A White Christmas...

Being Illinois it is hit or miss whether or not you will get snow for Christmas, unlike Texas where it is highly unlikely to get snow for Christmas, except this year, that is, except we weren't IN Texas!  Well we got lucky in Illinois too, and what a wonderful time the kids had playing in the SNOW!  Their cousins happily shared their snow gear and outside we went out to play...

There were SnOw AnGeLs, and deep snow is NOT necessary.

-A- was unsure of the cold stuff on the ground and spent quite a bit of time in Dad's arms.

And of course some sledding...

And who says you have to HAVE a SLED!

An Empty Box will work just fine, oh the possibilities...

Merry Christmas 2009

We enjoyed our Christmas , hope you enjoyed yours!!!

"Butt Kickin"...

It is always amusing the things we do with our grandfathers.  When I was a kid, I remember going to visit my paternal grandfather and all of the kids would hide outside the front window in the yard, waiting ever so {Impatiently} for the perfect opportunity to strike. 

Once Grandpa sat down with his cup of coffee, we would sneak in the front door, tip toe behind Grandma and Grandpa's chairs to sneak a taste of Grandpa's yummy ever soooo SWEET and creamy coffee (looking back I am not sure there was actually coffee in that cup {hmmm}.  That was the goal anyway, we were usually met with an equally sneaky grandpa who would proceed to tickle us, give us wet willies and shower us with the love and affection that only a Grandpa can give.

Our kids are no different.  They have created a very special bond with their grandparents.  Once of which happens to be "Butt Kickin".  When Papa is around you can be sure that there will be some good ole' Butt Kickin to be had.  The kids pile on, get piled up and the laughing never seems to stop.

Not to worry though, it never gets "toooo" rough, see how -A- went and sat himself down right underneath it all!

Dancing...

There is a new fav in our house and it is not -N-'s but rather -A-'s, he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and more so the "Hot Dog Dance". When the team has solved their problem they return to the clubhouse for the "Mouska-Dance" (the actual name for the "Hot Dog Dance"). It doesn't matter where in the house -A- is, he comes running to dance with "Mic Mouse".

Video Courtesy of Nini

Texas Born and Bread..

Amazing the things you'll like when you are Texas Born and Bread...-A- loves CHILI, anything covered in Bar-B-Q sauce and mexican food.  He even helped Papa eat his yummy Chili while we visited at Christmas time.  The trickiest part about -A- and his Chili, is getting him to slow down long enough to take the picture!

The Gingerbread Man...

I have a mild obsession.  For years now, I have spent time collecting different versions of the age old tale about the Gingerbread Man {I may or MAY not have too many versions to count}.  When -N- began school this year I quickly signed up to be the room mom for the Christmas Party. 

As a teacher I made Gingerbread houses each year with the children in my classroom, at our annual Gingerbread Workshop.  Once -N- was born I became a Stay at Home Mom and have continued the tradition with my Moms group hosting a Gingerbread workshop at our house. 

So it was only natural to bring the joy of the Gingerbread Man to my oldest's classroom.  Each year, I enlist hubby and his amazing gingerbread house assembly skills, to make a ton of minitaure sized gingerbread houses made out of graham crackers and royal icing.  This year was a little trickier because it wasn't my classroom and the houses weren't staying at home, so the day before I went in and let the kids help assemble their gingerbread houses so we could decorate them the next day during the party.

It was a HUGE hit and the kids had a blast, expecially enjoying the yummy goodness as they decorated.

One FAT Little lip...

With a couple of rough and tumble boys, it is bound to happen and this time it happened to -A-.

An Attempt was Made...

So this was one of four pictures taken last year for our Christmas card, sequentially it was the third one taken and after I quickly snapped a few, I reviewed them and we were DONE!

However, this year went quite a bit differently. Considering last year I could pretty much mold -A- into whatever pose I desired, since he was just learning how to sit up on his own, and -N- was so excited to be wearing the same thing as his brother, I should have known better.  They both cooperated amazingly last year for an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old. 

This year with an almost 4 year old and a 1 and a half year old we had an entirely different story...

My checklist:

Set up Christmas Tree------Check
Locate the boys' Christmas Outfits-------Check

Dress them in said Outfits------Check

Position both boys in front of the Tree------Check

Begin snapping pictures, in hopes of achieving a similar happy pose...

case and point!

Poor -A- has some serious drool rash going on, nothing a little Photoshop can't fix, all I needed to do was get the pose right and a little touch up work...

Ooooh I know maybe it's the angle, let's try some Portrait style shots...

Ummm, okay so maybe not.  Fortunately I was able to capture a couple, and I mean a couple as in maybe 2 adorable individual shots, so back to the drawing board.

(see what a little photoshop can do for some drool rash?)

Between my nausea and their overwhelming cooperation, who knows we may be going back to a preprinted sign and go kind of card, I guess we'll see.

UPDATE:  Yeah ummm, so what can I say, no Christmas cards this year, there is always next year though, right???

Snow is Falling...

I know this seems rather strange for some, but a Snow Fall in Texas is few and far between, so when it starts to fall we get a little excited and just about everything shuts down, HA, even if there aren't more than a couple of inches!  The boys had a grand time standing at the back window watching it fall.

-N- wanted so badly to go out and play in it, however this wasn't your nice powder this was your wet, sticky and slushy mess. 

One our dog, who grew up in the snow of Chicago, enjoyed playing in, or at least until it was time to wipe her feet...

According to -N- this year he has proclaimed that Christmas can only come if there is snow, so I guess this looks like a good start.

The Dairy Farm

Earlier this week we made our way to a semi-local Dairy Farm to see where milk comes from and try some RAW milk. 

The Dairy farm had so much more to offer. 

There were fresh calves there to pet and so many other animals too.  Take it from experience though you have to watch out for those calves!  They think everything is a source of food so -A- got slimed on the cheek while the other latched on to one of my fingers like there was no tomorrow and it did not care that it was not meant to produce milk, MILK was going to come out, just so long as it sucked long and hard enough, HA!  -N- was quite content to pet said calf as it was preoccupied trying to milk my finger and all.

My grandmother joined us for the trip and I was able to capture some magical moments with her Great grandchildren.