2 Down 2 to Go

We are half way done with our family Christmas's. They have been fun and it is kind of nice to have them spread out a little bit so the new toys have a chance to get played with before the next round comes:) Christmas Eve we went to church and then my mom, dad and brother came over for supper and we played some rousing games on the Wii Fit. Each of the boys got to open one present from Grandma and Grandpa and we TRIED to get a few pictures of the boys in front of the tree with their cute Christmas sweaters(notice the bribe I am handing to Ty in the first picture). On Christmas morning we opened gifts at our house with just our little family and had homemade cinnamon rolls and "Gabe coffee"(hot chocolate) Ty was pretty indifferent to the present opening at first and even tried to eat one of his presents but eventually he decided it was pretty fun to rip the paper and got more into the action. After we were all dressed and ready to go we headed over to my parents house and opened presents with them. Gabe enjoyed helping pass out the presents and would help anyone out with the opening if they needed it. Ty once again would squeal with delight when he was ripping the wrapping paper and then discovered swimming in the paper was pretty fun too. The rest of the day was spent eating lunch and then playing a few games while the Ty napped and Gabe was preoccupied with his new Geo-Trax and Pirate Ship. That evening we picked Em up from the airport. Saturday we had Carl's family Christmas at Andrea and Alan's house. The kids enjoyed opening more presents and we had a great lunch. The cousins also enjoyed playing on Clark's new gator. We were able to get in some more Wii Fit time as well. New Years Day we celebrate Christmas with the Mawdsley's and Saturday Christmas with the Angus'. We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas. See you again in 2009!

Baby it's Cold Outside

Brrr...is it cold enough for everyone? I have the feeling this is going to be a long winter(which I am really not looking forward to) This past week we were already feeling very cooped up in the house so Gabe and I went outside to play in the snow for a short while. Gabe was bummed it was not the sticky stuff so we could make a snowman but he did get in several snow angels while we were out. As well as tried out the snowflakes falling to make sure they tasted good(he disagreed with Lucy December snowflakes are not too early) It was just too cold to stay out very long and once his poor wrists starting hurting(from the snow getting in between his mittens and coat) it was time to head in. This week will be full of finishing up the baking, wrapping gifts, attending family Christmas's and most of all reflecting on the King who came as a baby to save us all. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown

Number of Days until Christmas-8

Number of times we have watched The Grinch-4000(okay I may be exaggerating)

Number of cinnamon rolls made-6 dozen

Number of ornaments broken-2 including this unfortunate casualty today
Watching your little boy dance to the Christmas Music(or any music really)--well see for yourself it is truly priceless

Deck The Halls

I finally caved today. Gabe has been eying this music box decoration at Target since way before Thanksgiving and today I finally caved and bought it. It is classic Pooh which is one of the reasons I didn't really want to buy it, I am not a big Disney Character fan but it is kind of cool. It looks like a Christmas present but when you push the button the lid comes up and the classic pooh characters circle around a snowman in the middle with Christmas Trees and Lights doing on inside as well. Each time the lid comes up it plays a different Christmas song. I have not heard it stop playing since we got home. Normally I am not a push over to buy things just because Gabe really likes it but I remember very vividly growing up two very special Christmas decorations I looked forward to seeing every year. At my Grandma's house there was this angel that rotated and played music when you wound it up, thinking back on it it is really an ugly angel but I loved it and would sit and watch it turn and play many times each Christmas season. At our house it was countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a mouse that you moved from pocket to pocket each day that passed. I remember trying to beat my brother to it each morning so I could move the mouse. Thinking about these things made me want to have something like that for our kids. Something that each year they are excited to see come out of the storage boxes. Do any of you have a memory of your favorite Christmas decoration I would love to read about them, leave me a comment.

Random Thoughts

We have been keeping busy around here. This past weekend we went up to the tree farm again to help out. It was soooo much colder this time it was hard to have the boys outside, much to Gabe's dismay. I baked a batch of sugar cookies this week since I am using a new recipe this year and wanted to try them out before making a big batch later with the boys. I think they were a hit.
Ty seemed to really enjoy them and after eating all of his tried to steal his brothers. We have also been enjoying listening to Christmas music. Gabe loves Rockin Around the Christmas Tree and often requests it. Ty just loves anything he can dance to. I think we have set a new record for the number of times watching the Grinch in one day. Gabe loves it and I can't complain too much since it is one of my favorites. I have been trying to get pictures of the boys in front of the Christmas tree every now and again but so far have been rather unsuccessful at any super cute shots. I will keep trying.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

We've been doing Christmas related things for awhile now but now it truly does feel like the Christmas season is here. The past few weeks we have been busy making wreaths for Clarks Christmas Conifers. We went several week nights and put our kids to bed at Andrea and Alan's while we cut boughs and made wreaths to take up to the shop. We headed to Algona on Tuesday with no more space left in our jeep, it is always amazing to me how much stuff you need for a family of 4. Anyway we arrived Tuesday evening and Wednesday we were busy getting the shop ready and getting tree's decorated(Ty just lounged around). Thursday we were able to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's family and then back out the the tree farm where we let the boys pick out our upstairs Christmas tree(on the top landing so you can see it from the big arched window) Gabe and Ty had fun running around in the trees and Gabe loved every tree so with some presuasion from mom and dad we finally settled on one to cut down. As you can see it was a group effort to haul it back to the shop. At the shop we always take pictures of everyone who buys a tree and put it up on our board and then add them to our scrap books each year. This is the first year we are included! Usually we just get our tree from the shop and forget to take our picture but this year since we cut one and got one from the shop we actually remembered to do it(Ty was none too happy to be pulled away from playing with something and Gabe is just a goober). Gabe loved being a helper and watched as they shook our tree and then Gabe pulled it through the netting. He got lots of practice doing this all weekend. My mom and dad took Ty home with them Thursday afternoon to stay through the weekend since 3 grandkids 3 and under and trying to keep up with cookies and cider in the shop is a big task for Grandma Nancy. Friday our busy open house weekend began and we were quite busy all 3 weekend days. We were hoping we had enough wreaths for the demand(a good problem) and will be making a few more to take up with us again this weekend. Gabe loved helping at the tree farm and even helped Grandpa Matt decorate their Christmas tree. He also loved "swimming" in their tub with lots of bubbles thanks to the whirlpool jets. When we got home Sunday evening we were happy to see Ty and very excited to sleep in our own beds. We got our Christmas tree up and the house all decorated the beginning of this week and are already making many Christmas memories, I'm sure I will never forget my littlest boy dancing his heart out to Rockin Around the Christmas Tree or my bigger boy's eyes when he saw Carl bring our Christmas tree in the house. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and if you are up in the Algona area this weekend and haven't already purchased your lovely REAL Christmas tree or wreath stop on out to Clarks Christmas Conifers:)