Sunday, December 30, 2012

new year's eve tomorrow!  tree ornaments are all put away, the christmas tree is in the driveway and the exterior lights have been removed from the roof and boxed up.  we are ready for the new year!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

christmas day finally came and went.  it has been a month long build-up of excitement for the boys with the daily searches for clyde, our elf who visits with us all month and who finds a new place to land every morning after being at the north pole over night.  max and finn have the best time trying to find clyde every morning and see what he left them in the advent calendar!  max and i attended mass yesterday and then brent went at midnight.

the boys are now in bed (although not yet asleep) and brent and i are just hanging out.  they had a great christmas.  max woke up early...6:15am...and confirmed that santa had been to our house!  we made him wait for a while in bed with us to see if finn would wake up on his own but we had to wake him up.  the boys were overjoyed with all the presents from family and loved their santa gifts - new bikes!!  max's bike is a 20" specialized bike in blue and white colors and finn's is a glider, also from specialized in the color red.  they were so happy.  it rained again today so we didn't have a chance to really try the bikes out but for a few minutes.  maybe tomorrow.

thank you santa for visiting our house and for the great presents!  thank you to our family for all the gifts.  love to all and merry christmas!


stockings are ready!


cookies and milk for santa and an apple for rudolph!



...it was the night before christmas...


santa gifts!!






Wednesday, December 19, 2012

christmas is almost here.  prepared?  not yet, but i am getting there.  the boys are so excited about christmas.  today ms. nicki (teacher at central nursery school) told me that finn was singing "jingle bells" in the lunch room while all the kids were eating lunch.  so cute!  the other night while he and max were laying in bed at night, he would call out "happy holidays" periodically.  he is such a nut!  i am looking forward to seeing the boys' faces on christmas morning after santa has paid a visit!  i simply can't wait!  
i have a difficult time reading and watching the daily news.  there is too much sadness, too much violence.  i want to protect our family from it all.  brent and i are very lucky.  we have two amazing and beautiful boys, we have jobs and we live in a fantastic place.  we have everything we need that matters.  we are very, very blessed.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

These boys.  So smart and funny and handsome and so moody and stubborn and loud.  Such handfuls.  My boys that I love so much.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

our blue-eyed boy taking his bath.





movie night!  picnic on the living room floor with grilled cheese sandwiches, hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy canes...what a life!



Friday, November 23, 2012

we are enjoying our 4-day thanksgiving holiday weekend!  we needed some downtime, to say the least.  yesterday was spent cooking and consuming a fabulous dinner put together with the uffelman family.  the kids played, conversations flowed and we had the best time, a always.

we have so much to be thankful for.  here are some thoughts from the boys..

max is thankful for the whole world, his family, his house, the grass, vegetables and fruit..
brent is thankful for our family and friends and the 1980's..
finn is thankful for his mommy, daddy, his brother and his daily vitamins..

i agree with most of the above. i'm thankful for our family and friends, our health, our surroundings, our jobs and so much more.  we are very, very blessed.

happy thanksgiving!









Wednesday, November 21, 2012

the day before thanksgiving, the kindergarten class put on a thanksgiving program for all the parents.  the kids were dressed up as native americans or pilgrims in costumes made from brown paper bags.  we started off in the community room where the teachers asked the kids questions about the pilgrims, the mayflower and how thanksgiving came about.  each of them said out loud what they were thankful for.  max said that he was thankful for his little brother.  after that, they served a feast of fruit, cheese and crackers.  lastly the kindergarten class led a prayer in the church in front of the entire school.    

















Sunday, November 18, 2012

finn is a chatterbox nowadays and has expanded his vocabulary quite a bit lately.  some of the things he says;

"stay away" (nice..)
"me do it" (we hear this a lot)
"can i try"? (so cute!)
"can i play"? (adorable)
"sit down, mamma" 
"are you ready"?
"hi everyone"! (as he enters a room)
"come on guys"

our finn..

more green, mamma

most days, it isn't the easiest task to get finn and/or max to eat their vegetables.  the other day, we served broccoli with dinner.  max usually eats it but finn isn't a fan.  however, this very evening, finn said; "more green, mamma".  proud moment.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

October 31st...already!  What happened to the month of October anyway?  It just flew by.  Today is Halloween.  GiGi's birthday.  Emeline had her baby girl!  Her name is Rowan which is so cute.  Congratulations Eme!  We went trick-or-treating with the boys and they had such a fun time.  With it being a school night, we kept the candy collecting to just over an hour and had the kids bathed and in bed by 7:40pm - simply awesome.  Max wore his Batman costume for the second year in a row.  There really was no question about it from his perspective.  Finn had two (hand-me-down) options; to be a tiger or a monkey.  He talked all week about being a monkey but then last minute, he changed his mind and wore the tiger costume.  Except for the hood part.  He is scared of it.  Still, he looked adorable.  At first, Finn was hesitant as to the whole trick-or-treating part and told us "I don't want to go to door, I stay in car" but as soon as he understood that people would give him candy for coming to their door, he happily joined in and ran from house to house.  His Halloween basket became rather heavy after a while but when offered help to carry it, he answered; "no" or "mine".  Okay, okay.  Nobody is going to eat your candy.  Until tonight when you have fallen asleep and mom and dad taste a few pieces of course..  Pictures to follow.  Maybe tomorrow.  Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

photos from a recent visit to a pumpkin patch!