Winter weekend fun

Winter months are tough. The kids have cabin fever, as do I. Sam and I really cram lots of activities into the weekend since he works inhumane hours during the week. I don't have any energy at the end of the day to be too creative and tackle new activities with the boys. Lately we have had lots of "movie nights" which include early bath, dinner and popcorn. Chili is a parent favorite. Homemade pizza's and smores top the list (although Jack doesn't like marshmellows). Whose kid is this?


Jack and I roasting our marshmellows - that he ended up not liking. I ate his.

Ben decided he needed to be alone to enjoy his smore. He went to his chair to eat.

My chili. I still love experimenting with my camera.

Ben making his pizza.

Jack looking quite handsome.

He's so dag-on grown up.

Ben is Mr. Independent. If you do something to "help" him out, he'll undo it and do it again himself. All I need to do in that scenario is to add about 20 minutes to anything I have planned. It's fun.

Christmas Day

At five-and-a-half years old, Jack had his first Christmas with so much anticipation that he woke up super-early. Jack is a fantastic sleeper and he started "going to the bathroom" a little after 5am. Finally, a little after 6, after three trips to the bathroom, I went in and found him sitting up in bed looking/reading a pile of books. How precious that he is so good to wait patiently in his room (although I'm pretty sure the three bathroom trips were checks to see if we were close to getting up). Ben, well it was just another day.

Santa really enjoyed his cookies and milk.

Reindeer food eaten.

Woody and Bullseye for Ben.

Both boys were very blessed this year and have more than they need.

Ben would play with one toy and forget that he had anything else to open.

Mrs. Potato Head

Yeah, awful of me.

Jack loves his new acoustic guitar - so does Sam.

It was busy-busy all day long!

Christmas dinner consisted of two whole chickens with a cauliflower casserole and cranberry sauce. Aren't my cranberries pretty?

Christmas Eve

Better late than never. Christmas Eve was alot of fun, it was snowing, I cleaned house while the boys went to the gym. After lunch, we just had a lazy day and got ready for Santa. Sam cooked spaghetti and clams for dinner, we watched "The Polar Express" and had hot chocolate. Cookies and milk for Santa and dog food for the Reindeer. Didn't you know that Reindeers love dog food?

The clams look so pretty with my new camera.

To go with the theme of "The Polar Express", we let Jack open his "sleeping coat" on Christmas Eve. The boy in the movie is wearing a robe the entire movie.

Jack enjoying his hot chocolate.

And to top it off, it snowed all day Christmas eve and we woke up to a very white Christmas.

Trying to capture the snow falling.

Experimenting

I have been experimenting with my new camera, what settings in what light. Here are a few of my shots from the last two days. I have a ton more, but will spare the audience. The only one that I did point and shoot was the one of Ben in the grocery cart. I can't wait to learn more. When Christmas is over, I'll actually read my entire manual.

Ben just got up from his nap. Crazy hair.

Yummy chocolate candy. (Don't worry, Jennifer, I am bringing some of it to Lexington.)

Grocery shopping while Jack is at school.

Leggo creation, exclusively by "Jack".

My New Camera!

Just showing off how well my new camera takes pictures. LOVE IT!!! I'm still experimenting and figuring out what settings to use in different situations.

Good Times!

A couple of weeks ago, we had our neighbors, Mary and Peter and their boys, for dinner. All four boys squeezed in the little picnic table and there was no relaxation for the moms and dads. Ben was trying to steal food, as was Tommy. Tommy and Andrew were fighting over who sat next to Jack, and on and on. But, it was a fun night and boys will be boys.

I love this one.

After the dinner, our little picnice table stayed in the kitchen for several days and it became a toy for the boys. Here they are just sitting together and being silly. I love these two pictures.

Bad Santa!

Not really. He was actually great. He took his time getting to know the kids and was very, very kind. This is just the classic, younger brother can't hang. Jack was very shy and made a point to tell Santa what Ben wanted for Christmas (not sure how he knows, but I suspect there are ulterior motives). Mrs. Claus was there and she was very sweet. The photographer was great. It was all good . . . other than Ben's face in the picture. Good times!

Jack and all his glory...

I'm always amazed at the imagination of a five-year-old boy. Jack is all boy and he's hilarious. Nothing surprises me; i.e., when he walks in the kitchen and he's completely naked with only his shirt on his head, draped down like a nuns habit, and he loudly exclaims, "Look! I've got hair like a girl!". Below are some miscellaneous pictures of Jack.

Trimming the Tree . . . not so easy

Sunday night we decorated the tree. It was so much harder than I thought it'd be because of one small, blonde-headed, mischievous toddler named Ben. He wouldn't part with the red garland beads, he ate a fake berry, he smacked the branches, ornaments were laid on the branches in piles. It was exhausting.

I don't remember Jack being difficult with tree-trimming at that age.

The garland in question.
These berries on the candles apparently looked appetizing. By the time we hinged open his mouth, it was too late.

Jack earned his Lightsaber from filling up his "eating healthy" chart with stickers.

Maybe next year putting the tree up will be less stressful.