Lazy days

We have had a great vacation - lots of lazy days playing in our PJs.  Many days it feels like we ate, played, ate, napped (for the boys), then ate again!

We played with the cement mixer and train puzzle.




We watched our new movies.


We packed away most of the bottles and all of the pacifiers.


We went back to my parents house so Scott could do tech support.  We had snacks while they worked.


Then Papa came and played Karsten's version of checkers.


We ate yummy breakfasts like this monkey bread.  Mario ate a lot of meals with us.


We played trucks.


The boys invented a new game where they each run a different direction, then when they get to each other they squeel, laugh and run the other direction.


We made good use of the new desks from Papa and Grandma.


We tried to teach Liam not to climb on top of his desk.  I think we'll be doing this one for quite a while!!

Girl's Day

While I was off work between Christmas and new year, Jenn and I decided we should have a girls day.  We made plans to try out a friend's new restaurant and do some serious shopping.

We started the morning with shoe shopping (our favorite).  We discovered that our shoe taste is far more practical than it once was.  High heels have been replaced with shoes we know we can walk in while carrying a little one.  Fashion over function has been replaced with a requirement of cute, comfortable shoes. Wow - we're boring. :)

Then we headed to lunch at Cafe Gratitude.  I used to work with Natalie, one of the owners, and have wanted to give it a try since they opened! I expected good food but wasn't sure what it would be like since it was all vegan (no meat, no dairy).  The dish I ordered was called 'I am Whole' and it was FANtastic.  I can't wait to go back so I can have it again. Jenn had 'I am Magical' and she loved it.  We both had 'I am Grace' smoothies which were so yummy.  We've attempted to recreate the smoothies at home - we're close, but not quite there yet.



Parking was a bit tricky - I'm not a parallel parker, so we drove around until we found this spot.  I had to back in to an angled parking spot and I actually made it on the first try.
 

We spotted an antique store next door and decided to go in and check it out.  The display that greeted us was this red mattress springs with a photo wreath clipped to it.  So cute!  Jenn decided this would be a perfect addition to her kitchen.  She asked me if it would fit in my car - I said sure without really thinking about it.  Turns out that it was a bit bigger than it looked and it wouldn't fit in the trunk.  It wouldn't slide in front of the car seats, so we had to wedge it into the back window of the car.  I bet there were some people watching and placing bets on if we were going to get it in the car.  Lesson learned for those people - don't bet against Jenn and I. :)


We then spent several hours at the mall - found some good deals, got a few things we needed, got a few fun things and had a great time.  Can't wait till we do this again!

Christmas Visit

We made a quick day trip to Lincoln to visit Uncle Charlie, Dave, Peg, Brett and Cami.  The place where Charlie lives has a private dining room that we were able to reserve for lunch.  It was nice to be able to visit, let the boys run around and not worry about bothering anyone.

The boys had a great time with Cami!


Uncle Charlie had a good time watching the boys play - he seemed to get a kick out of all of their energy!




Karsten was taking Cami for a scarf ride.  Is the scarf around his neck the best idea ever - hmmm, no.


My dad's (immediate) side of the family.


Uncle Dave, Uncle Charlie, and my dad.


My cousin Brett and I with Uncle Dave, Uncle Charlie and my dad.


Uncle Charlie and our family.


Uncle Charlie, Peg, Dave, Cami and Brett


On the way home, Karsten was playing with my phone.  When i looked at my pictures, this is what I saw. Mario and Karsten had fun with the camera!



 

Belated Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with my parents - they are feeling better and we're hoping all of the germs have left their house.

Karsten loves the dancing Santa at my parents house.  He's now learned to turn it on, so he'll go over and turn it on, then dance (aka bounce) and give us a big smile.


The boys were happy to help Grandma open her present.
 

She told us about this kinetic wind sculpture she had seen on a blog she reads.  I found the blog then searched for the sculpture online. She was surprised - and she is a tough one to surprise!


As soon as Karsten opened his cement truck puzzle present, he wanted to get it out and play with it.  Shannon and I saw these puzzles at Holiday Mart, it has little battery powered cars that drive on big puzzle pieces that have a little ridge to keep them on the track.  Karsten got a cement truck and Liam got a train.


We were excited to give Chuck a picture of both boys on their rocking horse.  We took both horses with us to Liam's photo session but didn't tell Chuck that we had gotten a picture of both boys and their horses.


This magnetic maze kept Karsten's attention for a long time.  I think this needs to become a church toy!


Liam helping Papa open his presents


Liam would find a piece of paper and tear it into tiny pieces.


Then Papa got out the boys big presents - a train table that lives at my parents house and these cool school desks.  I think the boys will have a lot of fun with these!




Chuck has been busy in his shop, he made me this super cool giant yard stick that we'll use to track the boys height. I've seen these online and I LOVE this one!

Merry Christmas!

The boys actually slept in a bit on Christmas morning - it was a nice surprise!

They were ready to go see if Santa had been here.


Karsten was excited to see that Santa had drank the milk he left for him AND that the reindeer had eaten most of the almonds he thought they would like.  Those crazy reindeer only took bites out of some of the almonds.


Time to check out what Santa brought them!  Karsten was excited to see his name and Liam's name on a blanket!


Karsten was also excited to see that Santa brought him the 'ment (aka cement) truck he asked for!


And like the good big brother he is, he helped Liam open his presents as well.


What a great smile - I wish he would smile like this for my camera all the time!


Karsten and Liam wish you a very Merry Christmas!


We took a break in the present opening to have breakfast of egg casserole and coffee cake.  This gave the boys time to play with their toys from Santa before they opened a slew more toys.

After breakfast, we resumed the present opening.  Karsten was super excited about these dinosaurs.




Big smiles while playing with his new rolling Chuck the Truck from Uncle Kevin, Aunt Nancy and Michael.




Want some wrapping paper?


The big hot wheels ramp from Uncle Kevin was also a hit!  It required some building by Scott which gave Karsten time to play with some other toys.


Liam enjoyed his new ball tower - endless fun watching the balls go around and around.


We had a fun day playing with our new toys, the boys took a good nap and we made a yummy dinner.  It was a great Christmas!

We had roasted turkey, Genny's Homemade Sourdough Stuffing (next time I'll add more chicken broth), Balsamic honey roasted carrots, Blueberry Jello Salad, Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes and dinner rolls. And we had crustless apple cobbler for dessert.  YUM!