O Christmas Tree!

On Sunday we started trying to find all of our Christmas decorations and by Tuesday we finally had the tree up ready to go!  I was getting the ornaments out of their boxes and I am usually the one that puts most of them on the tree.  This year, however, the boys just started grabbing every ornament that I set out... usually at this point, I stop them and we talk about how everything is very breakable, but my two little guys actually did a fantastic job of being careful and even spreading the ornaments out on the tree (so they weren't all clumped together!)  So, this year, our tree was decorated mostly by Benjamin and Conner... and yes, they are wearing snowpants and boots... and no, it hasn't snowed, nor were we playing outside...  sometimes they get something in their heads that they want to do and I just go with it!

More Thanksgiving and a Little Christmas...

On Friday and Saturday, we had all of Nick's family here for Thanksgiving and an early Christmas celebration with some of our family!  The boys had an awesome time, especially with cousin Jennifer!

 

After a very fun night hanging out with Nick's aunt, uncle, and cousins, we had a little early Christmas celebration on Saturday morning!  Ben and Conner were definitely ready for some more partying and even a few presents!

Before Nick's parents even left on Saturday afternoon, Ben grabbed his blanket and collapsed onto the couch!  After 3 days of constant excitement, our little man was done!

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  Now... onto Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had an excellent Thanksgiving meal at our house! (Thanks in large part to Nana!)  The boys were very excited when Nana and Gramps arrived.  They got even more excited when Aunt Cari, Uncle Curt, and Marley walked in the door!  And we were so happy that Aunt Peg, Uncle Brian, and Great Grandma could join in on the fun!  Some games, great food, and awesome company made our Thanksgiving day wonderful!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 



Different...

While waiting for guests to arrive for our Thanksgiving dinner, Conner showed a great deal of patience as he built his own little city of blocks, while Ben raced his cars around Conner's fragile city!  Just a reminder that these two little boys have two very different minds of their own!

Almost Turkey Day...

Conner and Ben have their turkey hats ready to go!

 

Christmas Lights...

The Christmas lights are up and they went up accident free!!!  We figured we should take advantage of the warmer temperature today.  Half of the neighborhood had the same idea!  We weren't sure how it was all going to come together, but it worked out well.  Good job Nick!!!

Gymtastic!

This weekend was our niece, Marley's, 3rd birthday so we headed to Des Moines to go celebrate!  Happy Birthday Marley!!!

My sister Cari had booked The Little Gym for us to go continue the party at, so after Marley was done opening presents, we headed over to the gym.  The boys didn't know what to expect, but when they walked in and saw all of the equipment and mats everywhere, they were squealing with delight!  They had the best time!!!  It was awesome to see them get to do so many different things.  They were fearless and enjoyed every second of their gym time!  (Ben has the blue shorts, and Conner has the gray ones on!)

They ended the evening at the gym with singing Happy Birthday to Marley and enjoying some Dora cupcakes.  Of course, my kids were the ones who didn't care about the cake at all and just wanted to get back in the gym!  Ben kept saying, "More exercise?  We get to do more exercise?"  Needless to say, they were not happy when the party ended, but everyone had such a great time!  Thanks for the awesome party, Marley!!!

Bowling!

We got to go bowling today with Ben and Conner's preschool!  As always, the excitement started when they saw that big yellow bus!  They enjoyed the bumpy ride and then it was time to bowl.  The boys have never been bowling before, so I couldn't wait to see how they did!  They loved it!  The only part that proved to be a little hard was waiting for their next turn!  Conner came up with a very unique move when he rolled the bowling ball down the lane.  As he was pushing with all his strength, he would tuck his head down, almost as if he was bowing to the ball!  It was a very dramatic flourish that seemed very fit for our ConMan!

Ben had such a great time!  He was pushing that ball down the lane with all his might and greatly enjoyed cheering for himself and for all of his friends! 

It was a very memorable morning and the boys are definitely interested in going bowling again!

For Future Reference...

Driving home from an appointment today, we passed a car lot and this was the conversation that followed...

Me:  Ooh, look at that nice red mustang.  When you guys grow up will you buy Mom a nice red mustang?
Conner:  Sure Mom!
Ben:  Yes, I will buy you a new car.  You want red?
Me:  Or black...
Ben:  I'm on it, Mommy!
Me:  Thanks guys.  What kind of cars do you want?
Ben:  A bulldozer, maybe a red one...
Conner:  I want a crane!
Me:  What would you do with a bulldozer and a crane?
Ben:  I will build 2 houses.
Me:  Who will live in the 2 houses?
Ben:  You, of course!
Me:  But who will live in the second one?
Ben:  Daddy!
Me:  Won't Daddy live with Mommy?
Ben: .... oh yeah... me and Conner will live in the other one right by you!
Conner:  Yeah!
Me:  That sounds perfect!
Ben:  Yep.  I just need that bulldozer... and a dumptruck...

The conversation continued, but turned sour when I told Ben that he would not be getting a bulldozer today.  The important part, however, is the part about how my boys are going to live right next to me.  I just wanted that part recorded for future reference....

No More Pumpkins...

We finally got our Halloween pumpkins thrown out this week and Ben was not happy about it... not at all... His face was frozen like this for quite a while when he realized what we had done!

Our 11th Wedding Anniversary!

11 Years....  Funny how it happened "so long" ago and I can still remember almost everything about that day.  I suppose it is the same for many brides.  But you know what I remember the most about our wedding night... (don't worry, I know who reads this, so I will keep it clean :)  What I remember most is sitting in our suite, in our very own hot tub, talking about the day, laughing, reliving all the moments that we still remember to this day and wondering what was next.  I cherish this memory the most because, I realize, that it was a small preview of what life was going to be like for us...  sitting together, laughing, wondering... and so, our 11th anniversary turned out quite perfect...  just you and me, sitting, still laughing, and always wondering...  Thank you, Nick, for 11 years of marriage, 11 years of smiles and laughter, 11 years of your support that is so unbelievably strong, and 11 years of love that has been tested many times, but has always won in the end.  I love you...

Thanks Nana and Gramps for taking care of our little ones so Nick and I could have a "moment" to ourselves... we needed it and we greatly appreciate it! 

Foosball!

Ben and Conner have recently discovered a love for foosball!  We put up our old foosball table the other day and the boys want to play it all the time now!

Reminder...

On a Tuesday morning that began at 4:45a.m., I felt it was necessary to remind myself of how wonderful my children can be!  Hence the matching outfits and the posed picture....  I'm choosing to move past the way-too-early morning, the constant bickering that followed and the fact that my two cuties can't seem to stop saying the word "poopie" to describe almost everything today...

Dress Up...

Sometimes, on a boring Monday afternoon, you just gotta dress up...

 

School Pictures!

The boys brought their school pictures home so I wanted to share!  The aide in Conner's room had warned me that his picture might not be so good!  She said that they tried everything to get him to just smile normally, but he either screamed "cheese" with his mouth wide open or looked like this...!!!  He's not smiling, but this is definitely one of Conner's famous expressions.  I imagine he's thinking, "Seriously, just take the picture, or whatever it is that you are trying to do to me so that I can get back to playing..."

Our Ben was all smiles for his pictures and they captured his joyful expression perfectly!  His mouth is always open lately, either laughing or talking nonstop!  I love it!