Christmas continues

On Sunday we went to Brandon's parents house to celebrate Christmas with them & Justin & Erin. Justin & Erin were at her parents house for Christmas so we waited for them to return to town so we could all celebrate together. Brandon's Mom made a great brunch with casseroles & quiche. The kids were spoiled, of course.

Connor & Hudson insisted on swimming, so Brandon decided to dip them into the pool to remind them that it was the end of December. It totally backfired and 2 minutes later their pants were off & next thing you know we had 2 naked boys in the pool. Our very own Polar Bear club!

boxing day

This morning Brandon & Connor went to church to take the nativity down & Hudson & I ran out for some errands. We all met up for breakfast. When Brandon got home he took the boys out for a while & I decided to take down the Christmas decorations. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I had it all down by the time they came back. While the boys slept I prepared a batch of beef jerky to bring to Brandon's parents the following day. I make really good beef jerky if I do say so myself!

Oh, I forgot to show off my new shelves that Brandon made for me. I have a small collection of Willow Tree figurines and I wanted to keep them safe from the boys. I found these cool shelves in a catalogue. The cost $120 and were too big. Brandon made them for me for $20, stained them the perfect color and made it the perfect size. I love them!

Merry Christmas

On Christmas eve we went to church for the family service. Church is at 5:30 so that rules out a family dinner. I fed the kids before we left & made a sausage bread for us to eat when we returned home.

I had great matching outfits all ready for the boys with dress shirts and corduroy pants. It was 75 degrees on Christmas, so they got to wear t-shirts with their matching sweaters instead.
Hudson & Anna
On Christmas Brandon & I woke up at 6:30, showered & waited eagerly for the boys to wake up. Lately Hudson has been getting up around 7am. He chose Christmas morning to sleep in. Finally around 7:30 he rolled out of bed.

Before Christmas

Hudson fell asleep in the car the other day and it was not even close to nap time. So, when we came into the house I put him down in front of the Christmas tree. Connor did everything he could to wake up Hudson. True to his "sleeping rock" nickname, Hudson did not budge.Looks like Hudson is waiting for Santa


On Sunday we got to light the advent candles at church. Connor got to speak in front of the whole church & he did great. He spoke loud & clear & did not shy away at all. Before church i snapped this pic of him. I love the raised eyebrows.


On Friday Brandon brought me home the most beautiful roses. By Sunday they were bigger than my hand.

Christmas Magic

On Saturday we spent sometime with a photographer at a local park. The pictures should be ready in about a month & I will share them then. Later that evening we got a call from Brett & Erin that a friend of theirs was stopping by to say hi to the kids & since we live around the corner, our kids might like to join them. Check out some pics of their friend with the boys:

He was so kind & gentle. He let the kids take their time & come to him when they were ready. It took a while, but when Connor mustered up the courage he walked up to Santa & said "I'm Connor, I'm 3". Santa put his hand under Connor's chin & said "Let me look into your eyes". They stared at each other for a second & then he whispered something to Connor. I guess that will be their secret. I looked over at Erin & her eyes were full of tears & so were mine. It was such a sweet moment. Then he told Santa that we wanted dinosaurs for Christmas. Hudson's moment was more funny than sweet. Santa walked in. Hudson ran up, yelled "trains please", and then ran away. Later I bribed him with a cookie to sit on Santa's lap. He & Santa had a laugh over Santa trying to steal his cookie.

This was one of the best memories I will ever have. Thanks Brett & Erin for letting us share in such a great tradition!

Ice, Ice, Baby

Today we all went over to the see ICE. It is a display made of over 2 million pounds of ice. There were 5 or 6 different rooms to walk through. There was a complete nativity scene. There was a train and even a room with 2 ice slides. Connor loved the slides. Hudson wasn't so sure. The man at the top of the slide actually put Hudson on his back & gave him a little push down the slide. It was pretty funny. We all had to wear these big blue parkas. It is only 9 degrees in there. Considering it was 75 out today, we were pretty cold. Poor Hudson just kept saying 'I cold". It was his first time ever really bundled up.

The first thing they told us was '"Do not lick the ice", the first thing Connor did was lick the ice. His tongue did not stick.

Jingle Bells

Today was Connor's Christmas program at school. The kids performed Jingle Bells & Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. They did a really great job. One little girl had a melt down & another refused to sing, but most did a very good job.

For most of the program Connor stood up and sang loud. Here he is, full of Christmas spirit, ringing the jingle bells.

Fire, fire

Connor has been asking for a fire pit for months. He wants to roast marshmallows. Guess my microwave made s'mores are not cutting it. So, the other day Brandon & I were at Home Depot picking up one of his Christmas gifts and there they were. FIRE PITS, on sale. Brandon spent 1/3 of his gift card money on the fire pit. (what a good Daddy)

Connor & Hudson thought it was cool and of course the LOVED the s'mores.

Then we headed inside for some circus tricks. I cropped Brandon out of this picture. Let's just say that the way his shorts & shirt fell kinda made him look like a runner from the 1970's. Think half shirt and tiny shorts. I love him too much to let that picture out in public.

Early gifts

On Tuesday my Mother & Brother came into town. Hudson & I picked them up at the airport and Hudson took to them right away. Even going so far as to give hugs at the airport. That night Connor said "Grandma can I have a tent?" Well it just so happened that her Christmas gift to them was a tent / tunnel /play house structure for the yard. So, she let them have it early. This way then can play with it all week long. Connor has made Uncle Dave spend two hours in it each day.

They received a bean bag toss game from Aunt Betty & Uncle Doug. They love it.

I haven't let them open their gifts from Brandon's brother yet. I figured we would wait until Christmas Eve. My brother says we are the only people who celebrate Christmas like Hanukkah.... 8 days of gifts!

Brandon made the boys a balance beam. Connor is getting really good at it & Hudson can do it as long as he goes sideways.

Hats are cool

My Mom & brother are heading into town tomorrow so this morning I had Tara come over so I could run some errands without the boys. The line at the post office was CRAZY! Then I remembered that there is a small post office a few minutes away so I figured it might be worth the drive. I was done in 10 minutes. I was able to make 5 more stops. It is so much easier to get things done alone. Tara stayed for an hour after I got home and I managed to make three meals & freeze them. Then I took the boys outside to play. Did I mention that it is cold here. It was 39 degrees when I woke up. 39! If it is 39 out, it should snow. There should be some kind of rule. It did give us a great reason to wear cute hats. I got so many cute pics of the boys. They were very cooperative with the camera today. It may have been the m&m's in my hand, but how can you really tell?

Pancakes & Poop

On Saturday morning Brandon, Connor, Brett & Ryan all went over to church to help put together the nativity set. Our church does live nativity and it is pretty cool to see. Erin & I took the little ones out to breakfast. We had plans to go to this great place that specializes in breakfast. When we go there the line was out the door. Since we had 2, 21 month olds we figured we better head someplace else. As we drove away Hudson started crying "pancakes, pancakes". So, we had to go somewhere with pancakes! We were on our way to Perkins when we passed Friendlies. Erin & I were not excited about this, but I was pretty sure they had pancakes. Turns out Friendlies has a pretty good breakfast and the kids behaved very well. As we were finishing breakfast Hudson kept pulling on his chair & saying 'poop, poop". So I asked him if he wanted to go to the potty & he said yes. I took him & he went. Did I mention that I haven't started potty training yet? Brandon's parents have often told the story that at 26 months Brandon walked into their room wearing his brother's underwear & told them he was done with diapers. They never had to potty train him. If Hudson potty trains himself I will not only faint, but I'll buy the kid a car. (a matchbox one of course!)

My 1st blind date

On Friday night I went on my first blind date. Well, not exactly. Brandon & I set up two friends. We go to church with Sean and have always thought he is a great guy. And Rachel is the nurse practitioner at our pediatrician s office. They both went to college in Tennessee. They both work with kids, they both teach Sunday School. On paper it is a perfect match. We went to a great place for dinner & then we went ice skating. This worked out well as we could leave them alone to talk while we skated. I think they made a good match, but I have been minding my own business & haven't asked either what they thought of the other. Brandon is making me stay out of it!

My famous weekly summary

I've been so busy with preparing for the season I have neglected to even write down reminders for the blog, so here are the past weeks highlights that I remember.

Our church has asked me to serve as an Elder. I served as a deacon for 3 years and really enjoyed it. However I was pregnant for 18 months of that 3 years so I didn't get to fully be involved. I am really looking forward to the experience. When we first joined our church I thought that the elders had to be old & wise. Apparently neither of those are true.

Connor begged me the other day not to go to the gym. So, I talked about it with Brandon & we purchased an elliptical machine. Connor calls it a lippical machine. It is just too cute to correct. Speaking of correcting him. We are still working on learning all of the states and the other day we got to Louisiana. He called it "the wheezy hammer" for 2 days before I corrected him.

Tara babysat last Friday and she was amazing with the boys. They acted out Connor's favorite book with toy dinosaurs, she got them both to eat their lunch, read them books, took them outside for play and more. Did I mention I was only gone for 3 hours? We are so blessed to have Tara in our lives.

Saturday Justin & Erin took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese so I could go to a meeting at church. What would we do without family?

Sunday was Connor's last soccer game (yeah). I am so proud of the little guy for sticking it out the whole season & always trying his best. He was so excited to receive his medal.

This morning I was changing Hudson diaper & I asked him to count. He counted from 1-15 and only forgot the # 4. I was surprised. He must really be paying attention to Connor.

You better watch out...

Until I became a parent I don't think I realized how cool the "Santa is watching, you better be good" thing is. I propose that we begin telling children that Baby New Year, Cupid, the St. Patrick's Leprechaun, The Easter Bunny, Memorial Day & Labor Day soldiers, Uncle Sam (4Th of July), The Great Pumpkin & The Thanksgiving Turkey all bring gifts to "good" boys and girls. They don't need to bring a lot of gifts, but I am thinking that it would be worth the extra money. And for my Jewish friends.... "you better be good, Hanukkah Harry is watching!"

Didn't make the cut

On Saturday Brandon took Connor to Home Depot to make the monthly project. This time it was a serving tray. It is pretty cool. I will post a pic after Connor paints it. They we went to the park with Brett, Erin & the kids to take our Christmas card pictures. Brandon, Brett & Ryan all looked the same in 90% of the pictures. They've got this picture taking thing down. Then there were the wild cards. Connor, Hudson & Olivia. Let's just say it took a bit of extra effort to get a picture where they were smiling & looking at the camera. Now, i could show you the 5 picture where we are all looking the same way, eyes open & smiling, but really, where is the fun in that? So, for your viewing enjoyment here are the some that did not make the cut:

I think she was aiming for her nose

We took 100 pictures. In 78 of them Connor is making this face

Taking pictures apparently makes Hudson sad

Notice, Connor has on one shoe, sticks his foot in his brother's face & still Brandon does not break the smile

I am still holding out hope that when I receive Erin's Christmas card, this will be the picture

After the photo shoot we headed home for early naps & then out to a Christmas party. Hudson consumed his weight in cookies & Connor managed to take down half of their decorations. We had a great time.

Sunday was off to soccer. It didn't go well, but next Sunday is the last game and that is good. Sunday afternoon Justin came over to help us move the big TV out of the playroom. Then Brandon sawed the entertainment center in half and threw it out. It was so sad to see it go. Brandon built it for me 3 years ago, but since it was built for that TV we really didn't have any use for it.

Connor

Connor is learning how to "write" his name in school. He is getting better at tracing and I think he is doing pretty good for a 3 year old.