Oh, I wish...

I was an Oscar Mayer weinermobile driver!

Yes, the Oscar Mayer WeinerMobile visited our local grocery store. I'm not sure if anyone else ever dreamed about it, but I did (as a child) to actually see this hot dog shaped vehicle.

I'm certain that I was way more excited about it than any in my family, but hey, it's the kid still in me! One of my many childhood dreams came true!

I just hope our kids' memories of this was memorable in a good way (not that Mommy got really excited over this giant hot dog).

Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa,

What will you ask for from Santa?
Elaine: "A present"
- what kind of present? -
"Green one."

Natalie: "Toy puppy that is hard that you can draw on."
The girl knows what she wants!

Peter: "A real humpback whale, cookie set, and a ball"
- where will you keep the whale? -

Natalie chimes in "In our pool!"

Natalie's Christmas program

Natalie was so excited for her Christmas program day! We've been hearing new songs being sung at home by her and were excited to finally hear them on stage!

A funky sister posing in front of the Christmas tree in the morning!

Natalie did pretty well on stage. Not the loudest, but certainly not too shy!

Natalie the Christmas tree with her new friend, Meghan

The program ended with this message from the preschoolers:

Natalie with her best buddy, Thomas,

and with her teachers, Miss Connie...

and Miss Sarah!

Peter's Advent prayer service

Early in December, Regina had an Advent prayer service that was lead by the kindergarten class. Peter got a speaking part!

"Advent is a time to get our minds and hearts ready for the coming of Jesus..."

He practiced the line for days and delivered it quite well!
It was a very proud-parents moment!

Happy 6th Birthday, Peter!

Our little man turned 6!
We had a small birthday party at home with some of his friends from school. It was - no surprise - a Mario theme party!

His cake this year were the more simple cupcakes.
The birthday boy chose the (green) 1-Up cupcake over the (red) Power Up ones - makes sense if you're going from 5 to 6 years old! :)

We had some Yoshi Egg races. Elaine was Natalie's personal coach in this game.

Finding Mario party stuff proved to be near impossible, so I made most of the decorations (thanks to my color printer) and the pinata (thanks to yellow streamers, my ribbon collection and USPS box).
It was a HUGE hit with the kids!

It was great group of kids who all had a great time!

Our neighbor gave him an electronic piggy bank that he loves...he must be saving up for his 7th birthday party! :)

Funny interpretation

Peter: "The storm was so loud that I bet the boss of Regina heard it!"
Mommy: "Who's the boss of Regina?"
Peter: "Superintendent Miller."
Mommy: (totally shocked by his answer..was expecting the principal's name)

Natalie: "Wow! Is he a super hero?"