Christmas morning

Cole loved opening presents this year. He wanted to play with each one as he opened it. Chase, on the other hand, is like the Energizer bunny opening presents. He barely pauses to look at each one before moving on to the next. Cole finally opened his last present around 6pm Christmas night.

I think Chase's favorite toy was a pop gun. He and Cole spotted them in Cabela's a few weeks before Christmas and begged for them, but mom & dad said no. So he turned to Santa, who happily obliged. Mom & dad are NOT pleased. These things are LOUD. We walked around all day on Christmas saying "WHAT?"

Cole has had a great time with his train set. It has a remote for the train and has been a big hit.

Santa thought it was time for Cole to have some big boy underwear. You can see what Cole thinks about them. He has yet to try them on.

It took a while for Chase and Cole to notice what Santa left outside for them. Unfortunately, it was really cold and raining, so we could only play for a little while Christmas morning, but they did get some outside time later on that day. Within a few minutes, they had dragged chairs and their pop guns up there and announced that they were hunting for birds. The pop guns are so loud though, that we no longer have any birds within a few miles of our house.

Checking stockings first

Christmas morning

Santa and his reindeer seemed to have enjoyed the goodies:

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there...

Chase and Cole made these cool Christmas tree cookies for Santa. They're inverted ice cream cones covered (using their fingers) with icing tinted green with food coloring, then rolled in sprinkles and covered with m&m ornaments. There was also, of course, a carrot for the reindeer and a glass of milk for Santa. They wrote & colored notes for Santa too. They wanted to hang their stockings on the mantel, but after Cole pulled his down a few days ago, we decided that laying them out in front of the fireplace would be safer. Then they actually went to bed. In their own beds. And stayed there. Whodathunkit?

Being Good For Goodness' Sake

Christmas Card Bloopers

Tried to get a nice, dignified Christmas card picture of the boys last night. Hmphf. You can imagine what happened:

Merry & Bright

What more can you expect from boys?

This weekend at Nana & Papa's house, Chase & Cole got to open some of their Christmas presents early. They got lots of good boy toys:

With all these great new toys to play with, you can imagine what they did all day:




For their birthdays, we're getting them a bigger box.

Winter scene

Chase's tree and snowman in pastel from last week.

Santa art by Chase

Chase sketched and painted this awesome picture of Santa a few weeks ago. He really is a great little artist. We're going to put this one out where Santa can see it next week.

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

Chase and Cole had a good time hunting for the perfect tree.

Cole discovered flocking and had to be convinced that it wasn't edible.

After getting the tree home, we discovered that it wouldn't fit in our old tree stand, so I had to run out and buy another. We finally got the lights on about 10pm. I let the kids put on a few ornaments and then told them we'd finish another day. Friday, when Chase & I were home (he was sick), I heard a noise and looked up to see our chandelier swinging and the tree on the ground. It's back up again and decorated, but I don't think I'll ever finish cleaning up all the pine needles it dropped when it hit the ground.

Thanksgiving

Chase, Jack, Cole, & Sloan at their own little table (those are straws in their hands, which, unfortunately, are also whistles).

Chase & Jack

Cole & Sloan (Cole is trying to figure out how to con her out of her straw):

Cole feeding Sally the Camel:

Sloan petting Forrest. Forrest got a whole lot of love from Sloan that day.

Cole & His Baby

When Cole was born, I ordered Chase a big brother t-shirt. The shirt came with little magnets that said Chase & Cole and had pictures of a big brother and a baby brother. Cole found his magnet the other day and ever since, he has carried it around with him and calls it his "baby." Here are a few pics of Cole & his baby. In the second one, he's kissing it, and in the third, you can barely see it, but his smile was just too cute to not include that pic.

Chase Gets a Yellow Belt

Chase tested for his yellow belt last week, and the belt ceremony was last night.
Chase getting his yellow belt:

Chase with his new yellow belt and certificate:

Antoinette, Kaylee, and Chase:

Chase's Boat Picture

Trick-or-Treating

International Day

Halloween Test-Run

It's a little small for him, but I don't think Cole's giving it up.