Last christmas

Yes, we finally had our last christmas this past weekend with troy's dad's side (the young's).  It was a ways away, but we had a great time!  Christmas arrived again tuesday when the doorbell rang and a huge box arrived.  One of Brennan's christmas gifts was a bookrack, he is so into books, and he loves to take them out and put them away now (he loves putting anything away, even brings Troy his shoes to put away).  Who said Brennan wasn't going to be as much of a perfectionist as Kobe?  I am raising him, aren't I? 

The next day another gift, the empty box!  Pretty soon Kobe and Evie were "skiing" down our steps with the box (that was after they used all Kobe's tools to puncture countless holes in it, and break it down), and Brennan thought he was joining in by standing on the box!  Boxes are the best, and provide for the most creativity!

Winter blues = Oatmeal time

We have had the worst winter for being sick.  We've had the stomach flu twice (never even once in the past), and then we all got colds.  Ick, we can't wait to get outside and get some fresh air.   We are so tired of being stuck indoors, time to get creative.  A bowl of oatmeal to play in will always make some fun memories.  This time it was taken to a new level, when the 4 year old joined in, they started "skating" in it! - also check out the picture of Kobe when he was brennan's age, also making a mess with oatmeal!

Mall Playbound

Finally a mall here got one of those fun play areas where the kids can take there shoes off and run crazy!  They get to climb all over these statues that look hard, but are actually soft, a perfect winter activity.  We've played on them in Rochester (for doctor visits) and in St Cloud (for G&G visits), but now we have our own in burnsville mall!  Makes a trip to the mall a little more fair for the little ones instead of being just stuck in a stroller!

John Deere Boys

My boys are "all about John Deere" and Grandpa (grandpa with the tractors) is proud.  It is also the title to a series of movies for kids that I think my father enjoys as much as the boys do.  My dad is a crop farmer in WI, and dedicated to John Deere tractors; Kobe throws out or gives to Brennan any of his tractors that aren't green; and Brennan, well, Brennan will get excited over any tractor at this point "da da !!!  da da !!!" is what he shouts and points to the screen through the whole movie or if he sees anything near resembling a tractor while we're driving!  No question they are ALL BOY!

Bathtime

Okay, for those that have seen my father's high school graduation picture, check out brennan's hair, look familiar?   The boys have so much fun in the tub, did you know the bath letters were good not only for sticking to the tub, but your skin as well?!?   The other pic is Brennan's latest thing, putting his whole hand in his mouth, and drooling to the point his shirt is drenched - I'm not sure if he could be getting his 2 year molars, already?!?  Kobe is growing up so much, he's my sweet little boy, trying so hard to talk like an adult, he evaluates every situation, and let's you know what he thinks.  It's so fun to have adult conversations with him.

Brennan's Godmother visits

I may have to increase that number of christmas's from 7 to 8 as my best friend (of almost 30 years) and Brennan's godmother walks in the door with a clothes basket full of presents!  Auntie Deanna was here from Virginia, and came to visit for the evening with her parents (aka my 3rd set of parents).  And, Deanna and I finally found something we have in common (we are total opposites), neither of us like the crust on pie!  Wish we could see you more often Dee!

More Christmas's

The rest of christmas day we spent with troy's parents and troy's grandfather - this is a 4 generation picture.  Kobe had some fun outside in the snow!  Then the weekend after christmas we spent at my parent's (Heidi's), opening presents, playing games, and everyone staying overnight and going to church the next morning.  Also took a family picture at church, everyone except my hubby, who just had to slip out to the vikings game!  :)   Six christmas's down, one to go in january!

Christmas Morning 2008

Jesus is Born!  What a wonderful morning.  I actually was quite impressed that we didn't have any super early risers (we better enjoy it while we can).  Kobe put out a plate of homemade toffee (we figured santa gets enough cookies), and the next morning when we woke up daddy (I mean santa) had left just a few crumbs, he must have been in quite a hurry to get to all those houses in one night!  It was another fun day, as you can tell I had a problem picking just a few pics.  Of course we opened their "santa gift" and stockings BEFORE having mommy's homemade carmel rolls (yes, another tradition, mommy obviously loves traditions).  Oh, and that is a sled they are sitting in, a 12 ft?  Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but it was huge, all 4 of us could ride in it!

Christmas Eve 2008

We've started the tradition that Christmas Eve is family time.  It was wonderful, daddy worked in the morning while we got ready at home.  We went to a beautiful service at our church, Hosanna at 3pm, then came home and ordered chinese (another tradition).  After eating, we went outside to move around, then came inside and opened gifts.  It was a blast - Kobe expressed how excited he was about EVERYTHING, and Brennan LOVED opening gifts (he wasn't as concerned with what was inside).  We followed it with hopefully another tradition, hot chocolate with candycanes to stir it.  Yum!