TYLER'S 4-YEAR-OLD PRESCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

The program that was supposed to be on Thursday, 12/20, but was cancelled due to the snow storm, thankfully took place on Friday, 12/21.  Even though the schools were cancelled for the day, the preschool still had the program, being it was their "last chance" to do the program before Christmas.  And I am so glad that they were still able to have it, because Tyler was so looking forward to his program.  We would have had one sad little boy on our hands if it would have had to be cancelled. 

However, because it was on Friday morning, Lee had to make his way to work and was unable to attend the program.  We took great video for him, though! 

As always, Tyler did an amazing job!  He sang his heart out, did all the actions to the fullest and right on cue, and kept a smile on his face throughout the entire performance!  We are so proud of him!!! 

Good Job, Tyler!  We love you so very much!

 Tyler, the little Angel.

 My handsome 5-year-old at his last preschool Christmas program.  Now just "Graduation" in May!  :)

 Brady and I cheered on Tyler and his friends.

 A special visitor made an appearance after the program.  Both boys ran up to him right away to give him hugs.

 Brady sitting on Santa's lap.

Tyler sitting on Tyler's lap.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE FUN!

The boys and I made our very own Gingerbread house on our first snow day stuck at home.

It was a great and unforgettable time spent with my kids that we all enjoyed to the fullest.  Both boys took turns putting the candy on and helped me decorate the entire house.  And I think that it turned out to look pretty awesome!  This was our first time making a Gingerbread and will now be a yearly tradition!

 The finished product.

 Just getting started on the candy.

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

We had a big snow storm Wednesday, December 19th into Thursday, December 20th.  School was called off Wednesday night for Thursday.  It was great knowing that I didn't have to get up and ready in the morning, but I was sad because Tyler was supposed to have his Preschool Christmas Program on Thursday and I wasn't sure what they would do to re-schedule it.  We waited to get a call to tell us what they were going to decide on about the program and while we waited, we enjoyed our snow day as a family!

And Lee was home too!  Lee tried to get out in the morning, however, he only made it a few feet from our driveway and then had to turn around.  It then took him forever to get back into our driveway and garage.  And while he was making his way back into our garage, one of our neighbors got stuck in the street right in front of his house, so Lee had to help him get back into his driveway.  We were stuck in our house the entire day on Thursday, as our street did not get plowed until early Friday morning while we were sleeping. 

I spent the day home with a migraine, but still tried to make the most of it.  And even though it was cold and very windy, you couldn't keep these kids inside and out of the snow that they had been waiting for!  So, we went out and played for awhile in the morning.  Lee helped them make a little snow fort and they both loved to pick up the snow and throw it.  They also loved to kick the snow with their new snow boots.

It turned out that school on Friday was also cancelled, but Tyler's program did get re-scheduled for Friday morning!  :)  Friday was a great day home with the kids, going to the program, and to the chiropractor to get rid of my migraine!

 Brady making snow balls with the snow ball makers!  :)

 It may have been blizzard conditions, but we were still outside playing!

 Tyler making snow balls.

 Tyler loving the snow!

 It was hard to get Brady to look up at the camera for me.  But, he was loving the snow as well!

Loving this snowy winter!!!

CHRISTMAS IN TENNESSEE

Christmas in Tennessee 2012

Our trip to Tennessee this year began quite the same as our trip last year...

Last year on the day that we left, I got a call from daycare to tell me that Tyler was throwing up.  I then proceeded to begin the road trip with everyone safe in their carseats, me driving to Grinnell to pick up Lee, and Tyler throwing up in his carseat all over himself.  After getting Tyler all cleaned up in Grinnell, we kept on going to Iowa City.  We stayed at my mom's house for a little longer than we had planned to see how Tyler would end up and then left that night to take the 13 hour drive to Knoxville.  He ended up fine the rest of the trip, however it made the beginning of the trip really tough.

This year, Lee and I were woken up in the night to Tyler throwing up in bed early morning on the day that we were leaving.  After he had been cleaned up and new bed sheets on, Lee and I both went back to bed and both stated how we "couldn't miss work" that day.  We had already taken Friday and Monday off, we couldn't miss Thursday as well.  Well, since my job requires hours while there are students there and Lee's does not, he ended up going to work right then at 1:30 a.m. until 7:00.  He then came home, like an awesome Dad and Husband would, and stayed home with the boys on that Thursday while I went to work.  Turns out Tyler only threw up that once and then rested and laid low the rest of the day.  We took off as planned on that Thursday afternoon.  

We decided to drive first to Nashville to see Matt and Laura's new home.  The trip to Nashville was a 9.5 hour trip.  Not too terrible.  We arrived at 2:30 a.m. with the boys wide awake and ready to see Matt and Laura.  Thankfully, once they put their heads on their pillows, they were out and slept 'til about 7:00.  We were lucky enough to have 3 beds all in one room and a bathroom in the room as well.  We woke up and checked out the views of the lake, the cardinals at the windows, and their new, beautiful home.  We enjoyed a great, warm breakfast and time spent with Matt and Laura.  We were so happy that we got to squeeze that stop into our trip!  They have a new, beautiful place to call home and spend their (off-season) time as a family!

We all took off on Friday to make the trip to Knoxville.  Grandma Patty and Pops also made the trip down from Ohio.  While at Grandpa and Grandma Reynolds' home, the boys enjoyed running around with Matt and Mitch, playing with their new toys, being down on the dock, making a bon fire, playing up in the loft, and eating sweets. 

We left Knoxville on Sunday around 4:00 p.m. to travel the 13 hour drive back home.  It was a rough trip on Lee and I and I would have to say that it was probably the last "night drive" that we will do to travel to Tennessee.  It didn't help that Lee was sick the whole weekend and not really feeling up to anything, let alone driving through the night.  We ended up getting back home at 5:00 a.m. on Monday.  The boys, luckily, went back to sleep in their beds until 7:00.  Tyler had to go to school at 8:30, Lee went to the Doctor, and Brady and I went grocery shopping.  Tyler had a great morning at school, Lee found out he had strep throat, and it was nice being at the grocery store with just one kid!  Lee and I hardly slept on the drive home the night before--maybe an hour or two and then the two hours we got when we got home and into bed.  So, to say the least, we were both walking around like zombies!  However, since Lee had strep and got on an antibiotic, he pretty much spent the day on the couch.  When I got the boys down for their naps after lunch, I got back into the van to drive to West Des Moines to do the last of my Christmas shopping.  After finishing my shopping, I got back home shortly after the boys woke up from their naps.  We enjoyed a pretty low key evening together and all went to bed very early that night!

SNOW!

The first snow fall, on Dec. 9th, was much wanted from Tyler and Brady!  They were so looking forward to having snow on the ground, having the opportunity to throw snow balls, and to go sledding!  On this day, however, the snow only stayed on the ground for a couple of hours before it melted.  But, the kids enjoyed it while it lasted and it made it a whole lot more "normal" for us to make Christmas cookies that day.  As strange as it may be to some, for me it just doesn't feel right to make Christmas cookies when there's no snow outside.

And yes, they went out in the morning while they were still in their short pajamas and barefoot.  Don't worry, they were only out there for a very short time.  :)

 So happy to see snow!

 Brady took it right from the chair and put it into his mouth.

Tyler just opened his mouth, stuck his tongue out and waited for snow to fall right on his tongue.

They loved every second of this first snow fall! 

A LITTLE HELP FROM...

Chippey and Santa!

During the Christmas season we get a little extra help from our Elf, Chippey, and a framed picture of Santa.  These two make disciplining a little bit easier during the Christmas season!  And tattles....well, instead of us hearing tattle after tattle, the kids talk to Chippey instead.  :)

Chippey

Chippey is a great Elf that the kids adore!  Each of the boys are beyond excited each and every morning to find Chippey and see where he landed from his visit to the North Pole the night before.  Every morning they come into my room and then tell me that they have to go find Chippey.  They run around the house until he is found and then they giggle, laugh, and scream with joy that Chippey is back and he is in a new spot in the house.  This picture below is from a morning that Chippey had to take the airplane to the North Pole, in order to help out a friend Elf, Eddie.  Our friends, and the boys' daycare, has an Elf named Eddie.  One of the boys at the daycare doesn't have an Elf at home, so doesn't really know the "rules" of having an Elf on the Shelf.  This little boy touched Eddie one day!  Anyhow, the kids were terrified that Eddie lost his magic and wouldn't be able to get back to the North Pole.  So, Chippey had to take one of our airplanes to pick up Eddie and took him to the North Pole to get better.  :)  He landed safe and sound the following morning and had a note that told us that "Eddie is okay."  I absolutely love the excitement and magic that this little Elf, Chippey, brings to our house during the Christmas season!

Santa

A lady that used to work at my school is a great artist and drew this picture of Santa!  I bought it from her, put it in a frame, and it is the perfect picture to have on a shelf at Christmastime.  This picture shows Brady talking to Santa one day.  Between Chippey and Santa, they heard just about everything from the boys.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

The boys and I took a weekend to make and decorate sugar cookies.  They were incredible help and I loved every second of it!  The amount of help that they put towards sugar cookies gets to be more and more each year.  And my sugar cookies have ended up tasting better each year, with more practice!  I love that they want to take even a little break from playing with their toys to help me make Christmas cookies.  I cherish these moments and love watching them have fun with these traditions. 

We baked the cookies Saturday night.

And then we frosted and decorated the cookies on Sunday morning.

Yum!

JUMPING STATION FUN!

We took the boys, and one of Tyler's friends, to the Jumping Station on Saturday, Dec. 8th.  It was a very fun morning!  They run, run, run, and have a blast!  After they ran around and bounced around, we took them to lunch in Grinnell.  It was a great morning! 

 Jarrett, Brady, and Tyler.  I got them to stop for a second to take a picture of the three of them.

 Brady, after going down the big slide.

 Tyler and Jarrett going down the big slide.

Cute, cute, cute!

BOWLING WITH FRIENDS!

 A couple weeks ago, we went to Bass Pro Shop to go bowling and to dinner with some friends of ours.

The kids call bowling at Bass Pro "fish bowling" and have so much fun!  We let all the kids bowl while we sat back and watched.  After bowling we ate dinner and had a waitress comment on all of our well behaved kids!  :)

And since we were at Bass Pro and so was Santa, we had the kids sit on Santa's lap for the first time this season.  (It was only November 17th!)  But the date didn't matter to the kids.  They were very excited to sit on his lap and tell him what they would like for Christmas.

It was a very fun night spent with great friends!

 Tyler bowling.

 Brady and Ian doing who knows what?

 Team 1: Caden, Tyler, Bryce, and Cody.

 Team 2: Camryn, Brady, Ian, Addie, and Ella.

All of the kiddos together.

The first visit with Santa in 2012.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend and we have so much to be thankful for!

We spent the weekend in Iowa City at my mom's.  The boys and I left right after school on Wednesday and Lee joined us after he got off of work Wednesday night.  Thanksgiving day was spent with Josh, Liz, my Grandma Kriz, my mom, and us.  Besides Tyler running a fever in and out on Thursday, it was a great day.  We watched the parade in the morning and the kids loved to see all the balloons.  We also watched some football, ate plenty of food, and even played some baseball outside.  After a day of food and fun, everybody, except for Lee, went to bed pretty early.  Lee headed out to do some shopping on Thursday night.  He thouroughly enjoys "Black Friday" shopping!  Crazy-I know.  He got us some great deals for Christmas Day!  :)

Friday morning we went out to the mall pretty early.  It wasn't very busy since Black Friday shopping started on Thursday night this year.  So, we planned on going to Build-A-Bear.  Grandma Mary treated the boys to their first ever experience at Build-A-Bear.  It was the highlight of the weekend and they both enjoyed every second of this experience!  After this trip, I'm sure we will end up doing this again sometime in the future.

The first step was to pick out their "fur."  Brady chose a dog and Tyler chose a blue bear with white stars.

Second, they got to choose if they wanted their stuffed animal to say anything or make a noise.  Brady chose a bark for his dog and Tyler chose for his bear to say 'I love you.'

Making our way to the "stuffing" machine.

Brady pushing the button with his foot to stuff his dog.

And Tyler stuffing his bear.

Brady testing his dog to make sure he has enough stuffing inside.  A cute little love squeeze!

Before they can put the heart into their animal, they do many steps with the heart.  They first rubbed the heart in their hands so that the animal will always know their touch, then they rubbed it on their heart so that the animal will always be loved, rubbed it on their ear to make the animal a good listener, rubbed it on their nose so that the animal knows their smell, rubbed it on their head to make the animal smart, rubbed it on their muscles to make the animal strong, and lastly, they jumped up and down and around to give the animal energy.  This was so cute to watch the boys follow along with each direction and do exactly as the lady asked.  After doing all these steps with their heart, they were ready to put the heart into their animal.

Then, they each had to give their bear a "bath."  They combed them and got them clean and ready to be dressed.

We looked at all of the outfits.  One of the last sections that we saw were pajamas.  How fitting for our boys!  Our kids pretty much live in their pajamas, so I knew they would be excited to put their new stuffed animals into pajamas.  Tyler chose Spiderman pajamas.  I was sure that Brady would have chosen the Spiderman ones as well, however, he decided on penguin pajamas, which were also perfect!

Grandma Mary helped Tyler dress his bear and I helped Brady dress his dog.

The very last step was to sit down at a computer and name our new family members so that they could be issued a birth certificate.  Brady named his dog Buster and Tyler named his bear Sparky.

Thank you, Grandma, for treating us to our first experience with Build-A-Bear!  We LOVE Buster and Sparky!

After Build-A-Bear, we made our way down to see Santa Claus.  There wasn't much of a line, so we pretty much got right in.  As this was the second time already this season that they sat on his lap, they told him the same thing that they told him the week before!  They do such a great job at sitting on his lap and talking to him.

Brady always thinks that the only reason why we would ever go to "Grandma's mall" is to play at the playground.  So, we always visit the playground and they have a blast running around, jumping, and sliding!

I am so very thankful for this family of mine!

 The first cuddle time on the couch at Grandma's with thier new friends.  I think they were tired!  Those smiles look like they had to try a bit too hard.

On Saturday, we went back out to the mall and took the kids to the Children's Museum.  They love this place every time!

 In the Pizza Parlor.

 Tyler running the cash register in the Pizza Parlor.

 Brady flying an airplane.

 This area was new and pretty cool!  They put balls into these clear vacuum-type clear pipes.  The balls go up, down, and around, and then fly out.  It was fun to watch!

They even sat down for story time and drew a picture!

The boys and I left my mom's on Sunday afternoon.  Lee went on from Iowa City to Chicago to go the Bears game with his brothers.  He had a great time and the boys and I were happy to be back home to set up all Christmas decorations!