Visiting Santa - 2011

Tonight Santa and Mrs. Claus were downtown on the square at a local ice cream shop.  What a fun place to go visit him!  And it was perfect.  Not busy at all so Santa had plenty of time to talk to the boys and even told them about how he had 2 other brothers and that they should always remain friends like they are now because as they get older they will be the best buds and can have a lot of fun together!  What a wonderful thing for them to hear from Santa and not just ol' mom and dad.

The boys loved talking to him and did a very good job telling Santa what they were wishing for for Christmas.  Ethan wants a DS and Wii games, a new leather football and a new baseball glove for this summers baseball season. Trevor asked for a top, a new truck and a race car.  Cooper, well he didn't really talk to Santa, but Santa wanted to keep him on his lap all night!

I hope the magic of Christmas can always show in their eyes like it did tonight.  Just the excitement and awe when they see Santa and Mrs. Claus makes it fun.  And I know the magic will always be there because even after they learn the "fibbed truths" of Christmas, the real reason, the birth of our Lord, will still remain.  But there is just something about the sparkle in a child's eyes when Santa shows up...the innocence.  I wish it could always remain...

Oh Christmas Tree

My poor Christmas tree this year.  It really is a sight to be seen.  Not that it's terrible.  It's not a Charlie Brown tree either. But it is a bit out of the ordinary for me this year.  You see.  The tree is normally "MY" thing. I put the lights on.  Lots of lights.  I normally do most of the decorations because the boys put on a few ornaments and are then bored with the whole thing.  So I get to put on most of them, strategically placed so that the longer ones fill in a hole that is visible, or little ones go right on the end of the branch so they can be seen.  And of course, there are never 2 ornaments on the same branch.  NEVER.

Well, this year.  The lights were still my thing.  I got those done while the boys were at school one day.  All lights working (at least I thought).  I did test them before putting them on and they all worked.  Got them all on and that first night of turning the lights on the very top strand was 1/2 out.  Since the ornaments weren't on yet, I used the next day to take that strand off and replace it with another one that I had.  Those are still working. 

Then we got to putting on the ornaments - as noted in the other post about decorating the tree.  The boys did a great job; however, I do have to say, it is taking all my will to not move ornaments around.  Seriously.  A lot of strength is being used!  But I love the tree.  The boys had so much fun and are enjoying the tree more this year than in the past. 

Three ornaments on the very same branch... the poor branch is pulled toward the floor. 

And can you see Santa in there... he's little and he's hiding in the "woods".  

But then, after all ornaments are on and after a week of enjoying it, half of another strand of lights decided to go out.  Tried changing the fuse. No luck.  Thought about going through every light bulb on the burned out side, but that is just a pain in the butt.  So what do I do.  I add another strand of lights over the currently burnt out ones to fill in the dark spaces.  Seriously, it looks hilarious during the day when can see all the green wires from the lights.  However, at night, no one would ever know! 

The highway of lights on the tree this year!  Man it is a sight to be seen!  No wrapping and pushing them into the inner part of the tree when all the ornaments are on already ;o)

So, here's to you Mr. Christmas Tree.  You're a sore sight for my eyes, but I love you just the same!

Do You Believe...

I really should be in bed already, but I couldn't go to sleep without documenting the excitement around the house tonight.  The boys are so excited for St. Nick to come to our house.  They have been helping me around the house, they made sure to give me time to get their names on the stockings.  I have never had personalized stockings before, but this year, since our family is completed now, I decided to go buy matching stockings and write everyones names on one.  They are nothing fancy, but the boys thought it was pretty neat to have their names on it!  Simple. Things.

Bed time was easy peasy tonight....a) they were tired, b) they knew if they didn't get to sleep St. Nick just might not come to visit.  So, off to a deep slumber they went.  Very quickly.  I remember the anticipation of St. Nick when I was growing up.  Was he going to visit?  What was he going to leave me?  Would it fit in my stocking or would it be below on the floor in front of the fireplace?  It was fun to dig the simplest of things out of a stocking... even new underwear some years!

So, it's the night of St. Nick.  The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...   stay little boys, stay little.  I love the genuine excitement and wonder of a child at the holidays!

Christmas Tree 2011

Go figure that just as I start to clean up the boys' room, the doorbell rings. It's Mr. FedEx guy with a package for us. Normally, I can just set the package on the table and open them later, after I finish what I was doing. But not this time. You see, we (or should I say, Rick) ordered an early Christmas present for himself and to make me happy he added a few "extra" items. Items like a keyboard and a camera adaptor. These items fit nicely with the iPad he ordered but give me the added benefit of using it for things that I would like to. This blog, for instance. Without the camera adaptor, I couldn't upload photos to the blog. What fun is a post with out pictures, right?

So, you see the FedEx man delivered the camera adaptor today. That is why I have put everything on hold and am now sitting here typing this post. I just HAD to try out the adaptor to make sure it works. Just doing my duty as a wife and consumer of a product. Gotta make sure things work the way they should.

So, Keyboard. Check. Working great today. Camera Adaptor. Let's try it out.

Last night we decorated the Christmas tree. Normally, it's me decorating, but this year, the boys were all about putting on the ornaments. So, I unpack them, handed them to the boys and they decorated. Rick helped put on a few of the heavier ones that needed "sturdy" branches, but other than that it was all the boys. I think I put on one ornament. that's it. And that's not like me. As Rick told the boys, "boys, you will come to learn that Christmas is Mom's thing. Don't mess with it. She knows where things are and has them right where she wants them to be." That was told to them as I was sternly telling them to stop digging in the bin with all the ornaments and that I would give them an unpacked ornament in a minute. ;)

So, the tree is decorated. The boys had fun. And Cooper even got in on the excitement for a bit.

Dang.... can't get to the photos. Off to the other computer to post them.   Looks like I'll have to play around some more to figure out how to get into Blogger ;o)

Thanks to the Thoresen's we have been adopting the "Santa's Hat" tree topper; however this year, the boys are requesting a star for the top of the tree so we may need to change things up a bit.  We'll see if they remember next time we head to the store or if they ask me to make one.

Trevor couldn't quite get the hat on straight so Ethan got to take a turn putting it up there. I was holding my breath as Rick was holding him.... all I saw was his foot kicking the tree, Rick losing his balance, and both of them heading right into the tree.  

 Thankfully, it didn't happen and the tree was standing at the end of the night.  Good job boys!

Memorial Day Activity

Typically, for Memorial Day we end up getting together with friends for low key BBQ while the kids play and we just shoot the bull.  This year was a bit different.  Rick went into work for the morning in order to get some stuff done, the boys and I hung out, did some crafts, and then they took naps.  After naps all the boys (big and small) played outside while I sat on the steps and just enjoyed hearing the laughter and watched numerous golfers go by during the golf tournament that was being held.  It was a beautifully relaxing afternoon for all of us. 

 

Our creative paint craft for the day.

Ethan also made an American flag, but I forgot to take a picture of that..

After dinner we decided to go walk a few holes of the golf course.  Sometimes we take a cart so Rick and Ethan can play a full 9 holes, but when we go after dinner (the less busy time on the course) we've been walking instead of taking the cart.  It's more relaxing for all of us and the boys do amazingly when we walk.  Normally, we make it to holes 1, 2, 3 and then skip back to 18 where they tee off and we head 'er on home after that.  However, this day was a bit different.  The boys wanted to keep going after hole 3.  So away we went to hole #4, and #5, and #6 and #7.  I think the boys would have continued, but it was already 7:30pm and we still needed to do showers and a quick snack before bed because of being outside for the last 2 hours. 

Ethan did well (as he usually does) and Trevor, who normally just tees off on each hole and then walks the rest of the way decided he wanted to golf the entire hole.  It started on #1 and we thought that would be it, but it continued to #'s 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7!  He swung and swung and swung some more.  Never getting frustrated because of being tired and he hit the ball pretty well most of the time.  By the time we rolled to #6 and 7, the putting was becoming more of  "guiding the ball into the hole", but he still put it in the hole and was excited to do so.  His little legs and little body was SO VERY TIRED when we got back to the car, but he never once told us so while we were on the course.  He kept saying he wanted to golf some more. 

Trevor hoping to get it over the water on #5. 

No such luck, but it was ok because he was using a "water ball".

Ethan hitting in the fairway...

It was a wonderful evening with fun had by all!  (it was even more fun for me once I got to use the bathroom on hole 4, whew.   Thankfully it wasn't on hole 6 or 7... I might just have had to visit some trees or something ;o) )

Easter 2011

This Easter we stayed put and although we missed spending it with our family in Wisconsin, we did get to spend it with our "family away from family".  When you move with a company and are away from your family you learn how important it is to have friends that you can count on.  And when you're lucky enough to find friends like that, it's those friends that become your family away from home.  Thankfully, we've been blessed and have, once again, made some great friends in our current location.  This Easter we spent the time with those wonderful friends. 

Before getting together with friends we had some quality family time.  We went to church, we colored eggs, looked for Easter baskets, and had a relaxing morning/early afternoon.  Thank you to my family and friends for making it a great weekend!

 After church and before heading over to our friends, the Staab's, house there was of course some cooking that needed to be done for the dishes I was bringing. Rick thought it would be fun to take a picture of me in all my glory - still dressed from church and wearing my tennis shoes because the tile floors kill my back.  Thanks Hun!  I decided to crop it a bit and show you how nice it could have looked ;o)

In addition, Trevor decided he wanted to take pictures too... of course, he being my crazy picture taker, had to take pictures of my "red toes" too (too bad you can't really see them... he still has some practicing to do.) 

Once we were at the Easter festivities, the kids had an Easter Egg Hunt (in the cold and wind) and then they just played and had a good time while the adults were able to chat and enjoy the company.  Since we were chatting "a little" not many pictures were taken.  But I did get this cute one of Trevor and Jadyn as they were saying good bye to each other. 



Happy Easter to You

Just a quick little note to say Happy Easter to all of you!  We had a beautiful day today and were able to make some friends to greet the Easter Bunny when he shows up tonight.  The boys are hoping that they don't scare him away because they would really like to have some Easter baskets to find in the morning!
 

We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter day as we all remember and celebrate the significance of this amazing day.  Without the events that bring about the Easter season we would not be able to live the lives we do today!

Who Could This Bunny Be??

This is the super cute bunny mask that some little boy came home with from school yesterday.  He was so silly with it.  And it was the cutest thing ever seeing all the kids in his class come walking out the door for their Easter Egg Hunt with their masks on.  So simple, yet so fun for them. 

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Happy New Year....So Long 2010, Hello 2011

Well, once again, I have a TON of updating to do and it WILL get done eventually; however, I wanted to send a quick Happy New Year out to everyone first.  I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and an even better start to the new year!  May your 2011 be filled with fun times, happiness, good fortune, and wonderful memories to keep with you forever.

Things here are quite quiet on this New Year's Eve.  We've been trying to dodge getting full fledged colds around here.  Ethan has a cough and yucky stuff draining down his throat, Trevor has a stuffy nose and I'm battling the normal congestion that I've had since becoming pregnant (so not really a cold).  But thus far, that's all... no major colds or sickness going on (yet).  We've been enjoying some much needed family time as we sporadically play games between trying to get something accomplished around the house.  We've enjoyed two very nice days of temperatures in the 50s and 60s which has allowed for some (also) much needed outside time. 

Tonight is going to be a low-key Ringin' In the Year for the family.  Cooking steaks on the grill for all, playing some board games and of course, the Wii.  The kids favorite present from Santa this year!  And I have to admit, Rick and I have enjoyed it as well.  We'll have to make sure we set up some rules for Rick and I, not just the kids, on how much time we get to spend playing it! ;o)   But after dinner and some play time, it'll be dessert - ice cream decorated with our choice of toppings - and then off to bed to bring in 2011 with well rested kids and mom & dad.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday season and I look forward to giving you more updates in 2011, but I will be catching up on 2010 first .  Two thousand eleven should be an eventful year with additional activities for the kids and Dad, an ever growing Mama in the house, and a new addition mid year.    Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true in 2011.

Please Meet our Family

In case you have been following our blog but have never met all of us at the same time in one post, please let me introduce you to everyone in our family. 

This is Ethan.  He is our Kindergartner.  He has brown hair, brown eyes and some super cute freckles (really he does and I just LOVE them to pieces).  Ethan is athletic, smart and can be very silly at times!  He loves school and is a good big brother (most of the time).  He enjoys playing any sport that you will play with him, yet he can sit down and color, do crafts, read books, and have quiet time just like any other kids.  He has lost a total of 5 teeth thus far, but likes to proclaim that he can still whistle even though he has lost his two front teeth. 

Meet Trevor.  He is in preschool this year.  He has light brown hair and bright blue eyes with eyelashes that NEVER end.  (however he forgot to put that on his picture above).  Next year he will attend full day 4K and is looking forward to it so very much!!  He likes to play sports as well; however, gets a bit frustrated when big brother takes the ball away or hits/throws a ball farther than him.  On the flip side, he is our toughie!  He will tackle like there's no tomorrow and has the determination of a fighter.  He is also our instigator.  Enough said on that.  And he is our sensitive one; he loves animals, loves little kids/babies, and shows so much compassion towards them. 

This is me.  I have brown eyes and brown hair (and due to the two above me a few grays poking through as well).  Due to this picture, the boys have named me Pigtail during game time and giggle every time they say it.  I am a mom of 2 (well 2 1/2 if you count the little one growing at the moment) and a wife to the man you'll meet next.  I used to be a career working women; however, now spend my time working with our kids, working in our home and keeping everything running smoothly (or as smoothly as possible).  I love sports and being outside in the nice weather.  I enjoy spending time with my family/friends, updating this here blog, reading, exercising (ugh... yes, I really do when I can do it in a non-interrupted atmosphere - aka without my boys), and volunteering at any events I can for the kids. 

Meet Rick.  My husband and father to Ethan and Trevor.  He has light brown hair (that used to be blond) and bright blue eyes (just like someone else in the house).  He is the man of the house and works very hard to allow us to have what we do.  In his free time he, too, loves sports and enjoys playing them in a competitive arena or out in the yard with the kids.  He loves being outdoors (in non-humid weather) and was at peace when we lived in the mountains of Utah.  He is a wonderful man.  Smart, loving, caring, funny, supportive and a softy at heart.  

So there you have it - our family in a nutshell.  I think we should use these pictures for our next family photo, don't you?!?

Family Christmas

After returning home on Wednesday, December 29th, the boys were tired from the long drive home but were so excited to have Santa come to our house.  Before heading to WI, we had left Santa a note letting him know we'd be back next week and that we would leave some cookies and milk out for him when we returned. 

After having some "get all the silly's out" time once we were out of the van, the boys were ready for pjs and ni-night time.  We put out the cookies, milk, and sugar for the reindeer and the boys were off to sleep.  Surly they would be up ready to go at 5am so it was an early night for Rick and I as well.  Thankfully, they slept til 7am and I told them they had to have breakfast FIRST before we could open any gifts that were under the tree.  This at least gave Rick and I some time to wake up and get ready for the day of fun. 

Upon looking at the plate we had left out for Santa, Ethan exclaimed, "There's reindeer hair in the bowl of sugar!"  What?  Reindeer Hair?  Didn't know they left that behind when they came to visit.  But sure enough, there was some little brown hair-like stuff so of course, it HAS to be Reindeer Hair!  (It just has to be because it just couldn't possibly be brown fuzz from the blanket that Kelty uses as a bed each and every day.)

Following our breakfast, we had held the kids off from the presents long enough and it was finally time to open.  It was a smaller Christmas this year from Santa, but he was very specific about what he wanted to bring the kids and knew that they would need nothing other than this one gift (well, he did bring one other little thing for the two of them), but the other couple of gifts that were there were from Mom and Dad.  At first, this may have upset the boys a little ... not many presents to open.  However, after opening a couple of them, they forgot all about the number of presents and were just excited to see the presents that they actually did get.  

Santa knew.  He just knew, that the kids were wanting a Wii for a very long time.  They have been asking for a very long time and since they didn't get it last year for Christmas, Santa figured that he would make sure to keep one on reserve for them this Christmas.  And that is exactly what he did.  Thankfully he brought that because otherwise I'm not sure how long I could have kept Ethan living here with us.  Not because I didn't want him, but every time we would go to someone's house that had a Wii, he would leave there and tell me for the next few days that he wanted to live with them.  Why, I would ask.  And his response would be, "Because they have a Wii, Mom!"  Now we get to enjoy him here and don' have to worry about losing him to another family. 

The other gifts they received this Christmas were the game Trouble, some new sweatshirts, a new book for each, pjs and new footballs (not to mention all the other gifts that they received from cousins, and Grandmas and Grandpas!) 

It was a wonderful lazy day, our Family Christmas day.  The Wii was set up, we had hot chocolate and just enjoyed the day of playing with our toys and picking up the mess they created.  Thank you boys for keeping the magic of Christmas alive!  It's so special and amazing to remember the magic of the holiday when we live it through your eyes!

Hit With a Brick

While we were in WI, there were more days than not that the boys (mainly Trevor) went without a nap.  That lent itself to some days where he was just plain tired!  One day it was apparently evident that this was the case.  We had gone out to a museum with Rick's parents in the morning and then met up with my parents and some other family friends for lunch.  After lunch we went back to my parent's house and the boys had a few minutes to play and have a Christmas cookie, of course.  There wasn't a day, or maybe hour, that the kids didn't have some sort of holiday treat at Grandma's house ;)  The boys were eating their treat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen when Trevor wanted help getting down from the bar stool.  My mom was standing there and said, "I'll help you down, but only if I can give you a great big hug first."  Trevor gladly accepted and went right into Grandma's arms. 

And that's where he stayed.  He put his head on hear shoulder and never moved a muscle after that.  It was not 2 minutes later and we both started to laugh in amazement.  His eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy.  He had fallen asleep in literally 1 short minute!!  My mom treasured this time and we both laughed at how quickly he was out.  It was as if someone had hit him over the head with a brick and knocked him out!  Needless to say, he took a very good nap on this day!

Christmas Travels and Happenings

Christmas 2010 was spent partially in Wisconsin with our wonderful family and friends.  We were blessed to have clear travel roads not only on the way there, but on the way back as well!  Last year we had yucky roads both ways, but this year we had spectacular roads. 

We were able to spend 5 full days at home and enjoyed every minute of it.  We spent time with family, friends and even some time just as a family.  It was an all around good trip and I hope that every Christmas can go as smoothly as this one did! (I know, I just jinxed us for the next, oh, probably 5 years).  But for now, we'll just enjoy the memories of this holiday....

So here is the run-down of our week in pictures....

Christmas Eve at Rick's parents....

Stocking Time for the grandkids

Opening Gifts...

 Christmas Day at my parent's house

Random pictures...

Sneaky Auntie Bev...

The kids waited all day long to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa...

And the adults had to wait all day long too - to see who had their name this year...

On Sunday night we were able to spend time with our friends the Gunnell's.  It's always fun to see the boys... all six of them... having fun together.  Not to mention that as the boys play, and the men talk, Melanie and I get a chance to chat.  And man do we miss being able to chat like we used to!  So, when we get together, it's a win-win situation for everyone!!



And on Tuesday we got to spend time with the Thoresen's.  We miss them dearly all the time and it's so weird to think that we started with just the 4 adults and have grown like this over the past few years...

We cherish our time with the Thoresen's... we just pick up right where we left off each and every visit!

So that was our visit, in a nutshell.  It was fun, and everyone was ready for naps when we got back to Missouri. I guess that's the sign of a good vacation!  We miss all of you and hope we get to see you again sometime very soon!!