Christmas 2012

On Christmas Eve morning we met my grandparents and family on my dad's side at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Then, we headed out to their house to open gifts and enjoy catching up with one another.  

 *Please excuse the poor photography...it isn't my husband's forte'*

Once we left there around 3pm we came home to rest and let Landen get a nap (he was battling Bronchitis all during Christmas so he was exhausted and feeling yucky). After Landen felt better (around 6pm) we headed to my grandmother's house (on my mom's side) for dinner along with more gifts and family time.

Christmas Day:  Santa Came!!!

Not sure what to play with first!

Checking out his Lego Monster Fighter Castle

Santa left him a message on his art easel

Hmmm....a farm play set....

"Should I sneak and play with Bubba's toy??"

Bubba wasn't having that, lol!

Santa built a lot of Legos for this Lego-loving kid

The reindeer ate their apple!

Reading his note from Santa

"Hello!?!?"

"Check this out...my own house."

Love the excitement on his face!

"It's Calliou!!!"

Details of Our December Fun!

Ethan attended the Super Saturday program at WKU for gifted and talented students for the 2nd time.  This program lasts for four Saturdays and this time he enrolled in a Science class where they did cool experiments and created cool stuff like gak and tornadoes in a bottle!  He really enjoys this program...so much so that he is taking another Super Saturday class beginning the last Saturday in January.  We are so proud of his love of learning.  

Ethan with his dad on the final Saturday - Parents Day

They both have their "working hard/waiting to see what happens" face on.


We did lots of fun things throughout December....on the second Saturday of  December we stayed home and played board games and made Rice Krispie houses with the boys.  We usually make gingerbread houses or a gingerbread train but decided to try something new this year and the boys really enjoyed making these.

Landen wearing the glasses from "Fibber" (a kids board game)

The boys and Josh making Rice Krispie houses

The finished products

On the third Saturday of December we met up with our friends, Jennifer and Ben, and their niece, Erin at Opry Mills to see ICE-Shrek the Halls!  Thankfully, Jennifer was smart enough to suggest that we meet up earlier in the day and we were able to beat the crowd.  It was neat...cold.....but neat.  The boys enjoyed the ice slide but my favorite part was the manger scene at the end.  After we left there we stopped off at Texas Roadhouse for lunch, made a quick return at Kohl's and then headed home to wrap gifts and watch Christmas movies.

On December 10th, Ethan was in his school Christmas play.  He was a green candy cane and he did SO well singing and even better on his speaking parts.   We were so proud of him!

Landen and I went to Clarksville, TN to visit a friend and go Christmas shopping with her in the middle of the week in early December and much to my surprise he sat in Santa's lap at the mall there!  Ethan has NEVER been interested in sitting in his lap and so it was a new venture for me.  Landen really enjoyed Santa reading his favorite book to him but when Santa started talking to him about what he wanted for Christmas he kind of teared up... I think looking up at Santa scared him... that beard and hat are a little overwhelming, ha!

The boy's Uncle Shane & Aunt Miriam sent them this super cool gift that included a gift for each of the last 12 days leading up to Christmas.  The boys really enjoyed opening a gift each day.  They really loved these rubber chickens...

...but their very favorite were the tickets that they received to ride on a train in Bardstown, Ky.  It was called the North Pole Express and Santa was on board!  Uncle Shane, Aunt Miriam, and their cousin Ashton even drove home for Christmas from Philadelphia and surprised the boys at the train station!!!

I attended the Christmas party in Ethan's class on December 19th.  That was their last day of school before being out 2 weeks for the holiday season.  That night we met our friends Amanda, Elliott, Alera, and Ty who live in Oak Grove, Ky at Opry Mills, all loaded up in our Yukon, and drove to Lebanon, TN to see the Christmas lights at Chad's Winter Wonderland.  It is a tradition of ours...5 years+ and counting.  We then came back through Gallatin, ate at Longhorn, let the kiddos exchange gifts, and then drove back to Jellystone RV park near Opry Mills and saw the synchronized lights at Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland.  The lights were awesome!

We also had a magical Christmas!  Can't wait to share that soon...

Professional Photos

I tried to post these pictures back in early December but for some reason the blogging website said that I couldn't post that day and I never seemed to get another moment to sit down and post once the holidays were in full swing.  SO even though I have several other pictures and happenings to post.... I am going to start back blogging by posting the professional pictures that we had taken at the end of November.  

Our little family

LOVE this picture of my blue eyed boy

And this one of my brown eyed baby

You can see his mischievous side in this one

They are getting SO big

Doesn't he look at least 5 here??

The 3 balloons represented him turning 3 in Dec.

Ethan had to show his mischievous smile too :)

He's so handsome!

Love that you can see their personalities in this shot!

The bond between brothers...

       Love 
            My 
               Sweet 
                   Boys!!!

Super Mario Bros & Difficult Conversations

 The boys were the Mario Bros. for Halloween.  I may be a bit partial but I thought they were the cutest little Mario & Luigi I'd ever seen! Both costumes came with a mustache but Landen was NOT having his anywhere near his face! So, we just let him be Mario with no mustache...Ethan called him "Baby Mario", ha! Ethan had decided that he wanted to hand out candy instead of trick or treating and since our neighborhood doesn't get much traffic we headed to my brother and sister-in-laws to hand out.  They had a pretty decent number of trick-or-treaters but Ethan's attention span couldn't hold out from one group of ghouls to the next. So, we walked up one side of their street and back down the other trick-or-treating while it was still daylight and then went back and handed out more candy.  Once it got dark, we went to all three great-grandparents houses and then ended at my parents where my sweet mama had made us some yummy potato soup and taco soup.  It was just what we needed to thaw out.  We headed back home about 8:45dpm since Ethan had school the next day.  I think the boys had a great time doing a bit of both...handing out candy and trick-or-treating!  And it was nice that we didn't have a TON of candy to sort through.  A little moderation made for a great Halloween.  I had the boys pose for a few pictures before leaving the house and Landen was not having a picture with his brother....little stinker...

Finally, sort of a decent shot...

But then, he posed perfectly for his individual picture with his pumpkins.  I could kiss his cheeks off...well, both of their cheeks but Ethan wouldn't want me saying that about him.  He IS eight after all, so shhhh!  :)

Ethan has started taking lyrical hip-hop dance class and Monday was his second class.  He was out of school yesterday for Learning Community Day and so we had a lazy, fun day until time to take him to class.  The boys were being silly on the drive there and I couldn't resist snapping their picture...

Today, Ethan was out of school again for Election Day.  I voted and I hope all of you did too.  I actually have a cute story to tell about that.  This morning as we were getting ready to head to to vote, Ethan asked who I was voting for.  I didn't want to be dishonest with him even thought I knew who he'd want me to say.  So, I told him the truth and boy was I surprised when he began to sob.  He was truly upset and I wasn't sure how to fix it!  So, I did the only thing I could think of...I sat him down and explained to him that I understand how he feels and that he is absolutely entitled to his opinion, and when he is old enough to legally vote I hope that he does, so his voice can be heard.  I explained to him that while I am very glad that he is respectful and supportive to the person that he thinks should be president, I too am entitled to my opinion and that we should have no hard feelings about the difference in our opinions.  I explained to him my reasons for voting the way that I did (a kid-friendly version of my reasons).  That I  want a God-fearing president who I hope will help create a better future for America....for him and for his brother and their children and so on.  After that, he wasn't upset anymore and we were able to go ahead with no more tears.  I know this sounds crazy, he is only eight after all.  But Ethan is a very smart, strong-willed, opinionated boy who has a mind of his own and in his heart he believes in what he believes.  Now, you and I know that he can't fully understand all of the political debates nor would I subject him to them and the mess they present BUT I certainly am not going to tell him that he can't have an opinion and hopefully his dad and I will show him that it's okay to hear the other side's opinion and debate the differences without hate or anger.  Sunday night Ethan said to me, "Mom, don't you worry about the future, because I do.  I worry about more wars and stuff." And I responded with, "Well, sure I sometimes worry about the future honey but there's no need to worry, God has a plan that's much bigger than us and he will take care of things.  I hope that him having a mature mind for his age doesn't cause him to worry more than normal or to grow up faster than he should.  I sure do love that little man!  I just pray that his dad and I can answer always answer his questions in the best way possible, honestly but in a way that is appropriate for his age.  It certainly isn't always easy and I know the hardest questions haven't even began yet.