Christmas 2014

Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas.  We went to Mass at Holy Spirit on Christmas Eve at 3:30.  The boys looked so cute in their "nice clothes." 

 

 Christmas Eve.... after mass, we came home and made lots of yummy appetizers... bacon wrapped smokies, queso, jalapeno poppers... we had a feast and then had a movie night and watched Hop... an Easter movie the boys wanted to watch.  Kind of funny to watch an Easter movie on Christmas Eve!  Max reminded us on Christmas morning that we should say Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus in his manger. :)  Cole wanted to be sure that we left a treat for Santa and his reindeers and wrote a note that said, "Do you like the treats?"

 Christmas Morning!!  The boys were up before 6am, wanting to go downstairs to see what Santa brought them.  We waited until 6 and then went down.  Max at first thought the drum set was for Cole and then got really excited that it was for him, even though he didn't ask Santa for a drum set. ;)  The only thing he asked for was a Marshall Paw Patrol puppy costume, which Grandma and Grandpa gave him. :)

 Cole was excited to see a big keyboard from Santa and immediately started playing Clocks. :)

 Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa... Marshall costume and a car maker that Cole has been having a lot of fun with!

 We headed to Topeka around 11am and went to GG and Poppy's.  We got to spend Christmas with our cousins too!  The boys loved playing on the bunk beds and had such a blast just playing around GG and Poppy's together.  It was a beautiful day on Christmas, around 50 degrees, so they got to play outside a lot too and we took a walk, which was nice.  The next day we went to Taco Via and spent the afternoon at the Discovery Center before heading home.  The boys had fun in the wood shop making a house, robot and puppy with help from Poppy, Mommy, GG and Daddy!

We are so thankful for our wonderful family and loved being together at Christmas.

 These pics were from a couple days before Christmas.  We had big boy playdate at our house.  Cole, Reid and Cooper made these Santa masks and we made peppermint candy ornaments, which turned out really cool!

 They also made snowmen.

And the boys helped me on Christmas Eve day make Grandma Evelyn's special Christmas cookies that I make every year now.  The boys did an awesome job with the decorating.

Momma Man

The boys have had the nickname "Momma Man" for me a while now. Max especially calls me this all the time and I can't help but love it. Max also loves to cuddle on the couch with Momma Man and often asks me if we can cuddle on the couch together! These are times to cherish for sure!!

Favorite thing to do

Clocks extended version

Holiday Express Train at Union Station

This afternoon we headed down to Union Station to see the Holiday Express Train.  We tried to go last year, but got there too late after it had closed.  It's only one weekend in December.  This year, we barely made it.  Today was the last day and the line was crazy long.  Luckily, GG and Poppy got us a membership to Union Station for Christmas, so we were able to get in a "fast line" and didn't have to wait as long.  We still waited almost an hour, but it was worth it. 

 Waiting in line for the Holiday Express Train

 Getting on the train!  There were several train cars with all kinds Christmas decorations, model trains, and each train car had a different theme, such as elves, Santas, etc.  It was pretty neat!

 Here's the front of the train.  We had a fun family afternoon followed by pizza at Pie 5, which was very yummy!

Maxy Jingle Bells

Max's preschool Christmas program

Rudolph at Coterie

Friday was the first day of Christmas break!  We went down to Crown Center for some yummy pizza and got to see Rudolph at the Coterie Theater.  It was a great production... costumes and set were great and it followed the movie almost exactly.  The boys really enjoyed it.  We got to meet our great buddies, Reid, Coco and Holden there!

 Yesterday Cole got his basketball jersey after practice.  He was pretty proud!  His first game is on Poppy's birthday, January 10!

Last night we went caroling in our neighborhood with our friends, Charlie and Mason and some of their friends.  It was such a fun thing to do!  The kids had a blast and I was proud of how they belted out the Christmas carols and weren't shy singing at all!  I hope we'll do it again next year!  The neighbors really enjoyed the sweet voices as well.

First Snow!

We had our first snow of the season last Wednesday night!  Luckily it didn't snow too much to cancel the last day of school before break.  Both of the boys had their holiday parties at school that day.  But they were up first thing in the morning, so excited about the snow and couldn't wait to go out and shovel with Daddy before he went to work!

 Here's our snowman we made.  It was great snowman building snow... he turned out pretty cute!

 Watch out!

 Maxy loved the taste of the snow, so we decided to make snow ice cream!

 Here's Cole's gingerbread house he made in kindergarten... he worked pretty hard on it!

Thursday was also the night of Maxy's Christmas program at preschool.  He was so adorable up there... he got really into the songs and was swaying from side to side.  He did such an awesome job!  We were proud of our little guy!!

Happy 90th Great Grandpa Don!

Great Grandpa Don turned 90 last weekend so we went to Ellinwood to celebrate and have lunch with him.  We stayed overnight in Topeka the night before to shorten the drive out there by an hour.  GG and Poppy just finished their basement and the cousins were pretty excited about the  new bunk beds!!

 Lunch with Great Grandpa Don in Great Bend.  He was so happy to see all of his great-grandchildren!  We are really glad we got to celebrate with him.  He is a very special man and we love him very much!!

Grandpa Don's 90th Birthday

At Home

Here's my puppy loving guy with his favorite "Love Puppy" and his favorite puppy towel!

 A fort in Max's room... many mornings the boys are up before Craig and me.  They play so nice and quiet most of the time, often building "forts" or "boats" in their rooms.

 Reid came over to play and the boys were making creations in the backyard.

 Cole saw this reindeer project in a magazine and really wanted to make it.

 Connor and Grayson came over to play last Friday and it was such a nice day.  We took a wagon ride to the park.  Murphy got tired on the way home, so he hopped in the wagon with Grayson and Max! :)

 

Cole's new trick!