Happy Birthday, Jesus!

We had such a nice Christmas with our little family. This was the first year since we had the boys that Mike has been off on Christmas. Usually, he's home in the morning and then it is just the boys and I home for the rest of the day and evening. It makes the realization that we have no family in Hollister even harder when I am home alone with the boys on holidays.

The boys and I loved having Daddy home all day and night. We opened presents and played all day. Mike and I had so much fun playing Santa this year. Now that the boys are older and get it (especially Josh) it was fun to really play it up.

Opening stockings


This was in Mike's stocking. (I couldn't resist) He always said he would never date a cheerleader. (all those shots he missed playing in his college basketball games was because he sneaking a peak at me on the sidelines)


Santa left Jason a scooter


Santa left Josh a dirt bike



DJ Josh and karaoke Jason


Jason loves playing in his Mac (from CARS) tent



We are so incredibly blessed!!! Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with Mike's side of the family. It was fun to watch the boys play with their cousins. We had a wonderful time!

...more to come on Christmas morning

My Little Shepherd

This morning the kids at church put on the cutest, little Christmas play. Joshua was a shepherd and did an awesome job. I was so proud of him! He looked so old up there with all of the other kids.




My handsome boys


The fam


Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

(pay no attention to my poker tablecloth... it is what we use for crafts)

Wrestle, Wrestle, Wrestle

Santa

This is the second year that we've taken the boys to see Santa at Daddy's work.

They were really excited. Josh was all ready to tell Santa that he wanted a red dirt bike for Christmas. He was a little hesitant when we got there, we figured as soon as he saw his friends go talk to Santa then he would be fine.

The pics tell all...




Since the Santa pics were oh so lovely, we tried taking some pics in front of the Snowmen. Josh was a little happier because he got a bag of goodies, but Jason still looks a little spooked.


What memories...

We're Still at It...

Josh and I are still enjoying doing preschool at home. We are already in our 4th month and I realized I haven't updated since Week 3 and Week 5.

He is definitely a smarty pants and amazes me with how fast he learns (when he stays focused). He is SUCH an active boy, so it is often of a challenge to keep his focus when introducing something new. He seems to always recall what I've taught him though.

This week we are focusing on the letter I and number 13. Of course with it being Christmas we have been doing lots of fun Christmas crafts and learning about the story of Jesus' birth.

Now that Josh knows all the letters in his name, we have been working on writing it. He does really well. His J is backwards and he makes a person out of his O every time, but I can still tell he is writing JOSH.

There is one item that has really helped with letter recognition, sounds and even writing. It's the VTech letter pad...
If would recommend this for any preschool aged kid. It would be a great Christmas gift!

Fancy Fun!

This weekend Mommy and Daddy got to have a little overnight getaway! This is only the second time we have ever left the boys. I think I am getting better though. I only checked my cell phone every hour this time, instead of every 10 minutes. =)

Every December, Mike's work has a formal dinner/dance charity event. This was our first year going and it will now be a yearly tradition. We had a ton of fun with some great friends!

The ballroom was just beautiful. We even won a corny game and got to take home our centerpiece. Right now it's sitting on my kitchen counter. I haven't quite decided where to put it. I love it, but I can't say that it is 2 little boy friendly.





Such a blast!

O Christmas Tree

This year we went with friends to a Christmas tree farm to get our tree. Now that we have this big, beautiful, amazing smelling tree, I have no clue how we had a fake one for the last five years.

Daddy and Josh trying to find the "needle" trees


Daddy and the boys (we may have had a couple of meltdowns)

Silly Monkeys

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving and are still enjoying having my Mom, Dad and sister here visiting. I'm totally bummed that my little brother couldn't come though.
This year Mike actually had Thanksgiving off. What a difference a holiday makes when Daddy can actually enjoy it with us. He even has Christmas and Christmas Eve off this year too! This is the first year he has had Christmas off since we had the boys. I am so happy!
Here are a few fun pics from our day. We all went and joined Mike's family at his parent's house and had a great time with some yummy grub!

Thankful...

for this...

Dear Santa,

Please bring me this red dirt bike for Christmas.
Love, Joshua (and Daddy)

The Culprit

Our boys have nasty colds. The stuffy, runny nose, horrible cough, congested cold. I am convinced that this is where they caught their colds from...


On Monday, we made a quick trip to Safeway to get a couple things. Outside of the store were two of these car shopping carts. Josh always asks me to ride in one whenever he sees them. I am such a mean Mommy and always say no. The germs on those things just scream swine flu.
Well, for some odd reason I gave in and let the boys ride in the car while I shopped. They absolutely loved it and I was able to acomplish and peaceful and quick shopping trip.

Here we are, a couple days later and I totally regret letting them ride in that dirty car. If you let your kids ride in those or even don't use shopping cart covers... please don't think I am judging or think you are a bad parent. I am just a little germaphobic with that kind of stuff.

You're probably thinking there were a million different place they could have caught their colds from. I know......... but as soon as I strapped them into that car I knew it was sickness just waiting to happen.

With all that said... we took our stuffed up, coughing kids to the Discovery Museum today where they were surrounded by a ton of other kids. Just what they need to get better, huh?! Oh, but they had a blast!!