My mom: When can we have the kids overnight because Dad and I want to take them on a little train ride?
Me: You can have them the whole month of January.

I was only partially kidding.

In my defense, January is always a bit rough around here as the kids are detoxing from all the presents and undivided attention from their extended family members.

So instead of quitting cold turkey, my parents took the kids for a Friday night and the following Saturday for a little more undivided attention. Let's just say, it was glorious. Andy and I had a really fun date night and an incredibly romantic Saturday of getting little projects done around the house.

Okay, so that part wasn't romantic at all, but being productive is one of my love languages. So much better than flowers. :-)

The kids, on the other hand, had a blast riding the Coaster, the local train that travels...wait for it...up and down the coast.


I love how in this picture Hannah has a sweatshirt on top of a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up. For some reason, it makes me so happy.


In this picture, Hannah and Joey are both wearing old sweatshirts that my siblings and I used to wear. In fact, I'm sure, somewhere, there's a picture of my brother and sister together wearing these sweatshirts.

Joey has some Duplos and he has enjoyed playing with them. It made me so happy because I looked forward to the day he would graduate to Legos. My brothers and Andy and his brother were super into Legos, and I think Legos are one of the best things for kids to play with: they foster creativity, fine motor skills, following directions, patience, etc. etc.

Andy kept telling me that Joey was ready to make the switch from Duplos to Legos, but I disagreed. Turns out, I was completely wrong. There's a first time for everything. ;-) My mom got Joey a little set of Legos for his birthday in October and he was over the moon. All he wanted to do was build the set over and over again. Then he started branching out and using the Legos to make his own creations.

"The longest airplane boat"
"Sand buggy"
And this little boat, among many, many others.

For Christmas he got quite a few more sets from both sides of our family and he couldn't be happier. He alternates between following directions (which is my favorite thing to do with Legos), and making his own things (Andy's favorite part).

Normally, Legos are the one thing that he doesn't have to share with Hannah, but one morning he graciously allowed her to play with them. The two of them played happily side by side for a good 30 minutes. It was so sweet.

Yay for Legos bringing us all together!

Joey, sitting on the couch, playing his guitar, composing a five minute long song. This was my favorite part:
"God is mighty and powerful and can do anything, but sometimes He says no."


After I accidentally bumped Joey's arm and hurt him a little...
Joey: Mommy, that's why you have to be careful with kids. They're really special.


Joey: Hannah, you are more than welcome to wear my flip-flops.


After Joey got his new bike from Santa...
Joey: Did you sell my old bike?
Me: No, it's still in the garage.
Joey: I have an idea. Let's sell it to Hannah when she is two.


Joey: Hannah is bugging me so I'm not going to play with her for the rest of the day.
Me: Well that's not very nice.
Joey: Would you want to play with someone who was bugging you?

The day before New Years Eve, Joey, Hannah and I went to Sea World with my parents and two brothers. We had such a great time. It was quite a luxury having five adults taking care of two kids.


As usual, the kids loved the play area and this time it was even more fun since they had some of their favorite playmates with them.

Hannah saw the area where you could meet Elmo and kept saying, "Elmo, Elmo" over and over again. I asked her if she wanted to meet him and she said, "Yes!" So, we stood in line for a little while although I was sure she was going to freak out when we got up there. She did get a little more shy when it was our turn, but she still gave him a high five and got close enough for us to take a picture. I'll consider that a success!
The kids and I left around 2:00 to go home and take naps. This picture happened after we left, but I had to post it, if for no other reason than for my sister to enjoy. You're welcome, Rachel.

So even though it's the new year, I still have one more Christmas post.

We drove back from Phoenix Sunday night, and Monday night we had Christmas with my family.

Joey got more of his favorite...Legos!

Hannah was very excited to get doll clothes.

Apparently I was more excited about it.
My dad always used to sing, "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." For Christmas, my mom gave him a puppet that goes with the song. It comes with all the things she swallows and you can put them into her mouth. The kids loved it!
My brother and I both happened to give my mom the same frame that said, "Nana" on it. The problem was that I didn't have a good picture of my mom with the kids to put in it. I figured I would give her the frame now and we could work on getting a good picture later.

So we started working on it that night.

And then I remembered why we don't have a good picture.

Here's the first attempt. Lovely, Joseph.
"Joey, this time really smile."
And finally, this.
It reminds me of our photo shoot from almost a year ago.

I'm so glad that he's matured in the past 10 months.