Karate Kyle's purple belt

Kyle has moved up yet another belt color. He recently tested for and received his purple belt. He did a great job demonstrating all the skills he's learned. He broke his board with a jump axe kick again . . . this time the board broke into 3 pieces - it was quite a powerful kick! Only two more belt tests and he'll be at the top level for a little ninja. One more year till he moves into the solid belt colors and is part of the older children's program - he can't wait!

Snow

Last week we had 3 days off school for 8 inches of snow - crazy! We spent most of our time indoors, but we did venture out a couple of times. We took a walk in the snow one day and played in the snow a little another day. Jason and Kyle built a snowman, but we didn't really have the necessary items for a face - the boys didn't seem to mind. They were just happy to be out in it. They had a snowball fight and Jason and Kyle made snow angels. Max was a little more cautious so he threw a couple of snowballs (that I made for him) and carefully walked in the snow while holding my hand only. He got nervous if I let go. Funny how adventurous he is in every other way, but snow is the one thing he's cautious about! I think he was also a little weirded out by the gloves that I insisted he wear. He doesn't like to wear gloves and normally I don't insist upon it if we're just going in and out, but I thought they were necessary for playing in the snow. It took quite awhile to convince him but he finally conceded. It was nice to get out and get some fresh air even if it was cold. :)

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. :)