Christmas 2011

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Holiday Fun!

Can you believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away?!? We have been having so much fun getting into the holiday spirit. We made a chain to count down the days which the boys love. I also made my first Advent calendar so we've been doing a special family activity each night. Some of our favorite activities so far have been: (1) Watching movies together (The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty), (2) Coloring pictures of angels for those we love, (3) Reading our Christmas books and talking about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. I love how Joey is so into Christmas... we have been trying to keep him focused on the true meaning of Christmas this year and I think this is the first year he's really starting to "get it".

Sam is really into Santa. We've already seen him 3 times (he seems to be EVERYWHERE). I never in a million years thought he would like Santa so much (he's normally scared of strange men) but he just loves him. He talks about him all the time and wants Santa to bring him a horsey. Joey keeps reminding him that he has to be good if he wants Santa to bring him his horsey.

Some day they are probably going to hate me for taking (and posting) this picture.

Here is our Christmas countdown. If nothing else, it helps them practice their counting.



Silly Freddie! He colored Joey & Sam a picture last night.



Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were fortunate to have my parents join us this year. We had a delicious meal, beautiful weather and the Packers beat the Lions. What more could we ask for?!?

Joey LOVED the turkey!

Sam is more of a mashed potatoes and bread guy.

He seems rather shocked that he knocked over the tee... :) Can you believe we were outside... in November... without a coat?

Joey and Papa watching the Packer's game

The boys playing on their new horse and wearing their turkey hats they made at school.

Seriously?!? The mashed potatoes are really all gone???

Joey challenging Grandma to a game of Cootie

Sam the happy helper!

Giving Daddy a massage (it's his new thing).

Joey got to do most of the decorating and was very proud of end result.

Freddie, our Elf on the Shelf, arrived late last night. Sam doesn't understand the concept yet but Joey does and has been on his BEST behavior!

Give me a KISS!

Children's Museum

Last weekend we took the boys to our local Children's Museum. It's been awhile since we've taken Joey there and it was Sam's first time. They both had a lot of fun running around and checking out all the little gadgets and exhibits. After we were done inside, we went outside to take some fall pictures. Unfortunately Joey was not in the mood to take pictures but Sam was (and I took full advantage). The last one is my favorite picture of Sam. Ever. I love that smile!

Look who's 5!

I'm not sure how this happened but my cute little baby with chubby cheeks is now a tall, skinny, handsome little boy. It's almost as if it happened overnight. We had his 5 year checkup last week and 43 is his magic number -- he weighs 43 lbs. and is 43" tall. He's growing like a weed. Pants that fit him last week are suddenly an inch too short. He is all about getting bigger and growing up. He loves being 5. We had his birthday party the Saturday before his actual birthday and I made the mistake of telling him he's not really 5 until Monday but he didn't want to hear any of that nonsense. So he was 5 on Saturday, end of story. 

We had his party at a gymnastics/fitness facility. The kids started out by running and jumping on the trampoline, then moved on to an obstacle course, tag and everyone's favorite, jumping in the foam pit. Then we finished up the party with pizza and cupcakes. A good time was had by all and we are so thankful to our family and friends for coming to celebrate his big day with us!!

I will end this post with a few of Joey's favorite things:

Food:  Cheese Pizza

Drink:  Chocolate Milk

TV Show:  Tom & Jerry

Game:  Super Mario Bros.

Outdoor Activity:  Riding his bike

Superhero:  Iron Man

Sport:  Soccer (to play), Football (to watch)

Quiet Activity:  Legos, Art