A Winter Day

We've had some crazy weather this winter . . . not much winter weather in fact. We've spent more time outside than usual. A couple weeks ago I took Max and his friend, Elliot (who I watch a couple days a week) outside to play. Kind of strange to watch two boys playing outside in the leaves in February. It was in the 60's and they had a great time - I think we spent about 3 hours outside that day playing in the sand table, kicking the soccer ball, playing golf, climbing trees, taking a walk, and playing in the leaves.

Rock Climbing

Kyle went to his best friends' Jaden and Dante's birthday party last week. It was at a place called Earth Trek and they did some rock climbing. This was a first for Kyle and he had a great time. He didn't quite make it to the top of the wall, but he tried several times harnessed in. He got a little nervous about halfway up each time and decided to make his way back down. But he did keep trying and seemed to enjoy it. He was also great at the obstacle course where they had to go over/under sticks and through hoops as they made their way across the rock wall from one side to the other. Then they enjoyed pizza and cupcakes and ran around playing cops and robbers. So many creative ideas for birthday parties these days!

Chuck E Cheese

The boys had a day off school for President's Day on Monday so I decided to take them to Chuck E Cheese. We had a great time!

Kyle's Solid Gold Belt

Friday night Kyle had his final belt test as a Little Ninja. He graduated from a little ninja brown belt to a solid gold belt. Now he begins the children's level classes to move through the belts towards his black belt. He's very excited and we're very proud of him.

Christmas in PA

We left Monday morning after Christmas to head to Pennsylvania to visit the extended family. We arrived Monday afternoon at Great Grandma and Great Pap-Pap's house. We visited with them as well as my cousin Chrissie and her husband Matt and my Aunt Diane and Uncle Charlie. There were gifts and stockings for the boys - they were thrilled! And we had an nice dinner. After that we headed to the hotel for the night. The next morning we had breakfast and Bob Evans with Ma, Pa, and Uncle Mike who also were up visiting with us. Then we headed over to Great Grandma Morsey's house to visit with her for awhile. It was good to see her . . . it had been 2 years. After that we headed over to my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Jeff's house, or "Ben and Jillian's house" as the boys refer to it (they're my 10 year old cousins who the boys love to play with). We spent the rest of the day there visiting with many aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was fun to see everyone! We headed back to MD on Wednesday morning.

Gingerbread House

We couldn't get to it any sooner so we finally made our annual gingerbread house on Christmas Day. The boys enjoyed making it as always!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We celebrated Friday evening with Jason's family at Uncle Carey and Aunt Casey's house. We celebrated on Christmas Eve with Ma, Pa, and Uncle Mike. Then we spent Christmas Day just the four of us. We had lots of yummy food, fun presents, and got to attend the Christmas Eve service at our new church. This was the first adult service the boys have been to and they did quite well. We are so happy we got to spend the holiday with our wonderful families! The boys were thrilled with their presents. Kyle's favorite was his Nintendo 3DS along with quite a few games for it. Max's favorites were his macaroni and cheese (2 years in a row!), legos, Leap Pad, and Thomas snowy adventure train set.