2/365: "Laughing Faces, Happy Smiles..."

"...and Peace throughout the year!"

In my house we leave our Christmas decorations up until Epiphany on January 6th.  One of my favorite memories growing up is the "Twelfth Night" parties we used to have at our Pastor's house in Epping.  We would all bring our undecorated trees and have a huge bonfire in the backyard.  We would sing Christmas carols, eat lots of delicious food, drink hot chocolate and someone would read "The Legend of Old Befana" to all of us kids.  It was something I looked forward to every Christmas season.  

One of my treasured Christmas decorations is this old guy, St. Nicholas himself.  

He is a jolly old elf, with an emphasis on the "old" part.  I think I was about Olivia's age when my parents were taking him off of the top of the refrigerator so that I could press the button on his belly and hear him sing "Jingle Bells".  For years I remember the excitement of seeing him emerge from the decoration box the day after Thanksgiving.  I remember coming home from college and pressing his belly and listening to the squeal as his old music box tried to get up to speed.  His voice would moan and groan the words instead of sing them.  After a few plays he would be back to his old self.  Well, this guy is still singing his tune, only now my kids get to press his belly.  My kids get excited when they see him come out of the decoration box.  My kids get to listen to him moan and groan the words to Jingle Bells and we all laugh every time.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Remember, the twelve days of Christmas started when Jesus was born!!

Day 201 - June 19, Pony Party

Olivia's birthday was last month, as you may recall, but we had another party for her.  Olivia loves horses, so we had another party for her at a local horse farm.  The party was wonderful.  The family who owns the farm runs the whole party.  I didn't have to do a thing!

Here is the 365 photo:

And here are some highlights from Olivia's wonderful day:

I think I need to encourage this passion she has for horses.  I see riding lessons in her future!!

Day 166 and 167 - Happy Birthday Olivia

Today Olivia turned 4!  I cannot believe another year has passed.  She came into this world in a frenzy and it has been a whirlwind ever since.  We celebrated her birthday yesterday with dear friends and family.  A rained-out BBQ turned into a cozy indoor party.  It's a good thing we all love each other!  We had a no presents party, but no one listened which made Olivia very happy.  Her friend Jackson, whose parents listened to me, came over to me after the presents were opened with tears in his eyes.  "Excuse me Amanda, we did not bring a present for Olivia."  I said, "It's OK Jackson, you didn't have to.  Your present is just being here because Olivia really wants to play with you."  He smiled and walked away.  Too sweet.

 Olivia loves horses.  We invited some friends and all of her family to yesterday's party and another party we will be having in June at a horse farm.  My thought was that most people would come to one or the other, but everyone who was invited (for the most part) is coming to both.  Lucky Olivia!!

Today's photo is a shot of some flowers Olivia received for her birthday from her Aunt, Uncle and cousins.  Olivia loves flowers and she was so happy to receive them.  The other day she was talking about her dance recital that is coming up and remarked that when she was done people would throw flowers on stage.  I couldn't help but laugh.  The girl loves Angelina Ballerina and I had to break the news that nobody would be throwing flowers.  I will give her a bouquet though.

365 - Six!

Day 31

My baby boy turned six today!  There is not a whole lot I can say about Cameron that has not already been posted here.  He's energetic, sweet, kind, loving, and generous.  He loves his Mama, and loves to push my buttons.  He has gotten quite good at it, actually :)

Of course I remember the day he was born.  It was our best New Year's Eve party ever!  I also remember a family member telling me the next day about his birthday being so close to Christmas, "He's going to get screwed on his birthday."  I laugh every time I think about that comment.  What a silly thing to say about a newborn baby, first of all, and second, I don't think Cameron has ever felt "screwed" because of his birthday.  Quite the contrary actually.  His birthday is celebrated too many times to count.  He celebrates before Christmas at school, he celebrates on his actual birthday, we celebrate out in NY sometime after Christmas, and then we have a kids birthday party for him two weeks after his birthday.  I think he's pretty lucky.  Not to mention, there is always a party on his birthday.  (He'll appreciate that when he is older).  If the meaning of "screwed" is that he won't get a ton of presents, I guess this is true.  But this would happen if his birthday is in June too as we feel the celebration is more important than the stuff!

Today we celebrated Cameron's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Cameron had so much fun, as did Olivia and the adults in company.  We ate pizza, played games, rode on rides, opened presents and won a lot of tickets so we could pick out some junk from behind the counter.  Wicked cool junk!

Happy Birthday Cam-a-lam-a-ding-dong!  We love you and we are so proud of you!

Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne

Farewell 2010!  You brought us joy, tears, laughter, and pain.  I would not change a thing.  We are exactly where we need to be and we are surrounded by people we love and who love us right back. 

There will be no resolutions.  I resolved a long time ago to live each day trying to be a better person than I was the day before.  Sure, I make mistakes and 2010 was not without some doozies!  But from every mistake I learned a lesson, and vowed to never make the same one again.  Each day is a new day and always begins with Hope and Promise.

2011 begins with me finally having health insurance.  Yeehaw!  I will start my year getting reacquainted with my doctors :)  I'm sure they have missed me terribly.  

2011 also brings a bit of uncertainty.  A new job for Damien and a lot of open doors for me.  We have no idea where we will be living, which is a little scary, but for each moment of fear I feel ten thousand moments of hope.

So, farewell 2010 and hello 2011!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

A Very Merry Christmas, Part Deux

The day after Christmas we got together with Damien's family at his parents house.  Cameron and Olivia were very excited to spend time with their cousins.  Cousin friendship is so awesome!

 

Patiently waiting for the next gift.  Paw Paw had a system that could not be broken or interfered with.  All of the kids did a great job waiting.  And we all know that waiting is the hardest part!

The Jesse boots!  Olivia was so excited when she saw these (and she has not gone a day since without wearing them).

And then came the rest of the ensemble.  She was thrilled!  Beyond thrilled!  I just love this series of photos as she realizes what she has just uncovered.

Cameron was just as thrilled.  When he realized what was under the paper (How to Train Your Dragon's "Toothless and Hiccup") he started to hyperventilate.  It was so funny!  Every time he was super excited about his gift he would stand up and hold it over his head like he was holding the Superbowl trophy.

This picture of Cole just cracks me right up!  He takes off the wrapping paper and holds up the box and says, "Hey, Mom, it's a box!"  I thought it was so funny because we do that all the time in our house.  Too cute!

Olivia just could not wait to dress up in her Jesse costume.  Thank you Grammy and Paw Paw.  She just loves it!  She also got a princess crown and light up shoes that she spends a lot of time in.  Thank you Kelly, Brendan, Cole and Charlotte!

After gift opening, the kids got to spend a lot of time playing together.  Olivia and Charlotte really got a kick out of Grammy's vibrating pillow. 

It's always a fantastic time at the Sevin Family Christmas Party!

Still trying to catch up, so stay tuned for a Snow Much Fun post tomorrow.  Merry 5th Day of Christmas everyone!

A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas Day was so much fun.  It began very early (5 a.m. early) and ended very early (6 p.m. early).  The first thing Cameron said when his eyes opened was, "Mommy, cookies and milk."  Then he had to check out the bedroom window to see if the reindeer food was gone.  Of course, it was!  By 5:30 a.m. Damien and I were awake enough to get up and go downstairs.  When they saw those presents under that tree they were too excited for words.  Literally.  I imagined them coming down the stairs screaming with delight, but they were actually completely silent.  It was pretty cool.

The rest of the day was pretty loud.  A frenzy of gift opening and the squeals of delight I was looking for.  Every gift opened was met with a smile even if it was not "the one" they were waiting for.  

After our traditional big breakfast of eggs, egg nog french toast, bacon (local, happy pigs) mimosas and fruit salad, the kids got to work playing with everything.  I feel like we may have overdone it this year, but it was worth it.  

The kids have been endlessly entertained for the past few days with all the new things in the house.  I feel like they may stay entertained for a few more days, at least!  The favorites at the moment are the dragons, new baby, Rudolph, Jesse costume, dragon book and the race track.  Tomorrow it may change, but for now they are all smiles :) 

We were missing my brother Wit terribly yesterday.  Well, I was anyway.  He always cooks the breakfast and I was a little sad doing it without him.  We got to speak to him on Skype, and see him.  He looks great!  I just wish I could hug him.

Merry Christmas everyone!

'Twas the Night

And oh what a night it was!  The evening began with Chinese food, as does every Christmas Eve since I can remember.  It was delicious, and nobody had to clean their kitchen later.  Perfect!

Then it was off to Christmas Eve service at our church.  The kids were very excited to hear Mommy and Nana play the bells.  I was nervous.  There were A LOT of people there!  But the bells, the choir, the soloists all sounded beautiful.  The service was wonderful.  Cameron was thrilled to hold a lit candle during Silent Night. 

During the Children's Sermon our pastor handed out candy canes.  She must have known they needed a little sugar boost right before bed.  Oh well, it's Christmas and the kids were so happy to be eating a candy cane in church.

When we got home, it was late.  Right into pajamas, sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn, put cookies out for Santa and off to bed they went.  Santa has come to the Sevin house and I look forward to Cameron and Olivia's faces as they come down the stairs to see this:

Festival of Trees

Last night we gathered with a few of our friends and went to The Festival of Trees held at Waukewan Golf Course in Meredith.  First, though, we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Giuseppe's!  I love the simple Italian fare, live entertainment and the Stella on tap.  Damien would not let me take a photo of my Stella.  He's so lame!

The event was advertised as a "spectacular festival of trees" at the golf course.  My friend Lauren and I assumed there would be trees all along the course.  There would also be a children's reading of "A Wish to be a Christmas Tree" inside the heated barn.  We bundled the kids for a cold evening outdoors.  We were surprised to discover that the whole event, including the trees, was indoors.  The trees were still beautiful, but not quite the magical adventure we anticipated.

The story, "A Wish to be a Christmas Tree" was cute.  I think I want to buy it!  They had a girl dressed up as an evergreen tree, and it took Olivia through most of the book before she realized the tree had someone inside it.  The kids got a giant christmas tree cookie to take home.  They are very excited to eat it after lunch today!

Keene Pumpkin Festival - 2010

Every year for the past five years, with the exception of last year, we have visited the Keene Pumpkin Festival with my parents and the children, born or yet-to-be born.  For a trip down memory lane see my 2006 and 2008 posts.  Apparently I had something better to do than blog about it in 2007.

Upon arrival, the kids placed their pumpkins on the shelf pictured in this first photo.  While doing so, these two nice young ladies came up to them oohing and ahhing over their obvious adorableness and asked if they could have their photo taken with them.  Olivia can be seen here looking puzzled at one of the girls, but it really was a very sweet moment. 

Cameron found a pumpkin with a robot carved into it, which he and Olivia both thought was pretty awesome!

I really have no idea what Olivia sees in this next shot, but she was pretty excited to see it.

Maybe she saw all of these people.  Their costumes were the best of the day.  Of course, they go every year, with the same costumes, so they couldn't be any less than spectacular.

My favorite.  The Cowardly Lion.  He played the part very well.

Olivia and Cameron both found their favorite pumpkin.  The tiniest one there!  They both found it while the other was not looking and I thought it was pretty cool that they both liked the same exact one the best.  I mean, this happens a lot, but usually because Olivia sees Cameron like something and she just has to like it too.  Not this time!

"Mommy, take a picture of me with the kitty!"

Cameron loves soup.  Any kind of soup.  It's pretty great and has opened our dinner options up to a whole new realm of possibilities.  Plus, I never worry about what he will order when we go to fairs or restauraunts.  Here he is pretending that the soup is really hot.  It was not.  He's a pretty believable actor!

Olivia with her favorite pumpkin... again!

After both kids chose very healthy lunch options I rewarded them each with their own cotton candy.  Now, I am the mom who takes them to fairs and amusement parks and says no every single time they ask for cotton candy or any other high fructose corn syrup-esque food product.  The glee they expressed when I said yes.  Actually, it went something like this:

Cameron: "Mommy, can we have cotton candy?" in tone that said he already knew the answer would be "No."

Mommy: "Actually, because you chose and ate healthy food, yes."

Cameron:  "Aww, Mom... wait!  Did you say yes?"

Mommy:  "Yes.  And you can each have your own."

Cameron:  "What?!?!?!  Olivia!  Did you hear that?  We each can have our own cotton candy."

It really is the little things in life, isn't it?

But, we probably should have bought the cotton candy before the family photo session.  If you zoom in, you will see they are covered in orange stickiness.

Yup, there it is!  The money shot!

The sugar rush kicks in pretty quickly with these kids.  Cameron is pretending to be a zombie in a graveyard.  Don't know where he gets that from... Damien!

I am so glad Olivia shared hers with Cameron!  

Ugh...  All I can do now is let go and enjoy them enjoying their cotton candy.

Now that is one happy little girl!  Here's to letting go and a wonderful day at the ?last? Keene Pumpkin Festival.