Our Christmas Photo Review...

What a way to end Christmas day...a little naked play time with a new car. ;)

Christmas cheers!

My Mama and me :)

Let the train table fun begin!

A big thank you hug for Mimi!

Testing out the bike...frog helmet and all!

My FOREVER best Christmas present...my Bear Cub!

Here he is, carefully putting on the GIANT plastic ruby ring that he picked out all by himself for me. In all its plastic glory, it's just about the most beautiful thing ever. :) He's so proud to have shopped for me. What a sweetheart!

For Daddy, he chose a heavy-duty Post-It notes holder for his desk. Too cute. :)

Opening his new vet kit...Zoe was interested in that one!

"Reading" one of his new books

Daddy and BC playing with his TiNY new "mote and troll" car that Santa brought!

Yup! The cookies and celery were gone...left in its place, a LONG letter back from Santa, answering the many questions BC had for him. "Do you like dogs?" "What's your favorite type of frog?" "Do you like Rudolph?" "Do you like science?" Santa just HAD to answer all of those! :)

Posing with his stuffed kitty and new frog that Santa left.

The Wonder Pets "fly boat!"

Zoe, going to town on her new stuffed fox from Santa.

Bear Cub on his big boy bike! He's getting the hang of it! He rode all around the block this weekend!

LOVE those stockings!

BC checking out his Santa goods...Zoe fussing at him about something. :)

Heading in to check it all out! (even Zoe!)

"Can we go downstairs yet? PLEASE??"

BC helped EVERYONE open their gifts!

Giving Grandpa a squeeze after he opened up the screwdriver set that BC picked out ALL by himself! :)

Spending some time with Grandma! BC picked out a pug in a sweater ornament for her!

Playing with Aunt Steph and baby! We're expecting that lil girl to arrive within the next 24 hours!

Christmas Eve at Auntie A and Uncle E's house!

Handsome Mr. O!! Mimi came over for a visit that afternoon too. As always, we LOVED having our cousins here! :)

Hi everyone! I truly hope your Christmas was as joyful as ours! We had a very busy week last week, with BC's 2 days of school, a GREAT visit from my cousins and their baby (Mr. O!!), and of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas day with family.

Bear Cub was SO excited to come downstairs on Christmas morning -- he was up by 6:45 and ready to GO! He pretty much walked right passed the main Santa gifts and headed straight to the stockings on the couch! He had fun digging in (and of course, opening up some candy!) and we finally had to direct him to the BIG stuff. Like, "Hey, LOOK! Santa left you a BIKE and more cool toys, too!" :) I just don't think he knew where to look....new stuff all around! We had a really nice morning, just the 3 of us here. Bear Cub really took his time, opening, and then playing with, each gift. Our morning was spread over at least a couple of hours - it was so fun and relaxing! Mimi came over later in the day and we enjoyed more Christmas time...and the main event for BC was opening his BIG gift...a new train table from Mimi!! Oh my, he is in heaven with this thing! It really is amazing!

Ahhhh....so another Christmas has come and gone. Bear Cub makes them so special - it really is just the best to see it all through a child's eyes again. Lots of sweet memories made! Enjoy the pictures!

Merry, Merry Christmas to you all!

Just in case I don't have a chance to post tomorrow, I'd like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas! We are looking forward to celebrating on Christmas Eve with Daddy's side of the family, spending Christmas morning here at home, and then having Mimi over on Christmas afternoon. The greatest gifts of the season are family and love and I am so grateful to be able to say that we are RICH with those things. :)

Be sure to check back after Christmas...I'll be sure to post lots of Bear Cub pictures from the BIG day! Merry Christmas!!

Bear Cub's Christmas party at school

Joining in on a song...hand motions and all!

All smiles when he knew Santa was on his way into the classroom!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa comes with candy canes!

Yay for Santa!

Had to put this one up...look at that cutie sitting next to BC. He says that she is "one of my dirlfriends" at school. Oh, brother!

In the middle of the present exchange - a new book for everyone!

Checking out his new ABC book!

Mmmmm...time to decorate some cookies!

Hard at work with his friends! :)

Back home again!

Big boy flying! The laptop kept him entertained for most of our travels. What a good sport he is!

Coming out to check out the snow. He loved it!

Mama and BC...he'd just bumped into me...hence the crooked sunglasses. oops!

Snowball!

Miss Maia giving Ollie some love!

Brave girl makes a snowball with bare hands!

2 pretty ladies!

3 generations there! :)

Hanging out with Jeep. I loved him in his turtleneck...something he doesn't get to wear here in FL!

Brrr! He kept on playing on the snow-covered park, regardless of the chill!

Snow race!

Big cuz Isaac...playing some video games.

And yes, even the train track come outside for some snow time!

A boy and dogs...nothing gets much better than that!

Me with my new boyfriend, Ollie. He loved me! He HAD to sit on my lap at all times...a 60 pound lap dog?!?! Ha! He was a sweetheart. :)

Hi everyone! Well, Bear Cub, Mimi and I arrived safely home late Tuesday night...and it seems like BC and I are STILL trying to recover! :) We had an awesome time in Santa Fe, NM, visiting my sister and 2 of her kids. The weather was cold, but not unbearable...we even had a little snow on the ground to fool with! Bear Cub loved this and seemed totally unaware of the cold temps. Is Russian blood thicker? It is SO beautiful out there... picturesque mountains (that I'm bummed I didn't get a single photo of!), clear blue skies and BRIGHT sunshine. Wow!

We arrived on Friday evening after great travels. I'm telling ya...my BC knows how to travel! He did SO well on all of our flights...staying buckled, enjoying some DVDs on the computer, coloring, snacking... he was so good! He even met with all the pilots on each flight, making himself at home in the cockpit, asking them, "What kind of snacks do you have for me?" Ha, ha! He did get a stick of gum and some more peanuts (just what we needed and wanted) out of that deal. Too funny.

We thoroughly enjoyed just hanging out and spending some quality time with our family that we just don't get to see enough of! My smart sis is starting nursing school in January, so things will be getting REALLY busy for her soon. I'm so proud and excited for her! My "baby" niece is now 17 and a senior in high school...amazing! She's gorgeous, friendly, and funny...what a combo! Then there's the youngest of them all and he's not so little either! He's 14, tall, and has this big man's voice. Where did the "kids" go?? BC enjoyed his cousins and was especially interested in being pesty to Isaac, treating him more like a BIG brother than a cousin. BC's Aunt J was so sweet and played a lot with him...so he loved all that extra attention. But, some of the biggest hits for BC were....the DOGS. They have 2 Jack Russels and a big Australian Shepard that he eventually loved. His "favorite" was Echo -- one of the Jacks ... although she was the one to nip at him a couple of times. Guess he's into tough love. ;)

Besides our visiting, we drove up into the mountains, did a little shopping in downtown Santa Fe, and visited a nearby town. And of course...we ATE and ATE our way through the days! They have some killer food out there, topped with all kinds of chili peppers. I think most everything came with peppers of some kind! Yummy!

So it's back to reality for us now. I'm so glad we had the chance to make the trip out there -- it was a great time...but now I really miss that family! BC had a Christmas-y play date on Wednesday, school on Thursday, and his class Christmas party today. It has been non-stop since we've gotten home! Enjoy the pictures from our trip...my next post will have his class xmas party pictures! Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

One week until Christmas...OH MY!

It's a boy's life, for sure!

Observing the grubs he found while Daddy dug up some sod for our paver project.

Oh yes, he even handled the grubs...and LOVED every minute of it!

3 cool toads that he caught on one of our "night walks"!!

The frog scientist carefully holds his latest specimen...

Ahhhh...winters in Florida...short sleeves and popsicles! :)

It's beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas...

Bear Cub, Mimi Bear, and I leave this coming Friday to see Aunt J in New Mexico! Yay! Well, it is VERY cold there right now, so we had to break out the winter gear (which is mostly hand-me-downs and random pieces) to "practice" for our upcoming trip. I thought FOR SURE that BC would freak out over the gloves, but we told him that he would "become a frog" once he put them on and they would be his "sticky toe pads" and sure enough...the boy was hooked. He hopped around and played frog for a long time that night! Hopefully he'll be this eager again to bundle up once we need to for real... Brrrr! 12 degree lows are going to be a BIT frigid for these Florida folks! What in the world does that feel like?!?!

Sticky toe pads help you climb walls...

Checking out his transformation into THE FROG. Oh, the things we say and do to get what we want...

Trying on Daddy's ski hat....hmmm....maybe a bit big?

This is typically what Bear Cub looks like...always on the MOVE! Here he is, dashing around the outside of our clubhouse this evening, getting ready to head in for our Santa Story Time activity. It was crowded, but fun and he looked adorable in his new Christmas p.j.s! Thanks again to our MA cousins!! :)

In the craft and snack room...he did well decorating his stocking with the little stickers. He had NO interest in the yummy-looking cookie...only the tiny candy cane!

VERY serious when it comes to candy...

Time to talk to Santa! BC didn't want to sit on his lap, but he WAS ready to tell him what he wants for Christmas...."a stuffed kitty," "a mote & troll car (remote controlled car)," and a "subway." Interesting requests, don't you think??

Ahhhhh...there's that famous "CHEESE!"face again!

Bear Cub LEAPS into December!