Indoor Fun!

Today was snow day number 2, so we're trying to find ways to entertain ourselves being stuck inside! The boys would be happy to watch TV and play Mario Wii all day, but since I set limits on those things they found some other fun things to do! They spent a long time setting up mario levels, roller coasters, towers, castles, etc. with their cardboard block set that Max got for his birthday and then knocking them down, of course! We also built a really BIG track using almost all the motorized train tracks they have. It was fun to see them working together (mostly) building and playing.

Train Ride

Sunday on our way home from church we decided to stop at the mall. Jason and Kyle needed haircuts and there is now a train at our mall, so we decided to take a ride at the boys request. They chose to ride in the red caboose. Since Max was dressed the part (in a Thomas shirt) the engineer decided to let him go in the train's engine and make the whistle sound. He was thrilled! It was a fun impromptu outing!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families. Christmas Eve we celebrated with my parents and brother.

Christmas morning we had our own family Christmas beginning with singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, opening presents, and ending with star wars pancakes for breakfast.

Around noon we headed to Jason's brother's house to celebrate with all of his family.

We're all enjoying our presents and the time we got to spend with our families.

Making Christmas Cookies

The boys helped me make and decorate Christmas sugar cookies today when Kyle came home from school. I had made the dough the night before. Today they helped me roll and cut the dough to make Christmas trees, stars, candy canes, angels, and bells. Then after we cooked about 3 dozen we decorated them. We made different colors of icing and covered them with sprinkles. The boys had a very fun, very messy time doing it! :)

Gingerbread Tree

In past years we've decorated a gingerbread house around Christmas time. This year we decided to decorate a gingerbread tree. The boys enjoyed putting this together and decorating it. Max enjoyed eating the little hard candy balls. Unfortunately it ended up breaking his tooth (the tooth was already weakened apparently due to an injury a week ago). Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother him but he will have to get it fixed with a baby root canal and partial crown. The tree turned out cute even though it was missing a few pieces. It was supposed to come with 14 stars to assemble the tree. Ours only had 10, but the boys didn't seem to notice or care. :)

Santa

We had an impromptu trip to visit Santa at the mall a couple weeks ago. It was a great time to go because there was no line! Max wasn't quite sure who this guy was, but was very excited to meet him - not scared at all! Kyle was also excited to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Kyle told him he wanted a lego set. Max said he wanted macaroni (macaroni and cheese specifically). He wasn't quite sure why we all thought this was funny! :)

Today at school Max got a visit from Santa at his preschool. I was invited to come early to pick him up and join the Santa visit. The kids came in the room and Santa gave them each a present (a book called The Christmas Gift). Then each child got to sit next to him and tell them what they wanted for Christmas. Again, Max said he wanted macaroni much to everyone's amusement! Then the kids sang a song they'd been learning called "Good News." Max was thrilled that Santa and Mommy came to his school!

Mary Had a Little Lamb