All I Want For Christmas....

is an "Animal Big Rig"

This truck and picture of it are now legendary in the Corriveau household. It all started a few months ago when Matthew saw this toy in a catalog. Since then this picture has spent time hanging on our fridge, spending the night on Matthew's nightstand and being shown to anyone and everyone who sets foot in this house. Matthew wants this truck like crazy!!! He is totally obsessed with it and talks about it several times a day. Since he has SO MANY trucks I told him to ask Santa for it, Mommy would NOT be buying more trucks. Not only did he brave the big, bad Santa at the mall to tell him to bring this, he has now written him 2 letters and done (or not done) pretty much everything I ask him to do (boy, I'll miss that!). Everyday I get questions like; "do you think Santa is putting my animal big rig in his sleigh" or "do you think my animal big rig is in Santa's bag" or "do you think Santa is done making my animal big rig"...the new one today was "do you think if Santa has an extra animal big rig, he'll leave it for Daddy"...not sure Daddy has been good enough for a toy like that!!;)

Cute, right? I think so BUT here is the big problemo....this is the ONLY thing he wants. He keeps saying he only needs 1 present....boy, this could have been a really cheap Christmas!! My fear is if we give it to him first, he will not want to open anything else. If we save it for last, I worry that he will be disappointed with every other present he opens.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment...

On the bright side, I cannot wait to see the look on his face when he opens this!!!!!

1 Day, 2 VERY Different Occasions...

December 20th means 2 very different things for my family.


First, the good...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JENN!!!

We hope you have a great day and can't wait to see you on Wednesday:) Thanks for being such an awesome Sister-In-Law, Aunt and Friend. Thanks for giving us a reason to like Ryan and enjoy having him around...hahahaha!! We love you, you're the best:)


Second, the not so good,

On December 20, 1990 my Mom lost her battle with breast cancer. Although there still isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her, she is especially on my mind today. I've lived over half my life without her but in the time that she was here she most definitely shaped the person I am and the mother I am. She was a fantastic Mom and I am so grateful for the 14 years I had with her.

This has always been one of my favorite pictures. For those of you who have only know m since college, note the hair:)

It is strange that my brother's wife was born on the same date my mother died...out of all the days of the year...this one??!! I can't help but wonder if my mother sent us the gift of having something to be happy about and smile for on a day that is so sad for us. Celebrating Jenn's bday certainly makes this day easier to deal with:)

This is the Polar Express!!

Hahaha...I love that line, makes me think of Tom Hanks!!

We went down to Newpburyport yesterday to ride the Polar Express with the boys, Jeff's parents, sister and our niece. We had a great time! Matthew really enjoyed the ride and hearing the story. I think his favorite part though was getting to wear his pajamas out of the house! Enjoy the pics...

Waiting for his turn to give Santa his letter

Santa!

I took the boys to see Santa today while we were at the mall. I wasn't sure how this would go over with Matthew. When we were in FL back in February he loved the characters. More recently though, he hasn't liked them. He is very into Santa this year, way more than in years past, and wanted to meet him so I figured we'd give it a try. Plus, he REALLY wants this one truck that I keep telling him he has to ask Santa for because Mom thinks we have enough trucks and isn't going to buy anymore.

First we circled Santa to make sure that Matthew did, in fact, WANT to meet him. Yes, he did so we got in line. When it was our turn Matthew marched right up to him and said, in no uncertain terms, "I want a big rig with animals!!" Then, he turned and started to walk off! Too funny...guess he didn't get the memo about the photo op!! :) Mom would have liked to hear something more along the lines of "please may I have a big rig with animals" but since she has an in with Santa, things will probably still work out in Matthew's favor.

Luke, our little laid back munchkin...smiled the whole time...just happy to be along for the ride!

Sooo...here are the boys with Santa for the first time. Enjoy our ridiculously expensive photo!

Christmas Survey

Welcome to the Christmas Edition of Getting To Know Your Family and Friends!

You know the drill. Get to bloggin'.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping...not a fan of the bags!
2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL!! I loathe artificial trees.
3. When do you put up the tree? When I can get everyone together...we enjoy decorating with Ryan, Jenn and Heather.
4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's Day.
5. Do you like eggnog? Love it! Jeff surprised us with soy egg nog this year so Matty can finally sample it and I can have some and not worry about Luke's tummy and the best part is, it taste exactly the same.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Cabbage Patch Kid Preemie.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Jeff's grandparents.
8.Easiest person to buy for? my sister, Jenn, Jeff, & Matthew.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, need something to reflect what Christmas is actually about. 10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail, emailed Christmas cards are the worst!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I got lamps when I was 10...seriously!! Sorry up there Nanny Couser...I would enjoy that now but not so much at 10!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Christmas Story, although Christmas Vacation is a close 2nd.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I try to get some things before Tgiving but usually right after...I love Cyber Monday!!:)
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Ummm, yeah...but I plead the 5th as to what!. 15.Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Judy's Jenny cookies and Sara's thin mint ritz. Yum:)
16. Lights on the tree? white
17. Favorite Christmas song? Fun=Rudolph, Jingle Bell Rock Serious=Hark! The Herald, Little Drummer Boy.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home...our new rule since having kids
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Absolutely...Jeff finds it a bit scary!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel but still looking for the perfect one.
21. Presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning.
22.Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crowds
23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? No theme or I guess the theme is ornaments that we collected as we grew up, nothing fancy, just ones that bring back memories.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Prime Rib...my Mom always did meat fondue on Christmas Eve...that was the best and I miss it.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I really just want to see Matthew's face when he opens the animal big rig he wants wee wee, wee wee, bab-lee:) Outside of that...a front loader...how old and married am I?? Yikes. I'm not holding my breath though!!

Thanks Lorraine:)
Who's Up? Heather? Jenn? Angela?

Turkey Day...or should I say weekend??

We had a great Thanksgiving! We left Thursday morning and headed to Laconia for the day. Had a nice meal and visit with Jeff's family. We left that evening and drove up to my brother's house in Lebanon to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday and spent the rest of the weekend visiting with my family and helping my brother do some work on his house. Matthew had been asking to see where Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jenn work...so we suckered Ryan into giving Matthew a tour of the hospital and we were able to meet Jenn for lunch while we were there. We really enjoyed having Aunt Heathy home for a whole week and can't wait to have her home for Christmas!!! The Corriveaus are very thankful for their awesome family and having everyone close by again:)

Matthew and Luke in their matching shirts (picked out by Matthew)

Luke ready for the feast at the Johnsons (notice his bib)!

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The real highlight of the weekend for BOTH boys was terrorizing Sadie...poor dog! She's such a good sport though and her Mom and Dad don't mind since it tires her out!!!

The Gang