A Handy Manny Christmas

Zach checking out his new Handy Manny coloring book:


Looks like Emily may need a little help:


We love Handy Manny!:

Emily and her stroller

Emily with her new stroller:


Emily running with her new stroller:


Emily taking a closer look at her new stoller:


Emily wearing her new stroller:


Emily adjusting her new stroller hat so she can see where she is going:


Silly monkey!

Visiting with their great-grandparents

Emily giving Great-Grandma a hug:


Emily with Great-Grandpa:


The only picture we have of Zach with his Great-Grandparents this year. He would rather run around than socialize. He terrorized the hallway instead.:

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Bear

On Wednesday we packed up right after breakfast and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Bear's house. Like last year, the cubs were treated to their own live tree, which Grandpa Bear will plant outside. Emily's was decorated in pink and Zach's in blue.

After lunch we took the cubs to see their Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma. Emily was sharing hugs left and right. It was so sweet to watch her hug everyone. Very unlike Thanksgiving where she didn't want anyone to hold her but Mommy or Daddy. Zach was too busy exploring to give hugs. Zach is literally running in the only picture I have of him with his Great-grandparents. That cub is a bundle of energy.

We returned to Grandma Bear's house for dinner and the tree lighting. I love the tree lighting...it is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It's even more fun with double the trees. Dinner is always yummy...this time we were treated to T-Bone Steaks. I could get very spoiled here, I don't get to eat these often at Cub Central. The cubs went to bed pretty easily, but Zach was very unhappy during the middle of the night and kept Mom and Dad up for hours. Not fun. Good thing Santa came before Zach woke up. Otherwise Zach's crying may have scared him off.

Christmas morning was tons of fun with tons of presents. Santa was very generous this year. We definitely have spoiled cubs. Almost the entire day was spent opening presents, which Emily loved! She is a present opening pro. It didn't matter whose name was on it, Emily was there to open it. So helpful! Zach could barely sit still. Emily had fun opening his presents too.

Present opening must be exhausting because both cubs went to bed on time and slept very well. Steve and Grandpa Bear got up super early on Friday to do the after Christmas shopping. Grandma Bear and I met them later in the morning with cubs in tow. After Christmas shopping was pretty dismal, especially when you consider our prior after-Christmas shopping experiences. I guess it saved us some money. We left later that afternoon to return home. I always hate leaving. It seems like we never get to spend enough time there but Steve had to work on Saturday, and we go where Steve goes.

We can't thank everyone enough for thinking of us this year. We received amazing gifts and loving cards and notes from our family and friends. We are a very blessed bunch of bears!

I haven't downloaded the pictures yet, but that is on my "to do" list. Maybe I'll get that done next year. Right after I get my Christmas cards mailed out. **sigh**

Just because they are cute!

I sure hope Zach plans on unpacking that box while he's up there.


Emily raiding the pantry:


Emily sporting her new hair clippy (she wouldn't let me put a bow in her hair, so the clippy will have to do):


Playing together:

Christmas came early. Check out our cool new chairs!

Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John sent these cool chairs for the cubs! Thank you so much! Here are some photos of the cubs checking them out.

LCMOM Christmas Party

After Matt made me feel guilty about not getting the cubs' picture taken with Santa, I debated whether to take the cubs to the LCMOM Christmas party without their Dad. Emily is getting much better about standing next to Mom. Zach, on the other hand, is a runner. If I don't have a firm grip on his paw, he is off and running. What a challenge it is to take the cubs anywhere without their Dad unless they are contained and strapped down into their stroller. I knew Santa would be at the party for just an hour, so I thought since this would probably be our last chance (I refuse to go to the mall with a double stroller) I loaded the cubs up and off we went to see Santa. Emily did a great job at staying put. Zach was a different story. Two of the other moms had to help me corral that little stinker. Huge thanks to Chris and Dana for helping me keep an eye on him. He is quick. Amazingly so. He's not the only one. While manning the door, I caught a few other escapees myself. All boys. What does that tell you? Boys are a handful!

The cubs weren't a big fan of Santa. Poor Santa. What a patient man he is. I threw the cubs in his lap and tried to stand back quickly enough to snap a photo. Screaming ensued. Just great. I rescued Santa and took the cubs to sit down on a couch across from him. After 15 minutes or so Emily and Zach started taking things to Santa. At first Zach would stand a few feet away and throw his goody bag at Santa, and eventually he would walk all the way to him and hand over his goody bag. Progress. So again, I threw the cubs in Santa's lap and again, screaming ensued. So thanks Matt! I owe you one. I had a great time taking the cubs to get their picture taken with Santa. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Here are the only pictures from our Santa visit (I never did get one with them together with Santa):