Christmas Recap

We had so much fun this Christmas. We got to spend a lot of time with our loved ones, we spoiled each other with thoughtful gifts and we took some time to remember what the holiday is all about. All in all, I would say Christmas 2010 was a success.

That being said, it had a couple of bumps along the way.... Ah, Christmas with two rowdy little boys. I wish I had a sweetly posed picture of the two of them with their arms around each other, but this is the closest I could get Max to sit next to his brother on Christmas morning. Also, I would like to point out that Chase has his first shiner (it doesn’t show up very well in this pic) and Max his first good head bonk (this shows up well with the bright red scratch) all in the name of holiday fun. The day before Christmas Eve Chase yanked open the refrigerator only to have the Christmas decoration on top come tumbling down and hit him right in the eye. We considered a trip to the ER, but in the end, he was pretty tough and his eye was ok. On Christmas Eve the boys were running laps of excitement just before the family was to come to our house for dinner. Poor Max didn’t quite make the last turn and you can see the skid marks from the drywall across his little forehead. A little TLC and a couple of bandaids and he was ready to go again.

These pictures are of Chase showing off his muscles in front of the Christmas tree. This is a favorite past time of his lately :)

And finally, a tally of the number of broken ornaments for 2010. There were more than a few close calls, but I am happy to say we only lost one, but it was a good one. Max and I will have to pick out a new Cougars ornament for Daddy next Christmas : )

Merry Christmas

Holiday Fun

We have had a whole month of family parties and good times and believe it or not, I have not been very good about taking pictures to record the events. Here are a few that we took of my cousins and their families. Unfortunately, SaraBeth and Michael couldn't be here with us to celebrate, but we did the traditional plates to hold their place :)

Giddy Up Santa

Many years ago I bought this little cowboy Santa for my Gram and she loved it. He sings Holly Jolly Christmas and swings his hips back and forth. This Christmas, Santa was passed onto my boys and they love him. Max has especially taken a liking to this cowboy and they have rarely been apart from each other the whole month of December.

The boys Christmas Program

Last week the boy's school hosted a Christmas program and it was so much fun to see them get up in front of all of the parents and sing and dance. Chase's class did the Reindeer Pokey which included putting their antlers and fluffy tails in and out and shaking them all about. They also sang about the Christmas star which was so sweet. We were so proud of Chase because he knew both songs and sang and danced with all of his heart.

Max got up with his class to do a rousing rendition of Up on the House Top. They tried to get the little guys to jingle bells and come in on the chorus with a loud HO HO HO. I think most of them just stared at the crowd, not quite sure what all the folks were looking at them for.

All in all, we couldn't have been prouder of either of the boys.

We are very blessed with sweet teachers and good school friends.

Santa!

Dan was talking with Chase and this is how part of the conversation went.....

Daddy: I thought you were going to be a dentist.
Chase: No, dad. I am going to be a cowboy and then when I get really old I am going to be Santa.


Chase is already getting into his Santa alter ego. He crafted this little song that goes to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Candy Canes
Candy Canes
Candy everywhere

Candy canes for you and me,
why don't we share

I thought it was pretty clever : )

Because it is so pretty.....

At our house there are very high ceilings and some nice decorative nooks (maybe not the right word, but you can see what I mean). Anyway, every Christmas I ask Dan to bring in the big, ole ladder and I troop up to the top and haul my very heavy Santa & Sleigh on up. Chase loves to climb up the ladder to help me do some of the decorating. While I am up there high on the latter, I sometimes ask myself, what am I doing up here?....is it worth it?....am I going to break my neck? etc. You get the picture. Then when it is all done and I am relaxing from my cozy safe chair down blow, I look up and find my answer.....
Because it is sooooo pretty :)

(This pic doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea :)

Decking the halls

We started getting our house ready for the holiday season this weekend. Max was loving all the new stuff to check out, but these singing penguins were his big time favorite. Chase pretty much handled the tree trimming. Daddy let him pick out the tree and he was so excited to show it to me. I got out the ornaments and he ooo'd and ahhh'd each one. He exclaimed, "I love them all, they are so beautiful!" several times during the decorating process. Chase cracked us up because no ornament went to waste, rather it old or broken. Everything went onto the tree and he did a great job, it looks beautiful.

Auntie Dix made this ceramic tree for us for Christmas a couple of years back. Chase and I love it and we had fun adding the little lights to it again this year.

I had to add this last one, because he is just too darn cute even when he is in trouble. Max doesn't like to hear no and he was making sure we understood that in this picture : )

Proud....

Chase was playing post office in his room and this is one of the pieces of mail I found. I had no idea he could write these letters all on his own. I was one proud mama.....now we just need to get him to write on a bigger piece of paper so he has a bit more room for rest.

Tis' the season

Christmas Light Parade

Tonight we braved the cold weather to take in the lights of the annual Christmas parade. It was beautiful as usual and we had fun snuggling up with friends and family and cups of hot chocolate.

I asked Chase what his favorite part of the parade was and his answer was "Everything!!" I love his spirit and he has made the holidays even more fun this year because he has loved every minute of all the festivities so far.

Max was a little trooper. I had my hands full toting all the blankets, chairs, cameras and hot drinks, so he had to walk. He held my hand and walked about a block to where our folks were sitting. He climbed up on Aunt Jill's lap and excitedly waved at all the pretty floats as they went by.

Frosty our snowman

Chase and daddy have been waiting for good packing snow since the first snow fall. Last night it was determined the snow was just right and the two of them headed out. It wasn't long before Chase was calling for me and Max to come out and meet Frosty.

I think they are both pretty darn cute!

New hiding place

Max made a new discovery tonight....once he finished pulling out all of the pots and pans, he figured out that the cupboard makes a great hiding place. I will have to remember that next time I can't find him : ) About a month ago I was looking for Max and I couldn't find him anywhere. It was to the point that my heart started beating a little faster. I knew he had to be upstairs somewhere, but he was no where and wasn't answering my call. Finally I heard a squeal and then another. Long story short, Max discovered that he could climb into the bathtub. He was sitting in there with the shower curtain pulled playing away.

These pictures of Max reminded me of another one year old who discovered the cupboards in our new house about three years ago.