Apparently you can hurt steel

So, Christmas morning Connor had a fever. The next morning we went straight to the pediatricians as soon as they opened. We got right in as usual. Amazing what a really nice yearly Christmas gift for the office staff will do to your wait time at the Dr.'s office. I got both boys checked out. Connor had bronchitis with the beginning signs of pneumonia. Hudson was just starting a double ear infection. GREAT!!! We got started right away on some antibiotics & nebulizer treatments. It really sucked since the weather here was beautiful all weekend and Brandon had Saturday off. But you all know Brandon can not sit in the house for more than an hour. So, we packed the boys with some of their new toys and went to do our Christmas returns. They stayed in the car and dropped me off at each store and drove around the parking lot while I did the return. Everyone else must have gone on Friday. The stores were empty. We did take them into the mall but we made them stay in a stroller. Connor looks too big for the stroller, but I didn't think we needed to infect the whole mall. Just the toy store. KB Toys was having a going out of business sale so we let them use some of their Christmas money there. Here is what they bought:

Light sabers, army men, binoculars, compasses & guns. Lots of GUNS. They all make noise too. We have been having all out war here for days now.

So, on Monday I had the boys at Costco with me. I was on my way to pick up some lunch when Freddy called to say we had someone who wanted to see the house. Of course we did. I had 2 sick kids for 4 days, SURE the house was ready to show...NOT! I drove as fast as I could, picked up lunch and dropped off some tools at the shop for Brandon. I didn't see him there so I called him to tell him where I left his stuff. He answered the phone and sounded weird. I asked him where he was and he said urgent care but he couldn't really get out any other words. Of course my first thought is he is having a heart attack and why the hell didn't some one call me and why is he answering his phone? I just kept saying "are you OK?". Finally he handed the phone to a nurse who informed me that he sliced open his hand. I asked is he was OK, if he was going to lose and fingers and if Pops was there. She said he was OK, he was not going to lose any fingers and yes, Pops was there. She said Brandon was in too much pain to talk. So I called Pops right away and made sure they didn't need me to go down there. After all I didn't think the boys needed to see their Dad in that condition. He ended up with 17 stitches on his right hand. Don't worry, I didn't take any pictures! He is in pain, but doing well. He is not really able to work and I know that is very frustrating for him. He can't get his hand wet so showering is a chore. But it really could have been so much worse.

Christmas

Christmas morning Connor walked downstairs at 6am. He walked right past all of the gifts and into our bedroom and said "hey Dad, do you think Santa came yet?". Brandon said, why don't you go check. He walked out into the family room and we heard a gasp and then he said "get up, Santa came!!". He got into our bed and we could feel the heat coming off of him right away. Poor little guy had 103 degree fever. Oh No! We got him some ibuprofen and made him stay in bed with us for a while. i knew he wasn't feeling good when it took him an hour to ask about the gifts again. Then at 7am he rolled over and said "Can I go wake up Hudson now?" We told him yes and listened through the baby monitor. It was so cute to hear Connor tell Hudson that Santa had come.

BEFORE

AFTERThe table is ready for a delicious dinnerI made beef wellington and a cauliflower puree. Justin made mushroom, parmesan risotto. The food was awesome. I usually try to be humble about my cooking, but this meal was AWESOME!!! I was so proud of myself. Everyone seemed to love it. I mean, really, who doesn't love beef wellington?

Brandon's family reloaded our tree with giftsThe boys had to put on their star wars t-shirts as soon as they opened them. They have asked me to wash them every day!

We had a great Christmas. We were able to teach the boys what the holiday is really all about this year and it really stuck. So much so that they stopped to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus BEFORE they opened their gifts. I was so proud of them.

Christmas eve

On Christmas eve we got ready and put the boys in their traditional matching sweaters. I know one day they are going to refuse to dress alike so I am going to keep this going as long as I possibly can. They even let me put gel in their hair. They hate gel. We went to church for the very loud but fun family service. Then it was over to the Wesley's home to enjoy dinner with our friends. The boys had a blast with Anna.

Hudson had fun chasing her pet chicken around. No they do NOT live on a farm and YES that is inside their home! Too hard to explain.

We had such a great time and enjoyed some really good food together. Then it was home to get ready for Santa!

Christmas cookies

On Tuesday the boys and i made Christmas cookies. Then I made frosting. That's the first time I've ever made frosting and now that I have I can never eat it again. I had no idea it was just sugar with a splash of milk. No wonder it tastes so good.

We caught Hudson eating a few of the cookies

I let the kids put on all the decorations themselves. I'm sure Santa loved them!

Cherubs

The Sunday before Christmas the boys sang in the Cherub Choir at church. They brought down the house. They're were 8 kids, including our boys and Olivia. I have never heard such a loud applause.

I only have pictures from the practice, but here is the video from the actual performance. Hudson is right next to (and sometimes behind) the microphone. Connor is the tall one.

The good ones

Here are some good pictures from the Christmas card shoot.

School Christmas show

Last week Connor had his Christmas show at school. The kids did a great job and looked adorable. They sang Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town and Jingle Bells. I could easily hear Connor over everyone else. Shocking, I know!After the show they had a book exchange and Connor got a really cool book with a CD to read along to. We listened to it 3 times when we got home!

ice

On Tuesday the kids went to ICE with Tara, John, Kathy & Bruce. They had a blast. Boy were they tired when they got home. They were gone for 6 hours!

Ice slide! Ice SantaThe boys with Bruce & KathyThe boys having fun with JohnThey also took them to lunch at the worlds largest McDonald's!After their fun filled day they all went to the grocery store and bought ingredients to make reindeer food. What fun!

Grapefruit

We got some grapefruits from a friend at church. They are Chinese grapefruits and are the biggest things you have ever seen. The boys kept saying "They're bigger than our heads!"

This could never happen at the mall!!

Last night we got to take part in a great tradition. We got to have a visit with Santa. But, we didn't have to wait in a long line. We didn't have to pay $20 for a picture and each kid got their own special time with the big guy! We went over to BERO's house and us, Freddy, Katina, Owen & Ella all planned dinner together. We didn't tell the kids why we were there. Shortly after we arrived Santa knocked on the door. He came in and took time with each kid. When he called Connor up he had Connor's letter in his pocket that had been "mailed" last week. He did the same for Hudson. He took time to go over each item on the list. He talked to them and gave them each a candy cane. I took 198 pictures!!

Connor spots SantaHudson & Olivia get a look

Hudson's special moment

I want this and this...

Connor's turn

Everybody say SANTA!

Poor Ella was terrified! She hid most of the time.

This was the closest she got.

Thanks again BERO for letting us be a part of it!

poor Brandon

Let me preface this post by saying that Brandon is a very good sport about taking pictures. His Mom did a great job of teaching him that if you just do what the woman of the house wants things will go much quicker. It was actually his idea to take pictures the second time. That being said, while I was editing I couldn't help but notice that there was a recurring theme of Brandon looking miserable. The pictures came out great the second time around. So, it was totally worth it! I'll post some good ones soon.

Take 2!

Last year I got a bunch of e-mails from people who loved the "bad" Christmas card pictures. We went on Sunday to try to take our pics. Notice I said "try". We went with BERO and took over 200 pictures. Then after I showed them to Brandon he didn't like any of them. So, last night we had Pops run by after work and do it all over again. We took another 120 pictures. We finally got 2 we could use. Here for your viewing enjoyment are a few that will not be used...

I think Hudson is coughing, not sure what Connor is doing. Notice Brandon and I are total professionals and do not break pose.Whoever is ruining the picture, please raise your hand...BERO's were actually all pretty good this year. No crying. Olivia kept making this face every time we asked her to smile pretty. It was really the sun that ruined their pics. So, I will be meeting them back in the park to do it all over again!