Christmas 2010

In case you couldn't tell, I have been playing around with IMovie on our Mac now that we have a new video camera. This is the last video that I will do for a while (given that I head back to work next week).

This past week was a fantastic time with friends a family. The week of Christmas was quite the highlight with the Pink Pig, Caroling, Grammy and Grandpa here, and snow on Christmas. It was one of the best Christmas weeks that I have had in a long time.

Some of my highlights from the "Christmas Season" as Sam calls it (as opposed to Christmas Day) were:

1) Putting Christmas lights up with Sam on our house and on Angie's House
2) Watching St. Nicholas with Sam and Maya under the baseball blanket
3) Sam wanting to color under the Christmas Tree when we first put it up
4) Maya really learning how to talk in sentences the last few weeks
5) An amazing few weeks at the South Atlanta Marketplace and Pride for Parents
6) Seeing our PA and Texas families

I am sure that there are more that I will add here later as well. As the kids get older, I am sure each Christmas will be filled with unique memories. The following video highlights our memories from this Christmas:

White Christmas

It snowed in Atlanta on Christmas Day for the first time since 1888. That was a pretty special treat for our family. Of course Sam and Maya enjoy snow on any day, but it was fun to have it on Christmas. These are some highlights of our time together in the snow.

Maya the Artist

I have to admit that I have not been as good as documenting Maya's life as I was with Sam.  I promised that the second child would not get the shaft, but a series of unplanned technology changes has made it difficult.  Thankfully, we now have a new video camera and can begin taking videos of Maya.

With that in mind, here is the first Maya themed video in quite some time.  She is huge fan of painting and anything art related.  The video shows some of her better artistic exploits!  Enjoy and there will be more to come...

Cold Days in Georgia

We are experience a colder than normal few days around these parts.  The high temp was only 26 the other day.  The kids are embracing it pretty well.  Here are two pictures of Sam, Maya, John, and Aisha watching it snow on Sunday.  John was belting out "Merry Christmas" over and over again as they watched it snow.

Sam wanted to play in the snow, which was minimal, but we went outside anyway.  What do you do after you get inside from playing in the snow?  Drink hot chocolate of course.  Sam has a new favorite drink I believe.

Maya loves to Paint

Maya definitely has an artistic flair to her.  Katie loves to brag that she is routinely praised by her art teacher at school for her attention and love of art time.  At home, she loves to color and "shulk" (draw spoken in Maya's language).  Hours can be spent each day coloring different pages out of the Sesame Street coloring books.

A few weeks ago, I took Sam and Maya to the children's museum.  While there, I discovered a painting station that I knew Maya would love.  I didn't dare take both Sam and Maya into the station as it would have been too much to handle.  This past weekend we had plenty of free time, so the whole family decided to go Children's Museum.  

After a short stop at the balls (Sam must play there first), we went to the painting station.  Maya absolutely loved it and spent probably 30 minutes doing it.  Here are some pictures of her creations with her mom:

Coloring by the Christmas Tree

Sam has the holiday spirit!  Ever since decorations have started coming out last weekend, Sam has been taking it all in.

Probably the most random and funny thing that Sam has done is that he wants to color in front of the Christmas Tree.  We have no idea where he may have picked up this idea from, but it is so strong that we have moved the coloring table next to the tree because this has become a daily thing that he wants to do.  And of course, if Sam wants to do it, that means Maya does to.

Here are some pictures of Sam doing his coloring in front of the tree: