"Hanging" Out with Daddy

Caden's First Hockey Game

Last Friday evening, Caden went to his first Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey game with Daddy, Nana, and Papa. He was soooo excited!

showing off his skeleton gloves

a little excited

It looks like he can't take his eyes off the ice.

This little vehicle Tux drove was one of the first things he told me about the game.

Of course he loved the zamboni! Jason said he kept asking when it was going to come out.
When I asked him the next morning what it was like, he said, "It was like being in the Arctic!" :)

Abigail Pics

Here are a few pictures of what Abigail's been up to lately:

Silly girl!

Wipe

We have 4 of Tad Hills' Duck and Goose books. If you haven't had the chance to read these, I highly recommend them. The illustrations are the cutest. Anyhow, there's a page with a picture of a bush and 7 purple berries. Next to the bush is a very messy duck and a very messy goose. Whenever we get to that page, Abigail tries to clean them off with her hand. Tonight she went a step further by getting a baby wipe out and wiping them down. She wasn't too thrilled that they wouldn't get clean, but accepted the fact that they were really dirty and a wipe just wasn't going to cut it!
*She also tried to wipe off another book last night where this cute little wombat is covered in mud. I hope this doesn't become an obsession :)

Smoothies! (finally)

Caden came up with something for me to put on my Christmas List this past Christmas...a blender. When I opened it up Christmas morning you would've thought it was the best toy ever! He jumped up and down and cheered :) The reason for his excitement? He's been asking for smoothies for months now. He finally got his wish! We've had them multiple times since.

Yes, he is using a table knife but under close supervision!

I think he likes it!

"Why can't I get any?"

"Thanks for adding milk to mine, Mom. It's much better."

Abigail

If I had to describe Abigail in just one word, I would say caring. As you can tell from this picture, she takes very good care of her dolls and stuffed animals (although she does toss Funny Bunny (FB) over her shoulder while holding the ears, tries to "ride" FB, holds onto FB by the ears around her neck so it looks like a backpack, holds onto the ears and kicks it along in front of her, etc. - guess that's her way of showing love). Anyhow, Caden also benefits from Abigail's caring nature. She enjoys picking up his shoes/coat and putting them in the closet, cleans up his dirty laundry off the floor and puts them in the hamper, and also picks up his PJ's and puts them under his pillow. I love seeing her grab his water bottle and hold it up to his mouth so he doesn't even have to move. She picks up his bowl after he's done with his snack and takes it to the kitchen too. It's fun to see...but I think Caden might be taking advantage of it!

Cash Register

Caden got this cash register from GG and Pappy for Christmas. I think these pictures pretty much tell their own story:

Train Whistles Update

I mentioned once before (HERE) about Abby listening to a train whistle and smiling when she was almost 4 months old. I thought then that she might enjoy hearing them as much as I do. It seems like just recently she has started noticing them again and will stop playing, smile, and run to the front window and wave. You can't see the tracks from our house, but I guess it's the thought that counts!

Sharper Scissors

I just read in the February/March issue of Country Woman where you can sharpen your scissors by cutting through a sheet of sandpaper several times. Sounds easy enough!

Christmas Day

We had another wonderful Christmas with our families. Thank you everyone for everything!

This is what Caden and Abigail found waiting for them from Santa.

Abby really enjoys her little baby and carrier. It didn't take long for Funny Bunny to find his way into the carrier too.

Her new baby had to join us for Christmas breakfast.

After breakfast, Nana, Papa, and Aunt Missy came over.

Then it was off to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Bonnie's for a yummy feast.
(Abigail was screaming)

They enjoyed playing with one of their cats. I think his name is Sneezer.

Caden actually asked to have his picture taken next to this fun, tin soldier.

Abby and Aunt Erin

Uncle Jeff and Abby

Then it was back to Mammy's for more gifts.
Abigail got another baby from GG and Pappy along with a bottle set.

Caden's trying out his train whistle from GG and Pappy.

These are called Color Wonder by Crayola. They only color or paint on special paper...really nice stuff!

GG had a good time with Caden's crazy ball.

Finally, we had a little visit with Aunt Justine and Uncle Randy and kids before we went home. Snack time is always a good time. We discovered Abigail really likes peppers.

Uncle Randy and Abigail

Christmas Eve

Here's a little peek at our Christmas Eve traditions:

1. Get the cookies and milk ready for Santa
(Abby didn't like putting the cookies on a plate without being able to taste them first)

2. Get the reindeer food and water ready on the deck.

"Um...why are you guys out there in the cold?"

3. Hang up Santa's Key so that he can get in the house since we don't have a chimney (this was a concern of Caden's this year, so I'm glad we have the key)
4. Read about the birth of Jesus in Caden's Bible and read The Night Before Christmas
Then it's off to bed!

We had a surprise visit from Pappy D this year. It was nice to be able to see him for Christmas.

Abigail's Christmas Craft

Abigail's Christmas craft was decorating foam snowmen with scarfs, sticks for arm, a colored band on the hat, and a carrot nose. She usually got the band near the hat, but she added her own style to everything else.

Caden helped out too of course. He added some extra stuff to his. He didn't like Abby's stuff being everywhere, he would try to fix them.

Then Caden made a "necklace" for me out of some extra pieces. I wore it Christmas morning. By the time I was done wearing it, this strip of paper had maybe 2 pieces left. The rest we had to pull out of my hair.