Merry Christmas

It was a Merry Christmas at the Mammen household this year, as Santa was very good to Avery and Callum. They were thrilled to see that Santa had come during the wee hours and had left lots of presents under the tree and had filled their stockings with goodies. He even ate all but one of the eggnog cookies we left out for him. (Daddy couldn't eat anymore cookies)

I must say, it was definately the year for dress up clothes for Avery. All said and done, she ended up with 7 new princess dresses, with accessories of course, which she has literally been parading in all day. Callum did pretty well also. One of his favorite gifts was a lionel train set. He loves holding the remote himself and watching the train go around the track, as he yells "Choo Choo", everytime it goes around.

Our house looked like Toys R Us when the day was over, and everyone was happy, so I know it was another awesome Christmas!

Christmas at Bass Pro shop

Philip and I took a drive down to the Bass Pro shop in Ontario today. We had heard they were having free Santa pictures and kids could make their own holiday ornaments. Score! Well, the kids didn't want to have anything to do with Santa (as we already knew might happen) but they still enjoyed the holiday decor. Not to mention....it was all free! :)

 

Giant Stockings

I did some shopping this morning and came home with a couple of holiday stockings for the kiddies. While putting some things away, I looked over at Callum and saw the little guy putting the giant stockings on his feet. I'm not sure if he actually thought they were socks, or if he was just being silly. You can never be too sure. Either way, it was too funny!

 

Thanksgiving Feast

Avery had a Thanksgiving feast with her classmates in the school auditorium today. All the kindergarden and preschool classes sat around the tables dressed up in their Pilgrim and Indian costumes. I tried to get a picture with Avery wearing her hat, but once she saw the camera, off it went. For a moment, it dawned on me how she is such a big girl and is already going to school! Wow, how time flies. I was able to get some cute photos of the festivities.

 

Here's the little Indian herself. She couldn't wait to dress up the minute we got home.

 I owe all our holiday decorating to Avery as we are "exceptionally" festive this year! Happy Turkey Day!

Little Trick or Treaters

 

The little trick or treaters scoped the neighborhood last night in search for some yummy treats. The fairy princess ballerina and her partner, Dr. Q.T. Patooti, walked up and down the block collecting as many goodies as they could stash in their bags, while spotting some spooky creatures along the way. 

                                                                                                                 

Fun at Tanaka Farms

Two little Lovebugs

There has been a lot of affection and sweetness going on in the house lately. Avery and Callum have developed the sweetest little personalities by telling mommy and daddy how much they love them. Avery frequently comes up and says "I love you." Callum also says "I love you", followed by the biggest hug ever. It really is the sweetest thing ever, I just had to share. Just little things like that bring such a big smile to my face and makes me realize how lucky I am to have two of the most special little lovebugs ever.

Fun in Denver

We recently took a trip to Denver this past week to see my sister. Although I haven't actually been there in the winter time, I hear it can be pretty brutal, which still doesn't change my mind about wanting to live there. I absolutely love Colorado everytime I go to visit! I love how all the houses are so old and have so much character to them. Denver has the neatest little restaurants and shops along the streets and it's pretty inexpensive. Philip and I had lunch at the Izakaya Den which was a great little sushi place! The town has such a friendly, unique ambience to it, which I love.

We managed to head over to the Denver zoo the second day we were there, which was well worth it. Avery and Callum were excited to see all the animals and get up close and personal with the monkeys. Apparently one of the monkeys was feeling extra friendly that day and decided to jump in front of the glass about two inches away from Avery and just stared at her. She thought it was the funniest thing ever! My personal favorite animal was the bear. I think it's amazing to be able to get that close to an animal of that size and nature. After three fun filled hours of walking and seeing half the zoo, riding the carousel and train, the kids were on the verge of exhaustion, as were Phil and I, we said our goodbyes to the animals.

One of the last days we were there, Philip and I were able to visit the Butterfly Pavilion, which was about 20 min. away from Denver. Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera, just my luck. It's a giant display room set up to resemble the rainforest and has butterflies flying all around the room. It was so neat to watch the butterflies fly by us and watch them actually landing on people. Not to mention, their colors were so pretty. Who knew there were so many different varieties of butterflies!? It was quite breathtaking and well worth the trip.

 Lotsa elephants to see

A closer look at the penquins

Up close with the monkeys

Ooooohhhhh....a closer look into the gorilla den!

I loved this pic of the bear, I think they're so neat to watch!

Of course Avery couldn't leave the zoo without her favorite ride, the carousel!

Callum is 18 mos old

 Callum is growing up so quickly and getting so big. I took him to the doctor today for his 18 mo check up and he did great, considering it's not one of his favorite things to do in the world. His height was 32 1/4 and his weigh in was at 24.2 lbs. His least favorite part was the 4 shots in his arms, which by the way doesn't get any easier for me. He got a sticker and a new book from his doctor, which made him happy.

Callum has developed quite the loving and mellow little personality. He has his funny little quarks, liking doing his potty dance and pushing around his sister's dolly stroller. (He'll make a great daddy one day) He's learning to speak more words and learning colors, letters, and shapes. He likes to imitate everything his sister does and isn't scared to try new things, as most boys aren't. Some of his favorite things are Tobey bear, elmo, his blankie, the park, cartoons, fishy crackers, cars, climbing on furniture, animals, swimming, yummy bananas, brushing his teeth, chocolate chip cookies, storytime, being outdoors, Yo Gabba Gabba, and giving hugs.

Trip to San Diego

We recently took a trip down to San Diego to Pacific Beach and spent some time with Auntie Jeanette. The beach was packed and I think it took us a half hour to find a parking spot, haha! The weather was perfect and the kids enjoyed putting their feet in the sand. Avery and Aunt Jeanette also had fun building an imaginary sand castle.

Wordless Wednesday

                                              My lil' Charlie Brown!

Avery's 3rd Birthday

We just celebrated Avery's 3rd Birthday this past week, and I can't believe my big girl is "3" now!!! Here are some pictures from her bday celebrations.

I made Avery a colorful pink Birthday cake. Little did I know that the frosting was going to melt overnight, but it still tasted great!

Every bite was packed with little sugary sprinkles! Yummmmmy!

 We got her a Little People House. A special thanks to everyone else who got her the Little People accessories, because now she has an entire Little People village. :)

We threw her another bday celebration with all the grandparents, some of her aunts and uncles, and her cousins. Avery got her very own Tinker Bell cake.

She got to open more presents.

.......with the help of brother and cousin

And got to be a princess for a day. What a great Birthday!