Christmas Festivities

As is our tradition, we spent Christmas Eve at Grampa and Gramma's house.  Gramma gave me this little beauty (Andrea and Amy inspired), that I've been wanting for a super long time. Thank you very much, Gramma!  I love it!  (Isn't it so cute!)

I took 4 million pictures of 5 children opening all their presents in probably less than 20 minutes, but somehow I didn't manage to get 1 picture with all 5 children in it, so to spare my readers 4 million pictures, (and myself from having to sort through them all) you'll just have to use your imagination.  Think of 5 children, opening many presents, in 20 minutes.

After we got home, we set out Santa's milk and cookies, carrots for his reindeer, and of course, Caden left him a candy cane.  Cole had a lot of questions for Santa, and you can see by the picture below that Santa was happy to take time out of his busy night to answer each one of them!

The boys woke up EARLY the next morning to see that Christmas was officially here!

Santa gave Caden his candy cane!  (A big giant one and three regularly sized ones, to be exact)

Chase got his very specific Transformer!

And Cole got his Star War Legos!



Please note the super cute "I Believe" Santa t-shirt I'm wearing.  It's so adorably festive! 

The boys were quite happy to see me in Santa-wear this morning.

A few little hightlights from our morning include:

-The grandparents came over for tasty breakfast and present opening.  It was so relaxing to have everyone  come here Christmas morning.  We got to be leisurely, stay in our jammies, and play with our new toys without having to rush off anywhere.  I love that.

-All three of my boys did an excellent job of being thankful; they have fully redeemed themselves from our Christmas kick-off fiasco. This is the best Christmas gift I could've received.

-The little snowman ornaments pictured below were just stocking stuffers, but turned out to be Caden's favorite gift of all. Of all the toys and goodies, he liked the $2.00 trinket the best. (And the candy canes, of course!)

And this is what our night looks like.  The boys are having a slumber party in Caden's bed.  (And I am STILL in my pajamas!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL; AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Oh (sugary) Christmas Tree

At preschool Chase made a really cute, edible Christmas tree out of an upside down ice cream cone, green frosting, and candy.  I thought that would be a really fun and tasty treat for the boys and I to make during Christmas break.  (Goodness knows we haven't had enough sugar lately with all the birthday and Christmas parties, but hey, 'tis the season, right?)  So earlier this week the whole family sat down to do this fun project together.

We ate a lot of candy during the creative process, and therefore didn't have the appetites to actually eat our trees.  (Not to mention that a few of them didn't actually look all that appetizing!)  Here are the finished products.  As of the writing of this post, I have eaten so many sweet treats this week that I actually feel a little sick just thinking about it.  Oh sugary Christmas tree, how I love and hate you all at once.

Happy Birthday Serenade

At Cole's request, I have updated his blog with the Red Robin happy birthday serenade he received at dinner last weekend.  I love his adorable smile when they start singing to him.  I love how quickly the smile fades so he can dig into his ice cream.  I love how our server points out that he wasn't wasting any time.  And mostly, I just love him.

HERE is the video!

Happy 7th Birthday, Coco Puff

We celebrated Cole's actual 7th birthday earlier this week with a few special treats:

Birthday breakfast

Birthday present



Birthday cupcake

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET, CHARMING, FUNNY, SMART, AND COOL KID!

We love you so much, Coco Puff!  I am so glad that you are mine; you make my life better than I ever thought possible. 
Have I mentioned that I love you?  Because I DO!

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Just Keepin' It Real

This is one of those "I'm just keepin' it real" posts. (I actually wrote this awhile ago, but debated about posting it and thusly having it on permanent record, but I know this is one of those stories that I'll want to remember in the future, so here it is.)  We started this Christmas tradition (that I hold very near and dear to my heart) before Cole was two, and have done it every year since.  On the day that we get our Christmas tree, we give each of the boys a gift of new Christmas pjs, a Christmas ornament, and a Christmas book.  They hang their ornaments on the tree, wear their new pjs to bed, and we read their new books to them before they fall asleep.  Then that night while they're dreaming of sugar plums dancing in their heads (and how wonderful their mother is), Chad and I decorate the house so that upon waking up, they find that Christmas came during their sleep.  How wonderful and magical is that!  It's how I like to kick off the beginning of the holiday season.   (And it's also a bonus for Chad and I in that we can decorate much faster without the help of tiny, not so helpful hands.)   You can probably imagine how excited and warm and fuzzy this tradition makes me feel - sooooo excited and warm and fuzzy - I just love it!   You can also probably imagine how sad I was this year when my boys opened their gifts and then immediately started complaining that they didn't get toys.  My Christmas spirit (and my spirit in general) was crushed!  There was a lot of trauma-drama that ensued (mostly caused by me, trying to feverishly and passionately impress upon them the importance of being grateful), and lets just say that gratitude has become a new object lesson in our house.  (In fairness to Caden, he was delighted by everything, so my disgruntled rant pertains strictly to Cole and Chase.)

Here are this year's Christmas ornaments.  Aren't they adorable!  What little boy wouldn't want to get an ornament like this, disguised in a package that appears to be a more appealing gift - such as a toy - and then immediately be instructed to place said ornament on the tree and never touch it again!  Come on!  That sounds great!

Here are my little Christmas angels in their jammies, reading their books.  They look super happy, but they weren't.  Apparently pajamas and books, much like ornaments they can't play with, are not that appealing to boys.  I don't get it.  I love pajamas and books...why wouldn't anyone else?

Even though I wasn't overcome with a deep sense of love at the time of this incident, I do love this picture of their adorable faces.  How could I stay mad at these little pumpkins?

Lessons I've learned for next year:
- do not wrap ornaments, books, and pjs in packaging that looks like it might contain a toy.  Next year (if I recover from their lack of thankfulness by then to resume this tradition), ornaments, pjs, and books will be placed on their pillows, without wrapping or packaging of any kind.
- do not expect my boys to be excited by the things that excite me.  They are boys.  I am a girl.  This is a distinction that I must and will come to terms with.  Any minute now.
- do continue to teach them to be appreciative for all their blessings in life.  Our mantra for next year - have an attitude of gratitude!

Here's hoping the lessons that I've learned, and the lessons that I'm trying to teach them will result in an entirely different blog post about our Christmas kick-off next year.

One last thing, as of the official posting of this story, my Christmas spirit has returned in full force, and I am no longer tempted to inform them that Santa isn't real, and that I am the one that buys them their gifts.

Slumber(less) Party

This year for Cole's 7th birthday, he requested a slumber party with his best pals.  I told him that he could have a real shindig of a party somewhere (like the bowling alley or something along those lines) and then have some friends come home with him to spend the night, but he really just wanted a slumber party.  I thought that was a splendid idea. 

Since there wasn't an official party for the grandparents to attend, we invited them out to lunch before the slumber party festivities began.  (Although Cole was positive that Grampa would want to be at his slumber party. Grampa was having a slumber party of his own that night with friends from out of town, otherwise I'm sure he would've!) So we headed to The Rock to celebrate the delightful Cole Robert!

Shorty after lunch, the guest boys came over for the main event.  Grampa and Gramma were kind enough to watch the little boys, so Chad and I were able to take the four big boys to dinner and the movie sans our little gremlins cherubs.

Yogi Bear

Red Robin!

After dinner we came home to play with our new toys...

And watch movies and go to bed! (Notice I said they went to "bed", not to "sleep".  There wasn't a lot of sleeping amongst the children until very late.  But that's what slumber parties are all about!  Emphasis on the partying - not the slumbering!)

The next morning the boys were up bright and early for a tasty breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes.

There are two things that stand out to me about our slumber party:

 #1.  I think I was as excited as Cole was about this extravaganza!  I felt like a real mom taking a group of boys to the movies and dinner, and then hosting a sleep over.  It was thrilling!   I loved it!
#2.  About taking a group of boys to the movies and dinner, I was a little nervous.  I wanted everyone to have a super fun time, and also I wanted to keep everyone safe and sound.  (I'm always a little anxious when caring for someone else's children.)  Let me just say this, these four boys were absolutely fantastically well-behaved and delightful the entire time!  I was so proud of them at the movies and dinner; I guess it's clear that 6 to 7 year olds really have their stuff together.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Coco Puff!



Cupcakes For Cole

I volunteer in Cole's classroom on Wednesdays, and since his birthday is coming, I thought it would be fun to surprise him this week with cupcakes.  I had already been working in the classroom for quite some time, so he really had no idea what was in store for him, when his teacher asked the students if anyone had a birthday coming up over winter break.  Cole, of course, unsuspectingly raised his hand and proclaimed his day of birth for everyone to hear (so cute), so the teacher suggested that we celebrate.  I told Cole to follow me outside his classroom where he discovered the beautiful cupcakes awaiting him! 

He was surprised, but he kept his cool.  He was excited, and yet serious about handing out the cupcakes and Capri Suns to all his friends.  Then we sang happy birthday to him!

As I type this, Cole is in his room singing (loudly and repeatedly with a bit of an R&B flair) "Today is the day You have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.  Today is the day!  Oh oh oh, oh oh oh!"  It's really the perfect thing to listen to while I write about his birthday surprise.  I love this kid!  LOVE HIM!

It's Not Perfect, But It Tells A Story

Last Saturday we took the boys in the pouring down rain to see Santa.  (Let me just say that it wasn't raining when we left the house, otherwise I would've prepared for it - physically and mentally.)  Normally we try to see Santa on a weeknight early in the holiday season so it's not super busy and we don't have a long wait in line, but December is moving so fast that I started getting nervous that we hadn't visited Santa yet.  Sooooooo...we headed out on a busy Saturday to meet the big guy.  Did I mention it was pouring down rain?  We waited outside (it was raining) for 45 minutes.  Fortunately, we were at the Kent Station so the guys went for hot chocolates while I held our place in line, but the coffee shop was also very crowded (everyone had the same idea), so my super cute Santa-ready boys had to drink their hot chocolates, let me reiterate this, in the pouring down rain. All of this to say that the pouring down rain made my boys soaking wet and cold, and this Santa picture really isn't my favorite.  I'm really sad about it.  All that effort for a less than satisfactory photo makes me so growly.  I took one look at this picture and thought RE-DO!  But then I came to my senses.  Another trip to Santa for the perfect picture is just too much to ask (especially of Chad), and I know that in years to come I will love this less than perfect picture for the story that it tells.

Look at their crazy hair, pink noses, and wet sweaters!  That is just sad.

Cole told me right before it was our turn to enter Santa's Workshop that he was going to ask him for a turtle.  I had to inform him that Santa is in the toy business, he doesn't give the gift of live animals.

It was so funny when Santa asked Caden what he wanted for Christmas and Caden replied with his standard, "A candy cane."  Santa was very confused by this, and kept pressing Caden for a different answer.  Finally I just had to tell Santa that he really does just want a candy cane.  Santa eventually surrendered, but he still seemed confused by the notion.

Chase got a little stage fright and took a few minutes to warm up.  He timidly (and after a lot of coaxing by yours' truly) asked Santa for a robot.  A few days later he realized that he didn't specify what kind of robot, and got really worried that Santa wouldn't know he wanted a Transformer.  So we found a picture of one to cut out and tape to a letter to Santa letting him know exactly what kind of robot he meant to ask for.  That letter is currently on its' way to the North Pole!  Chase feels much better about this.

In looking back over my 7 years of Santa pictures that I now have, it is fun to see the progression of my cute little boys and the story that each picture tells...even if some of them are less than perfect.

Family Photos At The Tree Farm

A few Saturdays ago, I had my beautiful and talented photographer friend, Rebecca, come with us to the tree farm to take pictures while we hunted for our tree.  (Summer is 21 months pregnant, and I thought it would be nice not to ask her to traipse around with us in the mud and cold whilst incubating a baby.)  Rebecca did the most amazing job capturing our moments!  Here are some of my favorites from the day:

Thank you, Rebecca, for coming out to the muddy and cold tree farm, and then giving us the most beautiful pictures.  I love them!  And you!  You are amazing!!  So amazing!!  Have I mentioned that I think you're amazing?!

Practicing For Santa

TAKE 1

TAKE 2

TAKE 3

Caden's Celebrate Life Quilt

We are so lucky to have Nancy for our Gramma for so many reasons, and one very unique and special reason being that she creates the most beautiful quilts for her grandchildren.  This year for his 3rd birthday, she gave Caden a quilt she entitled "Celebrate Life", which is so perfect for him since he is the happiest little person on the face of the planet.  He is always so full of joy and life (well, always might be a tad strong, he does have his moments of being a crabby apple too, but 95% of the time he is nothing short of jubilant.)  And a perfect example of his joyous attitude was his response to the quilt when she gave it to him.  He was oohing and aahing, and hugging it and kissing it and snuggling it...FOR A LONG TIME!  On the way home from her house, he covered himself with it in his carseat and kept saying in an awe-filled voice, "It's so bootiful.  It's so bootiful."

Thank you to our Gramma for another amazing work of art!

We celebrate having YOU in our lives!

Christmas Is Upon Me

The excitement of the holiday season has totally overcome me!  Thusly, in the spirit of my Christmas mania cheer, I have revamped my web log's appearance, but I don't have current seasonal pictures to use yet so I'm using some cute ones from last year.  This Saturday we are heading out to get our tree, so I should have some new material then.  But I just couldn't wait that long to make my blog merry and bright.

Along the lines of recycling old pictures for today's purposes, here is a cute little picture of my boys on this day last year.  Look at those hair farmers!  Gramma, I know you love this!

PS...in a demonstration of the complete OPPOSITE of the holiday spirit, Google just charged me $5.00 to upload that picture as apparently I have reached my maximum free storage usage.  Wow...ba hum bug to you Mr. Scroogle.

November P365

Dearest Readers, HERE are my P365 pictures for November.  And guess what?  My Project Life kit came today!  I'm so excited about starting a new project for 2011!  I have yet to decide exactly what the format will be, but the binder and the accessories are so ridiculously cute that I can't hardly wait to get started.  I've already done some assembling...when I say I can't wait...I really mean it!

I can't believe P365 is coming to a close in one month.   I haven't decided if I'm going to do a separate blog for Project Life next year.  Decisions, decisions!  Until then, there's only one more month of P365 pictures left for you and I.  (I know the grandparents will be most affected by this.)  Thanks for taking a look at the daily lives of four Boyd boys and the lone Boyd girl.

13.1 Miles!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY AMAZING HUSBAND

for completing his first half marathon today!  I am so proud of your incredible achievement, Chaddy!

You are a wonderful example to your boys of how to set a goal, work at it, and accomplish it. 

We are so proud of you!  Cole's quote about it was, "Yeah!  It's pretty awesome!"  I  couldn't agree more!

And congratulations to Grampa and Heather for each finishing their 2nd half marathon!

We are proud of you, too!

Happy Birthday To Me!

My birthday came a little bit early this year!  I've been thinking (and thinking and thinking) about bucking up for a fancy shmancy camera for awhile now.  After much (much much much) thought and discussion with Chad (and polling my friends to help me choose which one), I decided to take the leap!  I've been hesitant to upgrade to this type of camera because I don't know anything about photography, I don't have a lot of extra free time to learn about photography, and I don't want to invest in a fancy shmancy camera and then leave it on Auto Mode all the time.  But then I thought about how much I love P365 and blogging, how much time I spend in Photoshop editing photos from my little camera, (I'm hoping my new camera will mitigate some of this, and as an aside, I didn't know anything about PS when I first started, but I managed to learn enough...this gives me hope), and how excited I am for next year's Project Life...so I decided to give it a go!  And I realize that I don't have to become Ansel Adams over night.  I can learn as I go and hopefully someday have beautiful pictures to share with you!   I am so excited about this new endeavor I'll be taking on, and I want to give a big! huge! giant! shout-out to my incredibly cute husband for being so supportive of me!  Thank you, Handsome, for the wonderful birthday present...I totally understand that it will count as next year's gift, and the year after, and the one after that!  But I'm totally okay with that!  (Thank you for giving it to me early so I can learn learn learn in the weeks before Project Life begins!)   And thank you to my friends for inspiring me with their beautiful pictures!

Here is my first attempt at photography with my new beautiful camera!  At least I can turn it on and take a picture...even though that's about all I can do with it for now!

It's Gammy's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Gammy Gams!  We ♥ you!

It's Snowing!

We woke up this morning to a light little flurry of snow, but after an hour or so, it became a serious winter wonderland. 

This, of course, changed our plans for the day.

Today's To Do List:

Work out

Go to Costco

Grocery shop

Volunteer at Chase's preschool

Pick kids up from school

New To Do List:

Play in the snow

Listen to Christmas music
Finger paint

Watch Christmas movies

Make hot chocolate for the neighbor kids

Sit by the fire

Hope you're enjoying the snow as much as we are!

(Tomorrow's to do list:  get Cole some snow boots that fit.)