Griffin Loves his Christmas Presents

Griffin's favorite Christmas presents have to be his train set and all of his Mr. Potato head pieces.  He particularly loves to find Mr. P's glasses and try them on. :)

Christmas 2011

Christmas morning when we woke up AJ the first thing out of mouth was, "We get to add baby Jesus!"  He was thrilled to be able to do the last day of our advent calendar and add the most important piece.  Then he realized that Santa had also come and he was excited for his gifts!  It was a great Christmas!  The kids are at a wonderful age to enjoy the magic of it all!

Could this be my remote control car?

I watched AJ and now I am a pro at opening presents!

Look monster trucks!

Mom, we got you a waffle maker do you love it?

AJ's toys

Toys to share

Griffin's toys

Griffin's surprises from Santa

AJ's surprises from Santa

Whip Cream!

For Christmas morning breakfast, I used my new waffle maker and made waffles with fresh strawberries and whip cream.  The first time I used the whip cream and spayed it out...Griffin's eyes were as big as saucers!  He thought that was amazing!  My Mom and Dad and Kurt and I were all witnesses.  It made Christmas morning even better! We quickly grabbed the camera and tried to recapture the moment.  Our boy loves whip cream!

Family Christmas Party

And I want...

I'll just take the candy.

Family Christmas Pic 2011

The Cousins!

We had my extended families annual Christmas Eve Party that is no longer held on Christmas Eve. :)  Fun time was had by all!  Griffin didn't even cry with Santa!  Love getting together with the fam!  Lance and Teresa had our family this year and they HOOKED US UP with supplies for our camping outings! THANK YOU!

Using Ideas From Pinterest

I have LOVED finding ideas on Pinterest!  I find it very relaxing to find and pin ideas.  I have MANY more pins than I have used, but I have used SEVERAL pins!  Turkey favors, Drum Sticks, Napkin Ring holders, pigs in a blanket wreath, Christmas tags and more!  I use to peruse blogs, now I just peruse Pinterest! :)

Shoveling With Dad

When we're helping we're happy!

What does your hammer say?

We had the kids with us in Costco the other day and we were enjoying the samples throughout the store.  One sample station was handing out little smokies on a toothpick.  AJ looked at it and said, "Oh how cute."  Then he started to say LOUDLY, "Dam, dam, dam dam!"  I listened a few times and then smiled and said, "AJ a hammer says, Bam, bam bam with a buh sound."  Even louder he continued, "Dam, Dam dam dam!"  It was hard not to laugh, but I again told him it was Bam with a BUH sound at the beginning and I had him look at my lips to see how I was making the sound.  AJ said, "Bam, Dam, Bam, Bam."  Kurt and I told him to eat his hammer. :)

And Santa said...

Santa came to visit AJ's preschool class, everyone had a great time.  After the visit Santa came upstairs and had a special one on one chat with AJ about using the potty.  AJ promised Santa he would try to go potty on the toilet BEFORE Christmas.  Let's see if this works! :)

December 22

AJ has gone potty on the toilet!!!!  Kurt sat him down on the toilet today and told him he wasn't getting up until he had something to show for it.  AJ did it!  Yeah!

***Update*** That was basically it!  He went from not even wanting to sit on the potty to being potty trained including pooping in the toilet in a week!  He had a few accidents the first few days, but has not had one accident at night.  WAY TO GO AJ!!!!  We are down to one in diapers! YIPPEE!

Santa Comes in a F-16



Look there is a plane coming!



I see Santa!

Ho Ho Ho!

Waiting for our turn.

I'm waiting for my turn too!

Oh, the anticipation!

Thank you Santa!

Who is this guy?

I want my Daddy!

I have seen Santa in many different venues, but I have to say this was a first...Santa coming in on a F-16!  Kurt's unit at Hill had a in with Santa and invited him to the base.  We brought the kids out and enjoyed the festivities.  AJ ran up to Santa and said, "Santa, Santa I want Roary!"  He then gave him a big hug and ran back towards Daddy.  Griff wasn't in a real festive mood, he would rather be with Mom and Dad then sit on Santa's lap. Both boys received a play-doh set and they have used them over and over again!  Great family time!  Thanks Kurt for making it possible!

How do you Retell the Christmas Story?

This is one of the ways we did it in our house!

Ready for Thanksgivng!

 

I had two of my nieces come over and help me get ready for Thanksgiving.  Grace helped watch my boys while I finished all of the little things I needed to get done before I could actually start preparing for Thanksgiving...such as writing a paper for the Families Alive Conference.  She was a GREAT help!

Maggs came over to actually help me make some things for Thanksgiving, we made little chocolate turkey favors to sit by each place setting and we also made drum sticks for all of the "kids" in high school and under.  Maggie thought the drumsticks were the best.  She was a WONDERFUL helper!

The night before Thanksgiving Kim and her family came over to help me decorate the tables, they looked FABULOUS!  I was excited for everyone to come the next day.  Wakely and Drew helped set the table, they decided it would be best if the cups were in a pattern one up, one down, one up... :)

Thanksgiving morning I went outside to retrieve the pumpkin pie I had purchased at Costco and left on top of the BBQ grill to stay chilled.  I was in for a bit of a surprise!  A raccoon had got into the pie!  We could see little paw prints.  I thought is was funny, Kurt wasn't that amused; pumpkin pie is his favorite and now we had no pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  (I bought him another one a few days later and this time we put it in the fridge. :))

Thanksgiving was a great success!  I loved having everyone over to our home.  Hopefully it is an occasion that we will be repeated!

My Tech Boys

AJ and Griffin love playing on my !pod touch.  For a few days we had a friend's phone that had several games on it too so both boys could play.  They thought they were in heaven!  They will both know more than I do in a few years---they're not afraid to just push and see what happens. :)

****Update My Mom got an !pad for Christmas and it is a FAVORITE!!!  Both boys love to play with it.  My Mom is the one who has introduced characters such as Angry Birds to our sons. :)

A Rock in the Watercloset

AJ had a friend over to play and he used the facilities.  A few minutes later I heard them yelling for me.  I went in to find the toilet overflowing the sides. I told them to stop flushing it first of all and then we went to work cleaning up the mess.  Both AJ and his friend told me AJ had put a rock in the toilet.  I tried the plunger, but to no avail.  So I waited until Kurt came home.  He could not get the rock out either.  He ended up having to take the toilet outside and used the hose to backwash it.  It was NOT a rock, but a ROCKET!  (No wonder we couldn't get it out! :)

Artwork anyone?

Griffin has discovered crayons...now if we can just get him to discover paper! :)

Hang'n with Hank

AJ absolutely loves Henry!  He constantly asks if Hank can come down and play or if he thinks Aunt Kim and Hank are home so he can go up to their house and play.  They play pretty darn good with each other.  As all kids do they have their moments, but it is fun to watch the cousins at play! (Griff is right in the mix whenever he can be, he loves to hang with Hank too!)

Happy Halloween

This year we had a Terrifically Terrifying Triceratops and a Big Bad Blue Monster with 4 arms and three eyes!  They charmed all those who they came in contact with.

I had a little fun with lunch!

Hot Chocolate Break

Kurt and his Dad were shoveling some dirt outside and of course AJ was right there helping.  It was a fairly cold day so I brought out some hot chocolate to them.  AJ was delighted!  He felt like he was just one of the guys!

AJ's First Football Game



AJ and Grandpa

 AJ went with Grandpa and Daddy to his first football game at Weber State.  He thought it was fun to see the guys "hitting" each other. Kurt and my Dad said he did pretty good, got a little tired at the end, but snuggled up with Daddy and was fine!

Butterfly Pajamas

 

AJ received a pair of Buzz Lightyear PJ's from his cousin.  He doesn't know who Buzz is yet so he calls them his "butterfly pajamas." I think it's pretty darn cute!