Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was nice and relaxing.  Andrew was still feeling under the weather, so we spent the day playing games and watching lots of Christmas movies.  We then read the Christmas story from Luke 2 to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas.  It was really special.

This year we decided to start the tradition of jammies the night before Christmas, and the boys were excited to get a jump on opening presents.

Matthew, Ryan, and Zachary all got football pjs.

Andrew didn't want to participate at first, but after some persuasion from the other boys he decided to give it a try.  He was very excited to see his puppy jammies.

Here's hoping for visions of sugarplums!

Little Sickies

We must not like holidays around here, because we are sick yet again and will probably be so for Christmas.  We thought it was bad for Thanksgiving, but somehow we managed to catch the flu.  Zach started with it first, then a couple of days later is spread to Matthew, then mom, and then Ryan. 

Dad came down with it a little later.

And Andrew has just started.  It looks like we may be sick for Christmas.  Poor little guys!

First Snow!

Today was our first snow of the season and the boys couldn't wait to get outside.  After some quick shoveling we got right down to playing.

Andrew thought ti would be great to ride his bike on the cleared walks.  This little boy LOVES being outside and LOVES his bike, no matter the weather.

We headed over to a little hill by our house for the kids to go sledding.  It was so much fun!

Daddy pulling Andrew home after a long day on the hill.

And what would the first snowfall be without a snowman?  Here's our first attempt. The boys were very carefully found matching rocks and twigs to complete their guy.

This was the best picture I could get.  By this point they were tuckered out and cold from a long day in the snow.  On to the hot chocolate!

My Little Helper

Andrew has always been my little shadow.  He loves to help anyway he can.  One of his favorite jobs is cleaning the bathroom, gloves and all.

His absolute favorite, though, is vacuuming.  This little boy is obsessed with vacuums (bacuums, as he says), so much so that it was almost a fight to get it out and get the work done.  In his words, it was always "Mine!" and he would not be happy until he could push it around himself.  We were lucky to borrow one his own size from our cousins.  He loves it!

Of course, all that helping can tire out a little guy.  I put him in this chair to look at a book while I went to change the laundry and this is what I came back to.  Sweet boy.

Ryan's Christmas List

I loved this.  Ryan wrote a letter to Santa and I had to document it.  Ryan is a phonetic speller, so sometimes I have to read his writing out loud to understand what he means.  It's so cute!

Here's what the note says:

Deer Santu for Christmas I wont they maic luke woc the plaic.

It means:

Dear Santa for Christmas I want they make Luke walk the plank.  (It's a Lego set he has been eyeing forever).