Just Sharing Some Smiles :)

We don't have daycare this week between the holidays so I stayed home with the kiddos the last couple days and it was such a change of pace! I definitely enjoy my job and staying mentally busy... but it doesn't hold a candle to keeping up with my kids! What an absolute joy they are, sure there's a couple time-outs here and there, but it really made me miss being at home with them.

Yesterday morning I gathered up some leftover scraps from Brooklyn's Halloween costume and made her a tutu/skirt from the pink netting. She was so excited to wear it and Boston would not stop telling her how pretty she looked :)

I wanted to get a picture of her in the tutu & Boston wanted in on the fun, so here's some smiles from both kiddos! Happy New Years everyone!

He's GRRRREAT!!

Boston decided to color with markers yesterday afternoon... even though he knows he's not suppose to. So I tried really hard to keep a straight face and not laugh when I had to scold him for being naughty, but I couldn't resist taking a couple pictures!

At first I wasn't sure if he was a zebra or tiger, but when he started growling it was a dead giveaway :)

He even gave himself whiskers!

As you can tell, he wasn't one bit sorry... in fact, I'd say he was pretty darn proud of himself!

It finally came - Merry Christmas!!

Last year we had placed most of our gifts under the tree before Christmas day, so I don't think Boston really understood the idea of Santa leaving gifts because compared to what was already there, it wasn't much of a difference. So this year I didn't put anything under the tree - when Christmas morning came around... Boston could definitely tell that there were things under the tree that were not there before!

"What the heck? Dad look at this!" Boston's first words on Christmas morning :)

What a blast it was to watch little kids open presents! I remember being excited about Christmas when I was little, but not half as energetic as the kiddos were! Boston actually put a list together for Santa this year- he asked for guns for shooting deer on tv, Batman, and a firetruck. He got them... spoiled rotten! When we asked Brooklyn what she wanted for Christmas, she replied, "McDonalds"... which she didn't get :( But she got other fun things instead!

The kids both got stick horses from their Grandpa & Grandma Jordan which they immedately started riding around the living room! We had to force them to corral the horses until all the presents were opened... Boston stuck them under the kitchen table and pushed all the chairs in to keep them locked up :)

Brooklyn got lip gloss from some girly elves - when you put it on her lips she feels so pretty like a princess... but then she licks it right off cuz it's so yummy! She also got a couple baby dolls and she is such a good mommy.

Boston got a digital camera so he can see the pictures he takes right away... it's pretty interesting to see pictures from a child's point of view - and to see what they find is interesting or picture worthy!

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve - went sledding in the morning, did some last minute Christmas shopping for presents & yummy goodies, had dinner with Gram & Pop-Pop, went to church for a special Christmas program, and drove around town to look at all the pretty lights.

It was incredibly foggy all day - I asked Boston that night how Santa would find him and Brooklyn through all the clouds... he replied, "Rudolph must be working super hard!" Rudolph has been his bedtime story for almost the entire month of December, except there is a few dragons & lions in the story too :)

I was able to catch a couple pics of the kids dressed up in their Christmas church clothes - it was pretty fun to tell Boston the story of Christmas and how Christ was born in a stable full of animals. When I would ask Boston who's birthday it is on Christmas he would reply "Baby Jesus" and then remind me that we needed to call Jesus on the phone and tell him Happy Birthday :)



The kiddos got to open one gift on Christmas Eve, they opened a gift each from Gram & Pop-pop... new pajamas! They loved their new pj's, and they came with matching bath robes that the kids wanted to wear right away- I think Boston looked snazzy in his robe, like a young version of Hugh Hefner!

Sledding

We took the kiddos sledding for their first time ever on Christmas Eve - It was a blast! We went to the arena where UW plays basketball on campus and slid down the side of the building, it wasn't anything extreme but it made big enough hills for the kids.

Gingerbread House - Where the Elves Live

Boston went grocery shopping with me the other day & we thought it would be fun for him and brooklyn to create a gingerbread house together. We found a cute little kit that had the house with santa's sleigh and reindeer.

By the time we got home, most of the pieces in the kit had gotten broken, so I used the frosting to "glue" the chunks back together! It worked great and the kids did a good job covering the seams with candies.



I gave a shaker of sprinkles to both kiddos and let them decorate the house with candies however their little hearts desired. Brooklyn decided that there needed to be mounds of red sprinkle snow - mainly in the same corner of the scene, & all over the kitchen counter! Boston was more interested in eating the skittles and sneaking a couple peppermints to the dog!



Brooklyn will occasionally push a chair over to the counter and pick candy off the house and eat pieces of the gingerbread - it's actually starting to look a little bare without santa, only one reindeer, & a house with half a roof!

Baby It's Cold Outside

FREEZING temps have convinced us to break out the snowpants & heavy winter coats - just wish we could finally get some snow with that cold! I may be the only one... & I may be a little crazy... but I really like winter! I'm dreaming of a white christmas with sparkling snow - not a bitter, windy, frigid, scrape the frost off your windows type of holiday. Maybe we'll get the winter I'm hoping for in June :)

Daddy-Daughter-Date

Brooklyn really LOVES to color - but she enjoys it even more when someone will sit down and color with her. Her and Daddy got to spend some quality time together one night and I was able to catch a couple pics. Yep, she's wearing her Halloween costume still! I can't convince her not to wear it when she looks so darn cute :)