A Box of Fun!

In the eyes of a child, one of the best parts of Christmas is the fun that can be had with the boxes. This year was no different as Easton and Xavier played for hours in, on, and around the box our Christmas tree came in. At one point Xavier actually said, "Mom, can I just have this box for Christmas?!" It's the simple pleasures in life that are the greatest!

 

 

 

No one will find me in here!

 

Peek!

 

I see you!

 

Goofballs

 

If pictures had sound, you would be able to hear

gigles from Easton on the box & Xavier inside the box!

 

Don't be fooled by Easton's small size...he can crack up Xavier easily!

 

Having a blast with the box!

 

One in the box, one on the box!

 

 

A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.
~J.R.R. Tolkien

Gramma's Tree

There's something magical about the great big old tree in Gramma & Papa's backyard.  If it could talk, I'm sure it would have MANY stories to tell...some would most likely even include stories about Mike, and possibly even some about Papa!  Well over Christmas break this big beautiful tree was blanketed with the most beautiful frost, making it even more magical, and the perfect scene out the window.

 

 

 

 

Climb a tree - it gets you closer to heaven. ~Author Unknown

Easton's 1st Haircut

On December 27, 2012, at the age of 1 year, Easton had his first haircut.  He was very concerned about it from the very beginning...

Easton wondering what's going on.

 

 

It's not too bad yet...

 

 

I don't like it!  Why are you guys doing this to me!?

 

What did I ever do to deserve this?!

 

 

Okay, I'll walk if you guys just stop cutting my hair!

 

 

My poor Bunkey!  Who knew a 1st Haircut could be such a traumatic experience!!  He was so upset he wouldn't even let me get an "after" picture...so I had to wait until a couple days later to capture how nice the haircut looked, even if he hated every moment of it!

 

Looking quite handsome with his new haircut!

 

Hopefully he doesn't need another haircut for quite awhile and forgets about how much he hated his first experience.   Maybe I should have tried giving him puppy chow to make it a little less traumatic since that was his FAVORITE treat over Christmas break! 

 

 

Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality. ~Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964

Our 2012 in Review

The Lord blessed our family in so many ways in 2012! Here is our year in review:

 

Xavier is now 4 years old (he keeps reminding us he'll be 5 soon though!) and started Preschool this fall.  He is like a sponge soaking up everything he can from the world around him.  He learned how to ride his bike without training wheels this summer (in about 2 hours one afternoon) and recently started reading (sight words, using picture clues, etc), which makes this Mama want to cry!  He’s growing up way too fast!!!  Xavier also stayed busy with swimming lessons, Sunday School, and wrestling.  His favorite things to do are play any sports with Daddy and do “big jobs” with Papa Gary, Daddy and/or his backhoe, crane, and tractors.  He always has to be busy doing something! 

Easton is growing and learning by leaps and bounds as well.  He turned 1 in November and recently began walking.  He is more quiet/reserved than I remember his big brother being, but maybe that’s because he can’t get a word in edgewise with Xavier around! J   Easton now says “Mama,” “Dada,” "more," "uh oh" and sometimes there are resemblences of words like "down," and "thank you."    He also signs “more,” “all done,” and “Oh no!” (the latter is usually when he sees his big brother coming! Haha – just kidding!)  Some of his favorite things to do right now include eating, climbing up and down stairs, eating, eating, and climing on top of everything (including the kitchen table), eating, looking at books, eating, playing catch, eating, pushing buttons, eating, playing with his big brother, and did I mention eating?!  He is SUCH a good eater!  Easton insists on doing everything according to his terms and not a second sooner.  However, we joke around that God must want us to have more kids because he is an extremely good little boy for us!  The boys keep us on our toes, but we wouldn’t want it any other way!  They have their “brother” moments where they make each other cry, but they also laugh at jokes that only the two of them get while heaped on the floor together, which is priceless to see.  We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the bond strengthen and grow between our boys over the past year, and are excited to see what 2013 has in store for each of them and what they have in store for us as well.

Mike and I are half through our 7^th year of teaching.  Mike teaches social science, and is the advisor for the freshman class, yearbook, and National Honor Society.  I am the Special Education Director and Elementary Special Education teacher.  We both enjoy our jobs and the students and staff we work with at our schools.

Another milestone this year was Mike turning the big 3-0 in August (with far more grace and dignity than I will in about a year and a half I might add)!  We enjoyed trips to Iowa, North Dakota, the Black Hills, and our Alma Mater – Black Hills State University (we figure it’s never too soon to start “encouraging” our boys to become future Yellow Jackets! J )

We enjoyed every minute of Easton’s first year of life and all of Xavier’s “firsts” that continue to come at break-neck speed.  We are so thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed upon us over the past year!  We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013 filled with health, happiness, peace, and love!

 

Goodbye 2012...

Hello 2013!

 

Christmas Day

Xavier woke up at 4:30 AM on Christmas Morning wondering if we could go open Christmas presents.  I was NOT going to wake up Easton (I wasn't wanting to start our day at 4:30 AM regardless!)  So I told Xavier he had to wait until at least 6 or 7 AM.  He sadly walked back to his bedroom with his head hanging down sniffling and trying to fight back tears.  It broke my heart to make him so sad, but I knew he needed to go back to bed for a little while or he was going to be one tired, cranky boy for Christmas Day!  Around 5:30 AM Xavier returned to our room to see if it had been long enough.  He insisted Santa had already been to our house.  Easton was still asleep, so Mike & Xavier snuggled up and watched A Christmas Story for about an hour.  Then we heard Easton thumping his feet on the wall, letting us know he was awake.  So we headed downstairs...

Easton & Xavier on Christmas Morning

 

 

 The boys checked out what Santa had brought them and opened presents from Mama & Dada.  Then we enjoyed a quick Christmas brunch before packing up and heading south to Gramma & Papa's house for Christmas.  We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas at Gramma & Papa's house on Christmas Day and went to the farm the day after Christmas to spend time with Gramma, Grandpa, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma . 
 

 

 The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

Christmas Eve

This year was the first year we spent Christmas Eve at our own house.  Here's a little glimpse of our evening:

 

Xavier & Easton all dressed up for the Christmas Eve Church Service

 

 

 

When we got home from church, I put the Canadian Meat Pie in the oven to bake, then the boys each got to open one present...

 Easton always seems so unamused, especially when I

have the camera out!  Xavier was excited about opening a
present and was, therefore, completely oblivious to the camera!

Easton tearing into his 1st present of Christmas 2012

 

Xavier was too excited about his present to even look at the camera!

 

 

After opening their 1 present each, the boys headed upstairs to get into the tub (and try out their new toys - a Hot Wheels Splash Track and a Whale Shower Spout).  I left Mike in the bathroom with the boys in the tub and headed down to the kitchen to check on how supper was coming along, when I heard the noise the always makes my heart sink - the fire whistle.  I went back upstairs and told Mike I thought the fire whistle was going off...and off he went to help fight the fire with the rest of the volunteer fire fighters.

 

I finished scrubbing the boys in the tub and got them nice and cozy in their PJs, then headed downstairs with them to have Christmas Eve supper.  I never imagined we would have been having our 1st Christmas Eve supper at home without Dada, but I kept envisioning a family out in the cold while their house was on fire watching their young children's Christmas go up in flames as the firefighters tried to save what they could for the family.  Thankfully, that was NOT what happened - there was a fire at the elevator that the firefighters were able to put out and return home within a couple of hours.

 

After supper, the boys and I read a Christmas book (Xavier picked The Grinch) and then they crawled into their beds, excited to have Santa come soon.  After tucking them both in, I headed downstairs again, when I realized I didn't have Xavier put out the milk & cookies for Santa!  So I headed up to his room to remind him.  He quickly went downstairs, picked out 3 perfect cookies to put on a plate and filled a glass with milk to leave for Santa.  As he was climbing the stairs to return to bed, he exclaimed, "This is just the BEST Christmas EVER!!!!"  I swear I could feel the excitement radiating off of him!  It was one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed.  Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa to come in the morning!

 

 

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. ~Harlan Miller

Christmas at the Capitol

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to the Capitol to see the Christmas trees with our family.  The trees, music, and time with our family didn't disappoint this year either:

Easton checking out the cute little teddy bears

Xavier pleasing his Mama by pausing for a picture with his little brother

For some reason Xavier really wanted to take "silly" pictures that day.

He said he saw it on Caillou :)

 

 

 

This was the best family picture we got that day. 

Easton & Xavier look less than impressed.

 

Xavier LOVES nutcrackers and The Nutcracker Suite music :)

 

 

"What are YOU doing here, Mickey?"

 

 

Easton enjoying a ride on Rudolph

 

 

The boys with Rudolph

 

 

Xavier being silly in the background

 

Easton strangling the stuffed puppy in the background

 

 

My favorite picture of the boys from that day

 

 

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect! ~Charles N. Barnard