Blizzard

Today we had a blizzard...granted, the worst of the snow was south of Fishers and Indianapolis, but we got a good amount for us!

Brendan was so excited to go and play in the snow once the wind died down somewhat in the late afternoon. 

 Katelyn woke up from her nap and got in on the action as well.  :)   Building their snow fort...which later was called their igloo

 And of course, a snow ball fight with Daddy :)

Christmas morning!

He's been here, he's been here!  :)

Santa found our house, thanks to the sparkly reindeer food and left the kids some pretty nice gifts!

 Even though Brendan was supposed to be five to get Trackmaster, Santa was very nice and brought him a big set and some trains.

Daddy managed to get the set assembled with only minimal stress ;)

Grampy and Brendan with the lego set that Grampy picked out for Brendan...only 525 little tiny pieces.  ;)   Thanks Grampy!! :)    He also got a Duplo Lego train set that has been a favorite as well!

Katelyn got a Little People Princess Castle from Bisia & Grampy

After opening presents, we had a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, baked french toast and fruit.

Christmas Eve

Katelyn & Miss Alana :)

The kids have discovered the game closet at the Barbatos and enjoyed playing several different games this evening

The dessert table was also a huge hit - esp. the cake pops. :)

Reindeer Food!

We also made some food (oatmeal with some red and green sprinkles) for Santa's reindeer to entice them to stop by our house.  We sprinkled it over in the grass by the driveway, because that was close to the chimney that Santa needed to go down. 

Leaving Cookies for Santa

Before leaving for the Barbato's for the Christmas Eve party, we left cookies and milk out for Santa.  :)

Christmas Eve Morning!

We decided to try to spread out our Christmas celebrations this year to allow the kids more time to actually enjoy the time and their gifts.

We had the Shoemaker Christmas Morning on 12/24.

Katelyn was so excited about all of her princess and baby doll stuff :) 

Opening his Marble Run from Bobby - it's been a huge hit around here - all 100 pieces and 20 marbles...  ;)   He really is enjoying trying to build different set ups!

Brendan's big gift from Mamaw & GrandBob, a remote control train :) 

Decorating Cookies

It was a sugar filled day around here :)   After Katelyn's nap, we briefly attempted the gingerbread train, but it unfortunately met an untimely demise at the hands of Brendan.  I believe it "crashed" off the counter and despite some repair attempts, the engine had seen better days!

So, we then moved on to baking and decorating cookies for Santa.  Some cookies miraculously were saved to be left out for Santa tomorrow night, but there was a lot of icing and sprinkle consumption done by Brendan & Katelyn.  :)

Rice Krispie Train!

While at Sam's one day several weeks ago with the kids, we say a kit to make a rice krispie treat 3D train for Christmas.   Of course, we had to get it.  We had a gingerbread train kit as well, but this looked pretty cool!

This was very serious business for Brendan...had to draw on a boiler for the steam engine and everything!

One proud little boy :)

Shoemaker Christmas Celebration

Alana & Annie were so sweet to host our Shoemaker Christmas celebration at Alana's condo in Broadripple.  The Barbatos were so sweet to get each of the kids some presents to open.  :)

Brendan got a new train book, Sir Topham Hat's Car, and a lego set

Katelyn got "two babies" just like, as she says the "two babies in Mommy's tummy".   She also got a neat reusable sticker book and Princess Lip gloss set.   One happy little girl!  :)

 Uncle Jim and Brendan building Legos

 And of course some play dough time...always a huge hit among the three cousins