goodbye 2010

happy new year!!!

welcome 2011!

this is how i feel about christmas break being over tho. other than 2 of my favorite friends moving away, for the first time ever, my kids were sick almost the entire break. maybe even stemming back from thanksgiving break. i think their little immune systems didn't quite recover and then they caught everything they came in contact with. big bummer. so we stayed home a lot during the break.
we did have a lot of nice family time together tho. i wanted to throw in a few pics of fun memories during the last few weeks of the year...

playing the beautiful fall leaves in downtown indianapolis. right next to the whispering bench.
the girls pretending on my grandmas bed. i used to play in this exact spot when i was a little girl.
our little st. nick....
the kids with santa... right before baby R started screaming...
baby R loves to swing :)
a very elaborate mermaid game that went on for 2 days...
the tortured "catfish" in the mermaid game
a lovely rainy day...
this was the perfect present for this girl.... we have a future major scrapbooker on our hands. she put together this book all day.
a litle holiday baking... better late than never :)

grandma G's famous sugar cookies with powdered sugar and water icing. so delicious.

the girls helped with these...



while watching ratatouille, paul fixed ratatouille with the girls. he sliced up the veggies and then S took over. i must say, it was quite a treat.



nice presentation.

we have had a wonderful year. it makes me a little sad to see another year pass and my kids are now another year older. i am so thankful for them and while i look forward to seeing my kiddos grow and develop, part of me wishes that i could just keep them little forever. i converted a bunch of old tapes to dvd for paully for christmas. we have been watching them all and feeling a little nostalgic. time goes by so quickly. i think we taped every moment of S's life. she was so cute. the way she talked, walked, slept... we died over just about everything she did. the perks of being a first child. we were so joyful and innocent in a way. we didn't have much, but had everything we could ever want. i want to try to keep that spirit. i am so thankful for my kids and really want to cherish this time with them. it is so easy to get frustrated or overwhelmed or stressed out about the little things. i need to keep reminding myself to make the best of every moment. and to just soak up the good times and the not so good times.