Soaking it all in

It's hard to believe Christmas is just a few days away!  We are soaking in every last drop of this holiday season.  I have two very excited little boys who whole heartedly believe in the magic of Christmas and everything that goes along with it.  I know they grow up too quickly so I am enjoying every last drop of their innocence.

(Owen reads my blog every now and then so I am extra careful what I type).

Our Elf, Sam, has been surprising us every morning by showing up in a new spot and sometimes being silly and mischievous.  We will be sad to see him go back to the North Pole after Christmas, but look forward to his return the following year.  This morning as I was getting ready in the bathroom, I listened to Adam have a long conversation with our elf.  It was so precious.  Mike asked why I didn't grab my phone and record it, but by the time I would have found my phone he probably would have stopped and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it.  It's one of those moments that you want to bottle up and file away in your brain and never forget. 

Both boys rush downstairs in the morning to find Sam.  Then, they hurry down to the basement to their Advent calendars and open a drawer to see what special treat or gift Nana Way got for them.

Nana Way gave Owen and Adam each their own sleigh filled with their presents and a Christmas tree for their room.  Lucky boys for sure!

A few weeks ago we took the boys to Breakfast with Santa at the catholic church nearby.  Our police department does a lot of the kids in our community.  This is a tradition we have done since Owen was a baby and we look forward to it every year.   This year was extra special because Caleb was along.

 

Paige and the girls were home two weeks ago for a visit and we got to spend a little bit of time with them.  We took the kids to Michael's for their craft club.

Last week our sweet neighbors took our boys on a special Christmas adventure.  They all put on jammies, stopped by Sheetz for snacks, then drove up to Hershey's Sweet Lights.   Are they awesome, or what?!

Last weekend we baked 16 dozen Hershey Blossom cookies (my favorite!!!).  I had lots of helpers and quality control taste testers. 

 

Last Sunday Adam was in our church's Christmas Extravaganza.  He was an angel.   All of our family came out to watch him and it was so neat to see him do something different from his brother that he enjoyed.  I was soaking up very moment of seeing my little guy on stage.  And that proud smile- the one when he looked into the crowd and saw all his family there to watch just him... priceless.

 Adam and his friend, Lauren. 

 And I have to record this one in case I decide to write a book one day with all the funny things my student's do and say...

One of my adorable, sweet little 2nd grade girls was working on a brochure for social studies.  She had to list 5 fun facts about Europe on her brochure.  Luckily her mom proofread it (and took a picture for us so we could get a good laugh) before she brought it into school. 

"It has been estimated that one in 10 Europeans is conceived on an Ikea bed." 

Happy Friday.  TGIF. 

The MOST Wonderful Time of Year

Here's my little iPhone recap of what we've been up to lately...

Poor Owen had strep throat the week before Thanksgiving.  He moves and plays with some sort of ball ALL THE TIME.  He also rarely complains that he doesn't feel well so it's very easy to tell when he is sick.  He has a horrible gag reflex and fear of things in his mouth choking him so it was no fun pinning him down for his strep test and putting him through it.  Thankfully, after antibiotics, he is all better!

 

Mike stayed home from work one day with Owen when he was sick and let Adam stay home too.  He took this picture of Adam sleeping.  Adam doesn't nap every day, but on the days he does it is usually for a looooong time.  He's a great napper and I'm crossing my fingers he gets morning kindergarten next year so he can still sneak in a few naps during the week if he needs to. 

 

 We took the boys to the tree lighting in our little town and then they got to meet Santa!

Adam hadn't napped that day so he was too tired to wait in the long line to see Santa and we took him home.  I love this picture of the four boys.

 

Adam still loves to do crafts.  He will take any piece of junk and make it into some sort of craft.  Michaels has their Saturday morning craft clubs and on this day he was making a stocking.

 

Adam is in the Christmas play at church.  He is an angel and has a line he has to say with two other kids.  On this night he was practicing saying his line for Mike and  I.

 

We have some pretty great neighbors.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving we had a big flag football game.  All the dads played first and then it was the kids' turn to play.  It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

After the game we had a fire and roasted "Snores" (as Adam would say).

On Thanksgiving Eve we went to the Hershey Bears game with some friends.  Cocoa made a special visit to see the boys.

 

 The day before Thanksgiving it snowed a few inches and Owen didn't have school.  It was so pretty outside.  I love our house.  It may be really old and isn't very big, but it is so cozy to me especially when it snows outside.  Adam was going out to play.

 

All this view is missing is 5 little boys all bundled up playing in the snow.

And then there was Thanksgiving... my favorite holiday of the year.  

We had it at our house.  It was loud, crowded, and messy, but I loved it.  Owen was helping to peel the potatoes for the filling.

 Nana Way babysat the boys for a little bit the day after Thanksgiving.  She made Ninja Turtle cookies with them.  Aren't they cute?!

 We spent the rest of the break getting ready for Christmas.  I pulled out all our Christmas books from the attic.  Ever since the boys were little I have collected books for all different holidays and seasons.  At the start of each holiday I bring down the books from the attic and the boys (and I) LOVE reading them.  On the first day of December I gave the boys each a pair of matching Christmas jammies.  If they had them in adult sizes I would have gotten a pair for Mike and I too :)

 

 I let the boys decorate the tree and while they did a better job this year, they still put a ton of ornaments on the very bottom and some branches have way too many ornaments.  I started to fix it, but then stopped and realized it didn't really matter.  Adam ends up rearranging them anyway.

 I rarely ever sit (and I thought Owen got it from Mike??).  However, our basement is so warm and cozy with the tree and lights and fireplace that all I want to do is snuggle on the couch and watch Christmas movies.  I did a lot of this over our Thanksgiving break too...

 It felt really good. 

 The boys were really looking forward to their Advent calendars from Nana Way again this year.  This is another one of our favorite traditions.

Nana Way gave Owen and Adam their own tree for their bedroom. 

Happy December!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago.  Ashley Reif did a great job despite the boys not being all that cooperative.

Owen's smile is a bit forced and fake in many of the pictures.  I finally got him to smile for a few of the pictures (I had to use my "boy mom" potty humor).  Here's a peek...

Cute one of Caleb

 Yes, grandparents, I ordered a bunch of prints for you :)

Helllloooo November

It feels like October was gone in the blink of an eye.  Here are some pictures from Halloween and Trick-or-Treat (and some other random pictures)...

 Owen was an Eagles football player and Adam was Scooby Doo.  He really got into character.

 We had so much fun getting together with cousins and Trick-or-Treating with Bea.  She was such a trooper!

 The boys were up really early the morning after we changed the clocks back so they made us breakfast.  Mike's waffles were still frozen and I don't think I laughed that hard that early in the morning in a looooong time. 

 Cheech is such a great cat and the boys adore him. 

 Last Sunday all the boys watched Harry Potter in the spring house. 

 We were having some plumbing issues so the boys enjoyed a bubble bath at Papa and Finney's house. 

 Adam is my little shopping buddy (especially this time of year).  He loves looking at all the Christmas decorations.  He wants EVERYTHING so I let him take a picture of whatever he wants and that seems to satisfy him.  He asks every day how much longer until we can put up the Christmas tree.  He's already making decorations to hang on his tree. 

 I love Thanksgiving- in fact, it's my favorite holiday.  I also love Christmas and I don't really think it's ever too early to start decorating.  Mike, on the other hand, doesn't feel the same way and makes me wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our tree.  It doesn't stop Adam and I from s-l-o-w-l-y putting up other Christmas decorations.  A Christmas tissue box here, some holiday soap there, and it's never too early for Christmas cookies (Owen will agree with that!).