Saturday, December 28, 2013

Happy Holidays

We were Blessed to have a wonderfully Merry Christmas even though Jake and I were sick.  Turns out it was a Very Bookcase Christmas!  The big boys couldn't wait to rip into Everything.


I got Eric a bookcase, it was still in the garage, because I found I couldn't lift it from its hiding place alone, let alone put it together.  But Santa brought a couple bookcases all put together.  And I was so excited that he didn't even see it hiding by the lawn mower - perks of having hiding holidays in near winter.  But Santa put together a couple of bookcases.  They all look great in the piano room, and we'll be making huge progress towards getting the last of the boxes off the floor. 


The boys dug right into their piles.  
They weren't even going to wait for Jake and I to get comfortable.  
Hard to capture a moving target.


Chris is excited about Santa bringing him winter crocs.  He'd been trying to wear his crocs to karate even in the cold...then complaining about his cold feet. Duh.  But these nice toasty crocs will keep their bare feet warm while we run them back and forth to things.  Also, there were jibbitz in each.  There was a Flash jibbit in Chris's. And a Green Lantern one in Sam's.  Just Perfect! 


This is a great age for the baby to celebrate the holidays.   
He was more interested in the paper than the presents.  But he was intrigued just enough to help open. 


Santa put flashlight keychains in the boys stockings.  They loved them. 
Chris's was blue, and Sam's green.  
They love when they receive gifts in their favorite colors.  


A water bottle topper for Jacob. 
Soon enough, he'll be ready for drinking water from a bottle, definitely by this spring/summer. 
"Medicinal wine from a teaspoon..."


Santa brought legos for sweetboys too.  A bin of miscellaneous duplos for Sam, and regulars for Chris.  
The duplos had a green top - that made Sam happy. 


The boys play with their stocking stuffers. 
Well, Jake plays with paper.  


What is this?!  
New shoelaces!  Glow in the dark green, so much fun for his regular shoes. 


Christopher gets a great look at his new train car. 
Santa brought a The Flash car for his train. ;)  The Flash symbol was painted on the outside, and if you looked inside the door, there was an actual sticker of the Flash inside the car.  Sam got a Green Lantern one too, but I didn't get any pics of him.  But it was painted and has stickers in the same style.  The boys were stoke, and Daddy was quite proud, I'm pretty proud too! 


I went to a baby shower last month, and was introduced to Mo Willems. I had never read any of his books, but this one about Elephant and Pig being in a book was one I picked out for Jacob at Sam's preschool book sale.  Chris immediately grabbed it, and started reading.  


All the boys were thoroughly enchanted.  I think we've found a new author to love! 


Another gift for Jacob from Santa, baby's first box of Cheerios!  
We'll be trying those very soon!
I think Jacob may have been more interested in the box than what's inside. 


Jacob got the boys a new present, bowls with straws in the side.  
He got Sam green bowls, and blue ones for Christopher.  (seeing a common theme this year?) 
Sam doesn't usually have milk with his cereal, but perhaps this will help him be so inclined, thus get a little more bulk into his diet.  Chris usually doesn't drink the end, because he doesn't like the mess. But his friend Max had these bowls in Wisconsin last year, and he told us he wanted them then.  When Max's grandma moved to town this year, the first thing Chris asked was if she brought her bowls with her. ;) 
Jake knew all this. ;) 


Sam helps Chris open the present he picked out.  


In case you can't tell, it's a football. 
Football? Football? What's a Football?


Jake picked out this toy, and wanted it opened up.  It's from Uncle Karl and Aunt Erica from yesterday's Christmas with the Willman clan, that he couldn't make it to, since he was still feeling puny.  But he feels good enough to make some noise with this fun musical toy.  




The boys can't wait to get reading their new stories! 


Even Jacob! 


Jacob found the little red flashlight in his stocking, and since he really didn't know what to do with it, he tried to eat it.  Not exactly what he's supposed to do, but hey, if he's having fun with new toys, whatever?!


Daddy had to heave his Christmas presents!  


The boys wanted to get him beer.  So he received a very nice holiday pack of Samuel Adams. 
His new favorite is the Cherry Chocolate Bock. 


Look what Sam made for us!  
It's beautiful. He made the wrapping paper, and inside was a book about Jesus that he made at school.  



Of course, we needed to read it right away. 


Jacob shows Daddy his music cube. 


Mommy's big present to Daddy - new running shoes.  
He was surprised!  Oh yeah, I had a temporary part time job to afford them, but that's another story. 
Jacob was not a fan. 


Mommy got some treats for the boys loaded on my ipad.  
I bought Sam's favorite song, Good Morning by Mandisa
And Minecraft for Chris.  But he has no idea how to play it, and neither do I.  

We spent the rest of the morning playing with our presents. 
I love how we spend our mornings on Christmas now, just at home with ourselves.  Eric and I cracked into some new brand of coffee with a new coffee maker than Santa brought.  It was low key, just our own crazy kids, who wanted nothing more than chocolate and honey flakey biscuit egg sandwiches.  OK. 

After lunch and naps, the elder boys headed down to my Dad's for Christmas.  
Jake and I were too sick to attend. He is a coughing snotty mess. Now I've got it too, I have a bit of a cough and a sore throat.  I hope Jake is getting on the upswing, he seemed a little more snotty than coughy, but every he insists on sleeping on my chest all the time, and every time I cough I wake him.  But at my Dad's, the boys were more than sufficiently spoiled, and they brought home an entire meat pie for us amongst other goodies.  Instead of 1 day of unpacking, and putting away, like Boxing day, it will take us Days because our family has been so generous.  Thank You! 


While the big boys were at my Dad's, Jake and I celebrated that he also turned 8 months old on Christmas day!  I can't believe my baby is growing so fast! 


It was a quiet holiday at home, but we are Blessed.  We know Jesus birthday is the reason for the season, and we are so happy that we get to share this day with our loved ones.  

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