In the Holiday Spirit

Chase was very excited to try on his Christmas pajamas for the Polar Express train ride. He even put on his reindeer antlers and slippers. Tyler was a little "confused" by the antlers on his brother's head (as you can see from the picture below)....he just stared and stared at Chase, trying to figure out what was going on.

We have a lot of pictures to post from the Polar Express and Chase's visit with Santa Claus on the train. Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Christmas Eve and a wonderful Christmas Day tomorrow.

Love, Peace, and Happiness to all of our friends and family!

Annual Turkey Shoot

The Dera and Lewandowski families gathered early on Thanksgiving for food, fun, and of course, the 4th annual Turkey Shoot.

It was a little chilly outside, but we made the best of it. Here are Chase and Ryan showing their "game faces." (You might not be able to tell from the picture, but Chase is also "flexing" his big muscles....as he likes to call them)!

The Thanksgiving festivities ended up in a shoot-out between Ryan and my dad. Chase thought the whole ordeal was pretty funny!

And the winner was.....G (for the 3rd time). Next year, we need to step up the competition. Maybe Chase can participate and help to take him down!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to our family and friends. Hope everyone had a great day!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Here is to health, happiness, great family, and fantastic friends.

More Thanksgiving Games

After Thanksgiving dinner, I learned how to play my first holiday game - progressive Bunko. I had tons of fun rolling the dice and laughing with the rest of the family.

And I especially loved winning the big pot...BUNKO for me!!! All of the quarters I won went straight into my piggy bank. I am not sure what I am saving up for quite yet, but I was really excited to get some extra coins! Can't wait for the next holiday get-together so we can play Bunko again!

Birthdays Galore

November was a very busy month for birthdays. On the 2nd, we got together with the family to celebrate Poppy's 90th birthday! We had a big dinner followed by cake, signing, and presents. Of course, I loved every minute of it!!!

The Santulli family came from New Hampshire to make the day extra special for Poppy... he had all five of his grandchildren and his two great grandchildren with him to celebrate (not to mention, his 2 wonderful daughters).

And then on November 24, we got together to have dinner and cake for Nani's birthday, which was on the 22nd (we didn't have a huge celebration on her actual birthday because Aunt Jackie was still at school). The picture below is a favorite from the summer - Nani, mommy, me, and Tyler.

The day after Thanksgiving was G's birthday, and by this point, we were all pros at singing "Happy Birthday" and cutting the cake. Sorry, no pictures from the birthday celebration, but here is one of my favorites from Thanksgiving - G with Teddy and Tyler.

Happy Happy Birthday to all our loved ones who had celebrations in November! Eating cake, singing Happy Birthday, and helping to blow out candles was lots of fun! Love you all!!!

Zoo Boo

The night before Halloween, we went to the Zoo with the Murphy family to check out the "Zoo Boo" festivities. Madelyn and Chase were the perfect pair in their coordinating costumes. They were so cute together all night!

At first, Chase wasn't sure what to make of the zoo being transformed into a Halloween Wonderland, but he got over that really quick (especially when he realized there was lots of candy being passed out).

There were games to play, animals to visit, sing-alongs, and lots of activities for the kids to do. I think the crowd favorite was the "bubble man" show...he entertained both the kids and the parents...

Such a "Chase-face" in the picture below. This is the look he gets on his face when he is like, "mom, enough pictures....why are you making me do this?!?"

I think the highlight for Chase was the dance party by the penguins. He and Madelyn had a blast dancing to all of the hip-hop songs with the bigger kids.

And it wouldn't be a proper date without a kiss good-night! Thanks to the Murphy family for coming to Zoo Boo with us. It was an awesome time, and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Fun with G's Toys

I am fascinated by G's motorcycle, and the other week, I actually got to ride on it.... well, not really ride...more like "sit" on it with G.

I did get to ride on the lawn mower, which was a lot of fun. It moved a lot slower than I thought it would...but it was still a blast!

"Bye, mom!"

An Early Christmas Gift - From Shutterfly

Shutterfly is offering a great deal to bloggers....FREE holiday cards for anyone who is willing to share their Shutterfly experience. I am excited to participate since I often use Shutterfly, and I am always pleased with the quality of their products!!

We have used Shutterfly to create our Christmas cards every year since Chase was born.... here is the card from our first Christmas (I can't believe how little Chase looks in the picture).

Click here to find this card as well as many other Christmas cards on Shutterfly.com.

What I love about Shutterfly is their great selection...they make it easy to find the perfect card for you and your family. The card that we selected last year is still one of my favorites.

This year, there seems to be an even greater selection of holiday photo cards. There are so many choices that I am having a hard time narrowing it down. Check out the 2010 holiday collection, and let me know your favorites.

Another thing that I am looking at are invitations for our New Year's Eve party. We are so looking forward to getting together with our family and friends and celebrating. Be sure to go to Shutterfly.com and check out their selection of holiday cards, invitations, and other photo gifts. You won't be disappointed!!!

Headed to the Pumpkin Farm

This fall, we went to the Hollow Pumpkin Farm three times! The first time, we went with Grandpa Eddie, Heather, Nani, G, and Jen. It was lots of fun.

I think my favorite part was playing in the giant sandbox filled with corn. They had shovels and trucks...and I was one happy boy!

They also had a petting zoo at the pumpkin farm, which was lots of fun too!

The baby animals ate right out of my hand (with a little help from Nani)!!!

After enjoying lots of activities and some delicious apple fritters, we headed to the pumpkin patch to pick our own pumpkins.

We searched and searched for the perfect pumpkins - mom and dad wanted some big ones and I wanted to find some baby pumpkins for me and Tyler.

Once we filled our wheelbarrow, we headed back to the car. I got to ride in the wheelbarrow with all of the pumpkins.

All in all, it was a great day at the pumpkin farm. Thanks to the whole crew for making it so much fun!

Back to the Apple Orchard

We took our second trip to Beak and Skiff on a cool day in September. Grandma and Jen joined us for some fun!

I had a lot of fun riding on the horses with Grandma.

And Tyler was all smiles riding around on daddy's back!

Apple fritters and dumplings at the country store were the perfect way to end our great day at the apple orchard. What a great day we had!

Trick - or - Treat

On October 31st, we headed over to the Kelly's house for dinner and Halloween fun with our friends. It was very cute to see all of the little ones dressed up in their costumes... and amazingly, we got the kids to sit together for a split second to capture a quick group shot.

I'm not sure if it was the excitement of Halloween (or if everyone was just on a sugar high), but the kids were definitely wound up. Tate, Chase, and Maeve were climbing all over the furniture and throwing themselves onto couch...it was quite a sight!

Once everyone was dressed and ready to go, we hit the streets with the kids and watched them go door-to-door to collect candy. It was cold outside, so we kept Tyler bundled in his stroller - he didn't seem to mind, though!

The Kelly's street was the perfect place to go trick-or-treating.

All of the kids were great, and they seemed so excited to run up to each house, ring the doorbell, and say "trick-or-treat." What a difference a year makes in their "understanding" of what to do!

Thanks to the Kelly crew for hosting us all on Halloween - we had a great time with all of our friends.