Christmas {2011}

Christmas was so, so, so fun... and I think the boys liked it too :) Weston jumped out of bed, only curious to see if Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. He was so excited to read the note Santa left him and we had to pry him away to look at what gifts Santa had left. 

The boys seemed to genuinely love everything Santa left. Weston's favorite thing were the chocolate Santa's in his stocking. Go figure. We'd ask him if he wanted to try one of his new toys and he'd say, "No, still eating chocolate." 

Holden's wagon was a big hit and we took ride after ride around the kitchen {while Weston ate his chocolate Santas, of course}

We ate our traditional baked french toast and fresh berries for breakfast and then headed to church. Church was really great and it's such a treat when Christmas falls on a Sunday. Not so sure I felt like that when I was a kid.... but I appreciate it now. After church we opened presents and it was so fun to see them love to play with each toy. Opening gifts lasted forever because Weston was so engaged with the toy he had just opened. Holden's favorite.... the boxes and any scrap of garbage laying around. 

Weston's completely obsessed with his garbage truck and backhoe loader. He slept with his garbage truck the first night which made for a bit of a tight squeeze. The thing is ginormous and he is in love. 

The aftermath. 

We had such a fun day... the boys seriously loved every second. We ate dinner with our good friends the Zalewski's that night and loved spending time with them. We missed our families like crazy and thought about them the entire day!!! We hope everyone had the best day! 

Christmas Eve {2011}

We were going to head into the city on Christmas Eve but the kids weren't feeling that great... I needed to know where bathrooms were at all moments so the city was out. Next best place.... Bass Pro Shop :) That place is actually awesome and we had so much fun looking around, visiting Santa, doing the Santa activities, shooting guns, etc. etc. 

 

Our fondue Christmas Eve tradition got scratched with too many upset stomachs so I made Ina's Tomato Soup on cinnamon rolls. Soup is a fav around our house so it was a hit. Then we did all the fun Christmas Eve things: puppet nativity, opened a few gifts,  watched the Grinch, read Christmas stories, and set out cookies for Santa.  It was so fun seeing how excited Weston was. 

Our elf, Dido, brought our Christmas jammies December first so they could wear them all month. Tonight they opened their ornaments. A truck for Weston and a baby in a stocking for Holden.

I think the part about Christmas that fascinated Weston the most was that Santa was going to eat the cookies he left out on the plate. He seriously couldn't stop talking about it. His nightly conversation throughout the month went something like this. "Santa down chimney, eat cookie, apple for rudolph, presents in stocking, go Brayden's house, go Evan's house, fly away."

Cameron and I loved our Santa duties.... except for when I decided to finish up the tee-pee Santa was giving the boys and was sewing and spray painting till 2 am. Sigh. We watched Christmas movies and Cameron dozed in and out of conscience on the couch.

I made a bunch of ornaments this year which was really fun. Our tree evolved over the month and I loved how it turned out. I have a lot more to add so I'm seriously working on things through 2012 so by December 1st our tree will start full! 

Sequin ornaments here

and the garland here.

Can't wait till Christmas morning! 

Magic.

Downloading all the Christmas photos seems too daunting... so I'm going to keep putting it off because it seems easier that way. We had the best Christmas Eve {except for when Weston threw up because we forced penicillin down his throat} and Christmas day. Details later... but here's a few of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after.  

Christmas Card {2011}

I Have No Idea Why He's Crying?

A Week To Remember

I'm tired, oh so tired. This week has done me in. Shopping, wrapping, neighbor gifts, Weston on a 2 week preschool break {what??}, 24 hour flu for me, 24 hour flu for Holden, ear infections for both boys, no sleep for anyone, me losing my mind, and Holden learning how to crawl {yay!} He's loving life moving all around and getting into everything. He found the gingerbread house the other day and got to snack on a rock hard gingerbread dog. Nothing like old gingerbread to celebrate freedom!!! {Post edit: the world is a mean place. Minutes after I posted this Weston puked up green smoothie, penicillin,  and popcorn all over my couch. There are no words.}

{click on the picture to see the video}

Neighbor Gifts {2011}

My source for my neighbor gifts was pinterest, of course. I love monkey bread and I figured everyone else would love their own mini monkey bread too. The only problem was that Rhodes rolls can not be found around here. I know because I wasted a tank of gas trying to find them. Rest assured I found them at Winco, in Tracey,  in case you want to make them too. Winco is bomb by the way. Chocolate covered cinnamon bears and frozen rhodes rolls all in one trip = a trip worthwhile.  

Christmas Crafting And Baking

Weston and I  had so much fun crafting and baking this Christmas. I put a mini tree in Weston's room and we worked on little ornaments throughout the month. His favorite part was hanging them up and rearranging the ornaments in a different spot each night. The tree toppled a few times but thats why he had his own tree.... he could rearrange till his heart desired. He got a baby Jesus from nursery and he put it under his tree. One night he gave Jesus a kiss in his manger and it seriously was the sweetest thing. Anyhow, I wished I pulled out the camera more but I was usually covered in supplies. 

Weston loved decorating his gingerbread house and pretty sure most of the candies ended up in his mouth instead of on the house.  

Total concentration on the gumdrop tree...

I'm glad December only comes once a year because my kids' got a sweet tooth.