Way, way behind in my posts... just wanted to start this month off with a photo actually taken on December 1st, when we put up our fabulous advent calendar. It was Maddie's turn to go first (
the angel ornament was in pocket 1; the soldier in pocket 2). When she took out the ornament, she said, "Oh, Mommy, it's a princess!!" So, our angel with forevermore be a "princess" (you can see her at the top of the tree in this photo). The kids were completely ecstatic over their Peppa Pig calendars; Ollie comes into our room every morning to ask what day it is so he can find the right number on the calendar and retrieve his tiny piece of chocolate. He helps Maddie find hers when she comes downstairs. Maddie has gotten a bit over-eager with the chocolates a few times, so I've had to secretly replace a few missing chocolates with Cadbury buttons. Believe it or not, we're even enjoying a fourth advent calendar this year -- the
Jacqui Lawson London calendar -- every day reveals a new, fantastic animated event. Maddie always wants to see "Bem" (Big Ben), Covent Garden, the London Eye, and the "chimney" (where the elf sweeps chimneys so they're clean for Santa). Ollie loves that one as well, and he loves making snowflakes and decorating the tree. Happy, happy December.
We met the nicest family at the Owl's Head Lighthouse today - 2 parents, maybe 5 kids, and 2 grandparents - the wife grew up in Rockland but they all live in Viginia Beach now. We took pictures of them with their camera, and they took pictures of us 
with ours. We should do this more often... there are so few photos of the 4 of us together!! I like Ollie's expression in the second photo - the sun was right in our eyes! The weather was gorgeous today; it was so nice to walk along the wooded path to the lighthouse, with beautiful ocean views the whole way there. After that we went into town and had lunch with mom and dad at the Rockland Cafe (yummy Maine shrimp!), then meandered down to the Farnsworth Museum to visit their wonderful Christmas toy train exhibit. Tomorrow is a big day - Aidan and Eli come!
We had such a fun time at the "Moms Around the Lake" Christmas Party... the kids would barely stop playing long enough to eat two bites of food the whole time. Santa was a big hit, as usual... he brought Ollie a fantastic Lego robot, and Maddie a magnetic paper doll kit. We stayed with Carol, Ryan and Addie about a half hour after everyone else left, and the kids rode around the empty gym in the plasma car, danced on the stage, and just had a blast. When we got home, Ollie got busy with his new Lego kit... he's quickly becoming a pro!!!
