More Christmas fun!

The rest of this part of break was spent hanging out with the family while Dave and my brother went snowcat skiing. We were planning on meeting them up there a few days after they went, but that trip had to be postponed. We had lots of baby Bennett snuggles. Both Jackson and Addison love to hold their cousin! They are such good helpers! They got in a lot of park time thanks to Grandpa! We love that there is one just down the road. Not in our plans was getting sick! Dave and Trav got sick their first day of skiing, my sister and mom a day after them. I also got sick, but mine was a little different and I actually ended up at the ER ruling out appendicitis. Thankfully, that wasn't what it was, but the doc was wondering if my sjogren's is flaring. He sent me home with a cocktail of antacids to help calm things down and I have a follow up coming up on Monday. We did find time to go to the indoor play place, which is always a highlight, and also introduced Parker to our favorite little toy shoppe that has a great treasure digging spot in the middle of it.

My sister's family!

My two Christmas cuties!

Our Christmas family picture!

Addie and Parker

Grandma and Grandpa with the grands!

Climbing to the moon.

Quick stop to appease mom.

the big slides!

Bennett and Parker's head

Brotherly love...

Making a sock monkey with Grandma.

Reading stories with Grandma!!

Cousin Christmas fun

My sister had the idea to have all the cousins in matching PJ's for Christmas Day night when we were all together! It was quite the challenge to find coordinating PJ's with the size and gender span we had! But I did!!! All the kiddos unwrapped them and it was cute when they all saw that they had the same jammies (best part, the jammies came with a designated spot to write each kiddo's name on it!). We tried to take our cousin picture after dinner, and we were successful amidst much laughter and trying to get everyone to look and smile at the same time in the same direction. We almost had a baby dump by big brother, someone was pouting in almost every picture and we resorted to bribery with chocolate chips! Yup, we'll do what we need to to get the pic! 

Merry Cousin Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

Good morning! We didn't know what time our morning would start (kids have been known to wake up anywhere from 4:30 on a bad morning to 6:30). Thankfully, it was more like a 6:00 morning for Jackson and Addison woke up about 20 minutes later. Everyone was super excited to find that Santa had truly come, and enjoyed their stockings and finding all the goodies Santa left. Between Imaginext, Legos and American Girl....Santa couldn't go wrong!

 We enjoyed breakfast, and then it was time for the presents. Both kids got goggles, which they thought were for skiing, but they found out at the end they were for a go-cart that they got. They were super excited, and once they found out it really drives, they were even more excited. It's a two seater so that they can drive together, when they prove that they can control themselves! Dave drove with each of them for their first time. Jackson did well, Addison definitely punched it (but we think that may have more to do with her sitting a little further back than she should). Not growing up with motorized stuff, it was a little unnerving to watch, but Dave has done it all his life, so I'm learning....and they love it! 

After presents and driving, we finished packing up and throwing the house together. We got on the road about 1 to go see Grandma and Grandpa H!!!

Christmas Eve fun

Jackson spent most of Christmas Eve laying low, either in his sticker books or watching Christmas shows. He was getting over a cold that turned into a sinus thing and he just needed some downtime. Addison was all smiles and ready to go, go, go. We got invited to go on a hay ride and enjoy some hot cocoa and cookies in the afternoon, so amidst the packing frenzy, we took a break. And what a fun break it was! Everyone had a good time! Thanks "L" family for the invite!!! 

The hay ride!

The plan after the hay ride was to grab a bite of dinner in town and then change for church. Well, Jackson didn't feel up to eating dinner, so we made the decision to head home and have our own Christmas Eve service. We read the Christmas story, sang a few songs and talked about why we celebrate Jesus's birth and what the real meaning of Christmas is. It was intimate, quiet and exactly what we needed! After that, kids changed into their Christmas jammies, hung their stockings and got the cookies out. They also picked a few carrots from our garden for the reindeer (one must not forget the reindeer). Both kiddos were in bed by 7 (yay for Santa), and the parents made it into bed about 9!!! 

Addison and Jackson, stockings are hung!!

Dirt and Worms

We are gearing up for a remodel in our backyard...now that both kids can swim, we are venturing into the pool world and will be installing one this winter. In order to get started, Dave has to push back two walls. This means that he had to dig up the grass. And in our world, dug up grass means that there are worms....lots and lots of worms! Jackson spent a better part of the entire day on the pile as it got higher and higher. Addison, not quite as much, but still some. I love that they both love to get dirty and play in the mud. Though I don't particularly like worms anymore, when I was younger, I remember walking with my mom to drop my sister off at the babysitters. There were always worms on her sidewalk and I remember many times when I went to kindergarten with a cup full of worms. So, if we have wormy days, we are going to enjoy our wormy days to the fullest!