Christmas!

Long overdue, but here are some of our favorite moments and pictures from Christmas. We had a great holiday--Grandma came out to visit and the boys were in heaven with all of the excitement.

On Christmas eve, we all got prepped. The boys got new pajamas as their final 25 Days of Christmas treat and Grandma read the classic, Twas the Night Before Christmas, before bedtime. And of course we put out cookies for Santa and snacks for the reindeer!

Once the boys were asleep, we went to work!

The next morning started around 6am and we all opened our stockings. We got Grandma up at about 7 and started opening the gifts under the tree. And wow, did we have a great Christmas with some really special gifts from family (and Santa, of course!).

Simon got something called the Batbot, a remote controlled Batman vehicle that transforms itself. Needless to say, it was right up his alley.



And one of Nate's favorites from the morning was his "walking-on piano" (thanks Nana and Papa W!).



I even got pulled into playing the piano, here's a video that I didn't know mom took at the time. :)



Here are a bunch more pictures and videos of our Christmas morning!

The next few days were fun, with Grandma still here and the four of us home from school and work. We played with new toys, read books and watched movies at home, went over to Bellevue for an early New Year's dance party, and Mom and I even went together to check out some dresses for me for Karyn and Fernando's upcoming wedding!

Overall, it was a great holiday! Thanks to Grandma for adding to the fun and to everyone for the wonderful gifts, treats, cards and love this holiday!

25 Days of Christmas, part 3

OK...starting back in with day 15, we did our annual gently used toy donation. Simon, as he has in the past, really took it to heart, and chose about 5 toys to donate. Nate didn't quite understand, but would review Simon's choices and approve (or veto).

day 15 hint:

and Simon choosing toys:

On Day 17, we took a long drive around to see all of the great lights. The boys weren't terribly excited to go until they saw some of the houses that really go all out in a nearby neighborhood!

Day 17 hint:

Awesome house!

On Day 18 they got a cool Christmas puzzle, so their hint was a puzzle of their names!

Day 19 we made cards for Santa, to be put out for him on Christmas eve!

 Day 20 we took a trip downtown to see some amazing gingerbread houses at the Sheraton...all in order to be inspired for making our own!

Day 20 hint:

 At the Sheraton:

And home making our own!

Day 21 was one that was much anticipated...cookie baking! Both boys helped a lot, but it was Nate that really got into it. He even helped roll out the dough for the sugar cookies!

Day 23 we made snacks for Rudolph and the other reindeer, which included carrots, celery, oats, nuts and a sprinkle of sugar, of course.

And finally, Day 24 was Christmas eve, of course! But I'm going to hold on that and do a separate post soon!

School performances

The boys each had winter celebrations at school recently, and we enjoyed the performances at both!

First, at ELDC, we had a potluck dinner with all of the families and teachers before the kids sang a few winter songs for us. Nate has been practicing his singing quite a bit, particularly Winter Wonderland. And Simon went ahead and jumped right in to sing with the group, I don't think it even crossed his mind that this isn't actually his school anymore. Thankfully the teachers didn't seem to mind!

And at Simon's new school, Young Child Academy, we were invited to spend an hour in the classroom with his Pre-K 2 class. When we got there they were playing Pin the Carrot on the Snowman (FYI: 5 years olds ALL cheat at this game). Then their music teacher came in and led them through a few songs that they had practiced. Then the big performance started--their teacher, Sarah, read the book A Silly Snowy Day, and the kids acted it out in costumes they had made. And guess what? Simon was the "lead" character, Shelly the turtle! 

Settle in, this one is over 6 minutes long. And keep an eye (and ear) out for the extra special contribution Simon made to the performance at about 4 minutes in. 

Merry Christmas! 

25 Days of Christmas, part 2

Continuing on...

On Day 7 we put up our tree! Since Simon had the honor last year, Nate got to put the star on.

On Days 8 through 12, I had to travel to VA for a bunch of work meetings, and Matt was in charge of the drawers and activities. We don't have a lot of pictures since Matt was more than a little busy, but the three boys had a lot of fun together. The checked out Google Earth to see where Santa lives and how he travels across the world on Christmas eve; they watched Rudolph and made JiffyPop on the stove; they had fancy hot chocolate and finally, made snowflakes and a sign to welcome me home, which I loved.

Day 12 marked the arrival of Kennedy the Elf, for his third season with our family. The boys were amused to find that he had apparently snuck here in my suitcase!

Day 13, we headed out to Bellevue to see the Garden D'lights, a really cool light display that we first learned about last year. The boys loved it!

Day 14 we did a really cool craft--acorn jewels! We also headed to Crate and Barrel to pick up this year's special new ornaments, and for the first time, the boys chose their own. Simon picked a cool nutcracker and Nate chose a felt bird.

We are halfway there...stay tuned!