Christmas Day

"Candies!! Santa brought me SEVEN candies!" We're enjoying the simple requests while they last. Next year, she'll probably want a pony or whatever the hot toy of the moment happens to be.
 
Claire "helped" Hayden empty his stocking after she was finished with hers.
 
Hayden's second favorite present, next to the new set of Gerber silverware in his stocking.
 
Hayden got bored opening presents and decided to go read some books.
 
Santa brought Claire a dress up trunk. These were a big hit.
 
With Hayden, too.
 
Uncle Adam sent a bubble machine all the way from Iraq. Okay, it was from amazon.
 
Claire loves her Nana. We're pretty sure Nana feels the same.
 

Twas the Night before Christmas

The kids are all tucked in and Santa has arrived. We're off to bed soon so we can get some rest before what will surely be a very busy day for the kids. Claire has been pretty excited for Santa's arrival, but I think we freaked her out a little bit tonight when we were telling about how Santa would come while she's sleeping because she said, "I think it's going to be scary." We tried to reassure her that Santa wasn't scary at all, but I guess the idea of a strange man landing on your roof and coming in your house while you're sleeping is a bit unsettling, even if he does bring presents. I'm sure she'll be on good terms with him again tomorrow when she sees that he brought her the only thing on her list, seven pieces of candy (and one or two other things, too).

Claire, fascinated by how the candles make the nativity pyramid spin around.
 
Goofball Sumner boys.
 
Justin read the kids The Night Before Christmas. Hayden was enthralled.
 
We hope everyone has a great Christmas!!
 

Gingerbread Hacienda

Claire built her first gingerbread house today. She had a good time decorating it and an even better time eating the candy.

Concentration
 
Her snowman
 
Proud homebuilder
 
Can we eat it now?
 

Christmas Card Outtakes

I don't know a single person who has little kids who enjoys taking the annual Christmas card photo. This year was no exception, but at least I thought I could share the outtakes and let others benefit from my misery. The final version will be coming to a mailbox near you.


Hayden's mugshot:
 
And Claire's:
 
Mr. Cooperative
 
Dude, what is wrong with you?
 
You have 5 seconds to get off my back.
 
I am having so much fun!
 
Good thing I'm so cute.
 

In Boston, Santa comes by Lobster Boat

Every year in Marblehead, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by lobster boat and greet all the kids who come out to see them. I know Santa is used to the temperatures on the North Pole, but I'm pretty sure that even he was freezing this year. It was about 20 degrees and VERY windy as we waited for over a half hour for the Coast Guard to escort Santa in. As Justin slowly lost feeling in his limbs, he kept asking Claire, "Do you REALLY want to see Santa?" Of course she did! She has to tell him that she wants 7 candies in her stocking (seriously, that's all she will tell us she wants). He finally arrived and we were all far too numb to wait in the hour-long line to talk to him, so we bribed Claire with hot chocolate and promises of seeing Santa in a much warmer setting soon.

Freezing Claire
 
Freezing Hayden
 
The best picture we got of the boats coming in...see Santa in the front waving?
 
Santa & Mrs. Claus
 

Back in Business!

Yesterday was the first day of our return to civilization. The cable man arrived and hooked up high speed internet (it's so high speed that it reads my mind - I don't even have to type!) and a super fancy DVR that has the entire series of Silver Spoons available on demand. The entire series! Does life get any better than that?

So, when we last left our loyal readers, we were surrounded by boxes and preparing to escape to Savannah. The trip was great....the getting there and coming home, though, left a bit to be desired. Our flight left from Vermont at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (unfortunately, we had booked the tickets long before moving to Boston was a possibility), so we made the 4 hour drive back there on Wednesday night. As soon as we hit the Vermont border, we were hit with freezing rain and ice...it's like Vermont wanted to remind us how much we didn't like it there. The kids were troopers and I can't say enough good things about having a DVD player in your car.

The trip itself was great. We had Thanksgiving dinner with 27 of Justin's family members and we added another family member during dessert with the engagement of Justin's Aunt Karye to the future Uncle Toby. Justin is pretty excited to have an uncle who likes to talk finance and has a sailboat. Here are some of the highlights from the Savannah trip.

Claire and Grumpy blowing bubbles:
 
The Sumner gang:
 
Claire plays "weeeeeeeeeeeeee" with Grumpy and Baba:
 
Playing in Toby & Karye's boat:
 
Grammie takes Claire for a ride:
 
Hayden on the beach at Tybee:
 
Claire on the beach:
 
Hayden not especially liking the "sand between your toes" feeling:
 

The kids had a great time on the beach. It was beautiful weather but certainly too cold for swimming. Claire didn't seem to understand that (in her world, it's too cold for swimming only when the water is frozen over) and despite repeated advising against the idea, she attempted to go for a swim. We cut our beach playtime short and went home after that and now when she see the pictures from Tybee, she says, "That's where I didn't listen."