Christmas Eve

Joel had to work so we played most of the day and then after nap we got ready for Christmas eve service. I knew it would be busy so I made a point to get there early. I got the boys dressed up in their Christmas best (as best as it gets atleast), and we were off to church.

When we got there it was like a fair! There were pictures with a snowman and snoopy, real snow, and a petting zoo with Nativity animals.
There were also yummy cookies.

After being side tracked with all of this, we finally got inside to find there was nowhere to sit. So, we opted for plan B - more playing! Nothing says Jesus' birthday like a bounce house!!!

After Church play we were off to my parents for dinner and Grandpa's "Twas the night before Christmas" reading. I also wanted to start a new tradition with our kids that they would get to open one present Christmas Eve, and they would get Christmas PJ's.

Opening their presents.

Kaden, wasn't thrilled at first, but then he called them his "magic jammers"

Then Grandpa read him "Twas the Night Before Christmas," just like he used to read to my sister and I when we were little. Gavin wasn't interested in the story this year, but hopefully we will have many more years to come of the tradition.

Then off we went home for the boys to go to bed. Little did I know it would take kaden till 10pm to fall asleep. It must have been that darn book about Santa!

ZOO LIGHTS

We were supposed to go monday with some friends but we got rained out, so we went yesterday instead. All in all it went well, especially considering my Husband HATES crowds, and he didn't kill anybody or run anyone over with the wagon!

It was pretty cold (for us anyway, 50 degrees - brrrr) and I thought Gavin would be in awe of the lights because he is so into lights right now, but he was super antsy and kept getting out of the wagon, so I had to hold him most of the time. Oh well, extra workout for me. After eating all of that kettle corn, I needed it :)

On the way in:

Kade looking at lights on the way in

Dad and Gav checking things out
waiting for the carousel

cheese!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Finally!

Well I finally got a new camera, and I love it. I have had it for about 5 days and have already loaded up almost 150 pics on it! Can you tell I have been missing my camera?

Anyhow, thought I would display some of the things that Crazy is up to, and also showcase some super cute pics of Chunkers!

Enjoy!

One of the best things is I used my camera to take this video, and it is much easier to upload than my video camera!

That kid is crazy!

Then Gavin wanted to try:)

I am in sooooo much trouble!



That is better:)Riding his bike...

Look close folks, no training wheels!

3. YEARS. OLD.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Christmas trees and cookies

We got our Christmas tree on Wednesday, and I love it. It always finally feels like Christmas once we get our tree.

Do you like the bright blue ornament? Kade made a snowflake in preschool and told me it had to be in front.

An attempt at capturing it at night.

Today I had my first annual (with hopefully many more to come) Christmas Cookie Exchange.

Here are Jodi, Tawnya, and Kristin partaking in the goodies :)

Kristin and nephew Kit

Me , Robyn , Tawnya, and Jodi. We didn't start taking pics till the end(of course) so Cathy is not pictured, but she made some really yummy cookies too.

Then I had some stuff for the kiddos to do. They made their own Christmas trees out of ice cream cones and frosting.

Drake's tree....I think he ate all the ornaments!

Kade's finished tree, after eating A LOT of candy/ornaments! :)

For those of you who couldn't make it, I hope you can come next year, we had lots of fun! And if you want to be included next year, let me know. The more the merrier (and the fatter we will all be with all those cookies!)

Gettin' crafty

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this time of year? It is so fun now that Kade is a little older and we can start sharing some of the traditions I grew up with around Christmas time. One of my favorites is making Gingerbread houses. We do it the old school way, with graham crackers and lots of frosting.

Kade had so much fun, and of course ate lots of candy, but he was able to get a few pieces onto the house. I may have taken a few pieces of candy for myself, thus setting the bad example.

look at all that candy!

Kade's house

My house

Kade decided he needed to add more right before bedtime!

so thankful

So I realize that Turkey Day was a week ago, but I was so excited to decorate for Christmas and sing Christmas Carols that I haven't posted about Thanksgiving!

I don't have any pics from the day (all on others cameras :( ) but I can show you how I started off my day:

My good friend Kristin and I got up and dragged our butts down to Red Mountain park and ran the Turkey Trot! The race is a 10 k and a perfect way to start out a day of feasting!

Joel had to work, so the kids and I joined my parents over at my sisters. We had a nice time with family, though neglected to get any substantial pics of the event. I am so very thankful to have such a loving close knit family. I love Thanksgiving...just the feeling of togetherness and love makes me so greatful for all that God has blessed me with. It is so easy to get caught up in the swing of things and it is nice to stop and just look around at all that we have.

ZOO

So, I am a little behind. I will get to Thanksgiving, but I am still waiting for more pics so in the meantime, let's catch up.

It has been such beautiful weather that I decided it was time to go back to the zoo!

We went with my good friend Kristin and her two kids. The kids had lots of fun, and it was so fun to see Gavin interested and pointing at all the animals. We hadn't been for almost a year so last time he was there he was only three months old!

I am looking forward to more frequent trips to come!!

Fa la la la la la

Is it bad that I am already listening Christmas music, and LOVING it???
I love this time of year!

This kid kills me atleast once a day......

Joel (talking to me): I think I am going to go get some i-c-e c-r-e-a-m.
Me: ok
Kade: I want some i-c-r-a-m too mom!

This is how we roll....

So we have taken the plunge. Road rage just won't be taken as seriously when Joel is throwing his hands up at some "idiot" in the mini. But, it will be comical to watch!

Goodbye cool, fun Expedition, Goodbye gas guzzler, Goodbye car payment :)

Hello economical! What has this world come to?.......

Halloween part 2, and the mother of the year award!

Halloween night was lots of fun. We took the wagon out around 6pm and we were the first ones out there it seems. The boys did so well in the wagon, and of course, being rewarded with candy didn't hurt! There were a few scary houses that Kaden was apprehensive about, but he wasn't going to miss out getting that candy! Gavin got the hang of it pretty quickly too. After the first half hour, everytime we would go to a new house he would sign"more" and start crawling out of the wagon. What a candy fiend :) look at those handsome boys :)

Gavin was into the candy right away!

And now, for the much awaited mother of the year award!

Yesterday kaden came running up to me screaming and saying "my mouth, my mouth, mommy that soda was yucky!" I proceeded to ask him what he was talking about, telling him to show me.

And this is what he drank:

An airwick oil air freshener!!! Why he would even think to drink it is beyond me. I smelled his mouth and he reeked of harvest spice! Then I looked over at Gavin and he had pink residue all around his mouth and also smelled quite nice. I freaked out, made him drink a bunch of water and then called poison control. I felt like such a loser telling them what happened. Luckily, they said it was just an essential oil and the only thing it might do is upset their stomach. Whew!!

It's Halloween time!!

So this is our first real Halloween with our kids. You see, Kade was born in October, so he was only two weeks old for his first halloween. Then last year, Joel was gone filming Survivor and I was trying to figure out how single moms do it, totally frazzled with a toddler and a newborn. Needless to say, they did not dress up or go trick or treating last year!

But this year was going to be different... I started getting my fall decorations out as soon as we got toward the end of September. I planned lots of fall and Halloween crafts and cookie decorating, and after everything we have done this month Kade is going to think that Halloween is a month long holiday!

Last Saturday we went to the Halloween festival @ freestone park. we dressed the boys up, and Joel decided to dress up too. I told him he might be the only adult dressed up, he said he didn't care. So this is what we came up with, a Dinosaur, a pumpkin, and a, well, a crazy husband whose inner dork came out :)

you may not be able to see it, but those are water shoes he's got on, and a donkey on his hat. Stylish!

The boys had lots of fun. Kade went on almost every bounce house they had , and Gavin just loved that he could walk everywhere!
this is Kade being a "scary dinosaur"

Gavin was content just playing with cars :)

The next day, my in-laws took us and the kids to the "pumpkin patch" Robyn blogged about. They had a really goodtime, and got to spend time with their cousins too.

Kaden loved playing in the hay

Gavin just wanted to check everything out

mean goat, innocent little sheep. I love this pic

Gavin pointed to all of the little pumkins and said "ball." Then he proceeded to try to throw them one by one. That's my boy :)

Then, on Wenesday, Kaden had a Halloween party for his last day of preschool.

they filled gloves with popcorn

they ate cookies
They discussed important business
Gavin played with dad
We said goodbye to Mrs. Miller. Kaden really liked her but he will doing a different class next time. :(

All this and I still have Halloween night to post.......