One big Christmas post

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at my aunt's house to visit with our whole family. The boys enjoyed her Christmas decorations.

Julie M. gave the boys Incredible Hulk hands. They were a huge hit! (No pun intended.) Thankfully they each received a pair, so maybe they will be able to settle their differences by just duking it out.

On Christmas morning, we got the boys in bed with us before going to see what Santa Claus brought. To say they were excited would be an understatement. Oh to be a kid again!Toy Story 2!Well who is this?Santa is introducing Brooks to the action figures of an earlier generation!

And what is this??? No wonder Reese was so quiet while I was trying to cook. And to make matters worse. He did this twice on Christmas Day. Is 12 Hershey kisses in one morning bad for a 2 year old?

**Reese never got sick, thankfully. Brooks on the other hand has had the strangest sickness over the holidays. He has had stomach bug like symptoms (to be not so gross) on the 19th, 24th, and then today. The crazy thing is that he has been fine on the days in between these bouts. I guess we will be calling Dr. T tomorrow.

Have a wonderful rest of the holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Santa and his helicopter?

Santa Claus flew into the Elmore Community Hospital Saturday. Even though the boys were sick, I drove them up there to see him land.

There's Santa!

And because we have connections.... The big man himself came over to our car to see the boys. They were so excited! Brooks told him he wanted a sled. Well that was a new one on me!

Thanks for visiting us Santa!

Work Party

Thursday we had our surprise Christmas gift giving to our boss. Last year we had a "Feliz Navidad" theme. I think we out did last year by having a "Movies" theme. This is what greeted her as she came in:

Her office was also decorated to her surprise:
I think it was a great surprise:

For her gifts, each employee was to get her their favorite movie. The neat thing was that she didn't know who each movie was from. She was supposed to guess based on what the movie was.


I think she will have fun watching all of the movies! Can you guess which one I gave her?

If you are on "TOP" of things you will probably figure it out.

And here is a group shot including Michelle being crazy latched on to Julie's pregnant belly. Deirdre gave us the shirts for Christmas. I think we look cute!!! It is fun wearing them to our work Christmas party, with the whole company, and having everyone look at us. I think they are just jealous. HAHA!


Merry Christmas girls!!!

School Christmas Party

Brooks had his first-ever school Christmas Party on Wednesday. It was nice! They made ornaments, door hangers, sacks to take their "loot" home in (see below), played Christmas bingo, and snacked on cupcakes, cookies, chips, and dip. Needless to say, Brooks was enjoying himself. All of the children were having a fabulous time!

Brooks presenting the pillow that he made for me.

Brooks and friend. Isn't she the cutest!
***He told me Thursday that she told him they were going to get married. Then she said she loved him, and he told her that he loved her too! Oh the dramas of a Kindergarten romance!

Thank you Mrs. Kachelman!

The One

Since Reese first starting wiggling in my womb, I knew he would be different than Brooks. In fact, my maternal instinct told me he was a girl because it just felt so different. So much for maternal instinct.

He is my "extreme" child. He is either extremely lovable and cooperative, so much that you can't get enough snugly time with him, or he is extremely hard-headed and stubborn. There are many day to day situations where this plays out. Eating, napping, sharing, and potty training are just a few areas that we struggle with daily. Yet while we are going through the struggles, he has me wrapped around his finger.

Wow, how I will get off track of what I was writing about.

Reese doesn't like having his picture taken. You can take some good photos of him if you don't say things like, "Reese, say cheese," or "Look at mama," because if you do say that, this is what you will get:

These are just a few examples of the many pictures I have of him...just being him. They are not "bad" pictures, just not what you want when you say "Smile Reese."

Then it happened. No, it may not be the perfect picture.......but it is my perfect picture.

I'll take the bad pictures. It makes me appreciate the good pictures even more.

Playhouse Disney

Mommy, Is it time for it to start? Where is Mickey? Oh, I see him!
Hey Brooks, Is my bright camera flash bothing you? (No response.)
There he is! There he is!
Is it Elvis? No, no, it is MICKEY!!!

And who else could it be?

"Were going on a trip in our favorite rocketship,

Zooming through the sky, LITTLE EINSTEINS!"

And let's not forget HANDY MANNY, and his tools, Rusty, Dusty, Turner, Felipe, Stretch, Squeeze, and Pat.

I can hardly wait to see what is next!!!

And there is the gang from Mickey's Clubhouse. um.....minus Daisy

(and you know my children noticed!)

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!

What?! The show is over?! Here comes the meltdown!

We love you MICKEY!

Lump of Coal

Brooks got his car moved at school today from the green light to the yellow light because he was talking during nap. I was a little peeved with him and began discussing it with him. The abbreviated version of what happened was, "Well (insert child's name here) was talking...." I stopped him right there and explained to him that when you get in trouble for talking, it is no ones fault but your own. As Julie would say, "You made a bad choice." (I heard her use that earlier in the week and knew I would have to use it too.)
It went on...It doesn't matter what other kids are doing. No one made you open your mouth and let words or sounds come flying out. This then led into discussing that Santa would be coming soon. I asked him if Santa brought presents to naughty or nice children. He said he knew that Santa brought coal to naughty children.

B: "What is coal? I know what coal is for train engines but what is coal that Santa brings?"

Me: "It is the same thing."

B: "What is it used for?"

Me: "It is used to make fire."

B: "AWESOME!"

So apparently my child will be happy with a lump of coal for Christmas.

Happy Half-Birthday!

Brooks' birthday is in the summer. When school started I asked Mrs. K if it would be ok if I brought some treats for the children one day to "celebrate" Brooks' birthday. I didn't want him to miss out on the fun! So we decided to celebrate his half-birthday this past Friday.

This was Mrs. K explaining that it we were just celebrating his birthday. She then asked him which birthday song he wanted them to sing to him. Decisions, Decisions!

This was the look he had on his face while they were singing to him. I wonder what he was thinking.

All the children were involved in clapping along with the song.

Enjoying yummy Green Snowmen on sticks. (Long story as to why they were green.)


Brooks enjoyed the attention he got. He also enjoyed the birthday crown. (See previous post to see that it stayed on his head until later in the afternoon.)

Thank you Mrs. Kachelman for letting us celebrate being 5 1/2!