Visit with Fr. Puigbo

We invited one of our parish priests over for dinner, and Fr. Juan said he would come, only if he could cook! I am not one to turn down a night off from cooking and we knew it would be delicious so we happily agreed to the terms. (And, to be honest, it was a good reason to kick start my Christmas cleaning! :)
Father came over and cooked his grandmother's recipe for paella. It was absolutely delicious, and the company was even better!

Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds came and shared the evening with us. It was perfect timing for Emma, as she got to borrow Grandma's hat for school the next day.

Thank you so much, Father! We can't wait to have you over again!

When you give your toddler the cell phone.....

...you should expect some things like this to show up on it. I thought he was taking a picture.

Cookie Time!

Emma was just amazing this year with our Speculaas cookies. Such a great helper, and did not tire of doing the cutting and rolling.

(The recipe is here)

We were joined by "Aunt Nichole" and her neice, and the two girls were peas in a pod. They were so cute with the flour everywhere. Don't you just love Emma's outfit?

Their favorite part was the flour containers.

I love this time for the cookies. It is so special to me to have this tradition with my kids.

December Odds and Ends

• We are enjoying our evening drives with all the Christmas lights everywhere. William shouts "AHOY!" every time he sees a house with lights on. I think maybe it's time to limit Jake and the Neverland Pirates for a bit.
  


• The first day of December I was awakened with noises from my kitchen along the lines of how to pronounce the word "Psalm" - one says it right, the other says "Pee-salm." The children are so excited to have their new advent calendars doors to open each day and have pulled out the Bible to look up the verse. And no, I did not tell them to do this. My mother's heart was so happy! I watched Patrick look up a verse, and he was in the the book of Isaiah, and he knew which way to go in the Bible to find the book of Psalms. I have to admit that I am not even sure which one comes first.



• I am finally the proud owner of a Fontanini nativity scene (or "creche")! My mother was so sweet to help me get this beautiful set, and she has already added to it. I have to say that I don't think Legos or the little green aliens from Toy Story belong in the empty manger. The elephant that has come to adore is okay, but not so sure about the sword-wielding lego Nijago guys. William felt it was important to not have the manger empty. (I was so close to getting a photo, and I hope he does it again because it was so cute how well they fit!)



• I am having such a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I feel like I missed out on the season last year, and I was hoping this year would feel a little different, but I still feel overwhelmed. Maybe it's just that time of year.


• We made our Speculaas cookies for St. Nicholas day, and I was very sentimental in the process this year. My best helper this year was my Emma. She was a dough rolling and cutting pro this year, and it reminded me of all the years that I was the one spending all the time helping my sister Jenn. My brother and I were always her helpers with the big baking this time of year, and it made me so happy to share that with her.


• We have big news in the Reynolds family! Tommy's brother Paul is engaged! The kids are excited to be able to call their music teacher "Aunt Nichole." We are so happy for them, and ask for prayers as they begin their planning.


• We have a great Christmas card this year, thanks to a wonderful friend who offered to take pictures for us. They turned out great, even with a wiggly 3 year old who never stops moving or talking. She said we would do it again in the spring, and I can't wait! We are so grateful.

Jumping James

Thank you, Iveys!!! James is loving the jumperoo!

Thanksgiving at School

We enjoyed our first thanksgiving meal at school with the kids. Round 1 was Patrick's lunch and round 2 was with Emma. The priests served the kids, and we loved getting to see all the families with their kids

William got ready on the way.

It doesn't sound like much going on, but I sure do feel like it.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is driving through the swirling leaves on a blustery day. (I just love that word!) It makes me feel like a little kid, when we used to rake leaves at my parent's house (which was a never-ending job with all the trees) and the crunch of all the piles of leaves we had. I can't believe it's fall and I have to start thinking about winter clothes for the kids (and Christmas is around the corner. Ack.).

We are already in the second quarter for school and the kids are doing so great. We are so blessed with our teachers this year, and I enjoyed conferences to hear about the kids. Emma's teacher said she wished she had 3 of Emma in her class and I was touched. She also told me about the "date" she had with her: Emma used her "duck dollars" (class money) to buy a lunch with her teacher. They had a special time together in the classroom and I am sure Emma talked her ear off. Patrick's teacher is tops in my book because she doesn't like to give the kids weekend homework. I LOVE that!! And she enjoys reading Patrick's imaginative stories all about Mario brothers, or whatever game he is into at the moment.

William is still wildly in love with James, and continues to smother him with kisses and wake him when he is sleeping (much to my chagrin). His other activity lately is to put a backpack on his back and say "Bye, mommy. I'm going to pre-k. I'll miss you!" I think we need to get this kid in some activities. He continues to crack me up with his movie quotes, and amaze me with how much he understands and remembers. The alphabet has all of the sudden come alive for him, and I think it may have something to do with the "Letter Factory" video we have, and how much he likes to quote movies.

James is my unpredictable one. I have to admit that he is the first child ever that I put to bed with us, on purpose. He does not like to sleep anywhere else. Well, other than in my arms. I feel like a rookie mom again, since I can't seem to make this any easier. He is such a happy baby when he is awake, and loves to have people around, but I think he has an extra sense that tells him he needs to wake up of nobody is around while he's sleeping. I'm guessing it has something to do with all the noise in the house all the time. I keep telling myself that I have to be more disciplined, but a part of me enjoys snuggling with this little man as long as I can. He's only 5 months and wakes up a lot during the night. I can't imagine getting up and going to another room as often as he is up. But, on the positive side, he is a great eater, is so cute, and just brings out such sweetness and happiness in the whole family. And did I mention that he rolls from his tummy to back? AND he has found his toes? That is so adorable!

Seriously? How can I get mad at such a sweet, smiley baby??

All Saints Day

The Parade of Saints!

Thanks to my mom who made an amazing cloak for St. Patrick! I can only take credit for the hat. And being the mom to the cutie IN the hat. :)

Visit from the Godfather

Joe and I have the same Godfather who lives in Texas. We were fortunate to have a visit from him at the end of October. It was so nice to have him meet our kids and spend some time with us.
Compare Tony makes a drive up for his college reunion every 4 years.

He is particularly excited about our newest baby, James ANTHONY. :)

He was accompanied by his friend Genevieve and it was lovely to meet her.

A first for me

William + nerds = a need for something like this.

As I was putting him in his seat in the car, I noticed something white and round in his ear. I started to panic thinking he had some kind of tumor in his ear.

Me: William! What is in your ear!?!?
William: A nerd.
Me: WHY did you put a nerd in your ear!?!
William: Because it fit.

Naturally. So, time to get it out. Thankfully, I could see it, so I tried with tweezers first of all. He didn't like that much. So, off to the pharmacy, in hopes that I won't have to go see the doctor. I get to Walgreens and ask the man where "the little things you put in your ear to get the wax out" are. He says, "You mean Q-tips?" "Nope. Something similar, but not that." He gave me a perplexed "what-planet-are-you-from" look and proceeded to show me where the ear care aisle was. Thankfully, they had these really cool plastic things. And the scoopy end was just perfect! I am glad it came in a pack of 10. Here's hoping we don't have another adventure like that again. As I said, it's a first!

Happy Halloween!

From our Wii-loving family to yours!

Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Peach, and Mario. I made those mustaches myself! William didn't keep his on very long but we did draw one on his lip before they went out.

First Halloween!

Daddy went with the kids with his wii-mote. :)

The neighbor had some very popular blow-ups in front of his house.
To make the night even better, we had Papa, Mani and Wilson over to join us! What a fun night!

Patrick was finally ready to smile after the sticky mustache came off, and a box of nerds.

Pumpkin Time!

It's our little James' first halloween! Our pumpkin was the cutest thing on the table.

Tommy wanted to be sure the kids got the full experience.

Yeah, he was thrilled.

Emma put up a big enough fight that she got to use her favorite thing to decorate her pumpkin: Sharpies!

She had a hand-inside-the-pumpkin at school this year already.

Now to the real torture!

The amount of glee on Tommy's face is just not right.

Sweet boy!

Patrick and Mommy worked hard on a pumpkin.

Here is Daddy's handiwork. William calls it "his" pumpkin.

Mommy and Patrick's work.