SOOOOOO busy!!!

Wow - it's been busy!!! Getting ready for Christmas is kicking my butt - although most of it is self induced - I have to admit. I spent the past few days making cookies and decorating sugar cookies. Here are a few:Here's the cookie platter I brought to our Squadron FRG Christmas party today:Here's a cake I made for my neighbor's son's 12th birthday. Honestly, I don't love it but it's what he wanted and he LOVED it. I guess it's more important to please the client!The kids have 4 more days of school before Christmas vacation - seriously - why oh WHY do they have Friday off???

Today's cakes!

All of a sudden I've gotten a bit of traction with making cakes! I had two for today - dinosaurs for a 6th birthday and pink lemonade for a baby shower. They were very different but both were really fun to make!

Edaville Railroad

We visited Edaville Railroad while we were up in Massachusetts. It has a train, lots of Christmas lights, fun displays for the kids, carnival rides and SANTA! We had gone before - but it was 3 years ago and Emmy was tiny! This time it was a little warmer and also more crowded. The kids had a great time and it was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!Aoife loved the train ride!Aidan with the giant Santa:After the picture with Santa - getting candy canes:Aoife would NOT sit on Santa's lap. She's really strong and when she doesn't want to sit somewhere she arches her back and flips off your lap - I didn't want to put Santa - or us - through that. Emmy and Aidan weren't going to miss their chance to put in their gift requests with the big guy! The expression on Santa's face in this picture is priceless!

Marshfield

Brendan's parents live in a seaside town in Massachusetts. They live their year round but like any beach community, the population decreases in the winter. It's a beautiful place but sort of forlorn and desolate in the winter. The birds were the only other things out on my walk that day.

South Shore Science Center

When we were in Massachusetts we took the kids over to the South Shore Science Center. The place itself wasn't that interesting - I thought that there would be more animals than frogs and turtles. The best part was walking the paths through the woods. The kids loved crunching the leaves and running around. It's funny to think that they've never lived in a place where they could just go and run in the woods!

A Visit to Gramma Brenda

We are leaving to head back to Kentucky tomorrow but we wanted to visit Brendan's grandmother before we left. She lives in a great apartment and the kids had a great time visiting. We love you Gramma Bren!Once Aoife got comfortable she didn't want to get down!Aoife LOVED the scooter!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving today at Brendan's parents' house in Massachusetts. It was so much fun but BUSY! There were tons of people - it's a lot with just the immediate family - but there were other family also! The kids had a great time playing with all of their cousins - 9 with one on the way. Aidan is the oldest at 5 1/2 and Grace is the youngest at 4 months. It's so much fun!
Aoife playing her piano:
The immediate family:The cousins - left to right:
Chase (5 1/2), Grace (4 months), Murphy (3 1/2), Mary (17 months), Brody (4), Bryna (15 months), Aidan (5 1/2), Emmy (3 1/2) & Aoife (18 months)