christmas eve 2011

merry christmas from the little keenans!

sharing a hug after our ride to go see the lights at millis wonderland.

decorating cookies for santa (our xmas eve ritual)
zack thought it was important for santa to have "something healthy" as well as cookies. he opted for a carrot. note: new spongebob jammies for christmas!
carrot and lettuce (zack's idea, again) for the reindeer.

visit with santa!

For the first time yet, both kids were not only willing, but excited to sit with Santa! Thanks to a backup in the photo line, the kids also had a chance to chat with St. Nick and tell him exactly what they wanted for Christmas. Penny asked for a scooter, while Zack let Santa know how much he would like a Spongebob suitcase and pillow! Grandpa Keenan, who is visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday, also caught a few candids, which I'll be sure to post later!

three!!

interrupting the radio silence to wish my favorite gal a very happy 3rd birthday!!

music together

not-so-recent short video of z&p making music together at the de Cordova. makes me smile, how absorbed they are in the task.

don't mix the....eh, nevermind!

since as long as they were big enough to even mush play-doh in their tiny hands, i've been not exactly insisting, but encouraging the kids to not mix up the colors. sure, here and there we'd mix colors to see what new color we could create, but i thought it was best to have the most possible colors, the most options.

that was until dad was left to his own devices and decided it would be fun to mix all the colors into one giant pancake. dad = always the fun one :)

rolling it....
smacking it good with a spatula....
yay, giant pancake!

another fall, another apple picking trip

there's nothing like a good afternoon of apple-picking to kick off fall!
it was a bit of a slow start, with 2 sleepyheads....
tim was ready to go, though!getting into the swing of things...
zackers, you've got half the tree there!
sampling the goods...penny reviews the rules before selecting her pumpkin...

zack picks a winner!happy family.......and happy anniversary (5 years!) to my dear husband. xo

big kids on campus!

zack and penny started preschool today (year #2 for him, year #1 for her). their teachers are mrs. butera and mrs. crocker, respectively and so far so good! penny was a little apprehensive, given the 1st day chaos around us, but felt comforted by her teacher and went right in after washing her hands. zack struggled a bit when we left him (lots of crying), but when we picked him up, he said "i was crying for a little while, but then i had fun!" he also noted that he would not cry tomorrow." :)

today was a bit of an orientation, with penny's class attending for an hour, followed by zack's class attending for an hour. tomorrow will begin the regular schedule which means mom will have a whole 2.5 hours of free time! fun for all!

bye bye binky...hello bed.

it seems like yesterday that zack was (reluctantly) giving up his binky. with some persuasion from dad, penny decided that she was ready to give hers up as well and get a big girl bed as a reward.

penny gives her binky to "baby sam". :)
seals the deal with a kiss....and is pretty darn pleased with herself.first night in the newly converted toddler bed!
night 2: there's even room for mom to squeeze in a read a story.someone's excited...!

: )

snuggle sandwich

best buds watching tv together.

our favorite boy is four!

happiest of birthdays to our best buddy. you're not only the cutest little guy we know, but the sweetest as well.

we hope you had a wonderful party this weekend. you seemed to really love it -- that night after the party, you told us "I want to be four forever...." you're just the sweetest. xo

swan boats

last friday, tim was able to take a half day -- so we took advantage of the gorgeous weather (just before hurricane irene stirred things up) and headed into boston to ride the swan boats, as well as hit the frog pond and playground.

zack checks out another swan boat
mom and pen
tim and the kids with the bridge behind them
i just love how penny's hair curls right up in the humidity. getting longer!
silly family shot!
our snuggly guy with dad
hello up there!
zack and his new friend, spongebob squarepants, in beacon hill.

bubble beard

our silly penny in the tubbie

bikes!

sneaking in a bit of bike riding on their matching bikes this afternoon before the rain comes.

preschool preview

in just about a month (phew....), both penny and zack will begin what is her first year and his second year of preschool. we swung by recently during an open house so zack could show his lil sis around. i think penelope is going to do just fine!

on the front steps.
penny scopes out the water table.
showing penny the reading nook
in the imaginative play room, tending to their baby.
checking out the dress up clothes.

up in the loft.

spring thing

something interesting happens when you upload 786 (literally, 786) photos from your iphone to your computer: you find lots of old pics you forgot about. here's some pics of the kids working hard in their gymnastics class (from last spring).

zack gains confidence on the bars.
working on handstands.
penny launches into her cartwheel.
both kids doing a move they've coined "hello everybody!", because when they hang upside down together they yell (what else) "hello everybody!!"
balance...