New Year's Resolutions

At dinner, we were talking about resolutions and trying to come up with one resolution each.  Alex and I mentioned the usual:  lose 10 pounds, stop biting nails, stop chewing gum, etc...  Pretty boring stuff.

Last year my resolution was to drink more beer.  I didn't do too well with that one.  We still have beer in our fridge from 2006.

Robert says "I am going to stop being a sassy child".  I like that resolution!

Robert then asks Jack what his resolution will be.  Jack pauses and you can see him thinking it over in his head.  He then says "I am going to start drinking soda!".  

Not going to happen, little man.  But I give him props for trying.

Kids' Christmas Party

Last night, we hosted a small Christmas party for the kids in our neighborhood.

In the morning, I dropped a fire extinguisher on my bare foot.  I actually didn't drop it; it fell from on top of the fridge.  As I sat on the floor moaning in pain, Jack came over, gave me an ice pack and told me I should go to the hospital.  Robert agreed, but added that I absolutely cannot go until after the Christmas party that evening.  Fortunately, I only have three badly bruised toes and did not have to go to the hospital.  The Christmas party was on!

Pure chaos.  That is the best way to describe the party.  Fortunately, friends Meghan and Ben stayed and helped out.  I did manage to take a few photos:

The kids devoured our pathetic looking gingerbread house.  I'm glad it's gone!  Everytime I looked at it, it reminded me how I will never measure up to Martha Stewart.

  Maddie and Robert eating the gingerbread house

Everyone made a snowman decoration to hang on a tree or put on their window.

Meghan and Keira

Good morning!

Santa

I thought I'd step it up this year and have the boys actually dressed nice in matching red/green plaid shirts for the photos.  I was so proud of Jack for not crying or running away from Santa.  And, he actually spoke to Santa for once.  It was just the word "yellow" to indicate which lollipop he wanted, but it's a start.  While he made big improvements over previous visits to Santa, you can tell by the photo that he isn't very happy being forced to sit on Santa's lap.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Christmas Tree is up! 

I finally won and we got a fake tree.  At first Alex and Robert were opposed, but now that it is decorated they have come around and love our new tree.

                                                 

In our house, Christmas season is also the time for crafts...

 Worst Gingerbread House ever! 

I love to bake but I hate to decorate.  I am not an artist.  Robert and I did this together, but I am the one who did the icing.  Oh well, the boys LOVE the house because of all the candy.

Worst Handprint Tree ever.

I think I am going to have to paint over this and try again.

Here are some Fred the Elf pictures from this week:

Fred is wearing Robert's shoes

Fred replaced our family photos with his own.

Riding a dinosaur

Playing a game of bowling on our wii.  Surprisingly, Fred is really good. 

 He bowled a few strikes.  Robert was very impressed!

Pictures from the last few weeks

I've been meaning to post these pictures on the blog for a while but was just too busy.   Here are some pictures from the fall season:

We had beautiful weather this past weekend, so we took a trip to the zoo.  The boys' favorite part is the playground they have at the zoo; not the animals.  Jack was disappointed the pigs weren't at the kids' farm.  He is obsessed with pigs ever since watching Charlotte's Web.

Having a snack with the neighborhood friends

Robert's swim lesson.  He has really improved the last few weeks with his arm strokes for the crawl. 

Family came to visit for my big 40th birthday.  This is the only picture I have.  :(  Hopefully, my sister will send me her copies soon!  Here is a picture my sister holding Ellie, Ryan, Robert on the phone, Alex and Jack.  Every day Jack tells me how much he misses his cousins.

Fred the Elf returns!

Fred the Elf arrives each year after Thanksgiving.  He watches the boys during the day and flies home to Santa at night to report back.  Robert was very excited to see Fred return.  He thought it was hilarious that Fred the Elf was fishing for goldfish in our toilet.

Jack, on the other hand, does not like Fred the Elf at all.  As I was telling him the story on how Fred tells Santa if he's been a good boy or not, he had a look on his face that read "Oh crap, I'm in big trouble!"  Jack is a typical rowdy younger brother and he does have reason to be concerned.  Hopefully, Fred will do his job and keep Jack in line these next few weeks.

Thanksgiving 2011

The boys did their Thankful Tree again this year for Thanksgiving. 

Here is Jack's:

And Robert's tree....

...notice that he is thankful for GIRLS!

The week before Thanksgiving, I was tasked with making pilgrim costumes for Robert's kindergarten class.  Long story short:  I missed Back to School night and was volunteered to be room mom.  While I'm not very crafty, I do admit that the costumes didn't turn out so bad and I enjoyed helping his class with their Thanksgiving Feast.

 Robert was happy to wear his again to Thanksgiving dinner:

We had a delicious dinner at Grandma and GrandDad's home. 

After dinner, it was time for the boys to beat up their uncles.

Jack and Uncle Brent

The boys with Uncle Tim

 And, some brotherly love:

The boys with their GrandDad

Primal Mud Run

My friend Shannon and I ran in the Primal Mud Run this morning in Warrenton.  It is basically a 4 mile obstacle course. 

We had to scale big walls, wade through freezing cold creeks while carrying a heavy sandbag, but the most fun part was sliding down a huge Slip-N-Slide down a mountain (well, it was fun until it dumped you into chest-deep ice cold water).  And, since it was a mud run, we had to army crawl through mud underneath barbed wire. 

The experience was very cold but lots and lots of fun. 

I'm trying to talk Alex into running it next year with me, but he tells me that none of that sounds like any fun.  I have a year to try to change his mind; I think I can do it.  :)

Super Mario Brothers

Robert had been telling me for weeks that he wanted to be Luigi for Halloween (from his favorite Wii video game).  So I went to Target and was very proud of myself for grabbing the very last Luigi costume, as well as an evil Mario costume for Jack.  Moments before we left for our annual neighborhood potluck, Robert tells me he wants to dress as a Power Ranger like he did last year.  As you can see from the pictures, I said 'no way!'.

Super Mario Brothers

Keira found it more comfortable to be in her stroller during the potluck.

Jack and his friend Drew

Max.  The cupcakes were delicious!

Friends Keira, Jack and Drew hanging out at the potluck

Who knew Luigi had such big muscles?

And the most difficult photo to take:  all the kids in the neighborhood

Jack's 3rd Birthday Party

Ever since Robert's birthday, Jack has been telling me EVERY DAY that he wants his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese with Dora cupcakes.  So, I baked Dora cupcakes last night:

...and we went to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday party.  His actual birthday is this weekend but there is no way I'm going to Chuck E. Cheese on a busy weekend.

Jack and Hayden playing air hockey:

Maggie and Keira.  They look adorable in the same outfit, but it wasn't planned:

 Brauna and Hayden:

 Brady and Drew dancing:

Max and Jack

 

Christina and Jack.  I think she was disappointed Robert wasn't there.

 After play time, we had pizza

Then, Jack got to meet Chuck E. Cheese in person!

All the kids were excited to meet him, except Keira

 Jack blew out the candle. 

These are the only kids willing to leave their Dora cupcakes on their plate and come up for a picture with Chuck E. Cheese:

The Pyramid Challenge

Today, Robert ran in the Pyramid Challenge.  Our middle school hosts a race for all the elementary schools that feed into it.  Each elementary school wears a different colored shirt.  Then they race one grade at a time, starting with kindergarten.  I think the kindergarteners only ran 1/2 mile, which is pretty far for 5 year olds, at least according to Robert.

Here is Robert before the race:

Robert with friends Ava and Ryan:

Here are the kindergarten kids from our school:

Robert with Tess and Ava:

The starting line for kindergarten....

And they're off!