Happy Holidays from us to you!

This was Ian tooling around our front yard the weekend before Christmas wishing for some snow.  He really wanted to go sledding and I tried to explain why that wasn't possible.  I told him he could run around and act like there was snow on the ground...and I guess that satisfied his craving because it hasn't come up since.  Which is odd considering we got snow on Christmas Eve (not really enough for sledding and it was bitter cold on Christmas Day).  

After dinner on Christmas Eve the boys got to open a gift from us.  New Star Wars pj's!!  We loaded up in the car - complete with popcorn, Queenie cookies, and hot cocoa.  It wasn't snowing when we started, but wasn't long before the snow started.  Snow always makes it seem more like Christmas:)

This is one of my favorite holiday houses in Longmont.  Their lawn is FULL of goodies.  Every year I find something new.  There were a lot of oooohhh's and aaaahhhh's coming from the back seat when we rolled up in front of this one!  

Ian wanted to "model" the cookie that he thought was going to be Santa's favorite;)  Mommy forgot carrots for the reindeer (oops!), but I assured Ian that Santa's reindeer would love a cookie to break up the mundane carrots along the way.  They need a sugar buzz too!

I checked on the tree before heading to bed for the night and sure enough!  Santa sneaked in while Casey and I were in the basement.  I could not wait to see the boys' faces in the morning!

I was shocked that the boys slept in on Christmas morning.  They are early risers - 6:30 on most days.  Ouch!  It was a wonderful gift to Casey and I.  Thanks, Santa!  Ian was up first - around 8.  He came into our room briefly, then we heard him milling around downstairs.  He came running up and jumped on our bed to whisper that Santa really did come - "like really, really, really did" - and demanded we come and see for ourselves.  Milo was still sawing logs and I knew we weren't going to be able to contain Ian for long, so thankfully he was up by 8:15 or so.  

The first gifts they tore into were their lightsaber room lights - green for Ian and red for Milo.  I was worried how they would react once they realized they were going to be hung on the wall.  Fortunately, they were the first gifts opened so they quickly lost their appeal and we were able to keep them out of sight, out of mind until we were ready to hang in their room.  

When Ian first laid eyes on the Razor scooter he said, "Look, a gift for Daddy!"  How cute is that?  He squealed with delight once he learned it was for him:)  

The boys loved their Spidey masks from Aunt Sue and Uncle Stewart and the photo bomb from Casey is priceless!  

We spent the rest of the morning just lounging around, eating, and playing.  Ian was over the moon with his loader Legos and Milo couldn't wait to put on his new Star Wars shirt!

The last few months have been a humbling and challenging experience.   We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who helped make this Christmas special for our family.  There are no words to describe it and I can only hope that one day we are able to pay it forward.  As I look toward 2013, I am optimistic that good things are coming our way.  I am thankful every day for my health, my family, my friends, a roof over our heads, and food on the table.  Everything else is just a bonus!  

Wishing you and yours a blessed 2013!

School's out for Christmas!

Ian had his Holiday Sing on the 12th (his last day of school was the 14th).  I couldn't wait to see all the kids singing their hearts out.  Milo got to spend the day at Lily's - I knew there was no way I was going to easily contain him.  He would have been right up their with Ian's class and removing him from the "scene" would not have been pretty!

Ian took advantage of Mommy time and helped me make cookies for his sing.  We busted out the cookie press and made gingerbread cookies.  Ian was in charge of the sprinkles and only minimal intervention was needed:)  It was a lot of fun and they turned out pretty tasty for being my first run with gingerbread cookies.

Sadly, I haven't figured out how to get the videos from my phone to here.  It seems like such a simple feat, but apparently not for me.  I will save that for a snow day!  We have to get one sooner or later, right?!  Anyway, Ian looks so cute standing there waiting for his sing to start.  There are 14 boys and 4 girls in his class.  The video is awesome!  I really wish I could figure out how to share them.  The boys are doing Ninja kicks and the girls are twirling their hair, one kid keeps walking out into the crowd to see his parents (I was amazed that none of the other kids followed his actions, but thankful!), and others will chime in rather enthusiastically and at totally random times.  In the end, they all did a great job and had fun with it.  

Ian and I went to Ella's holiday recital on Saturday.  There were 10 songs performed in all and the kids did a great job.  There was 1 boy among all the girls!  I tried to get a picture without candy canes, but to no avail.  At least I got Ian to say "cheese".  Ha!

Sunday was cookie making Part 1.  The Courtney's are headed to Michigan for Christmas, so we had to get together to bake a little earlier this year.  The kids made wreaths and they turned out great.  They definitely won't be around long enough for Santa to enjoy, so Part 2 is planned for this weekend.  Yummy!  Ava was declared a "hot mess" and unable to join us for wreath making fun this year:(  

The holidays are here!

Stop!  I need a pause button stat.  How is it possible that my little man is going to be 5 next month?!  I think the hardest part was enrolling him in kindergarten last week.  I got a little weepy at one point, but then I realized Milo was in the corner trying to make prank calls on the conference room phone so I was quickly snapped back into reality. Ian will (hopefully) be attending Hygiene Elementary School come fall.  He can't wait - he asks me every day when he is going to start kindergarten.  It is so wonderful to see him so excited about school!

He is becoming such a lovely young man.  The stories he tells, the way he sees the world...I love it.  His new thing is saying goodbye.  He likes to sit on the step and wave goodbye to our guests until they drive out of site.  So cute:)  He has also decided that he should start using the guest bathroom to brush his teeth since he is a "big kid".  But then I remind myself that he is still the one who will cuddle up on my lap with his blanket and ask me to read him a story, he is still the one whose eyes light up when it is my day to be the helper at school, and he is still the one who loves to give me kisses before bed each night.  I will choose to focus on the latter for just a little longer;)

We went to get our tree on the 4th after Casey got home from work.  We always try to get our tree the first week of December.  I prefer to enjoy it for most of December and then take it down soon after.  I don't have the luxury of leaving it up throughout January because I have birthday parties to plan!  Teaser...Ian's 5th birthday party we will have;) 

Grandma Jane made Ian a special treat for him and his classmates to enjoy - she crocheted these cute little reindeer and we stuffed them with candy canes.  Ian was over the moon that day because he got to bring treats (which makes him the special person that day) and I was the helper.  It doesn't get much better than that in his sweet little world.  Before the snack break, he brought one up in front of the class to show all of his classmates.  He was so proud standing up there talking about them - adorable!

Friday night was Santa's Workshop.  The city hosts it every year and it is so much...if you can get over the crowd!  It is a bit too much for me, but we had to check out Santa!  We stopped and said hello to his reindeer first.  

  The line for Santa was ridiculous, but worth it.  Fortunately, we had our besties in line with us so it went pretty fast.  I wasn't sure how Milo would do, but he hopped right up and said, "Cheese!"  Ian was so excited to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas.  Any guesses?  Hint:  He has one on his shirt.

After Santa, we headed outside to check out the lights in the park and we ran into Frosty!  I love Ava's expression in the picture below.  Ian is busy checking out his threads.  Ha!

They had night skydivers - so cool!

Once Santa landed, the entire crowd started running.  Ian took off in a flash and I had to run after him.  It was insane!  I am not even sure Santa was prepared for the rush of fans.  I had Ian on my shoulders so he could check him out.  Thankfully he was okay with not being any closer than this.

Saturday night was the downtown parade.  We got a pleasant surprise - the Frazier clan joined us!  I am so bummed this picture didn't turn out more clear because it would have been perfect.  Colleen was out of town for business, so it was just Brian and the kids.  Maggie joined us too!  It was so cold, but I was determined to make the best of it.  Thanks to the chilly weather, Milo was a little cuddle bug.  Yay!

After the parade, we headed to the park for a fireworks show.  Who needs fireworks in July when you can have them in December?  I guess I will take what I can get.  

We finally got around to decorating the tree on Sunday.  Ian couldn't wait to get started.  I put Milo down for a nap and when I came downstairs he had already started decorating.  Love this kid!  

And voila!  Our beautiful tree.  I just love it.

Oh, and my lovely 'lil wreath for the front door.  Pretty proud of it!  I got my inspiration here.

We got another shot at Santa on Sunday!  I LOVE this picture - so much happiness:)  We ran into him @ Ace Hardware of all places...and the best part.  Free!  They printed an actual photo for us on the spot and emailed a copy to us.  Awesome!

Whew.  What a busy weekend we had.  It was so much fun and I can't think of a better way to end it.

Story time with Daddy-o!

Milo's 1st haircut!

This was the start of it all.  Or the dread that started it all, rather.  I have known for some time that Milo needed a hair cut, but I was stubborn about it.  I didn't want to cut off the baby curls.  But I had to do it once Milo started giving himself dreads.  He loves to twirl his hair and would do so as he was falling asleep.  Initially, it was cute but I had to do it once I was cutting dreads out!  Some kids have their first lock of hair, Milo will have his first dreadlock.  Ha!

Ian was in need of a trim too, so we figured he could go first and show Milo the ropes:)  

Here is a pic of the brothers pre-haircut. 

We went to Harry B's on Main St.  She is the grandmother of Ian's preschool BFF, Cruz.  She has cut Ian's hair a couple of times, so we figured it would be good for Milo to go there for his first trim.  

The first cut!

He did quite well for the most part!  He started to fidget after about 10 minutes and the newness wore off.   She did a great job dealing with his fidgety little self and I kept reminding him to keep his eye on the prize...  

Victory is sweet!

Post-haircuts

    

   

The many faces of Milo

I am so proud of my DIY Advent calendar!  I have always wanted to do an Advent calendar, but never had the time, energy, money, inspiration...you name it.  As much of a time suck as Pinterest can be, it sure does inspire me to do more.  I found a few scraps around my craft room and made custom inserts for each day.  Let the countdown to Christmas fun begin!

Saturday night we headed to Boulder for the Parade of Lights.  It was our first time making it to the Boulder parade!  We were so happy that our friends could join us at the last minute too.  

Our crew patiently waiting for the start.

A very bright and very loud start to the festivities.  We landed the perfect spot at the corner of Walnut & 9th, right across from the Rio.  It ended up being the perfect spot!

The Jellyfish Bike 

Gingy

Baby Jesus is a Patagonia jacket!

I took this picture before I realized it is my favorite Realtor in the world, Dave Lorraine!  It was such a surprise to see him and I just started shouting his name.  Such a dork I am.

Ian was majorly impressed with this crew!

I found it ironic that they were followed by the fire truck:)

Handle Bar - ha, ha, ha!

Or the Bustache - ha!

Kate + Milo

SANTA!!!!

Oh, and Mrs. Claus too.  

A quick family pic post-parade.  What a great night with friends!  It was a gorgeous night.  A little weird to go to a holiday parade when it is 60 degrees outside, but it really couldn't have been better.  

Let the holiday madness begin!

Maybe before we got out of the parking garage?  If not, darn close.  

Being a kid is so exhausting!

I absolutely LOVE this picture!  I love the way the light is shining, how sweetly he is sitting there, his profile, how he is holding the book.  I love it all!  Even the Packer flag (I can't lie!) - this will be a silly picture he sends into some Ellen-esque show of his generation making fun of the living room his dorky parents had.  LOL!