Snow!

Last night, my buddy Connie, her husband Damon and their adorable daughter Alexa came over. They are in town visiting from New Jersey and brought pizza from the restaurant, Pi. I have wanted to try Pi, but had not gotten around to it yet. The deep dish was much better than the thin crust. Today Jack and I played in the snow while Patrick napped in the swing. It may be difficult to see Jack in the following pictures because his coat is camouflage.

The trailer for his tractor was filled with ice. Jack piled snow on top of it and pulled it around the yard.

I got the sled out and pulled Jack around the back and front yards. Then we built a snowman. I went inside to get the camera and a hat and scarf for the snowman. This is what the snowman looked like when I came back, thanks to a certain 2 year old.

He was easy to put back together again!

It's a good thing we got outside this morning, because most of the snow is gone now!

Weekend Activities

On Saturday we caught up with some friends (some of whom were visiting from Texas). The kids had a fun time playing together and watching Andrew's train go around his Christmas tree.

Later, we went to Jim's parents' house. Jim's sister and her family came in from Wisconsin. Jim and his siblings got out their guitars and played some music for us.

The expanding Kelly clan:

On Sunday morning I took some pictures of the boys in their matching (coordinating, really) pajamas.

Sunday afternoon, Jim and Jack met up with Jack's aunt, uncles, and cousins for ice skating. It was Jack's first ice skating experience and he liked it!

Uncle Paul helped Jack on the ice.

Uncle Lenny also helped.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It was a great one in the Kelly house. We woke up to snow coming down (but not nearly as much as my friend Summer got in Minneapolis!). Jack watched the snow come down as he waited to open gifts. Jack opened his and Patrick's gifts. There are still a couple left to open another day because he really wanted to play with the gifts he opened instead of opening new ones. His favorite was his new train set.

My favorite gift was my cool, new camera! I don't know how to work all the bells and whistles yet, but I hope to learn soon. The rest of the pictures from today were taken with it.

Jack had fun with Uncle Paul.

Grandpa held Patrick.

We have been getting lots of smiles from this guy!

Jack was anxious to open the presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Uncle Paul and Aunt Margaret gave Jack these cool Cardinals alphabet blocks!

Margaret also got a cool camera for Christmas!

Jim and Paul entertained us with their guitars.

Jack ran around like the wild child he is!

He also settled in a chair with Grandma to play with his new Leapfrog text and learn toy.

Jack's cousins: Mimi, Bridget, and Katie.

After Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to my Aunt Sue and Uncle Matt's house. My mom showed off a wallet-sized picture of her with her idol, Bill McClellan. We also gave her a poster-sized picture of the two of them for Christmas.

Colleen and I posed with our Godson, Mark, who is a freshman at Georgetown! We are so proud of him!

A Visit to Santa

Jack, Patrick, and I went to the Oakland House to see Santa Claus today. We watched puppet show, sat on Santa's lap, and had a cookie from Mrs. Claus. Here are some pictures (Patrick slept through the whole thing - big surprise).

Just for fun, here is a picture of Jack from last year:
You can see he enjoyed this year a lot more. He willingly sat on Santa's lap this year. Jack told Santa what he wants for Christmas - a train, or "a tain" as Jack says.

Here are some pictures of Patrick's cute Christmas outfit that Grandma and Grandpa's friends gave him (check out the reindeer on the feet):

...and the reindeer on the booty.