Christmas

(be warned... this is basically just a bunch of pictures from Christmas, not much description)

Okay, I'm really behind. It's New Years Eve and I'm posting about Christmas. We had a really long break, but the time has really flown.

We had one celebration after another. A big pre-Christmas gathering with the Gramlings, Christmas Eve with the Alexanders and then a quiet Christmas day at home.

The kids had a lot of fun. It got to a point where Jane wanted to get in the car and just drive to people's houses and get presents.
I am amazed that Bruce has left the tree alone. I was worried that he would want to pull it down. Instead he is just practicing his climbing skills. Every day I think he will get tired of his little climbs and move onto something else, but he just finds new ways to add onto the climb.

Christmas Program

Here are a couple of pictures from the Christmas program courtesy of another parent from Jane's class. Since Bret was out of town I had my hands full trying to watch Bruce and record their songs for Bret. K-3 (Jane's class) sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells.

The kids were all really cute and had a great time. After the program there was a little table with refreshments. Jane was thrilled. She got three cookies to eat on the way home.

Drawing...

Here are the kids doing what they like best -- drawing.

Jane was drawing a picture of the family



Bruce is just happy to scribble with markers, often on his face and clothes. He was drawing at the desk with us when he saw his chance and took it. He'll climb on anthing when given the opportunity.



Last night was the daycare Christmas program. Jane performed two songs with her class. I think I got some video -- we'll soon find out. Bruce enjoyed it even though it was after his bedtime. I think all of the people kept him entertained along with the teddy grahms and chocolate milk. We were home by 8, but it felt like 11 to me.

Happy Birthday Jane!

This weekend was Jane's birthday and she has more than celebrated. She started her parties on Friday at school. We made cupcakes for the class and she got to be the birthday girl at school.



Saturday she had her big party for all of her friends from school. There were 15 kids plus parents and a few babies in attendance. They all had a lot of fun at JumpZone. After running and jumping the kids got pizza and cake. By the end of the afternoon we were all worn out and ready for bed.

Here are a ton of pictures from the party:

Sunday we sang happy birthday and leftover cake for her actual birthday.

The birthday season wrapped up with a trip to the doctor for her annual check-up and shots. Jane got the scoop on shots from her friend Mia who had been to the doctor the day before. She came to school and reported on all of the details. Jane tried to negotiate her way out of the shots. The doctor told her she could pick a treat from the treat bowl after her shots. She told me that we could just go home and get a treat--We didn't need to stay for shots because we had treats at home. The negotiation didn't work and she did not take the shots well. Hopefully she will forget some of this before the next round of shots.

A couple of pictures from tonight

Bruce got into the markers again, not a big surprise since he searches for them everyday. I let him keep them for a while. He had a great time and eventually drew all over his hands and shirt. He did not enjoy it when I finally took them away, but quickly forgot when he got to wash his hands like a big boy in the sink.


Then he found a plastic cup and spoon in his drawer and fed me. He was so happy that I liked his pretend food. He would give me a bite and say "mmmmm" like he was feeding a baby and then take a pretend bite himself and then laugh and laugh.

Jane got a birthday present from her friend Ethan at school. He can't make it to her party so he brought a present to school. She was very excited. It is a doodle bear that she can draw on and then wash. She named her a very formal and long name that I can't remember right now.

Then she decided to do funny dances and wanted me to take a picture.

Bedtime

Jane and Bruce before bedtime tonight.



They are really enjoying playing together these days. Bruce climbed up into the chair and then patted the space next to him for Jane to sit with him. They cuddled and rocked for a while until I had to pull Bruce away for night night time.

I love it when they are so sweet. It makes me forget the cranky times.

Catching Up

The last week has been a blur -- work, class, getting the house back to normal, wrapping Christmas presents, putting the tree up...

So here we are. We still have some shopping to do. I still have a list to get ready for Jane's party next week. The tree is up, but not decorated. That's the beginning of the not done list.

Jane with the birthday stroller:


I've spent most of the last couple of days feeling really sick, so the pile of not done has grown. I tried to spend as much time as possible laying in bed, on the couch, in the chair (notice a theme) and Bruce and Jane happily ran around and made mess after mess. Jane did try to take care of me and I got lots of hugs to make me feel better. I think I'm back to normal now and hopefully the rest of the family doesn't get sick.

Bruce has been quite a character. He is either drawing (on the marker board, paper, his face, his hands) or climbing. I am really thankful for washable markers, otherwise I think I would have a permanently green, blue, and orange child.

Here Bruce is a year ago -- I can't believe how much he has grown.


Bret and Jane worked on a special project this afternoon. Last week at Lowe's the cashier gave Jane a project apron and a packet of three projects to work on. Bret and Jane made one last weekend and another today. Here they are working:


And a couple pictures from Thanksgiving from Bill and Cindy -- Thank You!

Thanksgiving

We all had a great time Thanksgiving Day. We had a houseful: Mom, Dad, Granny, Katie, Cindy, Bill, Liam, Bret, Jane, Bruce, and myself.

We had a big dinner with lots of leftovers. After dinner we had a little birthday party for Jane with the family. We had chocolate cupcakes, sang happy birthday, and Jane opened lots of presents.

Jane had a great time. She got Barbie, babies, baby clothes, a magna doodle, clogs, and even a stroller. She had a blast playing with everything. Bruce really liked the magna doodle, and there have been many fights over the stroller in the last 24 hours. Last night Jane went to sleep with her babies. She drew them pictures and told the stories with the magna doodle until everyone went to sleep.

Here are some pics of the messy kids with their desserts:

Jane with her pumpkin mouth


and Bruce with cupcake... everything

Birthday Parties and more

Saturday Jane went to two birthday parties. One was at a local toy store, Duck Duck Goose, where they had a build a bear party. Jane built MoMo - a pick tie dye looking bear that she loves. The second party was at Jump Zone where she will be having her own party in a few weeks.

Jane is busy planning for her party. Over the weekend she went from wanting Dora to Cinderella to Batman and back to Cinderella. She'll have to make a final decision when it's time to order the cake.

On Sunday we went to Lake Jocassee. The weather was beautiful, we didn't even need jackets on the water. Bret climbed up the boulders at a waterfall while the kids and I watched and played in the sand. We were all ready for baths by the end of the trip.

Bruce still does not enjoy riding in the boat. He doesn't like his lifejacket and he doesn't like sitting still. He spent most of the ride screaming and trying to climb over the edge of the boat. He was happiest when Bret got up so he could take the drivers seat. He climbed all the way up to the drivers seat in the up position and "drove" the boat for us. He also quickly learned which buttons made good noises (blower, raise/lower trim).

I'd have some good pictures to insert here, but we took out the camera and it had no batteries. We did get a few things on home video.

Time to buy new batteries...

Special Request

I should be writing a book review right now, but I'm having writers block. Since I have some time and I'm infront of the computer I thought I would post pictures of "the shed." Bret and Dad have been working on this for quite a while. Our boat now has a home...





While looking for the shed pictures I ran into a cute picture of Jane from a couple of months ago. She's doing a silly dance and is wearing Bret's Mickey Mouse t-shirt from when he was a kid. It won't be long before Bruce can wear it.



The rest of the family is asleep. I had better finish my work so I can join them.

Climbing Machine

Bruce has turned into a little climbing machine. He is climbing everything -- chairs, couches, upside down toy bins, window sills... Bret got a new tree stand this weekend and Bruce and Jane took a turn in it in the backyard. I've got pictures, but will add those later.

ETA picture:
(Jane insisted on the bow. She's been calling it her birthday bow)


Bruce is also constantly climbing on and off his rocking horse. He doesn't spend much time on it, just on and off, on and off -- I guess that is more fun. Today he climbed on stood up on the seat and bounced up and down and said, "I did it!" Very cute.

Escape

As I pulled into the driveway this evening, Hunter greeted me. He is now officially an escape doggy -- we'll have to see what happened.

Here is the escape doggy looking guilty:



Anyway, he was free when I arrived so he helped me bring in my new vacuum and set it up.



I've done a quick vacuum of the house and it picked up quite a bit (it's actually scary to see all that it picked up). I'm also amazed at how easy it was to set up and use. It takes no effort at all to use it. I can't believe I'm excited about vacuuming. I need to hurry up and get the whole house done well before the newness wears off.




...and a couple random pics of the kids


Bruce on the kitchen floor the other weekend


Jane before her bath

Halloween

All right, Halloween was a few days ago, but it's been a busy week. I had an exam last night so I spent the early part of the week studying.

We started the Halloween season at Boo in the Zoo a couple of weeks ago. Jane was a monkey and Bruce was Winnie the Poo.



The kids had a lot of fun. This was our first year going and I was surprised at how many people were there. We got there about 10 minutes before the gate opened and the line was already huge. I think it doubled by the time they did open. The kids were fairly patient and we got in pretty fast. Jane really enjoyed herself and the big bag of candy she walked away with.



The kids both had Halloween parties at school and Jane got to dress up in her monkey costume. After school we did a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

Haircuts

Bruce had his first haircut.

Before:


and After:


Jane also had her first real haircut.



Both of the kids look so grown up with their new haircuts. I don't know where my babies are going.

It's a Monday

Hunter seems to be happy. So far so good. He made it through the night without getting sick or making any kind of a mess so I'm impressed.

Jane was funny last night. She now thinks that because Bret brought home a dog that she can have a horse also. The horse has to be a girl because Hunter is a boy. We'll see if she remembers this.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend:


Jane helping with cornmuffins on Saturday


Bruce in the car on our way to Sam's to pick up pictures


Jane and Bruce playing in the front yard