Getting ready for Christmas

We had a fun visit from Grandma and Grandpa A. (and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Amy) last Saturday. Santa arrived a few days early and brought the kids some really fun and cute presents. It was a small glimpse of how crazy Christmas morning will be around here!

Today, Jacob, Jon and I decorated some Christmas cookies. Jacob really enjoyed putting 10 M&M's on each cookie and about 100 sprinkles! Tonight we are going to load everyone up in the 'ole minivan and go check out some lights around town. Then tomorrow (Christmas Eve) we are having Grandma Lynnie and Papa Tommy over for our traditional Sugo pasta dinner. Mom and I will be taking the kids to church for our Christmas program, but unfortunately Jon has to work until Costco closes, so he'll miss out this year.... bummer! :o( But he'll be home in time dinner and our yearly watching of "A Christmas Story" while we finish wrapping presents and filling the kids stockings.

Guess which ones I did, mommy??

We hope this Christmas finds everyone filled with love, hope, joy and peace! Merry Christmas!!

Love - Jon, Lisa, Jacob, Megan, Ryan and Dylan

Snow!!

We had snow at our house this morning! It seemed to be a hail/snow mix, but it definitely stuck on the ground for a little bit. If you look closely at the photos, you can see little white dots of snow falling from the sky! Too bad it wasn't Christmas morning! How fun it would be to have a white Christmas!?

18 month check-ups

The triplets had their 18 month check-ups yesterday. Everyone is doing great! They got one shot, but we'll have to go back for their chicken pox vaccination another day because they were out of it. Here are their stats:

Megan (aka "teeny-tiny") - 19lbs 6oz / 32" tall
Ryan - 25lbs 15oz / 34" tall
Dylan - 23lbs 5oz / 33" tall

It's crazy that Ryan weighs 6 pounds more than Megan! She is so tiny! We just turned her carseat around to forward facing, which is not suppose to happen until 1 year and 20 lbs. But her long legs were all scrunched up against the backseat, so we decided to graduate her up to forward facing. Besides, now she can see the movie on the DVD player! It is such a blessing to watch these little bodies grow and change. Jon and I were just talking about how our kitchen counter next to the sink used to be completely covered in baby bottles! Oh, how I don't miss washing baby bottles! But I do miss the quiet time when we would feed all three of them on the couch. Now they barely sit still for two seconds!

Ok, just a few more cute photos from the week, then I'm off to bed!

I just discovered that Ryan has a molar! I thought he had a piece of paper in his mouth the other night, but it turned out to be a tooth. Plus, he's getting two more on the top!

The kids watching "Frosty the Snowman" - a staple in our house right now. Jacob almost has the entire song down, it's so cute!

Megan playing in the laundry basket. For once, it doesn't have actual laundry in it!

It's hard to believe these three little monkey's once fit in my tummy! And now they are 18 months old!

Definitely "Mommy's favorite present"!!

We got our Christmas tree!

We got our tree this weekend from Home Depot. Our tree finding experience was the quickest one in history. We walked into the tree lot, looked at two trees and bought the second one! We were literally there for less than 3 minutes. It was great! Jacob was very excited about getting our tree and putting it up. He helped me with a lot of the ornaments and we had a fun time!

Go, super-Dad, go!

Jacob put up ornaments all in one spot! So cute, but mommy did have to move some! :o)

Even Daddy put his ornament on the tree! Jon has a few hand-made ornaments (like we all do) from elementary school. Every year he loves to put them right in the front and then when he leaves, I move them to the back!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

So far we haven't had any unfortunate ornament breakage.... but it has only been a few days! Dylan is the most fascinated with the tree. He loves balls, so all the round ornaments he thinks are balls. Oh, and he loves to throw things in to the tree. It'll be a miracle if this tree makes it in one piece to Christmas day! Megan is the tree police. She puts her hand on the boys and pushes them back away from the tree and says "no". She's becoming a tiny little mommy already! I love it!

Thanksgiving photos

I'm a little late, but here are a few cute photos from Thanksgiving at The Allingham's...

It's officially Christmastime

Tonight marked the official start to my Christmas season ... "A Christmas Story" was on TNT! It is my all-time favorite Christmas movie. I'm actually watching it right now (because of course it's already on again) and Ralphie is beating the tar out of the bully kid. I love that his mom just leaves the kid all beat up with a bloody nose lying in the snow! I don't know why, but this movie cracks me up and I could watch it over and over. In fact, on Christmas Eve/day when TNT has 24-hours of "A Christmas Story", I love to keep it on all day. It drives Jon nuts! I know he likes the movie, but not over and over again! We're getting our tree this Friday. I'm not really looking forward to all the "don't touch that" and "no, no, no's" I'm going to have to say to the little kids, but it'll still be fun. They'll love the colorful lights. Hope everyone else is having a great start to their Christmas season!

Lisa :o)

P.S... Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the movie -

Ralphie: I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle! Mrs. Parker: No, you'll shoot your eye out

Ralphie: Oooh fuuudge!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!
Mr. Parker: [stunned] *What* did you say?
Ralphie: Uh, um...
Mr. Parker: That's... what I thought you said. Get in the car. Go on!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] It was all over - I was dead. What would it be? The guillotine? Hanging? The chair? The rack? The Chinese water torture? Hmmph. Mere child's play compared to what surely awaited me.

[Mr. Parker reads a side of the box with the prize that he won]
Mr. Parker: Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.
Mrs. Parker: Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear.
Mr. Parker: Oh, yeah.

Mr. Parker: He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.
Mother: He does not!
Mr. Parker: He does too, he looks like a pink nightmare!

[overdressed for winter]
Randy: I can't put my arms down!
Mother: Well... put your arms down when you get to school.