last week of the year...

Tuesday we headed over to Cody's school to play on the big, open playground. Everything was damp, but they seamed to have a good time, especially when a couple of friends came along.

Stomp rockets...

Scooting...

and a short spell of remote control cars, until they died. Forgot to check the batteries, Oops!

It's been a really mellow 2nd week of vacation here. Monday we lounged around and watched a couple of movies we had borrowed from the library. Yesterday we went out to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, very cute and the boys were excited to see it in the theater. Today we are headed to the park, as long as the rains hold back.

Tonight is supposed to be some big party night, or at least that's what I've heard! But we'll just be hanging out at home. Tomorrow will be much of the same until the evening. A Christmas present from my MIL, a night out with her, SIL and SIL's MIL to see the musical Xanadu. Probably need to go read up on that a bit, I just said yes to going out!

Yep, today's the end and tomorrows the new!

Christmas!

**Side note: The craft blog is now open for all to see, enjoy!

We had such a wonderful Christmas! So much so it's taken a few days to sort it all out, go through pictures and post a little blurb.

We started the night before by getting the tables set and ready for breakfast.

Then we headed outside to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn.

After this we read a couple of Christmas stories and sent the little ones to bed. They were so excited for Santa to come! Tyler went to sleep pretty quickly but poor Cody just couldn't handle it. Not sure when he actually fell asleep, but he was up at 2, 2:30, 3, 4ish, then for good a bit before 6. Just Too Exciting!

So I finally got out of bed at 6am, had to get the cider started for breakfast. I made them go back and get Keith, he was awake, but waiting for his little buddies to "wake" him.

Santa Came!

Pulling down the stockings...

The dump, although I miss the full arm reach in from last year.

They were finally able to open up their big present, scooters!

Cody with his new camera...

Tyler with his...

The "WHOA" face that was present most the morning...

Yay! A track like big Cody's!

And this is where my camera died, like really died for good. After doing the mad dash around everywhere to find Keith's, only to find the battery was dead. I busted out my camera for a few more while it was charging.

Playing with their new remote control cars...




Playing with the new scooters.

Cody's loot, Ty's pile is much of the same...

Keith's family and Eli's Mum Barbara came over for a breakfast of pull-aparts, eggs and sausage. The boy were excited to show off all their new things and we were excited to not have to rush out of the house.
After breakfast we packed up and headed to Keith's family's house to open more presents.


This was pretty much it for my picture taking for the day, little disappointing. We headed home after playing for a while and took some much needed naps before traveling back over for dinner. It was a full day, but very mellow and lovely.

What about the gifts you say, the big one we received was the Wii. So Excited! We finally busted it out on Sat and played a round of bowling before bed.




We also received some lovely gift cards and put some of it towards a Wii Fit, Active and a couple of new games. So excited to put this thing through it's paces!


I'm working on getting a slide show together of the boy's picture from their cameras and I'll post it soon. Might have to start a blog for them, they are just taking too many picture for me to post all over mine.

Twas the day before Christmas...

The boys are so excited for Santa's arrival tonight they can hardly stand it! They've had a lazy day, watching a few of the Christmas shows on TV, baking cookies for Santa and trying to make the clock move faster.

All mixed up and ready for the oven...

Mmm fresh sprinkly chocolate chip cookies...

Testing the product, quality control...

These are some of the best darn cookies we've made in a while!

As the boys have been lazing about, I've been getting the house ready for company in the morning. I've had to make myself stop because the OCD was getting the better of me. But the house looks great, the serving dishes are all clean, cups and utensils sit at the ready. I guess I'm trying to make the clock move faster as well!
After dinner we'll go out and sprinkle reindeer food on the grass. We have a couple more shows on our viewing list this evening, then Christmas stories before putting the boys to bed. Once that happens, it's time to get the tables set for the morning and play Santa. My favorite thing about all this will be watching White Christmas in the process, I've grown to love this movie and it's on multiple times tonight, but it starts perfectly at 8pm just the right time to get it all done.

So Merry Christmas to you all, hope your day is wonderful!

Place Cards for Christmas Breakfast...

Christmas breakfast is coming to our house this year, something my MIL doesn't have to do, and less rushing about for us. Simple it will be with Scotch pull-aparts, scrambled eggs and sausages, add in OJ, hot chocolate and cider and we're calling it a meal! We are also excited to have Eli's mom here from Australia, so I thought it might be nice for everyone to have a place card. Plus, it's a big arrangement that in my head is perfect, so there's less explaining to do that morning.

(Picture quality sucks, sorry!)

Grandma and Grandpa Scollay

Eli's Mom and BIL Stu

BIL Eli & SIL Virginia

The boys'

Us..

Keith's Aunt Carol, who sometimes comes to dinner, so made one to take over.

These are brought to you via Cricut, my paper stash, Stickels glitter bottles and Xyron sticker makers.

As we get closer to Christmas day, I feel as though I've left something out. My house needs to be cleaned, at least the floors were mopped today and the toy room cleaned out, but that's for tomorrow and a bit on Thursday. A few things need to be rearranged to accommodate all the people and Santa's gifts that are coming. Cookies for Santa are getting baked on Thursday, a new tradition the boys have been asking about all week. All the presents are wrapped and under the tree, everyone is bought for. It's just that feeling of forgetfulness. Hopefully it's nothing too major!

Tyler's Christmas Party

Tyler had a great time at school celebrating the season with his friends. They had a pretty normal day doing crafts, playing marshmallow bingo, and decorating cookies. It was his day to bring something to share, so he showed the new BSU ornament Grandma gave him and Cody. Then they had a really long circle time, singing a bunch of songs waiting for Santa to arrive. Once he did, everyone was given a chance to sit on his lap and talk for a minute, then after a candy cane the waited for snack. They sat down for snack while the moms mingled some more and we were off on our two week break!

The cookies he decorated...

Sitting and listening...

Her come Santa Claus!

Chatting with the big man...

Mmmm snack.

Here's a video of some of their singing...

Sshhh, it's a secret!

**Check out the crafty blog for a new post**


One of the cutest things happening at our house right now revolves around presents and secrets. Tyler has really latched onto this idea that Christmas presents need to remain a secret, but he insists on telling you this quite often. Remember the "no peeking" from the previous post, you're still reminded of this when you enter the house.
Secrets being apart of this really took off today with an afternoon spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They are working on a Christmas present for us with that the boys are doing, which they all love. Tyler is the first to tell you, "Sshhh! It's a secret!" The whole way home, this is what I heard, with Cody reminding him, "Quiet! You can't tell her! And you can't tell Dad either!"


In other fun stuff....


Tonight I made one last re-arrangement of the presents to accommodate a couple of stragglers. In doing so I put the boys' presents they made at school together, making my heart warm just a bit. Cody's is on the left, wrapped by him with a card made by him, "Merry Christmas, I Love You, Cody" Tyler's is on the right, he stamped the paper and helped wrap it, then made the card to go on top. Can't wait to open them and see what they made!

A friend posted some items she was clearing out of her house for Christmas and among them was a Smart Cycle. This thing is very cool, perfect for rainy days and getting energy out. Think mini spinning bike!

He loves it!

Here's a couple of videos:






Thanks again Charlene, they are loving this thing! (So am I)