CC Breakfast with Santa

Our neighborhood hosts a breakfast with Santa party each year and this year Larkin was all-in. She loves sitting on Santa's lap and we literally have to hold her back so other kids can get a turn. When it was finally her turn, she ran to him, jumped up on his lap, had an in-depth conversation with him (telling him she wanted a "princess doll") and then gave him a big hug before reluctantly getting off his lap.

We then went on a fun horse-drawn carriage ride around the streets with her good friend from school, Duncan, who also lives in the neighborhood. It was cold but huddled up in the blankets, we had a great time.

Then, it was time to go down to the gym to get a balloon present made from the balloon elf and to dance on the stage. The first pic is what the balloon elf gives to kids who allow him "artist's choice". It was a "carrot" sort of hat and it was hilarious. The little boy swatted at it for quite awhile while his older brothers played with their swords. Too funny.

Larkin had trouble deciding between a few of her favorite things right now: a helicopter, a butterfly, and a reindeer. But she ended up asking the balloon elf for a helicopter and she was so pleased with her choice. The elf put the helicopter on a stick for her so she could fly it around and she loved it! She then took it up on stage (after a singing performance was done) to dance with a few of the other kids. Larkin thinks dancing and jumping are synonymous so she did a lot of jumping that day! Below are a few video stills so you can see her helicopter, but you can check out the video to see it flying (and her dancing/jumping) in action! Enjoy!

First Day as a Monkey!

Larkin was so excited to move up classes to become a Monkey at the Goddard School. Her best friends Ella, Carter, and Duncan were already there so this was an exciting day for her. This is the room that they master potty training, so that's good. Here is a mini-photo shoot we took of her with the family this morning before she headed out to school to officially become a Monkey.

Happy 37th Birthday, Brian!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and father us lucky girls could ask for! Brian turned "toy-dee seben" (per Larkin parlance) today and we had a fun family party to celebrate. We got Garozzo's Chicken Speidini Georgio for dinner (his pick) and then a chocolate cherry cake that I made for him. Larkin helped me bake and helped Brian blow out his candles. What a helper!

Happy Birthday, honey! We love you!!! ... And many more!

Lunch and Loose Park

We decided to take my parents into the city for lunch at a place Brian really likes called Europa and then go a fun playground nearby at Loose Park. Since today was actually Brian's 37th Birthday and Larkin's 2 1/2 birthday, Larkin got to celebrate by having a lemon cupcake (or "Happy Birthday Cake" as she calls them) for her lunch! Yum! We then got to check out the gingerbread house competition going on between the local shops and then Rockefeller Center one was my favorite.

We then went to this magnificent playground and it was super busy and fun. Slides were everywhere, fun places to climb, etc. Here are a few pics of me and Larkin tandem sliding!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Turkey Day! We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It is one meal that I really enjoy cooking, and this year we had turkey, homemade cranberry sausage stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, cranberry sauce, peas, rolls, gravy, and two desserts. Larkin had all of her grandparents together and so you can imagine how much she loved that attention. Here are a few pictures of the lot of us enjoying our meal. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.

Goofy Grandparents

Goddard Hippo Thanksgiving Party

Happy Halloween 2010!

Is Larkin not the cutest box of popcorn you've ever seen?! We cut out a bunch of cute costumes from catalogs and laid them all out for Larkin to choose from. She went for this immediately. She's been a huge popcorn fan ever since her first baseball game this summer and what's better than eating popcorn than being popcorn! POP!

Given Larkin's costume choice, Brian and I decided to go for a "movies" theme. With Larkin as the entertainment snack, we decided we'd be the entertainment. Given the huge success of Toy Story 3 this year, Brian dressed up as Woody and I dressed up as Jessie of course.

This year we decided to do something fun but different from the traditional candy give-aways, so we gave kids mini-decks of kiddie playing cards. We weren't sure how they'd be received, but the kids loved something different - they were a hit! After Larkin went trick-or-treating and we handed out our goodies (we had around 200 trick-or-treaters come to our house!), Larkin got to check out her loot with her Papa. She ate a "Kitty Kat" as she calls it, and her very first Reese's peanut butter cup, which she LOVED!

Then, our friends Matt, Robin, and Gage came by to say hi and Larkin and Gage (oops, I mean our friend Buzz Lightyear!) had fun playing together with her noodle and just jumping around being silly. What a fun Halloween... I hope yours was great too!

Goddard Hippo Halloween Party

Larkin's school held a Halloween party that Brian and I were excited to attend. The kids all get dressed up and parade around the rest of the school showing off their costumes, then they eat treats, dance and sing, and just party. Below are a couple of cute pics of the kids having fun. Larkin (sans popcorn costume) and her friend Carter were like two peas in a pod that day and the other picture is of Cici, holding up her mini-pumpkin with pride (I brought them for all the kids and they were a hit)!

Below are a couple of pics and an adorable video of the kids putting on a little dance show for the parents. The first pic is from the song "Sleeping Bunnies" and the one of Larkin stomping around is from the song "Dinosaurs". The video is definitely worth a pic - it's priceless watching all of the kids! Enjoy!