Gingerbread houses

On Saturday, we made gingerbread houses with Mia and her mommy.  We had first discussed this idea back in October while pumpkin picking, and I am excited that we made it happen.  I can't recall the last time I made a gingerbread house, but I was pumped to put my all memories into action.  I started with orange juice cartons...we used to use a milk carton, but these were approximately the right size.  Added pre-cut graham crackers and boom.  Houses!

Katie and Mia brought some fun candy to add to our stash and the two went to work.  I'd say most of the candy went into their mouths, but that's about what I expected.  Grant ended up with red hands due to all the red sprinkles!

 The finished product.

And then a photo op by the tree!  Don't they look proud of their work?

 Maybe one more taste!

Catching up!

So yeah, I'm officially a bad blogger.  I apologize for my lack of posts regarding a big trip, a big holiday, and the (probably) biggest holiday prep.  But here I am!  I'm going to try and get it all done this week before Christmas, so I can be all caught up.  Starting with Disney!

This year instead of the traditional Thanksgiving with turkey and cold weather, we decided to do something different.  We headed to Disney World on Thanksgiving day with most of the regulars around the table (my mom and brother, Eamonn's parents and two sisters).  It was such an amazing trip and so great that we were able to all spend it together.  I know it's cheesy, but Disney is a magical place.  It really is.  The cleanliness, organization and ease is so appealing that I can't wait to go back.  I really thought we'd wait like 5-10 years or so before our next trip, but now I don't think I can wait that long.  Also it wouldn't have been nearly as easy a trip without my Mom willing to take Grant when the rest of us were riding the "big kid" rides. Grant was not so much into the rides and besides wasn't tall enough to go on most of them, he didn't seem to mind.  Anyway, on to the pictures.  Grant really enjoyed this trip and LOVED meeting Mickey and all the other characters.  As soon as we stepped into the Magic Kingdom he pointed out Mickeys everywhere.  In the parade, in the shows....and THEN in real life.  Magic, I tell you!

Next post...gingerbread houses!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween folks!  Only 17 days late...oops.  Well I intended to do this post Halloween week, but then things just got busy.  And then Grant was sick last week (unidentified fever...), but he's better now thankfully!  We had a great Halloween and so much fun!  Grant seemed to really enjoy the festivities this year and we did lots of fun stuff, starting on Sunday with our friend's Halloween party.

Look at all these fun kids in costume! (thanks to Justin for the group shot)

And a few of Grant as an awesome pirate!

Then on Monday we participated in Hoboken's Ragamuffin Parade.  Basically a glorified walk down Washington St.  It was a hoot...some people went all out.

 Elvis made an appearance!

And then we headed on to our friend's house for a "trick or treating party" where Grant didn't trick or treat, but did have a good time romping around their playroom.  And finally back home for a late dinner and bedtime.  Goodnight Halloween until next year!

Mommy preschool

Now I know you were probably expecting to see a Halloween post, but be patient.  I wanted to get this Mommy preschool post out first and then later this week we'll do Halloween.  Also Grant and I will be attending a Halloween "parade" this afternoon, so there's more pictures still to be taken, ha ha!

Mommy preschool is something my friends and I thought up to ease them into getting dropped off at preschool next year.  Since we are stay at home moms we didn't want to just all of a sudden drop them somewhere strange with people they don't know, so we formed a small group of moms with a rotating schedule.  Two moms (host and helper) stay with five kids and the other 3 moms get some time to themselves.  We have a lesson plan that is pretty loose, just teach them about a letter and an animal.  Some of us go crazy with it and fill the two hours with lots of learning activities and others of us are more low-key on the learning and big on the playing.  In my opinion it all works out.  Last week I had the group at my house and we learned about the letter "E" and the animal "elephant".  We made elephant masks and danced to a song about elephants and then we traced our hands to make a (quasi) elephant figure.  Here are some pictures of the kids at my house and the fun we had.

The setup!

 Grant getting ready to greet his buddies at the door.

Caitlin in her elephant mask.

Snack time!  Edamame and Elmo crackers.

And just to leave you hanging on the Halloween front...here's a video I got trying to get Grant to say trick or treat.  We'll see if I can have success later this afternoon!

Pumpkin Picking

Eamonn, Grant and I went pumpkin picking the weekend before last.  Grant seemed to love the endless supply of pumpkins and I think he touched them all.  We did end up coming home with just one (which was impressive).  We took this little jaunt to the country with Grant's buddy Mia and her parents and had a really nice lunch after the festivities at a local restaurant.  Unfortunately for us we missed the apple season, but we had a great time anyway, so no worries.

And a video of Grant and Mia doing their thing...