Becca's Pics

Becca got a new SLR camera for Christmas and took some great pictures.

Enjoy!

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas. I really wish every night could be Christmas Eve. It's still so magical to me. We started off Christmas Eve day frosting cookies with Auntie Becca and then Sebastien and I delivered some to our neighbors. We then went to 4pm Mass and the kids did pretty good. Genevieve started screaming though when I took the host at Communion and she didn't get any. She didn't stop crying until we got back to our pew. She's never done that before. Next time I'll have to bring a cookie for her or something. After Mass we went to Dracut for the annual Christmas Eve pizza and Yankee Swap. Sebastien was quite the emcee for the swap: calling out numbers, selecting most people's gifts, and opening them for people too.

Here's Genevieve sporting the Santa hat that she saw and immediately claimed as her own.

 Genevieve giving Baby Ella a ride on the pony.

 Grandma, Becca, Mrs. Rhoads and Aunt Rita watch Sebastien open a Yankee Swap present.

 The two little swap moderators looking at the presents.

 Playing with their new racetrack.

 Grandma and the kiddos.

 Christmas morning!

 Aunt Rita and our Gwynnie in Dracut on Christmas Day.

 Becca and Grandpa playing her Wii "Just Dance" game. It's so fun!

 Back at home, Sebastien found a way to have fun with his 2 new sleds since we don't have any snow outside.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Gingerbread House and a Familiar Santa

Sebastien and Dan undertook the daunting task of making a Gingerbread house. I always thought those would be a big hassle to make, but the two of them breezed through it. Here they are constructing the walls.

 Genevieve preferred to play under the table.

 The next night they decorated. Genevieve helped this time.

 Ta-da! The chimney was even Sebastien's idea!

This morning we went to the playgroup at the gym in Hampstead. Guess who made an appearance? Santa! It was a very special Santa this time too. Can you guess why? Look closely!

 Some kids, like this little boy, were thrilled to sit on Santa's lap.

 Sebastien was not as thrilled, despite being this Santa's favorite boy in the whole world...if you catch my drift.

 The shot below will be extremely funny someday when they understand the irony.

 If only Sebastien was looking, this could have been next year's Christmas card! Ha!

Job well done, Santa.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics. What better way to get the kids moving in the winter time?! Unfortunately it took me about a month of classes to get Sebastien to not be afraid to do his "big boy" class (opposed to the "baby" class that he, Genevieve and I do together.) Today was the first time that he shed not one tear. He willingly left the observation loft with his class and walked with anticipation down to the gym.

Here are some pictures.

The first few have a signature in the middle because the gymnastics photographer (yes, they strangely have an in-house photographer who tries to get you to buy the pictures of your kids) took them.

 Below is Sebastien with his teacher, Miss Jen. Note the pout on his face. This is from a day that he cried a little before getting started.

 And here he is today with his teacher and some of his class waiting to get started.

 Sebastien in the bouncy castle.

 His biggest fans watching from the loft.

 Waiting in line to hang on the bar.

 Snowball fight!

Are you ready for Christmas? We are! (Well despite the mountains of cookies I should be baking right now!)

More Pre-Christmas Festivities

We celebrated Christmas a little early last weekend because Brian and Jaclyn won't be around for Christmas day. While at Grandma and Grandpa's, all 4 Masse kids got to hang their ornaments on the tree. Sebastien was quite the helper.

 We've also been enjoying cozy nights at home, complete with a fire in the fireplace, Christmas music, and hot toddies. It's a quite peaceful room, really, once all the toys are picked up!

 Our friends hosted a Santa Visit at their house yesterday. Here's Sebastien and Genevieve waiting in line to see Santa.

 Sebastien didn't cry on Santa's lap, but he wouldn't talk either.

 My once brave little Genevieve, on the other hand, decided she was NOT a fan of Santa.

 Luckily it was nothing that a new Mickey and a cookie couldn't fix.

Ho! Ho! Ho! It's almost Christmas!

Polar Express Train

Quick shot of the Christmas tree all decorated:

We went on "The Polar Express" train into Boston, er I mean the North Pole, last weekend. Sebastien was psyched. We watched the movie almost every day that week in preparation since he'd never seen it before (and the library was out of the book). He was doubly psyched to be going with his bestest friend Bella. Here's a shot of Genevieve, Sebastien, Bella and Avalynn in their pajamas on the train.

 Sebastien in awe of an approaching Frosty.

 A pretty good looking Santa...

 The next day we went to visit Brian and Jaclyn in Boston. They took this nice shot of us in front of their Christmas tree.