

And here we are in Radio City!! I love that huge chandelier. We had literally no time to take pictures. We sat in our seats, the lights immediately went out and the show started. Cutting it close! The kids really enjoyed the show. The boys thought it was so cool. They are the perfect age for it. Eliza got bored about 3/4 of the way through, so we took a walk to the bathroom. So it was a success! I'm so glad we got to do this together as a family. And it really got us all in the Christmas spirit!

Liberty Science Center

Chase was supposed to go to the Liberty Science Center with his buddy Zach, but wasn't able to

go last minute b/c of a trampoline w/ Uncle Doug injury. We thought his hip was out of joint, but luckily it was just a badly pulled muscle or something. He could barely walk which is pretty unusual for him! So anyway, they had a free ticket so Ty went instead. He had a blast. Thanks again Sherwood's!   So I have no clue what any of this is. But it looks fun!

Ty said that this pic was taken b/c you can see the Statue of Liberty in the background. It's right across the river from NYC.

Another Visit with the Shafer's!

As if we hadn't seen them enough-the Shafer's came up to visit us! Since they are moving from VA in

a few months (Doug is graduating Dental School) they wanted to go into NYC to see Wicked. They of course loved it, and I got to watch Addy while they were gone. So naturally I let her try chocolate milk for the first time. It's actually Ovaltine, so I didn't feel too badly. And let's just say she LOOOOVED it. She slugged it down so quick I was laughing so hard. I got some pretty good video of it too. We've seen them so much, it sucks that we don't have any definitive plans to get together. I miss having my family around!!

I went upstairs to grab something and whenI came down I couldn't find the girls. They were being abnormally quiet. And then I saw this. They stayed like this for a few minutes. It was adorable!

And then they came running at me. They had so much fun together.

Jackie was able to get together w/ Meyerson's before they left on a trip. Lots of chilly cute girls.

Hamilton had a Winter Wonderland Festival so we went and checked it out. It was pretty cool. The kids loved the train ride and live animals to feed.

I love little kids all bundled up. Reminds me of the the Christmas Story. "I can't put my arms down!"

On the train ride. happy faces all around!

Out of order-but just another cute one of them.

Chase + Soccer = pain and heartache

Here's Chase getting his medal for playing soccer. You might me thinking, "how cute he loves soccer." Well, you'd be wrong. Mostly.

Most practices/games this was him in the field. Wandering. IF we could get him out there. He had 2 friends on the team-and even that wasn't incentive enough. I finally decided that he only had to do practices b/c he seemed to like it a little better. After battling w/ Tyler at the same age, I figured it just wasn't worth it. We were going to those fields 3 times a week for heavens sake!

"What am I doing here?

"I want a snack."

"Look! I made contact w/ the ball. Now can we go?"

And then the final game came. We made him go b/c they were doing a team picture. We couldn't get him OFF the freaking field. He LOVED it. He played well, was aggressive and having fun. he kept saying how much he loved this game and that he wanted to play it forever and ever. He kills me.

But I'm happy he eventually liked it. And I'm thankful for a patient coach! We'll see how next year goes.

Apple Pickin'

Better late than never-here are some October apple picking pics. We went with Amanda and her kids

to Terhune Orchards.

Enjoying some fresh apple cider.

Momma's and the kidlets

Tractor rides. It's a pretty cute set up.

This picture is hilarious. He looks like a clown or something on this tiny bike.

That's better.

So THIS is who belongs on the tiny tractor Ty!

A bunch of rowdy, stinky, happy boys!

This slide was a hidden hazard! I saw child after child fly down and land flat on their backs! This was Eliza first and last ride down it. Didn't care for it so much.

Picking apples in the sun!

Me lugging a super heavy bag and my purse. Brilliant.

Both of those ridiculously heavy bags of apples are for me! The next day I made applesauce w/ my friend Sara. I ended up making alooooot of sauce! And frankly we picked the only apples they had, and it made thick nasty sauce. But I'm making my family eat it anyway!

The girls! When did my baby get so big?!?!?

Realized there were wagons a bit too late. It was nice to have!

Goodbye farm! We all had fun!

A tired, hot and sweaty girl!