Happy (Semi) Retirement Papa!

On Wednesday before New Years, we ventured to Hacienda after work for a retirement party for Papa. I mean semi-retirement since he has agreed to stay on as a "part-time consultant". Way to tell 'em that you have put in your time and are ready to retire! Actually, this should help him ease into full-time retirement and keep Mimi's house from a complete overhaul before spring even hits.

Papa's son was also in town for the holidays, so we were able to visit a little with him. Connor was super-excited to see Aunt Julie because it had been less than 24 hours since he saw her last. He even opted to sit at the other end of the table with her instead of with us. Another fun evening of visiting with family! Isn't it funny how months can go by and then you cram all the visits and catch ups into the holiday season?!?

Christmas Part 3

As mentioned earlier, we had to postpone our Christmas celebrations with Chris's dad and family until after Christmas. We went to their house after work on Tuesday to celebrate Christmas and also Chris's birthday. Unfortunately, Gma Donna was sick that evening and we didn't get to visit with her (she was down for the evening - hopefully the boys weren't too loud). The boys loved that they received more Lego sets from Papa and Gma to add to their ever-expanding collection. They were also very excited about the movie pack - Up movie, popcorn, and hot chocolate - that we received from Aunt Julie and Uncle Marx.

Chris had received a birthday card that played the song "Rock-n-Roll All Night". The boys loved playing that over and over again while dancing and doing air guitar. Then, Papa decided to put on "Born to be Wild" which brought back memories for Chris and Julie. It was a fun evening...even though we had to call it an earlier night due to work the next day! The boys also really enjoyed visiting with Aunt Julie and receiving some one-on-one attention from her. Connor said he was really going to miss her...and then he got to see her the next evening!

Wii Training

The Saturday after Christmas, we decided to have our good friends, the Johnsons, over for a low-key evening of pizza and Wii playing. The boys are all super great friends from school and the adults love visiting as well. We received the Wii for Christmas and they were pros, so they were showing us the ropes. We all took turns playing some bowling and tennis before moving on to Mario Kart. Much of the evening was spent on this game with the boys usually on someone's lap assisting with the driving. (BTW, we have some very competitive boys) At one point, the moms were able to sneak into the kitchen to bake some cookies and visit while the dads were trying to see how much they could get unlocked on the game. Unfortunately, they learned later that they were playing under Brady's name.

Since then, Brady is our Mario Kart addict. He requests to play it almost every evening. Each night, we would add more tips for him on how to improve his game. He now uses his "weapons" as he picks them up and especially loves when he is playing against someone and uses the lighting. He also is very good about finishing the race, which the game lets you do when you are playing by yourself. He has figured out how to correct his driving and he is getting familiar with the different courses. We have actually been quite impressed. Connor likes to be the backseat driver - "to the left Brady, no right, use your tool". While Brady usually finishes a race last, he can hold his own now and he is ready to challenge Ben at a game!

Christmas Day Part 2

Every Christmas, we go to my parents (Gma Darla and Papa's) for Christmas with my siblings and their kids. We have about an hour of chaotic gift opening between 7 adults and 6 kids. The kids got a lot of great gifts and a couple outfits that they love. Connor loves the outfits because they are like pajamas, but count as clothes. (We have a big issue with him getting dressed on the weekends, because he likes the comfort of pajamas.) After gifts, we then graze on appetizers and baked goods throughout the afternoon while the kids play and the adults usually play some games and/or pool. It was a nice relaxing afternoon visiting with everyone. That evening, the boys had plenty to entertain them before we called it a day.

Christmas Day Part 1

Luckily, the boys are still willing to sleep in on Christmas Day and know that everything will still be there, so we we all got up about 8am that day. Connor was relieved that Santa came to our house as he wasn't sure if he was on the naughty or nice list (skirted the edges a few times, huh?) and didn't hear Santa during the night. Santa left his evidence of cookie crumbs, empty milk glass, and a note to the boys. He thanked them for the goodies and the reindeer food which he found waiting for him (we forgot to let them spread it outside the night before).

They went for the stockings first since they could see surprises peeking out. They then had a lot of fun opening presents which we managed to keep very controlled by handing them one item at a time to open individually or together. They received several combined gifts from Santa since he knows they like the same things. Their favorites from Santa were the Lego sets, puzzles, and the World of Zoo Wii game. Brady got a Leapster and Connor got a remote control RC Buggy Car from us. After breakfast, they had a little time to play before we headed to Gma Darla's and Papa's for Christmas celebrations.

Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas Eve, Mimi & Papa come to our house to celebrate Christmas with the boys. As always, there is a lot of food for just the 6 of us and the boys are spoiled rotten. The boys love the attention! This year, they were calling Mimi & Papa Ms. Claus and Santa Claus. It was so cute! Our family gift was a Wii, which has been a very popular item all weekend. The boys love to play Mario Kart, even though they are terrible drivers right now. Connor's favorite gift was Rocky the Robot and he loves dancing with him. Brady's favorite was the Cars-themed remote control cars for their Geotrax set. It was a nice evening and the boys were more than willing to climb into bed that evening (together for a slumber party, of course). They said that Santa would pass by their house if they weren't in bed sleeping when he arrived in the area.

Sicknesses, Sicknesses, Go Away....Don't come again another day

Over the last week or so, our family has had their share of sicknesses circulating around. I have to say that we have been very lucky this season so far, but it definitely put some dents in the holiday plans. Last weekend, Papa Terry and Aunt Julie both were inflicted with some sort of flu bug and our Christmas get together has been postponed until post-Christmas. The Weds. before Christmas, Connor was home sick all day with a fever. Good thing I was done with my Christmas shopping, but it did postpone some other activities I had planned that day.

Over the Christmas weekend, I had some major hip pains (pregnancy related) that have prevented a good night's sleep in several days. This in turn has potentially led to me catching the winter crud that Chris had all week since my defenses were down. On Saturday, Brady willingly went to his bed for an afternoon nap. That evening, he seemed to be fine and put on a good show for our visitors. On Sunday morning, while Chris was making breakfast, he disappeared back to bed and took a 2 hour nap. The rest of the day, we cuddled with Brady who had an off/on fever throughout the day.

At this point, hopefully this is behind us. The boys are back at school, daddy is back at work, and mommy has seen her beloved chiropractor for some adjustments. Hopefully the sinus crud will be short-lived as I return to work on Tuesday.

Christmas Fun

The boys are at such a great age for Christmas right now. The weeks leading up to Christmas, they are making holiday crafts at school, singing all the songs (I have been shocked at all the ones they know by heart), talking about how Santa "operates" and making their requests known. We have a few annual traditions that we participate in every year like Breakfast with Santa and Fantasy of Lights. This year we didn't bake a lot, but we did make a few cookies that the boys could use their cookie cutters to help with.

I tried several times to get the boys on video singing one of their favorite Christmas songs since we were hearing them in the car, at home, and even while they were going to sleep. They would usually stop what they were doing or start acting goofy about it. I did get this video, which was so cute even though they knew it wasn't true!

Fantasy of Lights

After the birthday celebrations, we took the kids to the park to see the Ritzy's Fantasy of Lights (an annual tradition). It was a little drizzly that night, but that wasn't going to stop us from enjoying the light displays. The boys got a big kick out of telling us what the displays were and asking lots of questions about them. When asked what their favorites were, they responded "ALL OF THEM".

Happy Birthday Tyler!

On Sunday, we celebrated Tyler's 2nd birthday (and Chris's birthday) with my family. We went to my sister's house for dinner (I think she made 12 frozen pizzas) and then we had the birthday celebration. When she announced dinner to the kids, the adults slowly followed and were greeted by all the kids sitting and eating quietly. It was a sight to see! Tyler was old enough this year to get into gift opening except for the overwhelming part of it. He received lots of presents and had lots of kids wanting to help him out. Let's not forget that during the celebrations, Shane provided the entertainment.

Family Christmas Party

Every year, my mom's side of the family gets together before Christmas for an annual Christmas party. The kids all open one gift brought by the parents and the adults participate in a Chinese gift exchange. As always, the gift exchange has an alcohol theme to it. We "won" a bottle of Tequila (for post-baby, of course) and a Showplace movie certificate (hopefully not post-baby).

It is always great to catch up with the family! We go so long between visits sometimes and I really want my kids to know their extended family (which is also why we will probably never move). This year was more exciting than last year since the youngest kiddos are all now walking. In addition, my sister has added 3 girls to her group with her marriage to Bobby last spring. This year there was 12 kids, first and second cousins, running around having a blast!

Merry Christmas to all my family!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

On Friday night, we celebrated Daddy's 35th birthday with his family. We had it at our house so the boys could run free...and boy did they ever! They were having fun showing Mimi, Papa, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Marx all their geography artwork. It was a nice celebration! Happy Birthday Daddy!