Happy New Year!

Whether midnight finds you playing...

...or sleeping...

...bundled up warm and snug...

...or playing on a sandy beach...

We hope all our family and friends have a Happy, Healthy, and Rockin' New Year!

Holiday Show

The kids' daycare put on a holiday pageant the Friday before Christmas. The Sooy Kids had their own personal cheering section made up of both sets of grandparents and Mommy and Daddy! Clare's class sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Clare showed us all the hand movements at home earlier in the week, but when it came time to performing on stage, Clare sat nervously, and yet adorably, waving to Mommy and Daddy at random intervals.

When the song was done, Clare ran over to Daddy and then made her way over to her grandparents...

... and then over to Mommy!  She spent the rest of the show shifting between Mommy, Daddy, and the principal.  Each person provided a prime seat for Sean's performance!

Sean's class sang a whole slew of songs, including Alvin and the Chipmunks' Christmas Don't Be Late, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

And here are a few videos I got from the concert - enjoy!

Merry Merry!

We hope all of our family and friends simply have a wonderful Christmas time!

Pinecone Hunt

It was a very nice morning on Sunday - clear, sunny, and not too cold.  I asked the kids if they wanted to go on a "Bear Hunt" in the backyard just like the book we've been reading a lot lately - "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."  Both kids immediately shouted "NO - too scary!" So I suggested a Pinecone Hunt instead and they thought that sounded fun  So, we pulled on our boots, coats, and hats and went out to the backyard to hunt down some pinecones...

Cheese!

Sean was in charge of the map and our pet, Monkey.

Clare was in charge of holding the bucket for the pinecones. 

A huge puddle!  Good thing we have boots on!

When I was taking the photo of Sean below, I heard a "splash" and then Clare cry out, "Oh no! My pants!"

We went inside for a wardrobe change for Clare and then we put her snow pants on her :-)

We continued on our Pinecone Hunt and were well on our way to finding our first pinecone when - wait! What's this?

A bear! A teeny tiny baby bear!  He's not scary, he's cute!

We continued our walk through the woods, over streams, and around fallen trees. We filled the bucket with pinecones!

We ended up at the waterfall and threw sticks and rocks in the water. Then we went to the playground for awhile before we headed inside for a potty break.

So what did we do with our pinecones?  We made bird feeders, of course!  Mommy tied strings around the pinecones and the kids spread peanut butter all over the pinecones:

And then they stuck Cheerios to the peanut butter:

  

Clare went outside with me to hang our new bird feeders up - Sean supervised from the warmth of the kitchen :-)

Bon appetit - now you may eat, birds!