New Year's fun...

We had a great time ringing in 2009. The evening started with dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant which has become our tradition. Dinner was followed with a party fit for a 3 year old at our house: complete with noise makers, silly string, party hats made by Caed, a 2009 cookie cake, party drinks, and a neighborhood fireworks show. Caed couldn't stay awake past 10:30 as hard as he tried. Patrick and I watched the ball drop and then aged 10 years as we watched Robbie Maddison jump the L'Arc de Triomphe at Paris Las Vegas. Bring it on 2009!!!!

Christmas according to Caed

Caed got a digital camera for Christmas and documented his holiday. I think we may have a future photographer on our hands..Check out the album I created from his pics.

St. Nicholas Day

This post is several weeks past due but better late than never. When Patrick and I first got married, his mom told me about a tradition that she wanted me to continue. On the night of Dec. 5th, I was supposed to put "treats" in his shoes. Sound crazy? Well, it's in honor of St. Nicholas day. He was a saint that was known for helping people in need. He would leave gold in their stockings that were hung at night to dry. This is where the idea of Santa- St. Nick, stockings, etc. come from. Many European countries celebrate St. Nicholas Day on the eve of Dec. 5th by leaving gifts in shoes/socks so that the rest of the advent season can be focused on the birth/gift of Jesus. I was very excited to learn about this tradition and even more excited to be the one to continue what my mother-in-law had started with Patrick and now with Caed.

"The following is a disclaimer: We don't think that Santa is bad. We just have a different take. (what else is new right?) We don't think that our way is best. It's just our way. Again: This was a disclaimer."

So here goes, we actually aren't teaching Caed about Santa, only St. Nicholas. Lots of people don't understand. They tell us to let him be a kid and enjoy the magic of Christmas. It just didn't feel right to us. I am very thankful for the chance to teach Caed that this season about the gift God sent, helping those in need and loving people. Before you want to stone us.....We aren't all bad- we do give him gifts. He gets 3 gifts that he knows are from me and Patrick. We are also teaching him that people pretend about Santa so that can play along and not end up ruining someone else's Holiday. Enjoy the pics from St. Nicholas day 08. Thanks Gramma Mary!

He started Preschool!!!

(I am taking advantage of the holiday to catch up on some posts!) Caed started preschool at the church after he turned 3. They were starting a new class called the Young 3s for kids who turned 3 by Jan, were potty-trained, and ready for an intro to preschool. We thought it was time for Caed to have a little more structure. I have been very thankful for Caed to have in home care with never more than 3 other kids, but this year, he is the oldest with Ms. Liz. The rest of the kids were girls with an infant, a one year old, and a just-turned two year old. He needed some interaction with kids his age and boys!!! The final indicator was when he came home talking about Hannah (M)Ontana! :-)

So Preschool it is! Patrick takes him to Preschool at 9:30. They have circle time with songs, centers, outside time on the playground, lunch and rest time. I pick him up at 3:30. He is loving it!!! There are a total of 7 kids in his class. They have music class 2 times a week and chapel one day. They do all sorts of fun crafts and games. It is really cool to see him respond well to the structure and activities, even though it's hard to think of him growing up. Here are some pics from his first day. The first is of him leaving our house. The second is his teacher walking him into his classroom. He was a little nervous the first couple of days but adjusted quickly.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had a different, but wonderful day. For the first time since we've been married, we celebrated Thanksgiving with just our immediate family. At first I was a little anxious, but it turned out to be one of the best T-days that we've had. We definitely missed our families but enjoyed starting traditions with Caed. Patrick made a turkey that was to die for and all the trimmings. I made the dressing (of course it takes a true Southerner to make "dressing") and pumpkin pie. Caed got in on the fun and helped make Thankful Turkeys for decorations.

He's 3!!!

I can hardly believe it, but it's true! We celebrated Caed's 3rd birthday with a "bug" party at our house on Sat. Everyone made fun of me for all of the bug-themed food, decorations, and such; the way I see it, if there's a theme then go with it! Check out pics on the picasa site.



Caed's actual birthday was yesterday. We went to dinner, complete with cake and the servers singing Happy Birthday to him! He loved it. We finished the celebration with a trip to Toys-R-Us to let him pick out a present from Gramma Mary. He picked an electronic keyboard. He has been playing a tune non-stop. I will post a video soon!

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE IS THREE YEARS OLD!!!!!

Trick or Treat

Caed was big bird for Halloween this year. We found the costume (actually he did) for $1 several months ago at a yard sale. He has been playing dress up with it since we brought it home. We usually don't do much for Halloween, typically just go to the fall festival at church. Since this was our first Halloween in this neighborhood that is HUGE, we thought staying at home and passing out candy would be a great way to meet more neighbors. I was a bit apprehensive b/c whenever I would talk to Caed about passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, he was not excited about the idea. I was also nervous that kids would show up in scary/yucky costumes and freak him out! It turns out that all of my fears were in vain. He had a great time. Whenever the door bell would ring, he would scream "more customers!" Then he would pass out handfuls of candy and say "Here you go guys, I like your costumes!" We didn't have any scary costumes to deal with either. After things slowed down a bit, we took him over to G-G's house and let him ring her doorbell and "trick or treat" for himself. I added an album of pics at the picasa site.