Christmas Day

We stayed the night at my parent's house on Christmas Eve just like I did when I was a kid when my grandparents lived there. We took a little spin in the car to get them to go to sleep. Ethan fell asleep pretty quick...Caleb talked and sang the whole time. We transferred Ethan to the bed then I laid down with Caleb...where he talked and sang and wiggled around for 30 or 45 minutes before he finally fell asleep. Santa came to visit and delivered lots of presents for the kiddos! Just like Christmas Eve, Ethan blew through his presents and Caleb didn't care. Actually, Caleb did love all of the Wiggles stuff. Santa could've just got him that and he would've been happy.

Here is Caleb's loot. Some of the wrapped presents are from other family members, not just Santa. We didn't go that crazy! His favorites were definitely the Wiggles car and guitar.

Here is Ethan's loot. The Batman cave was a huge hit. He actually played with that for a long time before he realized he had other presents behind it! Notice the frisbees? Santa didn't forget that Ethan wrote him a letter requesting them. ;-)

Ethan's face: pure Christmas joy. Caitlin's face in the background: "Do you people know what time it is? Where is the coffee??"

Love that Wiggles car.

Mommy and her boys on. Caleb didn't want to participate in the photo shoot. Imagine that.

I think that face says it all.

Yahoo! Hungry Hungry Hippos! He was asking for that for months.

Zero Gravity remote control car. Don't waste your money, really.

Caleb opening some more pj's. He loves his "Howdy Howdy" pj's!

Super Hero Chutes and Ladders. Perfect game for him!

Blaine taught Caleb how to make a root beer snowball and eat it.

He decided he'd rather just drink the root beer.

Blaine and Mondo. He's getting so old! (Blaine, not Mondo I mean!)

Ethan being cheesy.

Another ghetto snowman. The snow was melting so it was lot harder than I thought it would be. It was taking too long and I was cold. It's the best I could do with what I had to work with.

After Christmas festivities at my parent's house, we went to Mondo's mom's house. Suprise, Caleb isn't looking in this picture.

Caleb and Ethan opening presents at MoMo's.

The three amigos: Jacob, Ethan, and GG.

Caleb wearing Daddy's hat and saying "cheese".

Caleb says "ho ho ho, merry christmas" a hundred times a day and I still can't get him to do it on video. Here's the best I could get.

Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas Eve we go to my parent's house for lunch and presents. When I say lunch, I mean feast! There is so much food and we graze all day. It's great. I also look forward to seeing all of our extended family. Ethan was so excited to open presents! He tore into them and was sad when he was done so fast. Caleb on the other hand could've cared less. I forced him to open a few and then let Ethan open the rest. Caleb was happy playing with whatever he opened first. After lunch and presents, we have more feasting for dinner then stay the night and wait for Santa! But...that's another post.

Three out of four looking isn't too bad. This is how our picture looks every year. Maybe next year we'll get a good one...

The kids were so excited when it started to snow! I sent them outside without their jackets so they could play in it before it stopped. Little did I know it was going to snow all day and all night!

I'm glad Mondo ran home to get their ski jackets. That wind was fierce!

My poor neice Caitlin was freezing! Look at her little clenched fists.

Caleb was decked out in ski gear. He had on Ethan's gloves. His were too little, Ethan's were too big.

My oldest neice Madilyn.

My crazy nephew Blaine. Uh, can we say pneumonia?!

By this time Caleb and I retreated inside to the warmth. Ethan and Mondo stayed outside having snowball fights and building a snowman.

I took pictures from inside.

What a good Daddy to stay outside in the freezing weather with him.

Ethan's miniture snowman with pistachio eyes.

That's a little cute and a little pitiful at the same time.

Caleb was in heaven staying at Nana and Papa's all night...it was a chip feast!

Here's a clip of the kids out in the snow.

Christmas at Gaylord

We go to the Gaylord Texan hotel every year to take Christmas pictures. There are so many photo ops and things to see. The kids really enjoy seeing the trains and gingerbread house. This post is mainly pics so I'll get to them.

This was down at the end of the hotel where the Grinch Ice exhibit was. Ethan posed himself and said, "Take my picture with the penguins!"

This train was just a display and he loved changing seats and playing on it.

Ethan was so excited to go see the Grinch. We were not excited to pay a lot of money to freeze the kids to death looking at ice. So we were very relieved when we got to the exhibit hall and saw the grinch on tv. Ethan was in heaven and wanted to stay and watch it. Boy did we luck out! See them sitting there on the chairs?

This would've been a cute pic if they were actually looking. They were too busy "driving" the train.

I loved the background for this picture. Unfortunantly Caleb didn't want to sit still. There were fish in the water behind them that he couldn't wait to see.

Ethan was so good and posed himself for me.

I liked this one except from the way they are sitting Caleb's head looks huge compared to Ethan's. And can you see Caleb's exhausted "cheese" face? He was over it and just wanted to run!

They loved this giant gingerbread house.

Ethan was really hamming it up that day.

Caleb saw the boot on the Christmas tree and got excited and said "Howdy Howdy!" (That's what he calls Woody from Toy Story...his new movie obsession.)

That dog was made out of candy! Caleb really wanted to touch it.

They were checking out the trains driving by. Caleb looks so little!

So sweet.

Ethan was being silly.

And here's the money shot! It only took about 50 pictures to get this one good one. I'm so thankful for digital cameras!

Christmas Festivities at NRH20

Last year Mondo took the kids for some Christmas fun at NRH2O. This year I decided to join in on the fun even though it was on a Saturday and it required me waking up a little earlier than usual and I had to work that night. It would have been a ton of fun but it was SUPER cold! The wind was terrible which made it feel even colder. Everything was in the parking lot of the waterpark. There was food, bouncy houses, train rides, pics with Santa, marshmallow roasting, and a snow hill. Unfortunantly we didn't stay very long and take a lot of pics because it was just too cold. Poor Caleb was literally shaking and his little lip was quivering. It really was miserable. Maybe next year will be better. Here are a the few pics I was able to get.

Poor Ethan. All he had on was a sweatshirt hoodie. He didn't care. He would've stayed there all day if we would have let him.

He liked roasting the marshmallows but he wouldn't eat them because they were brown. Yep, gets his food weirdness from me.

Ta-da!

Caleb ate them raw. Poor baby only had a hoodie on too. We tried to wrap him with a blanket but it didn't help much. His little hands were frozen.

Here's a short video of Ethan going down the snow hill.

Trimming the Tree

Every year we say we're going to get a fake, pre-lit tree but we always end up getting a real one. This was the last year for that! We froze to death picking one out while Caleb ran crazy and Mondo dug through the tree piles to see which one was good. I think we were a little too hasty in our decision. It didn't look quite so good one we got it home. Plus, it is always hard to get it centered just right, there are pine needles all over the place, and it starts wilting before Christmas. Ok, I'm done. Here are some pics of me and the kids decorating the tree.

Caleb had to inspect every ornament and play with it before it could go on the tree.

I'm glad I have carpet! Caleb tried to carry as many glass balls to the tree as he could.


Helping me fix the lights...after I had them perfectly placed.

Ethan played with all of the ornaments that had characters on them like they were action figures.

So really, I was the only one decorating the tree while Caleb pulled off the lights and Ethan played superheros with the ornaments. Wasn't quite the sweet, memory making event I had planned on.

Caleb wore some stockings as mittens and ran around the house.

The finished product. Looks like there are some holes on the sides and it's leaning a bit. Next year it's gonna be fake!!

Caleb's Birthday Day

We took Caleb to a mexican restaurant called Christina's on his birthday. We really like that place and found out recently that the kids do too! Every year we take the kids to eat wherever they want for their birthday. Caleb didn't actually request this place but we knew he liked it. There isn't much he doesn't like!

Getting ready to head out for some yummy food!

One of the few pics I have with my child!

Still playing with the Wiggles car from his birthday! He chowed down on some chips and "ha sauce".

Ethan ventured into a little cheese dip and displayed how strong he is.

Yummy tortilla dipped in queso!

Ethan enjoyed some fine mexican cuisine...mac & cheese and fries.