Considering Myself Lucky

My babies turned five today!

We have been celebrating Alex and Emma's birthday for a few days now, starting with their birthday party on Saturday. It was held at a gymnastics gym where the kids got to play on all the equipment, including a 35-foot trampoline, a bounce house and a foam pit for jumping. One mom called it the "Pink Eye Pit." I agree--it gave me the heebie jeebies but the kids loved it so I endured and had the hand sanitizer ready to go.

They loved playing with their friends and received many fun gifts, including backpacks from us. On Monday they proudly wore their backpacks to school.

I visited their class on Monday for their birthday spotlight and they were proudly wearing their birthday crowns. Turning five is very exciting!

Happy Birthday, Alex & Emma! Lots of love from Dad, Mom and Ethan

December!

December has already been a whirlwind of activities. I can barely keep up but have managed to capture the fun on film. Here are a few pictures . . .

Okay, this is from November . . . Thanksgiving day.


















Just Audi . . . isn't she sweet? Out of everyone at our house, she loves the snow the most.



Emma and her friend, Kiana, got their nails painted. Emma picked her polish off two days later during nap/quiet time. It was worth the $10 because we had a fun girls' night out.
















Alex and Emma gave an amazing performance in their Christmas program at Challenger. All the kids did a great job and were so excited when Santa arrived for a surprise visit. Emma said Ms. Cindy, the Headmaster, promised her it was the real Santa and not just a guy dressed up in a suit.


Emma gave another awesome performance in her Christmas dance recital, even though she didn't like "all those movements" she had to do with her hands. I think she was more excited to dress up and wear make up.



Ethan's second-grade class decorated gingerbread houses. Ethan definitely put more candy in his mouth than on his house!


The rest of the month will include celebrating Alex and Emma's birthday, Christmas, a visit from my mom, a break from work and school and hopefully some fun time with friends. Happy December to you!

Santa and Things That Make You Go Hmmm . . .

One of our family traditions for three years now has been to ride The Polar Express (the Heber Creeper) to visit Santa at the North Pole. It was just as fun as the first time! For two years now we've had dinner afterwards at a cute little restaurant called the Spin Cafe where they serve "spinny" (curly) fries and delicious gelato.

When I was pregnant with Alex and Emma and would tell people we're having a boy and a girl an occasional person would say, "Are they identical?" Then the same question continued after they were born. I would politely say, "No . . . they're a boy and a girl." Some people would get it then and say, "Oh yeah." Others would need a little more information . . . "they have different parts which means different DNA." A couple of times that didn't even click. Well, our waitress at Spin Cafe last night was chatting with the kids and asked Emma how old she is. Emma said, "Four" and then the waitress pointed to Alex and said, "How old is he?" I said, "They're twins--they'll be five in a couple of weeks." She looked at Emma and exclaimed, "Oh! Twins! Are you identical? Let me see . . ." She looked at Emma, then looked at Alex and said, "Yep! That is so cool! If he gets hurt, do you feel it? If she gets hurt, do you feel it?" After she walked away Emma whispered in my ear, "She is so nice!" Then Emma gave her a big hug when we left.

It was a fun night to start the holiday season and I keep smiling when I think about the waitress.