Christmas Eve!

It's almost here - the countdown was almost complete.  We spent the day in our PJs, then late in the afternoon we got ready to go to church.  Church started at 4pm and we planned to get there around 3:15 to make sure we could get the seats that my parents started saving at 3pm.  When we showed up at 3:15pm, church was 3/4 full!  It was so busy, that mass actually started early at 3:45pm because the church was at capacity.  This was a looong stretch for the boys to sit quietly, and they did a great job.  We packed a variety of snacks, new coloring books, a maze book for Karsten and a sticker book for Liam.  Thankfully, the boys did a fantastic job! I miss going to midnight mass, but we can start that again when the boys are older.

After church, we went back to my parents for happy hour before dinner.  The boys were excited to see the musical santa hat!


We had to do our group Christmas pictures before everyone got changed out of their dress clothes.


We have the dancing santa hat to thank for this picture and the boys actually looking at the camera!



We played checkers - or Karsten's version of something like checkers.


Liam had some opinions about how checkers should be played.  Between the two of them, I'm sure it was quite the game.


Liam checked out dinner while Grandma cooked - I think he may have been hoping he could sweet talk her into one of these.  Little did he know they were uncooked. I think he settled for an m&m.


When I was little, I always wanted to open one present on Christmas eve.  The boys got to open this present that my dad made for them.  Each of them got a wooden helicopter and a plane.


One day in early December, Karsten told me that Papa was going to build him a jet airplane.  After he went to bed that night, I called to see if my dad knew anything about this.  He said, 'yep, he asked for one and said please, so I'm going to build one.'  Karsten was so excited when he unwrapped it!


Can you tell he liked his plane and helicopter?  They immediately started flying around!


Thanks Papa!


Liam got the same helicopter as Karsten but he got a biplane which was very cool.  It has a working propeller on the front that he had fun spinning.


Karsten was still flying his plane around.


Then my parents got to open a present from us.  We went to Disney World in October and I made them a Shutterfly book of our trip.


I think they liked it!


It was a wonderful trip and it's so fun to look through the book and remember everything!


Then it was time to get ready for bed.  Liam had his blankets (ee ees) so he was ready!


The boys were checking out the plate and mug for Santa.  We also put down some reindeer food (oats with glitter) outside to make sure the reindeer had enough energy for their journey!


Much to Karsten's chagrin, Liam *may* have taken a bite of one of Santa's cookie.


We wrapped up the day with a Mickey Mouse Christmas book, then it was off to bed so Santa could visit!

More handprints

When we unpacked all of the goodies from Karsten's party, I set aside this odd mint looking disk that came with extra pieces of foam and ribbon.  Finally, I opened the package and realized it was a kit to build a giant mint with the kids handprints on either side.  How cute is that?

So, we got the paint out again and stamped away.  We even convinced Liam to stamp his hand, so we have a great ornament to show their handprints as they were this year. It will be fun to look back when they're older with handprints the same size as us!

Reindeer Toes

You already saw the fun we had with our handprint craft - here is our adventure making the boys footprint into a reindeer.  Karsten thought it was hilarious that I was putting paint on his toes, and it tickled, so he was cracking up.


It took us a few times to figure out how to get the best footprint, but then we had the technique mastered when we finally convinced Liam to do it.


I think our reindeer turned out pretty cute - don't you?

Snow angels

since it snowed, the boys have been anxious to get out and play in it.  It's been so bitterly cold that we didn't let them play for a few days.  Finally, it was 'warm' enough that they wouldn't freeze as soon as they stepped outside.


Karsten was anxious to break out the slide and head down the driveway!


Liam was more content to stay close to the house - he wasn't so sure about the snow and cold yet!


Where'd Karsten go?


Okay, here's one more - I just can't resist the bundled up look.


We got our snowblower tuned up for the winter and picked it up yesterday in anticipation of the snow.  When Scott tried to fire it up to clear the driveway, nothing happened.  Nothing...it didn't sputter, turn over, nuthing.  SO, back to old fashioned shoveling.


Look who ventured out into the snow!


There may have been some snowballs thrown.


By this innocent snowman?  No way!


Liam was a good helper for Scott.


Then Liam decided it was time to ride his bike and was quite unhappy when we tried to explain that he couldn't ride his bike.  This was our sign that it was time to go inside and thaw out with some hot chocolate!

Crown Center Visit

Last year we began the tradition of visiting Crown Center to see the giant tree, play on the houses/cars near the tree and have dinner while we watch the tree.  We had planned to visit over the weekend, but Karsten was recovering from a nasty cough, so we decided it was best to stay out of the bitter cold.  He was feeling better on Monday, so we bundled up and braved the cold.


But our playtime was shortlived because the boys got cold so quickly despite being bundled up.


We had the run of the play area because everyone else was inside staying warm!


Karsten wore my scarf because the cold air was making him cough again.  It's a nice look, don't you think?


Look Mom, I'm tall too!


Enjoying our dinner while watching the tree.


Our selfie  - killing time while Scott went to get ice cream.  Yep, we had ice cream when it was freezing outside...why not!?


Does it get better than gummy worms in your ice cream?


One final photo with the tree before we go check out the gingerbread train village.


I think the boys could have looked at this train and village for hours.


They got so excited each time the train went past them.


Check out the stats of what went into this village!


We finally convinced the boys to get bundled up again and head back outside.


Santa must be frantically finishing up toys because he's going to hit the road/sky pretty soon!


My handsome boys in the forest of trees.  I love all the lights, they're beautiful!