Other Random Christmas Pictures

Here are a few things that I wanted to capture about this Christmas but they didn't fit into any other specific event.

This is was our beautiful Christmas tree this year that the boys helped me decorate.  It smelled so nice and fresh and was a great addition to our dining area. 

Flash forward 26 days later and this is our poor dead and poky tree.  We kept it watered as directed and the thing still started to die after about 10 days.  Problem is we bought it the day after Thanksgiving. Every few days we noticed it starting to droop more and more.  By the time Christmas rolled around we were just glad it hadn't started a fire and burned our house down. The day after Christmas the boys helped me to take the decorations down and boy did it leave a really big mess.  I was never one to want a fake tree but definitely reconsidering after this year. 

 As I've done every year since we lived here we made goodies for our friends and neighbors.  I was actually not planning on making it this year but one of our neighbors (a few houses down) told me at Halloween that he's heard all about my candy that they've never been given.  I felt bad and then all of the other neighbors told him that I make it at Christmas and if he was lucky he'd get some.  Talk about pressure! Just kidding...but it did make me feel the need to make it. So we did.  

I took a day off work and Ricky and I worked in the kitchen for the better part of a day making carmel chocolate covered pretzels, caramel chocolate covered marshmallows, caramel apples with different toppings and my Oreo cookie sandwiches. This is a small sample of what we had.  I either plated them or individually wrapped them and put them in gift bags.  Later that night we took the boys with us and delivered them to 16 families. 

We were also on the receiving end of WAY to many goodies this year.  This was just a sample of one gift box full of treats.  I think we had at least ten different families drop treats off to us. I'm not complaining because I'm really glad that we have such sweet friends and nice neighbors but we were just on sugar overload.  It was a lot of fun though to try all the new treats. 

This is Logan going through the car wash.  He is still obsessed with them it still brings him great joy to drive through a car wash.  We actually have a car was membership for the month so that we can go as many times as we want.  We figured it was an early Christmas present for him.  He loves it.  I hope one day he'll see this and see how weird/funny it was that he loved car washes so much and then he'll know that we (mostly his dad because he got it) was awesome for trying to support his passions.

Christmas Afternoon

To me, Christmas should be spent relaxing and enjoying each others company.  We accomplished that this year.  I didn't even make it out of my pajamas all day.  (Not sure if that's lame or just the spirit of the day but it is what it is.) One day I'd like to continue my family's tradition of going to the movies as a family on Christmas but for now the boys are still a little young for that.  This year we just stayed home, cooked a great dinner, the boys played with their toys, Tutu's took the boys on a walk and we just visited. It was a really nice Christmas day. I should also mention that the weather was beautiful. Gotta love the Arizona winters! (Ok, I admit that at times I was cold and bundled in a sweatshirt but nothing like the temps everyone else is experiencing.)

 Grandma Tutu helped Logan decorate his gingerbread man.

 Lincoln insisted on doing his all by himself...and he did a great job too!

 I love this picture of Logan's silly face with his finished product. 

 He also thought it would be cute to try and eat his creation. 

 Mommy joined in the fun too!

Lincoln played dress up in his new superhero mask and cape.

 Logan helped Tutu make some super delicious twice baked potatoes for dinner. 

Lincoln got a new pretend shaving kit from Tutu for Christmas so he wanted to try it out.  I have to admit his technique was pretty good.  Both boys had a great time trying it in the shower that night. 

Christmas Morning

Santa came to our house!  I was a little surprised that the boys made it to the nice list this year.  For some reason I thought that three and five would be much easier than it has been.  Luckily we're only a couple months in and really they have been much easier in so many ways.  

Christmas morning is always more exciting with little ones around.  The thrill in their voices and excited look on their faces is quite precious. We made it 'til about 7:00 am when I could no long keep Logan contained in our bed.  He jumped up and insisted upon going downstairs.  We quickly woke up Daddy, brother and Tutu's before heading downstairs. 

The first sign that Santa stopped by was this plate of half eaten cookies, an empty mug and a little note that he left for the boys. The reindeer had eaten all of their food too but we forgot to take a picture of the empty bowl.

The boys immediately noticed a replica of the Polar Express train going around the track in our living room. They planned with that for a bit before they actually realized that Santa had left them their own little stash of presents and a stocking filled with goodies. 

 Logan's pile.

 Lincoln's loot.

Logan with his new Buzz Lightyear scooter. 

Lincoln got lots of clothes this year including a cool Star Wars hoodie shirt. 

Most of Logan's presents were related to what he loves most...cleaning.  This was a street sweeper.

Daddy helped him put it together.  He also got an extra large trash can filled with Trashies, a garbage truck a broom set and a second different street sweeper.  He couldn't have been happier. 

Lincoln modeling the three Star Wars books he got.  

 Also modeling the Storm Trooper hoody he got. 

 Grandma Tutu hooked him up with a cool remote control tank. 

Santa brought him a Republic Frigate Lego set. 

Tutu got Logan a Duplo Lego car wash set which he LOVED. 

 I scored some super cute plants from Tutu along with a few other fun and practical things like my electric razor, wallet and clothes. 

 Santa brought Logan his very own Nintendo DS.  He was so excited.  

Now that they both have one there isn't the constant fighting over the one Lincoln got for his birthday. I think mom and dad were super excited for this present to come!

All in all it was a very successful Christmas morning.  The boys actually took turns (for the most part) opening presents and Ricky and I went after the boys were done.  Papa Tutu was such a huge help taking things out of their boxes and getting them in working order for the boys to play with. 

Christmas Eve

It is always nice to have visitors and since the holidays are a time to be with family, it was really nice to have Tutus with us this year.  We only had a few days with them but we filled the time with lots of fun activities and we're grateful for the time we had with them.  The boys absolutely love having them here. 

We started off Christmas Eve with a yummy pancake breakfast with Tutus. 

 Later in the day we headed over to the bowling ally.  This was the first time for both of the boys to go bowling. Lincoln had been asking to go for a while and Christmas Eve turned out to be a great day for it. 

 Both boys used the ramp, bumpers and a six pound ball that they insisted on carrying from the ball machine to the ramp on each turn.  I couldn't believe they could carry it and of course it made me nervous that they would drop it.

Lincoln was hesitant at first and pushed the ball slowly but a few frames in and he was pushing the ball as fast and hard as he could.

 Logan was more excited about retrieving the ball and pushing off the ramp then he was about knocking any pins over.  He's still a bit too young to understand the details of the game, he just wanted to push the ball.

 Even Grandma Tutu got in on the bowling action.

 The boys never wanted to leave the floor so it was a constant party in our lane.

In the end Lincoln won!  He was so proud and excited.  

Just before bed Grandma Tutu read the boys the "Night Before Christmas" poem.

 As part of our tradition we left Santa some cookies and hot cocoa.

 The boys were so excited and tired all at the same time so it made for some silly boys.

Lincoln brought home this reindeer food from school.  It also has pixie dust in it to help the reindeer fly.

Lincoln dumped it in a bowl and we put it outside on a box on the driveway so the reindeer could eat it when they stop at our house.  He was so excited to leave them a treat. I think we've started a new tradition.

Ricky's Birthday

Ricky had a fairly quiet birthday this year.  We celebrated in little ways over the weekend. He and I went to lunch and then the movies to see the Hobbit. Later that night we picked up the boys and went to dinner.  On Saturday we went on a cupcake finding adventure. Originally we were going to drive across the valley for Sprinkles but then decided to try and find a new local cupcakery. We tried one spot and it was no good.  We then raced to Avondale to try Kreative Kupcakes that was closing just minutes after we arrived.  They had a great selection to choose from and had really nice employees.  We picked a dozen cupcakes out in lieu of a birthday cake.  On Sunday Tutu's arrived and we sung Happy Birthday, Ricky opened presents and we tried the cupcakes which turned out to be delicious.

Happy Birthday, Ricky! Another year older and wiser.  We love you!

Visit With Santa

I had good intentions of taking the boys early this year to see Santa.  I have to admit that I don't like going to the mall in December and especially waiting in line for over an hour for a two minute visit with Santa.  By the time you get to the front of the line the kids are grumpy which ruins the experience and seems to someone never be as grand as what I've planned in my head.  

Well despite my good intentions, the reality was that we didn't visit Santa until five days before Christmas.  As expected the line was well over an hour and we were committed. Luckily this year we brought a couple things for the boys to do in line to kill some time but it still was a long long wait.  The first year we lived here, we happened to be related to the local mall Santa so I was willing to splurge on the ridiculously priced Santa pictures.  This year we just snapped a couple quick shots of our own.  It sort of became a thing of principle for me...I was not going to spend $23 on a 5x7 picture that I had to wait another 30 minutes in line to pick.  When it really came down to it the boys don't care about the picture, they just wanted to talk with Santa so that's what we did. 

Logan asked for a Lego car wash and a DS (Nintendo DS) and Lincoln asked for army men and an army tank.  I wasn't quite sure what they would say when Santa asked them what they wanted because Lincoln has been saying a bunch of different things every time he's asked.  Logan just kept saying presents or toys until we taught him he could be specific.  Afterward Logan was so exited and kept telling me that he touched Santa's beard.  It's so fun and magical when they still believe!

 The ipad the the DS kept them occupied while daddy waited in line.

 They mailed some letters to Santa while we waited in line. 

Contemplating what to ask for?  Maybe.

 Just around the corner from Santa so they were trying to be extra good. 

Santa was telling them to look at the camera and don't be naughty. 

Logan just wanted to touch his belt and beard.  To him, those are the things that make the guy Santa.