A few pics from the end of the year.  The kids enjoyed this hover soccer game from Uncle Tim and Aunt Liz:

We went to a magic show which really cracked Blaine up.

This is the look Sarah gives me when I try to take her picture lately.

We drove down to PA on 12/23 to spend Christmas with the Mahoneys.  It was an especially large group this year with the Oregon Mahoneys visiting, as well, so we were looking forward to seeing everyone!

This was also our first chance to meet Nate!  He is such a sweet, relaxed baby.

My children, on the other hand, were excited to take advantage of their uncles.  Here’s a pic Uncle Fran took as the kids tried to shut him in a bathroom.

That night we decorated the tree, before heading out for dinner at Hunan with the whole Mahoney crew.

The next morning we went to the traditional Christmas Eve bowling at Devon Lanes.  The Wayne Mahoneys very generously hosted all the festivities this year since the Ingeborg Road house is still very much in the middle of construction.

Here we are back in Wayne for the Christmas lunch, followed by the gift grab.

For Christmas Eve we had 27: our four, Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly, Uncle Tim and Josie (see below), Uncle Fran and Alexis, Aunt Jane, Uncle Peter and Jane and Daniel, the Wayne group (Hank, Jean, Kate, Jesse, Gus, Sean, Clare, Moira), and the OR group (Jim, Denise, Annie, Jimmy, Amara).

Aunt Liz and poor baby Nate were absent from the gathering because Nate’s cough had become serious the previous night and they took him to the hospital.  Poor little guy!  He was discharged on Christmas morning and we were so happy when the family arrived back home.

Here’s Nate, still looking remarkably calm despite his ordeal.  Sorry you had a rough first Christmas, Nate!

Later that day we took a tour of the construction!  This is the kitchen through to the new family room which used to be the garage.

Then we all got dressed up for Christmas dinner at the Wayne Mahoneys’.

We even managed to take a large group photo!  There were 27 again on Christmas Day because we lost Jane and Daniel, but gained Aunt Liz and Nate.

The next day Andrew headed back to NY and the kids and I stayed on for one more night.  I always enjoy the calm of the day after Christmas.

We tried to take a photo of all the grandkids with their lion shirts on, but it wasn’t quite working.  This was the best I could do.

Thanks to Mom, Tim and Liz for hosting us for the holiday!  We had a wonderful time.

We set up the Christmas tree on 12/8.  Blaine’s favorite part is vacuuming up the needles:

On 12/16 we went to the Westchester Children’s Museum and the kids made some neat mobiles and other crafts.

On 12/22 we made some more chocolate ginger cookies and a batch of sugar cookies with lemon icing to take with us for Christmas.

Sarah made a menorah at her preschool and we enjoyed lighting it for the eight nights of Hanukkah.

Some artwork from her classroom.

We hosted a parents gathering for Sarah’s class during Hanukkah, and Sarah helped me make some chocolate ginger cookies for the occasion.

Here we are at the Hanukkah celebration at Sarah’s school:

Jumping ahead, here is the menorah all lit up on the final night.

Not Hanukkah related, but here’s one more of the kids at a pottery-painting birthday party.

On 12/1 we went to Tony’s to get our Christmas tree in the morning.

In the afternoon I took the kids to the “Light up Larchmont” event in the center of town.  The kids decided they did not want to meet Santa, but they did color some ornaments, and they wrote some letters to Santa and dropped them into the special mailbox.

We took a break from the cold and got hot chocolates at Cocoa, then we headed back just in time for the official tree lighting.

After that we met up with Daddy for dinner at Sherwood’s.