Our Christmas at Home

We had our "family" Christmas the Saturday before Christmas. That way, we didn't have to haul extra things to the farm. My dad was in town, so he came over for a little bit. Nate and Cade were so much fun this Christmas. We have a Santa that sings. I would catch Nate talking to the Santa. Nate always made sure to ask the Santa to please bring Dylan some Bakugan. I love that he was thinking of his brother. We also had an elf on the shelf who came to our home. We named him, "Scout". Dylan and Cade loved looking for Scout every morning. One morning, Scout had not moved. We figured out that he had lost his magic for a night because Nate had touched him. It could not have been because someone forgot to move him! I also loved that Chase made it a point to buy gifts for his family. He made sure that we took him shopping for his brothers. Cade found the perfect gift for Chase at the little gift shop at Cade's school. It was a shark tooth necklace. A volunteer helped him budget his other gifts so that he could get that for Chase. He was so very excited to give Chase his gift! Made me proud!
Nate loved his present from Dylan

Chase really, really wanted a cell phone. He was happy to have walkie talkie, they were almost as good as a cell phone

Cade's gift from Dylan

Mark opening up his gift from Cade

Cade's gift from Chase

The shark tooth necklace

Mark got this for Chase. Chase loves it so much that I can barely get it off of him to wash it.

Mark waiting for his present from Chase

A gun case - how thrilling!

The boys were thrilled with Guitar Hero Rock Band - one of the cymbals is already messed up. So much fun to mess with warranty stuff.

Nate loved his Club Penguin playset, and his race track that Daddy got him, and really everything that he opened. I was thrilled with the video camera that I got. Mark was even sweet to put a video on it with the boys telling me, "Merry Christmas". Mark was very pleased with his gun scope. Dylan was thrilled with his ipod nano (Mark gave Dylan his old one, which did not bother Dylan one bit). We had a really nice night appreciating each other and spending time together.

What to do with the Boy!

The rest of the Christmas catch-up is coming soon. In the meantime, I need to share a couple of Nate stories.

Yesterday, Nate and Cade were playing nicely in the backyard, Chase was sitting in the living room, and Dylan was at a friend's house. I went to the bathroom, and a few minutes later, my neighbor is at the door. Apparently, Nate came inside, went out the front door, then went to her house. He knocked on her door and informed her that he was lost. Oh, my!!! Mark and I think that it is time to install a high lock on the front door.

Today, Nate was climbing on the outside of the stairs (as in the other side of the railing). He knows that this is not allowed. I told him to get down, and he informed me that it was okay because he had a parachute. Hard to argue with that wisdom.

Santa

We had our second annual visit Santa and then go to Ihop with friends. It was great fun. This year, we had another family join. I don't know why the next 2 pictures are so tiny.
Chase's buddy and my good friend - this may be his last year for a Santa visit :(

My friend and her 2 boys - they are just Cade and Nate's age. Cade and Mason are good buds, and Nate LOVES Ethan.

Santa Picture 2008 - everyone is happy!!!

Santa Picture 2007 - Nate was not pleased

Santa Picture 2006 - Nate was really not pleased

I don't have any of the other Santa pictures stored digitally - I will have to scan them in some day. You know, in my free time ;)

Cade's Holiday Party

Cade was extremely excited about his party! He got to wear pajamas to school. He continued to wear them even after school was over, even to his Little Gym class.
If Cade wears a jacket to school, he tends to wear it all day. Makes me laugh.

Nate was also thrilled to be at Cade's party. Cade shared some of his snacks with him.

Cade with one of his best buds.

Sweet Cade loved showing off his classroom to Nate. Here he is reading a story to Nate.

Cade was very happy to receive a Star Wars book in the book exchange.

Dylan's Holiday Party

Dylan had a great time at his party.

Nate had fun, too. Siblings are discouraged, but sometimes they just have to come.

Nate loves Dylan. He thinks that he is hysterical.

Here is Dylan with one of his best buds. They made these ornaments at the party. Dylan was very proud of his. He pulled it out to show it to his brothers at home, then he promptly dropped it on the tile floor. That was an ornament that was not destined to make it to our tree.

Holiday Party Overload

All 3 of the big boys had their holiday parties on the 19th. Chase's was in the morning. They had a pizza and ice cream sundae party. I picked Nate up from preschool early. Next, I went to Dylan's party half of the time and Cade's party half of the time.

Chase with some of his classmates.

Reindeer Games

On December 18th, Chase had Reindeer Games at his school. He was VERY excited about this. It is a form of flag football. Chase was certain that his team would be victorious - they were not. The injustice!

Nate was not excited about watching Chase, but he did love the bounce houses that were there.

Cade's Turkey Project

Cade's turkey project came home in December. He had a lot of fun doing this and was very proud.

Dylan's Gingerbread House Day

On December 5th, Dylan's class had an assignment to build a gingerbread house. I was able to go in and help.

The fun part!

Isn't it beautiful....or NOT! You can tell that it was built by a boy!

But he is proud :)

Cowboy Pajamas

I bought Nate these super cute Cowboy pajamas. I told him that he looked so cute that I needed to get a picture. He promptly stood near the wall to fulfill his picture duty.

I told him that he needed to smile, and this is the little smile that I got

I told him that I needed him to put a bigger smile on his face, so he complied

He does look awfully cute in his Cowboy pajamas, doesn't he?

Tree Trimming

The boys were so excited about decorating the tree this year. As soon as I had the tree up, they were diving into the ornaments and hanging them up. They had so much fun looking at them and talking about them. Every year, I buy them 2 of the same ornaments. I try to find ones that fit them for the year (for example, last year I bought Dylan Pokemon ones). I write their name and the year on the ornament. Once they are married, I will give them one set and keep the other.



Nate was especially excited. This is the first year that he really "got" Christmas. He was having so much fun.

This is the boys absolutely favorite "ornament". It is actually something that Mark got in high school or junior high on a mission trip to Mexico. You pull the lever on the top, and a snake pops up and bites you. It sits somewhere on our tree every year. It is removed frequently for quick bites ;)
The boys admiring their work.

The finished product

After Thanksgiving

Here is Cade playing dress-up with his buddy, Austin. These are camera phone pictures, and I did not get a good one of Austin (who, for the record, was a Power Ranger). Cade has no idea that this is a girl costume, he just thinks that it is a fish :)

Nate was worn out and getting over being sick. We went with a big group of family members to Holiday in the Park the day after Thanksgiving. Nate and Mark stayed at home because Nate did not need to get out in the cold.

Just a couple of pictures from the phone. Mark's sisters and their families were with us, along with Mark's cousin and her family. Everyone had a great time.

Mark left to go hunting the next day. Not long after he left, I noticed that the refrigerator (packed full of Thanksgiving leftovers) was not working! The top half was not working, and the bottom half was still functioning. Charlotte and Brad were still in town, so Charlotte and I did a speed shopping trip, and my friend Bryan was able to help me pick it up. I had a new refrigerator in place in under 2 hours. Relief!

Warning!!

Major blog catch-up coming this week. My poor blog really suffered from the super busy holiday season. I am so impressed with all of those who were able to keep up their blogs during this time.

In the meantime...Happy New Year to everyone. Can you believe that we have almost completed a decade in this century? It seems like just yesterday that everyone was panicking about Y2K!!!!

Lots to Update - No Time to Update

There is a lot to update, but too much going on this week. It will just have to wait. One quick update. Mark finally got a deer. The deer lease has been lean this year, and Mark has not been able to get one. Friday, he finally got one.....with his TRUCK! The dent is not too bad!