Is it Christmas yet?!?

Because we are so ready!

Charlie and Lily kicked off the week with a pre-holiday party at Aunt Rhea's house. This was the first time they've even left the house in over a week thanks to the bitter cold and germy crowds in public places, so they enjoyed dressing up and bundling up for a change of scenery.

Joe dressed up too, in honor of his school's Ugly Sweater Day. (Sorry, babe, I had to post this!) On Tuesday Charlie and Lily made ornaments for the tree. I stole this craft from my friend Gretchen, but Gretchen was smarter than me and used stickers with her kids. I, on the other hand, used these sequins and spent a good deal of time fishing them out of Charlie's mouth. (Speaking of Gretchen, she just started her own online cloth diaper store. If you are a cloth diaperer or know someone who is, check out Twinkie Tush!)

Charlie and Lily have also been enjoying some holiday videos. While they're still a little young to appreciate any of the classics, they have been loving Elmo's Happy Holidays. Here's Lily introducing it to Grandpa Fred.

Other than that, we've been trying to keep busy and pass the time until Christmas. We've been playing in the basement playroom - and trying to pull the foam guard off the support pole, as Lily's demonstrating here.
We've also been working on letting Charlie and Lily practice with utensils. They do pretty well with yogurt.

And yesterday we got a visit from a neighborhood kitty who desperately wanted to come inside. We named him "Jingles" and gave him some food, and he amused Charlie and Lily for close to an hour. We're hoping he stops back again soon.