Christmas Eve

One of our Christmas traditions is to open new pajamas on Christmas Eve so that we will look oh so sharp in those early morning pictures come Christmas morning. Steve does not like to wear any type of clothing until it has been washed first but for this tradition he does make an exception. I remember the first few years we did this I washed his pajamas before I wrapped them but now he does not get such royal treatment. ;)Lucas loved his Spiderman cartoon p.j.s and Landon just sort of wondered why I would ever bother wrapping such a boring gift. I know he will grow to love this tradition as much as the rest of us.Christmas Eve we also let the boys unwrap one gift that is from mom and dad that we choose. It seems to make up for having to unwrap boring p.j.s. Thankfully Lucas loved the Nightcrawler Marvel Hero that mom and dad ordered from e-Bay because we were not about to ship it back to China where it was mailed from. We did not know it was coming from China but that sure would explain the shipping charge. ;)

Landon loved his Hot Wheels Stealth Rides remote control vehicle and had to get a little lecture on sharing when he would not let mom have a turn. Christmas Eve night we went to our friends Angi, Bart, Mia and Deja's house where we got to roast marshmallows in their back yard and make smores. Then we headed over to Uncle Chris' house for dinner, snacks, drinks and good 'ol family fun. Lucas is always so excited to see Aunt Ang's boys - Zack and Tyler and Landon just kept wanting to go and look at their snake. We called it an early night because mom and dad still had some things to do before the big morning and we weren't sure what time the boys would wake up.YEAH!!! Santa came to our house and left lots of presents!

Santa also ate all the cookies we left him, drank the milk and then remembered to fill our stockings.

Halloween in December

Last year after Halloween I bought a bunch of costumes on clearance that the boys love dressing up in and saving the day. This particular night the boys could not change their costumes fast enough. And as promised...if you look really close you can see the gap in the bottom of his teeth. He has been so proud of the fact that he lost a tooth and will be sure to tell anyone who will listen. Ever since he started kindergarten it has seemed like a big topic of conversation about who has lost teeth. Which reminds me that the other night I had a NIGHTMARE that I lost like 4 teeth just while hanging out with my friends. Once the first one came out the rest of them wouldn't stop falling out. I wonder what this dream could mean. If I had a dream book I would for sure be looking up this one. Does it mean I am getting old?

My favorite costume of all times....... only because I made it. It is getting a little ratty looking but at least the boys are getting a lot of use out of it. Between costume changes...........................I couldn't resist.

Superman and Bumblebee

Later on this evening our friends Matt, Aimee and Dannee came over to visit. Dannee loves playing with the boys and we enjoy the much needed adult conversation.

Winter Wonderland

A couple of days before Christmas we woke up to such a beautiful sight. It was so calm and peaceful just knowing that I did not have anywhere to be that day and could just sit in the warm comfort of our home and play with the boys all day.Luckily for us the UPS man did not have the day off and was therefore able to deliver the boys gifts from Uncle Robert and Aunt Shelly. They were so excited that I decided to go ahead and let them open them right away.

They loved the cozy fleece sweaters and especially all the new books. I was excited to have some new Christmas books to read to them at night.I finished the day by making these yummy cornflake wreath cookies. Unfortunately after a couple of hours I decided to put them in a Tupperware container stacked on top of each other and a few hours later I had only one giant wreath cookie. :( whoops! Guess I should have left them on the wax paper and then put them in the container. You live and you learn - we still managed to finish off the whole thing but were unable to take them to our Christmas Eve gathering to share.

Christmas Vacation

Landon got his riding fire truck from Grandma Judy for his first Christmas and he still loves to ride it around the house. One of his favorite things about the fire truck is the storage compartment under the seat. It took us a couple of times searching high and low for certain things like little puppies that the boys had misplaced and we would find these things in the secret compartment. Now when something is misplaced that is the first place we look.

Lucas was not quit a year old when he got his little smiley face riding toy from his friend Gracie. I remember he was just starting to stand when he climbed on the seat and stood up - we just about had a heart attack. He has now taken to playing demolition derby with his brother - talk about some strong toys. Not the most flattering shot of me but oh well - we sure had fun this night dancing to Saturday Night Fever. Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive.

Lucas managed to mop the entire kitchen all on his own. When he asked if I would put water on the mop what was I supposed to say, "No"? Not to be outdone by his older brother Landon then decided to run the vacuum. Boy I dread the day when they no longer think these things are fun. ;)After all those chores the boys had worked up an appetite. Not only that but they thought they were cute wearing my shoes. I'm sure their future girlfriends will get a kick out of these photos.

Passing the Time

It is sad to say that my five year old works out more than I do these days. :) I can recall two times last week when Lucas donned his sweat band and started pumping iron. Meanwhile I was informed by my Dr. that I am still supposed to be taking it easy and there is to be no running at all until mid January. I know I should not complain because I do have friends who have been told they should never run again but I can't help but get frustrated. It doesn't help that it is the Holiday Season and we are baking goodies of some sort every other day. Come mid January I will definitely have my work cut out for me. ;)

Landon has taken to playing under his bed at times just as Lucas did when he was that age. I remember not being able to find Lucas one time when he had been in his room playing and when I eventually looked under his bed he was fast asleep.

While I was in the hospital back in October Landon basically potty trained himself, so last week when he wanted me to put a diaper on him in the middle of the day I told him no because he was a big boy. Lucas decided he would help his brother out and put the diaper on for him but soon realized it was harder than it looked. After a couple of minutes Lucas gave up and Landon forgot that he wanted to wear a diaper anyway. It was pretty cute seeing Lucas help out his brother.

Landon putting on a hat show for Lucas and I...................

Last Friday morning Lucas had a Christmas "Program" where the kindergartners sang All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth and wouldn't you know it but the next day he lost his first tooth. It had been loose for quit some time and Saturday morning when he woke up it was hanging by a thread. Well it just so happens that he was going to be spending the night with his Grandma Judy that night so I told him to leave the tooth alone so the tooth fairy would not have to go to grandmas house but he said it didn't matter because she could find him there too. He had not been at grandmas house for a half hour when his tooth came out at dinner. And yes he was right the tooth fairy did find him and left him $2.00. Pictures to come later..........

Decorating the Tree & Christmas Caroling

Lucas was so excited to get our tree last weekend and even though I was feeling under the weather there was no putting it off. We went Friday evening to get the tree and after eating dinner I began to hang the lights - which even though I tested each strand before I put it on there was one strand that stopped working once it was on the tree so Steve ran to Rite-Aid to grab more lights.

The boys and I love unwrapping the ornaments and reminiscing about Christmas' past. We have the Tasmanian Devil that I got years before the kids came along and when Lucas was 3 he was so afraid of that ornament that he would not go anywhere near the spot where he was hung. Now he loves to tell that story to anyone who comes through our front door. ;)

Last Wednesday we met my fellow MOPS moms and all of their kids at a home for the elderly where we had arranged to sing carols. I was a little nervous because Lucas is not really big on singing and does not even like for me to sing (a little more understandable ;)). I told him how some of the people there may not have grand kids or great grand kids and so they were so looking forward to having us come and sing for them. In the end he did sing along and Landon eventually warmed up to the crowd. It felt so good to see the smiles on the faces of the residents and it was an experience that I truly treasured.

Are These the Same Boys???

I love to see my two boys playing together and getting along but sometimes (like today) it seems like all they do is fight. It makes seeing cute pictures like these that much more rewarding.One of Lucas's homework assignments was to make a headband with paper feathers and Landon insisted on doing his 'homework' as well. Each night we sit down to do homework or read and Landon is right there with us. I love how he looks up to his brother.In the morning before school seems to be the time the boys play the best together. Every morning Lucas will ask if he can play with Landon after he gets dressed and ready for school. Once it is time to leave Lucas will tell Landon to leave the toys they happen to be playing with right where they are until he gets back from school - like they will pick up right where they left off. Unfortunately this is never the case. Their grandma Judy says it is like watching Steve and Uncle Chris all over again because they used to duke it out a lot as well. Santa must have been on break at this time but the boys were just content to sit on his chair. Both boys wrote letters to Santa this year telling him what they want for Christmas and neither one showed much interest in visiting Santa in person. Their letters were dropped off at Macy's and their requests have been made. At night after reading to the boys, sometimes Lucas will invite Landon to sleep in his bed but this particular night I guess Lucas decided to switch things up a little.If you look closely you will see our Elf on the Shelf - Dobey. He came to visit us last year and the boys enjoy getting up every morning and trying to find the spot Dobey has chose to sit for the day. He watches over the boys throughout the day and at night he flies back to Santa Clause to tell him how the boys have been, then when he returns to our house before sunrise he finds a new place to hide. Sometimes this little scare tactic works wonders on Lucas but Landon is still a bit too young to understand. He does however enjoy trying to find Dobey first.