Christmas

It was a merry Christmas!  The boys stayed in bed as long as they were supposed to and came and got us so we could all go downstairs together.  The first thing they do (besides squealing with excitement) is go through their stockings.

 They each got flashlights among other things.

The only thing Harrison asked Santa for was a side-loader garbage truck.  It has hardly left his side since then.

This was the first year that the boys bought each other gifts.  Leo picked out play-dough for Harrison and Harrison picked out a big green ball with an eyeball on it for Leo.  When Leo opened his gift, he jumped up, hugged Harrison and said "You're the best brother ever!".  

 

 Leo got some silly scent markers, which he loved.  He put every one of them up to his nose to smell them.  By the time he was done, it looked like he had a bloody nose.

He also got the pie face game.  He was so excited to play it and get hit in the face with whipped cream. 

 

 We stayed in our pajamas most of the day, played, played and played, had special phone calls, ate good food and just enjoyed being together.

It was a super day!  Harrison told me "it was the best day ever".   Christmas is one of the million things that I love about being a parent.

Christmas Eve

The boys woke up super excited on Christmas Eve.  It was really difficult for them to settle down for church.  Leo's face says it all.  This was our best attempt at taking a picture with the camera timer.

They boys made a Lego Christmas tree for Santa.

Later we continued some of our Christmas Eve traditions of seeing the extreme Christmas lights house nearby.  All those lights are synchronized to music which the boys enjoyed dancing to.

After the light show it was time to throw out the reindeer food in our yard.

Right before bed, cookies and milk were carefully picked out and placed for Santa along with a letter to him explaining how they were mostly good and only a little bit naughty this year.

Surprisingly the boys went right to sleep and stayed in bed until the designated time the next morning.

more Christmas fun

Jeff went to Leo's school to help him make a gingerbread house.

 Leo helped me make Christmas cookies.  Both the boys helped decorate them.

We've been singing a lot of Christmas songs.  Jingle Bells is one of the boys' favorites.  I realized that instead of singing "making spirits bright", they were singing "making spirits cry".   There's a song they learned at church with the words "across the sea in Bethlehem".  One day I heard Leo singing it by himself singing "across the sea in Neverland".  These boys make me laugh!

What to do on Christmas break

About the only time we get to go to the Bounce House is on a school break.  The boys were excited to go back.

Leo needs to brush his teeth.

In the middle of running around and playing hard, Harrison got tangled up with some other kids and ended up with a fat lip.  It was pretty bad and I know it hurt.  Even that didn't keep the boys from wanting to go back the next day.

December color days

Leo's color days for December were white, green and red.  I forgot to take the picture on green day.  His teacher took this picture labeled "almost twins".

Officers Harrison & Frank

Harrison likes to wear his police uniform and wanted to wear it when he went with me to the grocery store.  He got several looks as we walked around the store.  After we loaded up the groceries, a man approached us and asked if  we had any law enforcement in our family.  I told him no and he told us that he was an undercover police officer and if we had a few minutes, he would show Harrison some of his police stuff.

He showed Harrison that they both had some of the same equipment (badge, flash light, radio, etc.) and let him where his vest.  He also showed him where the police lights were in the undercover car and why they need to be hidden.  Harrison was almost star-struck.  He's talked to police officers before but never an undercover office.  His name was Frank.

It's times like this that restore my faith in humanity!

Christmas parties

The church Christmas party was at the beginning of December.  It was a good kick off to the holiday.

Leo got really brave and went up to Santa.  This was the only Santa that Leo approached and this is as close as he would get.

Harrison has no issues with Santa.  He also helped one of the older ladies walk up to the front when she won a prize.  He's such a little gentleman!

We went to the pool Christmas party the evening of Harrison's birthday party.  We were pretty partied out this night.  Leo waived at Santa from a distance.

The library had a Polar Express pajama party.  While waiting for it to start, Leo made their names with magnets.  He told me they didn't have enough letters so he did the best he could.

with their Christmas crafts

At the evening playgroup party the boys got to make reindeer food with Queen Winter Wonderland.  They have done this every year of their life.

We had one more party at the home of some friends.  That one was so chaotic with all the kids running around that I didn't take any pictures.

They did it!

Jeff & I got a new bed back in September.  Ever since then, nearly every night, the boys try to get in bed with us.  It was quickly getting out of control so we came up with a plan.  We made a chart, came up with a reward and let the boys decide how many times they had to stay in bed all night in order to go to Chuck-E-Cheese.  They initially said 91 times but I could only fit 62 spaces on the chart.

Putting the last two stickers on the chart and knowing they are going to Chuck-E-Cheese after school is reason to celebrate.

 The boys had an awesome time!  They were so happy and we are so proud of their accomplishment!  We had a few setbacks but overall, they did a great job.  Hopefully we have established some better sleep habits.  Time will tell.