We Believe!

Santa has been a sensitive issue this year. For some reason Tate questions his “realness.” I guess kids talk. We have explained that either way it is fun to believe! And also tried to inspire some compassion for his still-believing brother! However, all doubts were erased after sitting on the jolly lap of the ol’ fella last Saturday! Now he not only wants to put out cookies for Santa but carrots for the reindeer too!

Christmas Blowout!

Every year I tell myself I am not going to let Christmas get too over-the-top and every year somehow it does! The kids had a ball and loved everyone of their gifts. Grandma and Papa were with us this year, which made the day extra special! Here are a few pics from Christmas morning.

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Santa and Mrs. Claus

We had our very first Santa experience! About a week ago we watched the movie Polar Express. It got Tate jazzed about Santa and his “Christmas List.” The very next morning I walk in to find his very own list (exhibit A). Then we decided to bring it to Santa with us (doesn’t he look SO authentic!). So Friday night we went down to our little downtown of Evergreen and it truly was a scene from a Hallmark movie. There was a band playing Christmas music, a horse-drawn carriage and a big da-to with Santa and Mrs. Claus. We stayed just for the pictures and left pretty quick, but I look forward to future years were we can enjoy the rest of the festivities (when little boys don’t get so cranky with staying up too late!). 

 

Pooh and Mickey

Uncle Blake and Aunt Melissa’s Christmas boxes for the boys came a little after Christmas, which worked out perfectly, as the boys were a little gifted-out by the end of their Christmas stash. The boys love their Disney World goodies, Chase got a Pooh backpack and hat and Tate got a Cars hat with Lightening McQueen and a Mickey Mouse wallet, which is now is safely storing his $20 bill – THANKS Aunt and Uncle A!

Christmas – come and gone

This year, the whole month of December seemed to fly by, as did Christmas day. The anticipation of it all was almost too much for Tate to bear any longer. He dutifully placed each new figure on the nativity scene each day and ripped off the rings on a chain he made at school to count down the days until Christmas.

The Little People nativity set got a LOT of action and the Christmas music filled the house most of the last week. My most cherished gift this year was a jewelry box that Tate made at school. He could hardly contain his excitement and told me about it about 4 times before I actually opened it.

One of the most played with toys from Christmas was Chase’s 7 level garage. As you can see, it is taller than him! I researched toy garages for weeks. Most are so small with only one little ramp. But this thing has a spiral that the cars keep going around and around. It has a crank elevator and a rope crane on the side. It has gotten a lot of action!

Here are the boys in front of the loot. Chase got lots of books, a cool puzzle, an Aquadoodle, a fridge farm Leap frog thing and a big pack of hot wheel cars for his new garage. Tate got playdoh, snowshoes, books, the singing Bible on CD for his zune, the new Thomas movie, 3 board games and 2 cars from the movie Cars. All n’ all, not too bad, it was a good mix of educational and fun.

Tate has already been out in his snowshoes twice, I need to get some pictures. He says he is going on a “wolf hunt,” looking for their tracks. We have had some coyotes howling a bit at night, hence the “wolf hunt.”

Tyler’s Pie Experiment

For years Tyler has requested I make pies, specifically using his Mom’s pie crust recipe. A few years back, I gave it the ol’ collage try, I even rendered lard. But the pie didn’t turn out so good. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the result was me being completely unmotivated to make another pie crust from scratch. I figure there are plenty of other yummy things that I can make that don’t take nearly that amount of effort!

So this year, Tyler decided it was high time he got his pie and if I wasn’t going to take it on, he would have to do it himself. He called his mommy, got the recipe and she departed her wisdom on the matter, along with some heavy warnings. Honestly, Tyler was a bit skeptical of his success, but still persevered. And guess what?! It worked! Tyler did a fabulous job, mixed everything just right, he even ground his own fresh pastry flour in my grain mill. I was quiet impressed. Actually, I am not sure why, pretty much anything Tyler puts his mind to works out, he can do anything! The last piece of pie was finished off today and Tyler says he will make another one tomorrow for Jesus’s birthday “cake”. Well, at least I am off the hook from making another dessert!

Tyler cut out a Christmas tree and there is a little star of Bethlehem is to the upper right (it is hard to see).

Christmas Eve Odds and Ends

Today is Christmas Eve. The day has been filled with a lazy morning, lots of playing, sledding and much anticipation for what tomorrow will bring. Sorry for the delay in posting the past week, here are some highlights.

We brought out the boy’s tent, they rolled around half naked for about an hour.

Tate’s concert was last Thursday, here he is dressed up in Daddy’s tie and his made-to-order crocheted Christmas scarf.

On a sunny afternoon before the last snowfall, the boys played out on the deck.

Tate’s creative bridge with some foam that came in a box for something.

Now Tate likes to pose for some reason! Whatever it is, I like it!

Chase’s homemade blankie hat!

Every night we light our angel candles at dinner and both Tate and Chase blow out one each.

Ringing in the Christmas season

We started decorating the house with Christmas lights and goodies today. Tate could barely contain himself! We only got about half way through. Tyler is pretty meticulous when it comes to lights, so it takes a while. Anyway, the boys found these big bells and entertained us for a spell.

Wonderful Christmas!

What a perfect day! First we finished our Advent calendar by putting baby Jesus in the manger. It was fun to see Tate get more and more excited with each passing day!

Stockings were first, which were filled by Santa. Santa didn't get a lot of attention this year, Tate just didn't really get into it. We are going to talk about the history of St. Nicolas when the time comes...there are some really terrific picture books out there...more on that next Christmas.

 

 

Santa brought Tate some Thomas socks and a train whistle - very cool!

 

 

Santa brought Chase a little snake hold toy that can be twisted and turned.

Then it was time to bust open the presents...look at the stash! Tyler and I decided that each one of us would only get 3 presents each, but as you can see, with the addition of family, it grew to quite a larger number.Next year we may need to knock our presents to each other down to 1 or 2!

Then it was time to play with the loot!

 

Of course, the box held more of an interest for Chase than most of the other toys (check out the turned out leg...he is on his way to crawling!).

Tyler's special surprise was his all-time favorite Christmas treat - ginger snap cookies (his mothers recipe from his childhood)! Tate and I mixed, pour and blended together and made him this surprise right after breakfast. 

Then we relaxed, played and around 3, mommy hit the kitchen again to prep some more food for our Christmas dinner with our friends - the Seevers and Liffengrens. The evening was fun, until Chase became pretty adamant about being put down for bed! :) It was totally cool, we like to be home by 7 anyway! Lovely Christmas....thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts!