Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Ice Skating

The past 2 or 3 years we have met up with my brother Charlie to take the boys ice skating sometime over Christmas break.  This year we met up the day after before meeting up with my side of the family.  The boys had a blast!  Zane fell quite a bit, but got right back up and kept on going...he definitely improved by the end.

The place we went to had either walkers or these riding seals you could rent for the younger kids...we opted for the seal.  So glad we did.  Landon loved it and it made it so easy for me to ice skate!!  I can do decent, but I'm pretty wobbly, so it was so nice to have this crutch and Landon loved getting pushed around!


 








Christmas

WOW - I cannot believe Christmas 2015 has come and gone!  As cliche as it sounds - it's always so amazing to me that so much time, energy and money is put into something that lasts about 2 hours!  I love every minute of it, but goodness, it goes so fast!

This year the boys requests from the big guy were:
Landon - the Hotwheels Ultimate Garage
Zane - his own computer

Zane could never tell us why he wanted his own computer.  We never entertained the idea of it anyway, but were curious as to his reasons.  We have a family computer that he NEVER uses and he has an ipad which is pretty much a computer, so it was funny to hear him request that.  I did tell him that he can always ask Santa for it, but he needed to remember that you don't always get what you ask for and that Santa does have a budget :)

This year the night before the boys bunked up together in Zane's room (per their request).  I gave them some rules...they could get up whenever they wanted in the morning, but they were not to go downstairs or wake us up until 7:30.  It worked perfectly!  No idea what time they woke up, but at 7:30 on the dot, they came in to get us; it was lovely!  I let each of the boys fill a small stocking the night before for each other and while they were sleeping that night, I laid them under the tree in Zane's room - they had fun opening up those by themselves in the morning while they waited for 7:30!

Landon got his request of the Hotwheel Ultimate Garage.  Zane did not get his computer.  He did get a Chelsea soccer jersey that he wanted and we also gifted him my dad's iphone (he doesn't know it was grandpa's; Santa brought it, duh).  The reason Zane got an iphone is because it pairs with his continuous glucose monitor and will send his numbers into the cloud and we can then get them on our phones.  He will not need this feature while he's at school, but it definitely opens up a lot of opportunity for him in regards to playdates, birthday parties, sporting events etc where one of us will not be with him.  He's VERY good at managing his D when we aren't around, but he's still 8 and it's still good that we are able to keep an eye on him while he's out of our care.

After our gifts were all open, we waited for Josh's parents to arrive and the fun continued!  It was a great day and we are so thankful and blessed and hope to never take that for granted.








Zane couldn't stop sending texts out, they were so adorable!

My MIL made matching aprons for the boys!

Candlelight Service

One of my favorite events of the season...






All Counted Down

{9} Days - December 16

Make cards for teachers & nurse.


{8} Days - December 17

Visit Santa.


{7} Days - December 18

Make/Deliver Neighbor Gifts.


{6} Days - December 19

Progressive Dinner Party w/Neighbors.


{5} Days - December 20

Merry Seahawks Party.


{4} Days - December 21

Gingerbread Houses.


{3} Days - December 22

Drive around and look at lights.



{2} Days - December 23

Watch Home Alone - the boys made it about 15 mins.


{1} Day - Christmas Eve

Decorate cookies for Santa.



Another year in the books!


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Countdown Continues...

{19} Days - December 6

Living Nativity {with the Dyk's}


{18} Days - December 7

Starbucks Treat


{17} Days - December 8

Help someone else have a good Christmas

We made cookies for long haul truckers that don't get to go home for Christmas.


{16} Days - December 9

Bellevue Botanical Garden Lights


{15} Days - December 10

Grandparent Gifts (sorry Grandma & Papa, no photos...)


{14} Days - December 11

Dance Man @ Zane's School


{13} Days - December 12

**Meet new baby cousin Jon
**Annual Ornament Exchange
**New Christmas PJ's


{12} Days - December 13

Landon shopped for Zane's Christmas gift - no photo of that adventure, sorry!



{11} Days - December 14

Snowflake Lane (ran into the Dyk's)

Poor Landon was absolutely terrified of the dude in the polar bear costume...he missed most of the show by burying his head into my shoulder...



{10} Days - December 15

Random Act of Kindness

We bought gifts for a little girl who otherwise wouldn't be getting anything for Christmas.
No photos of the gifts...but here's what Crispy was doing today...








Saturday, December 5, 2015

The Countdown is On...

{24} Days - December 1

Decorate Bedroom Trees


{23} Days - December 2

Christmas Art Project (Eye Spy Jars)


{22} Days - December 3

Grinch Punch & The Grinch Who Stole Christmas


{21} Days - December 4

Hot Chocolate & Candy Canes


{20} Days - December 5

North Pole Breakfast