Happy Holidays!

Oh my it has been too long yet again! The holidays are almost over, here it is New Year's Eve day! Time is just flying by so fast. And as usual the kids are keeping me pretty busy!
Sadly I just didn't have time to do my usual Christmas crochet :( Hopefully I will be able to start early for next year. I love doing it and missed it this year.
But otherwise Christmas was really good around here. Both Duncan and Beatrice were really excited about Santa coming! They helped decorate the Christmas tree :) Of course Beatrice was obsessed with touching it and swiping the candy canes off!
We didn't wrap most of the presents until the day of Christmas Eve, which I felt guilty about, but in reality it was probably the best because it just about drove poor Beatrice to the brink :) I can't imagine trying to keep her from the presents for a week or so...
Santa brought the kids lots of goodies :) They were all overjoyed with what Santa brought them and what they got from relatives.
I uploaded almost 100 pics to facebook, and since I'm horribly lazy and seem to be lacking in the time area, I will just post the link here and you should be able to go look at all of our holiday fun without having to sign up! ;) Click here to see them.

It was a busy year for us, and as it draws to a close... we are optimistic about what the new year will have in store.

Maria has had a great year at school. She really enjoys school and does really well. Her grades are always good. She is still playing the sax and loving it. She is also playing basketball this year! She's really excited about that. She got some nice basketball shoes for Christmas. She's been going out hunting with Mike and enjoy it; she enjoys just about anything outdoors.

Duncan has been completely potty trained since about October! Once he made up his mind, that was it. Pretty much since the school year started I've been doing pre-school worksheets with him. He enjoys it and can't seem to get enough! I will most likely homeschool the youngest 3. There is a charter school in Hayward that works with homeschooling families. He's grown into a little man: absorbing, learning, discovering, interacting and talking nonstop about everything :) His favorites are still "Cars," Spiderman and Batman. Pretty much in that order. He's an undying fan of Lightning McQueen!

Beatrice has just grown leaps this year! She's talking quite clearly. She can sing her ABCs and can count to 17 or 18. She loves Spongebob, Boog ("open season"), Dora, and the Backyardigans (especially the Volcano Sisters). She's still quite the adventurous climber! And she has quite the collection of Dora dolls - and they all have to be in bed with her :) She's a real sweetheart.

Baby Dylan is doing great. He's pretty much over the colic stage. He sprouted his two bottom teeth a few weeks ago (an early teether!) And he's been eating like crazy! We started him on solids at about 5mos. He loves his peas, bananas and pears. He's still up in the air about apples and does not like carrots. He will only eat rice cereal if it has something else in it ;) otherwise he spits it right out. We got him a walker for Christmas since he's so hot to get in on the action with Duncan and Beatrice! But he's got the DeMarr legs ;) he can't quite reach the floor yet. But he did figure out that if he leans over all the way to one side he can reach the ground with his toes and scoot it a little bit. So he's got some big DeMarr brains too ;)

Mike is doing well with his job change :) Same place, slightly better job. He's getting along pretty good there. He's been out hunting quite a bit this year and having fun with that.

And I've been up to pretty much the same stuff as always. Trying to stay sane amidst chaos ;) Can't say that it's a boring job. Most days present some new journey or adventure. I am just thankful that I'm able to stay at home with the kids.

Here's hoping that you all have something wonderful in store for the new year! Happy New Year!!