Kilbane Happenings

This year was a very special Christmas in the Kilbane House. Kaitlyn has reached an age where Santa is no longer scary and she enjoyed seeing his and telling him what she wanted - which changed weekly, if not daily! Santa had to be quite creative this year since he couldn't bring her ALL that was on her list. I think she was quite happy with all the goodies she got which included Slinky Dog from the Toy Story movies, a miniature Rapunzel doll to join her other miniature princess dolls and the Magical Princess Castle (her BIG gift!) Brady wasn't sure what the heck was going on - he was very interested in the flying paper coming from Kaitlyn's direction. He got golf clubs, a basketball hoop, puzzles, an Elmo camera and a v-tech shapes and colors car. Next year, maybe he'll join his sister in all the excitement. Either way, there was lots of Christmas morning magic here today. Below is a small collage of what this morning looked like. I'll upload more when time allows!...

Our first BIG snow of 2010 comes on Christmas eve. It started snowing around 7am and didn't really let up most of the day. It got increasingly worse while we were at church and we almost didn't make it home (in case you didn't know, we live atop a HUGE hill...it was some rough going!). The kids had a great time playing in the snow - although Brady was content to just sit in the snow. Kaitlyn attempted to make a snow man and they each played on their playset in the backyard. It's still snowing now, so we may be back out in it tomorrow! Merry Christmas everyone...Enjoy! Kaitlyn liked throwing the snow at Mommy and Brady was content to either stand or sit in the snow - he has a hard time balancing and maneuvering in his snow suit and boots!

Kaitlyn had her class Christmas party on Wednesday. I was lucky enough to be able to attend and help out (I helped create and assemble the craft - a penguin picture ornament). They had such a great time and it was cute to see Kaitlyn with all her friends. Kaitlyn's Santa hat and craft baggie Getting ready to make the craft Getting the class picture taken - there were so many cameras, she didn't know where to look! Kaitlyn and 2 of her friends at school St. Paul Preschool class 2010-2011

Last night we decided to venture to Bellville, IL and check out the Way of Lights at the Our Lady of Snows National Shrine. It was a beautiful light display that was like nothing I have ever seen before. Usually, when you visit drive-thru light displays, there isn't much of a religious message or theme to the lights except for the constant - Nativity scene. This light display was completely devoted to the Christmas story - from the beginning with Michael the Archangel visitng Mary and Joseph and telling of the baby that was coming and that God sent him to bring love to everyone, to the middle where Mary and Joseph had to flee to Bethlehem and ride on a donkey and found no room at the Inn and had to stay in a stable where Baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger and was watched by the animals, shepherds and 3 wise men that came bearing gifts. It was a beautiful display with markings along the way with the bible verses from the story. They also had 2 different areas with animals fo...

The whole Humphrey family ventured through snow and freezing rain to celebrate Christmas with us in St. Louis. We had a great weekend sharing stories, spending time together and of course exchanging gifts. Helping Aunt Molly open her new Wii Donkey Kong game! Kaitlyn & Uncle Adam Brady and Grammy What is it? A NEW PLAYHOUSE! A New DRESS!! What's in here?? Brady got a new Elmo bathtub book!

Kaitlyn had her Christmas concert and she did such a great job! They sang 3 songs and they were so adorable! Here's a few pictures - she was really far away from our seats and it was hard for me to take pictures with out blocking everyone's view! Brian got it all on video and if I can figure out how to post it, I will!

Kaitlyn has her fist ever school program tonight - a Christmas concert with the preschool-4th grade classes. I am so excited to see how she does and sings with her classmates. I will have photos posted later tonight or tomorrow and I'm hoping to take a little video too! She had an "ice" day today as we got a glazing of ice that shut down a highway early this morning due to a large accident and several teachers couldn't get to school. She and Brady have been helping me all day prepare the house for the Humphrey side of the family who is coming for the weekend to kick-off the Christmas season! We travel to Cleveland after Christmas to celebrate with the Kilbane's!

Both kids voluntarily wanted to sit with Santa and get their picture taken! Grandma and Grandpa K took them to the mall to visit with him and they took a great picture!

One of our family traditions is to have Breakfast with Santa. We took Kaitlyn the first year we lived here in St. Louis to the event at The Magic House. Last year we tried a new place, Macy's downtown. We liked this one much better and went back again this year. They surely don't disappoint. A great breakfast, with Rudolph and Santa visiting each table as breakfast goes on. A fun duo singing cheery Christmas songs and leading dances and sing-a-longs with the kids! It was a great time and the kids really enjoyed themselves - they both fell asleep ont he way home! The Family with The Man in Red... Brady's new "CHEESE" smile...hilariuos!

I apologize for my lack of posts lately. The holiday bring a lot of busy days! We spend Thanksgiving in Cincinnati and had a great time giving thanks with the Humphrey side of the family. We had a big turkey dinner and even celebrated my mom's birthday...she sometimes has to share with the turkey! Brady made it to his first Xavier game and Kaitlyn met up with some old friends there and learned some new XU cheers! Kaitlyn has really gotten into crafting since she's gotten older. One of out traditions is to decorate our own gingerbread house. I buy a kit at the craft store, put the house together and then we decorate with icing and candied goodies! Kaitlyn of course sneaks a few bites of the candies. This year, she took some things she's learned in Preschool and applied them to her house - pattens! Red, green, red, green, red, green....you get the idea! We had a lot of fun doing this. Cooking decorating still to come! On a very unseasonably warm December 10, we decid...