4!

I simply cannot believe that my little guy is 4 years old. It's been a marvelous 4 years, and I look forward to (Lord-willing) many more years with my sweet, tender hearted little guy. He has promised me that he will not turn 5...he'll stay 4 forever. I looking forward to having a 4 year old around for a long, long time.

We had a great day! We started out the day by having homemade cinnamon rolls (thank you, Pioneer Woman!) and fresh pineapple with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Trent and Aunt Paige. We followed breakfast by opening lots and lots of gifts!

We spent the day pretty much exclusively outside. It was a PERFECT day. We played with the new scooter, played sports, went to the park, built a new tent, played with race cars, etc.

We went for an early dinner with Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Trent and Aunt Paige, Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Ami, and Paige's mom and 2 sisters, Hannah and Lydia. It was quite a party! We followed dinner with a yummy Cars 2 cake.

The kids were in bed by 9:30, after a LONG day. Then the adults finished off 2011 with some Settlers of Catan, Puppy Chow, and Caipirinhas. It was a great birthday and New Years Eve! 

Texas!

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I am not a fan of cold weather. I'd be perfectly happy if I never had to wear covered shoes or a coat again. Sure, there's something cozy about a cold day and a fire...and I do love snow skiing. But, generally speaking, I just don't like the cold, especially now that I have kids. It's just a pain in the rear to get socks, shoes, jackets, hats, etc all on the kids and then load them up for wherever we're going. I love summer-- throw in the flip flops and out the door we go.

It doesn't get super cold down here, although we do have some ice/snow every year. It's been fairly cold lately-- mid-40s. But yesterday and today (and supposedly tomorrow), it's been GORGEOUS! Yesterday the boys spent nearly all afternoon outside, William on his skates and Hudson with his scooter and playing sports.

Hanging out ON the Christmas tree....

Grandpa had to try out the scooter

I went for a run this morning, and it was such a perfect day for a run. And now the boys have been outside playing in the sandbox

THIS is why I love living in Texas. Dave and his dad picked a perfect day for golf. And it's a good thing I got a pedicure yesterday...the flip flops are coming out!

Grandma and Grandpa

Dave's parents are here for the week, and the boys couldn't be happier!

new stuff

The boys have been having a fantastic time with all their new things. Here are a few of their favorites:

Hudson is currently obsessed with Cars, so we got him a Cars 2 car launcher.
He's a big fan.

William BEGGED for roller skates, and he has since
been living in them. He's slowly getting a bit more stable...
But, it's provided me with hours of good laughs.

These are probably the biggest hit of the year: Rokenboks. I got them for William,
but really it's good for both of them (and us adults are also fighting for turns). If your
kids are into construction/remote controls/building, I highly recommend investing in these!

Not pictured, but getting lots of good play time: a totally awesome fold out wooden pirate ship, new MobiGo video games, Garnet Hill shark and rocket slippers, and a few DVDs.

Day 25: Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas morning/day/evening. Thankfully, the kids didn't get up at the crack of dawn like I anticipated they might. The kids (and adults) loved all their gifts, and it was a fun time seeing the excitement in their eyes. We followed all the gifting with a big, huge yummy breakfast. 

Hudson's big gift was a pirate ship. It was a bit hit!

We got William a set of Rokenboks. 

Crew had a fantastic time taking in the sights/sounds of the morning.
He was a perfect little baby.

We all got Dave's mom a new camera. We're crossing our fingers that it will
actually get used. Ha!

Toys from his cousin Zoe. He's a fan.

Trying to get a good picture of all 5 of us is becoming quite the challenge!

playing with pirates while daddy works on the ship. They are pretending that
Hudson's shark slippers are attacking the pirates!

Hard at work...

Then, we headed off to church and returned to find a houseful of fun waiting for us. 

We all had a very blessed day.

Day 24: Christmas Eve

Matching jammies, and The Night Before Christmas. Crew was enamored!

Day 23: Christmas breakfast!

We went to some friends' house for Christmas breakfast fun yesterday. It was so fun to decorate ornaments, eat lots of food, and have an ornament exchange. William and Hudson were in heaven amongst a houseful of girls!

Day 22: the little guy and me

Photos courtesy of William:

William said, "mommy, make a super silly face!"

Day 21: Santa

I took the boys to see Santa today. They were pretty excited about seeing him and letting him know what they'd like for Christmas (they BOTH told him things that they hadn't told me...they're going to be disappointed!) Hudson got a little nervous when it was about to be our turn, but when I told him that I needed him to help out with Crew, he stepped up to the plate.

I tried to convince the boys to wear their Christmas clothes, but it just wasn't worth the fight. I pulled that card yesterday for a Christmas get-together, so I knew it was pushing my luck to ask for 2 days in a row. :-) Oh well, Santa didn't mind!

Day 20: Buzz and friends

It was nap time yesterday, and I was looking for Hudson so that I could read to him and tuck him in.

I walked in the toy room, then in the toy closet, and this is what I found:

He was just sitting on the floor amidst all the stuffed animals, working on Buzz's wings.

Day 19: a rainy day

So, what do we do on a dreary, rainy day? Well, for starters, the big kids slept in until 10 (William) and 11 (Hudson)!!! How crazy is that???

We hit up McDonalds with a bunch of friends for an impromptu lunch. We were supposed to have breakfast at a friends' house, but one of her kids ended up with a fever so we had to cancel last-minute. I knew I needed something fun for the boys since they were going to be so disappointed about breakfast plans falling through.

After lunch, we played checkers, legos, superheros, and then this:

Angry Birds is just as fun as a board game as it is on the iPhone!

Now, it's time for a "mommy break" and some Wild Kratts. And on this yucky day, soup is for dinner!

Day 18: the Michael Jackson Experience

We had some friends over tonight for breakfast for dinner, and afterwards we decided to bust out some MJ. We let the kids play for the first time, and they loved it. William and Hudson both actually did pretty well (I mean, they didn't come close to beating my scores, but for first timers, they were decent!)

"Dirty Diana" (yep, we let our kids dance to Dirty Diana)

Naomi thoroughly enjoyed watching all the MJ dancing

"Thriller"