Christmas 2010

It's hard to believe Christmas is over already. It always goes by way too fast for me! We always alternate where we are for Christmas and Thanksgiving between our 2 families. This was the year that we headed to Iowa to be with Kyle's family.

After arriving on Thursday night I had to make a run to the store for fever reducer meds for Macalan. He was running a temp and the next morning both the boys had temps and were coughing pretty bad. We decided we had better make the trek to Davenport to the urgent care. It was a wasted trip when we found out what they had was viral and there was nothing we could do other than let it run its course. Thankfully they both were in pretty good spirits throughout the weekend. I guess it's better to be safe that sorry.

During the Christmas Eve church service Macalan decided to be a stinker and in his loudest voice demand a snack, which of course I forgot. He wouldn't let it go so I had to escort him from the pew to the back of the church. While we were walking he said to me "don't put me in time out!" Everyone who heard (which I guess was a lot of people) thought he said "don't tell me to calm down!" Apparently everyone got a good kick out that. After hanging out in the back we were able to eventually rejoin our family in the pew. :)

Grandma Mary was able to pull some strings and get Santa to stop by for a quick visit on his way to deliver toys. Macalan was a little unsure but when Santa pulled out that first present he was excited! Sutton had no idea what to think and was having a hard time staying awake. When it was his turn to open presents he just laid his head in my lap and yawned. It was pretty darn cute! We did the fast version of opening gifts and then he went to bed.

Christmas day was pretty lazy. We opened more gifts and spent the day lounging around and playing with all the new toys. Kyle and I had high hopes of taking the boys sledding, but with them being sick we didn't get a chance to do that.

We have spent some time reflecting on this past year. Although we are blessed in so many ways, especially with our two wonderful kids, this really was a pretty yucky year in many ways and we are happy to ring in the New Year with hopes for a better year ahead. We keep the memory of Jake, Kyle's best friend, in our hearts and continue to pray for his family. We are very grateful for the amazing family and friends we have! We couldn't have gotten through the year without you!

Happy New Year everyone!

Gingerbread House

Today was my first official day of being on Christmas break! Macalan and I attempted to make a gingerbread house. It turned out pretty cute, but was not nearly as fancy as it could have been. Macalan had a great time eating the candy! By the end it was smeared all over his face.

We are looking forward to Christmas. Hopefully we can beat the snow tomorrow as we try to make it to Iowa to spend Christmas with Kyle's family. A little elf told me Santa might be making an early appearance at Grandma's house! :) Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Cookies and a Snowball Fight!

This past weekend while we were snowed in Macalan "helped" me bake and decorate sugar cookies. I use the term helped loosely. He seems to think he's the next Top Chef, but he is mostly really good at making a bigger mess than what I anticipated. It is very cute though to see how excited he gets when he "helps." I don't know why he couldn't give me a normal smile, but every picture I have of him he is making some weird face! For anyone who might eat these cookies: yes he did frequently stick his fingers in the dough and frosting, but I promise I had a rag nearby to constantly clean his hands! :) Maybe we should keep these cookies for our family and make a different batch for others!

For anyone who thinks Sutton no longer exists: I purposely took pictures of him this weekend to prove his existence! Poor baby never gets in any of the pics because he is still so little he can't really help or do the things I am doing with Mac right now. Because we couldn't get outside I had the boys have a snowball fight with cotton balls. It was fun for about 2-3 minutes and then Sutton tried eating the cotton balls and Macalan just wanted to dance to Christmas music. I made sure to snap a picture of Sutton enjoying one of the cookies Macalan and I made. He wasted no time gobbling it up!

While I was making/feeding/cleaning the boys up from dinner tonight I couldn't help but think about the part in the movie A Christmas Story when the family is sitting down to eat. Ralphie says something along the lines of "My mom hadn't had a hot meal to herself in seven years." Every time I sat down to attempt to eat my dinner one of the boys would ask for something or squeal a demand! I cherish the nights when Kyle is home for the obvious reasons of having our family time, but more importantly so there is someone else to take orders from our little men! :) Just kidding Kyle, I really love having you home so we can spend time as a family.

We are trying to find the time to squeeze in all these fun holiday activities, as well as finish up a little shopping. I am looking forward to having some time off to relax and enjoy my boys!

I WILL POST PICS WITH THIS ENTRY SOON! BLOGGER WON'T LET ME UPLOAD RIGHT NOW. ANNOYING!