Christmas Morning

We have had a relatively quiet day today.  Unable to go back to Washington to visit and no other plans for the day, we spent the day lounging and relaxing.  

The morning started early and with much excitement that Santa had come, but Chris first wanted to read the Christmas story to the boys.  The picture is of him reading, the next is of the boys saying their "favorite" part of the story.  Pretty cute...we've been working on that for a couple weeks now.

Opening presents from family.

I'm not sure if this look for Noah is terror or excitement, but either way, he's been having a lot of fun with his new trucks and cars today.  This mat is a scene from the movie CARS.  It's Radiator Springs and it's a fun playmat for all their new matchbox cars to race around on.  They've also had a ton of fun playing with that today.

Well, I start my new job in about a week and Chris starts his new job in about a week, so we'll be enjoying the playtime, the snow and the fun of the new year starting.  Thanks to everyone for prayers of support and encouragement over the past few months.  Love to all.

Christmas Eve

Today was a fun and relaxing day. I had to work the early morning shift at Starbucks, but I was able to be home shortly after 11am. We did some shopping (Santa comes tonight you know) and then hung out at the gym playing basketball for a bit of time. I think that might have been the favorite part for the boys!!

Here's a shot of both boys slam dunking the ball, with a little help from dad, of course.



I can't remember why Micah was crying in this picture, but it was too cute not to post. I think he has chocolate all over his face from the hot chocolate I brought home from work for the two of them. And, all this time I thought Noah looked so much like Chris, but I think he might be starting to look a little more like me...



Micah's favorite way to play basketball...just lay down with the ball...he's kind of a bruiser. Perhaps rugby might be more his style.



Noah's got some rad moves here.


If only the weatherman would listen. I keep trying to tell him that we have enough snow and we are certainly going to have a white Christmas, but it just keeps coming. I'm not sure how much more we can pile at the end of our driveway. The car barely makes it through as it is...

This second picture is Micah enjoying his Starbucks treat of hot chocolate while we wait for Dad so we can head to the gym to play some basketball.

Merry Christmas everyone...I'm sure we'll post more in the next couple days....

Holiday Cheer Part 2

We put up the Christmas tree about a week ago.  This year I let the boys help us out.  It was really fun.  Only one ornament was broken and I think that was more age of ornament than anything else.  What was especially funny was that the boys kept putting the ornaments in the same place and often the same branch.  So, we've moved some around since, but it was a lot of fun.  Noah especially loved the star on top of the tree and could hardly wait to put it up.

And it wouldn't really be Noah if he was wearing pants.  

The teddy bear, fondly called Fred, has been a member of our family since I got my tonsils out when I was five.  My Grandma and Grandpa Withrow bought him for me while I was in the hospital.  I've had him all these years and just got him out one night for Micah when he was scared and having a hard time falling asleep.  Now, Micah can't go anywhere without Fred.  It's pretty special for me to watch him with Fred since he means so much to me.

Holiday Cheer

Chris is such a scrooge this time of year, but I have been having so much fun with the boys.  The other day while every one was sleeping I got out most of the Christmas decorations.  I put them all up, except the tree, and when Noah woke up, he came into the office and said, "Mom, I saw all the Christmas decorations up and they are beautiful."  So, I am hoping that I will have two boys who love this holiday and are willing to go crazy with me!!

A couple years ago I quilted stockings for all of us in the family.  I love getting them out now and the boys LOVE them.  Noah even remembered where we hang them.  We don't have a fireplace at our house, so we use some shelves, but that's a pretty good memory, I think, for a four year old...

Chris always hated the Nativity Set I had when we got married, so my mom gave me this one a few years ago.  One thing that I really love about this one is that on each of the main characters there is a scene from the story AND everyone is wearing a quilt.  Can't fit me much better than that!
I have been working on some sewing projects and one day the boys climbed under my table and got on the bookshelf and pretended they were sleeping on bunk beds.  Of course, I had to stop what I was doing to capture that moment.  They also were pretending they were the black and red SpiderMan...fitting who was wearing which underware.
We decided to do Advent Calendars with the boys this year.  I'm not sure if there is supposed to be some sort of story each day,but they just love the cool pop-up tree and good chocolates they get each day.  These are great calendars because we can reuse them for years to come because they are so sturdy and the openings are closeable (is that a word?)
Here is them on day one...Noah shows Micah each day which number to look for and helps him find it.  It's a pretty cute thing to watch him be such a good big brother like that.

Been awhile...

So, we decided about a couple weeks ago to foster care for a dog until a home was found for him.  He was a really nice dog, but he didn't work for our family.  He has found a new home.  He certainly is a beautiful dog!

We went to a church retreat a couple weeks and one afternoon we just spent walking the grounds with the boys and it was so much fun.  The video below shows what this picture tried to capture.,  my boys sure make me laugh.