Christmas Time Festivities

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG ONE!!

The month of December flew by as it always does, filled with parties and baking and shopping and decorating. It seemed as though Christmas kind of snuck up on me this year. I have to admit that my glass of Christmas cheer seemed to be half empty this season, but even in spite of my internal "Bah-hum-bugs" we managed to squeeze in some festive fun!

Because we live in The Less-Than-Spacious Rental on D. Street and all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, we kept the hanging of garland and tinsel to a MINIMUM!

I let the boys be in charge of putting up the (three-foot) Christmas tree and all of the decorating. And for the first time, I relinquished all of my decorating control!! A big step for me, and the joy it brought to the boys made it totally worthwhile.


They carefully hung each ornament and ribbon (and stuffed animal and Dr. Seuss book).

Once something was put into place then that is where it stayed...at lease until the next day when they would rearrange everything!

Tytus took this picture of Beau next to the tree (and vase??). He was obviously very proud of his work...he even fixed his hair for this photo session (I guess wearing a shirt was optional!).

I bought the boys this Nativity scene to which Tytus so precisely placed each person and animal admiring the baby Jesus!

And we colored Christmas pictures for our friends and family....

he can't color worth a darn yet, but he's as cute as can be...and he always wants to be a part of the activity.

T-Man takes it pretty seriously...

but not as serious as Beau...yup, you saw it...a PURPLE Christmas tree...the boy still LOVES purple!

Cash really likes to color...just not on the paper (oh, well).





Tytus had a Christmas assembly at school...

The Pre-K class led the other grades in songs and poems. Tytus line was something like, "Please join us in a moment of silence. Ready, begin."...you couldn't hear a word he said, but he's come a long way from crying hysterically like he did at the VBS program! He did a great job and sang loud and proud on "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Tytus with his "best friend" KC.



And we made gingerbread houses.....

Projects like this are serious business to Beau...constructing something with sugary, delicious treats...what could be more important to a three year old than that?!

Thank goodness for Tytus or I would never be in a picture with my children (not that I'm that eager to be on the other side of the camera!) And on a completely unrelated note: someday I'd like to count how many photos I am in wearing that beloved O-State hoodie that I somehow managed to steal from my sister and hang on to it all these years...I'll get back to you on this one...I know you are waiting with baited-breath!

Not sure Cash was that much help with the house construction, but once again..."How cute is this kid?!!"

The finished product! Next year......Daddy is in charge of the gingerbread house construction!!





And Beau had a preschool Christmas program...(which lasted all of seven minutes!)

He did a fantastic job! He walked around for weeks with his "I'm way too cool to practice singing this song" attitude, then surprised us as usual by knowing every word! He seemed a little confused as to why Mrs. S. felt the need to clutch onto his shoulders during the performance (as did I), but he shrugged it off and kept on singing!

We worked for hours making cookies for the "cookie exchange." Then as soon as it was his turn to choose which cookies he wanted to take home...he ran straight to the cookies we had made rather than "exchanging" them for others brought by his classmates! We were in and out of there in 25 minutes flat!!


And Tytus had a Christmas Pajama party at school...

they had a book exchange, which seemed to confuse and frustrate most of them as they really just wanted to keep the book that they had brought!

and he got to sit and Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas...thank goodness I was there for this! I had no idea all he wanted was a "Slinky-dog" from Toy Story 3! Thankfully my sister was not finished with her shopping either and could join me on the "dog" hunt.

At this point I will refrain from sharing my Scrooge-like feeling towards Santa!

We saw Santa again...Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE! Beau and Cash wanted NOTHING to do with him, so this is the family picture with Santa this year!


And we went to The Christmas Train with the Becks...which is officially going to become an annual Holiday event for us.

IT WAS COLD!!! and it's impossible to get a good picture of five kids.

Look closely...yeah, that's Kyle on the carousel!

Look at those chubby cheeks....have I mentioned how cute I think this kid is?!?!

The Boys with their best bud, Eli. Those three have so much fun together!

Ahhh, how sweet! We love these two.

and Journey Faith came too!

The Gang loved The Christmas Train. It will definitely be a family tradition from now on, as well as the coloring pictures for friends and family and making gingerbread houses and baking cookies...I may even allow the boys to decorate the tree again. Okay, let me clarify...I will let them decorate their own three foot Christmas tree again next year and keep the big one all to my controlling self!

Naptime Hide and Seek

I can see why you might think that this is a comforter wadded up on the floor (the dirty clothes next to it certainly don't help in leading you to believe otherwise!). Sure at first glance that's what I might think too. And, indeed that is what I thought when I went looking for Beau one recent afternoon. It was naptime and as usual his instructions were to go lay down and I would be in to tuck him in and give him kisses a few minutes later. But when I went to fulfill my duties, he wasnt' in his bed, he wasn't on the top bunk, nor was he in my bed, the bathroom, or hiding in the closet!

Thankfully, Beau is a snorer...his "log sawing" led me to this pile of bed covers. He had sneakily hid under his comforter, but was so exhausted that he fell asleep before he had a chance to jump out and surprise me! I'm telling you this kid was completely covered with covers!! I couldn't see even an inch of him.

I gently lifted him onto the bed and uncovered his face. (How does one sleep with a blanket over his face anyway?) But not until I snapped a picture! Trust me, I made sure his airway wasn't blocked first!

He napped all afternoon as usual (and then we had a little chat about when and where to hide from Mommy).

SUPRISE!....Momma Turns 30!!!

Ahhhh...Thirty! I've been anticipating entering this decade for the past few years....and now it's here! And was I SURPRISED at how I got to celebrate!! My sister, mom and inner circle (with a little help from Brock) pulled off a wonderful suprise evening just for me. I unknowingly threw some kinks in their plan along the way, but they adjusted and we had a most fantabulous time complete with mani/pedis, Mexican food, high school scrapbooks (YIKES!), and of course dessert! I LOVE these women...Carissa, Jade, Bratt, Shanna, Kandy, and Mom...THANKS for a very special evening. I can't wait to see what the thirties have in store!

The (Big Red) Barn!!

She's Finished!!!

Isn't she pretty?! I've always wanted a red barn....I think she's pretty!

I especially like these (umm, what are these called?)...anyway...I really like this detail.

The boys are so excited about the barn too! Tytus asked to have his picture taken with her.

You can do lots of things with a barn...store a tractor and all your equipment. I think that's the main idea. I'm leaning a little more toward parties, barn dances, maybe even a good ol' fashion box supper...ooohhh, maybe someday one of my sons with meet and fall in love with a wonderful woman and it will have always been her dream to have a big wedding reception in a big red barn and then I will fall in love with her too and call all my friends and we will start cleaning and preparing and throw one giant wedding party reception!!! oh boy, did I get side tracked for a second...

You could even live in a barn...

(to be continued!)

Halloween

{The following picture of Beau was originally placed later in this post, however when I was proof reading I somehow accidentally deleted it. Then I was a bit frustrated and gave up! So try and be flexible when reading this one...it's been a while since I posted and I'm just thankful to FINALLY have a Halloween post up...even if it is three weeks later and scrambled!}

The boys and I spend Halloween at Grandma's house this year. This was the first year that Brock was not able to be with the boys on Halloween (however, thanks to modern technology it was kind of like he was with us)...it was also the first time we legitimately 'Trick or Treated' (meaning we actually went door-to-door asking for candy, rather than going only to a couple of friends' and families' homes and showing off our adorable children!!), and it was the first year that I lost all control in the costume department!

I wanted the boys to be Coach Gundy and two OSU football players....and they did not. Basically I contended with winning one out of three!

Even without going with coordinating costumes they still looked adorable and had a really good time.

Tytus chose Buzz Lightyear. Thankfully Mom found a costume at Wal-Mart a couple of days before Halloween! He was as happy as could be and I was just fine with not dragging out my sewing machine and/or hot glue gun and throwing together a home-made costume!


{and this is where the picture of Beau as Spider-Man is suppose to go...if anyone out there in blogger world can help me...please do so!}

Beau was Spider-Man...again! oh, wait, I stand corrected...last year he was Spider-Man...this year he was "the REAL Spider-Man"! The boys is having a bit of an identity crisis! Oh well, who cares when you look as cute as he does!!

And Cash...oh thank you, Cash...for not being able to talk yet and express your own opinion on the subject! Cash so willing went as Coach Mike Gundy! He played the part very well and was a big hit at the neighborhood party...

He wore his headphones so that he could talk to the guys in the booth...he decided this year that he needed some help calling plays...

He has a really good arm (just like he did back in the Barry Sander days) and he had to get in a few passes...

He carried his 'Playbook'...just in case his new offensive coordinator wasn't getting the job done!

Even though I wanted the big boys to wear their football uniforms and they did not, they still played football (rather than playing on the playground with the rest of the children)...

and tackled one another over and over...Now, how cute would this have been if they were wearing their uniforms? Okay, I'll get over it (or next year I'll forget to give them options!)
just kidding!

We left 'Coach Gundy' at home...because let's face it "he is a man" afterall, and T-Man, Beau and me set out to gather as much candy as we could!

And that we did!!!!

YOUR O-S-U COWBOYS!!!!!!!

Earlier this season we took the older boys to an O-State football game (will post more on this later). They had a blast and now when we watch them on TV they have to play their own game, complete with pre-game warm ups, running out of the tunnel, first downs, touchdowns, "waving wheat", halftime, and of course Bullet!



First you've got to get pumped up for the big game with lots of growling, jumping up and down, and 'smack talk' (3 and 4 yr old style!)

Next you have to do your stretches and take some practice snaps!

Then it's GAME TIME!! So everyone has to line up in the 'tunnel'. Mom makes some pretend smoke and puts on her announcer voice...."And here they are...YOUR O-S-U COWBOYS!!"

(I know it appears that I lock my kids in a cage...I would NEVER THINK of doing something like that!!! But it's the only place in the backyard that has a gate that they can bust open and run through...it is important to be as authentic as possible...use your imagination people!!)

Then you run around the 'field' followed by 'Bullet'! Did you miss Bullet? He's there...the 'horse' in the background...okay, it's really Cash...somebody has to be Bullet!!

And when it's halftime you huddle up with Coach Gundy (a.k.a. Mommy) to draw up some trick plays...

and get your picture taken, because you are just so adorable (I mean, TOUGH) in those helmets and jerseys!!

I LOVE MY OSU COWBOYS!!!!!