Day 4 - Decorating Stockings

Today the boys decorated stockings to hang in their rooms just in case they are extra good and Santa wants to leave a little something more for them. Now Santa has a place to put a little something more. Dane was fully concentrating on his sticker placement, even moving them a few times to make room for the next sticker. That is so Dane…our type A perfectionist. Kale piled almost all of his stickers on top of each other in the same place, with a couple scattered up towards the top of the stocking. Again - so Kale…our messy, laid back boy. It was fun to see their personalities come through in this project.

Silly Kale decorated his face….

 serious concentration from our eldest:

 A happy Kale with his completed stocking:

 Dane with his completed stocking and that cheesy grin:

Day 3 - Peppermint stick ice cream for dessert

I am working on a slow build to Christmas (as if you can't tell)…I promise I have some really fun things coming up. For day 3 in our countdown to Christmas, we had peppermint stick ice cream for dessert. 

 And it was a hit!! They were licking their bowls clean...

Day Two - Letters to Santa

Today we wrote & mailed our letters to Santa.  Since neither of our boys can really write, they dictated and I put it on paper.

Dear Santa,

Dane would like remote control cars & dinosaurs, another toy baby chick, more tractors and snap in legos with balls and monstruction equipment. Toy snow flakes, sports toys with a little tiny bag and tennis stuff. One more toy airplane and another firefighter hat. A little more magnets to hang up pictures & stuff. A toy big kitchen to go with my grill. It has to be big, wide & straight so Kale and I can play at it together. More legos. I love you.

- Dane

_____________________________________

Dear Santa,

Kale would like a flying toy, a feather,  a huge rabbit and a black toy. I play with daddy's phlone now. (And yes it says phlone because that is how Kale says phone).

- Kale

putting the letter in the mailbox... 

1225 Candy Cane Lane

North Pole

Day One (25 days of Christmas)

When we arrived home from Leesburg, our faithful elf "Gooey Shoe" was waiting on our mantle. We recorded the boys' reaction to seeing our elf waiting for them to return from Indiana, but the audio isn't working for some reason. You can at least watch their reaction. We also watched "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." 

Day 1 - Our Elf "Gooey Shoe" arrived and we watched the Christmas movie "Rudolph"

Thanksgiving

We just got home today from an extended stay in Leesburg to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.  The boys had an awesome time with their cousins as always, Christy is powering through what is hopefully the last couple weeks of carrying twins and we got to see lots of extended family which doesn't happen often enough so it was a great trip! We were able to run to Ft. Wayne on Friday to let the kiddos blow off some steam at Crazy Pins (bowling, arcade, bumper cars, laser tag, mini golf, huge climbing structure) and I had a successful Rodan & Fields gathering on Saturday. THANK YOU to all who were able to make it for that…your support is very much appreciated!

An after Thanksgiving dinner snack:

 Manny is guarding the boys:

 Cheering on Dusty Crophopper from "Planes"

 Glow in the dark mini golf:

 Dane bowling:

 Kale getting a little help bowling:

 and trying it on his own...

 Kale fell asleep at the bowling alley:

Michigan Avenue Lights Parade

Last year Cameron took the boys for the lighting of Michigan Avenue parade while I was shopping with my family. This year, I skipped out on shopping to attend a dear friend's son's first birthday party. Because Cameron would like to make attending the lighting an annual affair, we just stayed overnight in the city and all went to the parade. Or at least, we went for a little while. Kale skipped his nap so he was a bit tired. We all got bundled up to brave the frigid temps and Kale fell asleep on my shoulder right after the grand marshall came by. So, Kale and I went back up to our hotel room. Dane & Cameron stayed down on the street to catch the parade. Dane was all excited when it started, but the parade stalled and a cold Dane decided to call it quits. So we hung in our room, ordered in room service and watched the rest of the parade on tv!! We did have a fun day in the city, though. We were able to hit up Willis Tower before the birthday party too!

They look super imposed but they were in front of the tree at our hotel.

At Willis Tower on the ledge. This is a clear box that hangs on the outside of the building out over the city. Standing on it and looking down totally through off my equilibrium. 

 The boys laying down on the ledge...they weren't quite sure what to make of it either.

 Dane comparing his height to Micheal Jordan.

 Kale preparing to leave....so fashionable, right?

 Mickey & Minnie lighting up the Magnificent Mile

This blog has been severely neglected. I just can't seem to find the time to keep up! I am planning to do "25 days of Christmas" so I am hoping that will force me to post more than once a week!

A Little Getaway

Cameron and I were able to steal away to Naples, FL for the first weekend in November. A dear friend chose that location to get hitched. We had never been there so it was a fun weekend away. And if you've never been to Naples, I would recommend visiting. Very cute little town with the beach a short walk from the downtown area and lots of adorable restaurants and shops. The wedding was gorgeous - ceremony was at the Naples botanical gardens and the reception was back at the hotel. We had a relaxing weekend and it was fun to celebrate the happy couple!

Gorgeous, soft white sand...

 Our friend Jeff was sweating profusely during the ceremony...

 And we found out that I apparently sneeze fairy dust at weddings:

 The happy couple!

 The stunning bride:

Halloween Fun!

This year the boys really enjoyed Halloween. Dane has pretty much understood the deal with Halloween for the past couple years, but Kale totally understood it this year. When he walked up to each door, he would say "treat please". He even said it when he walked into our house at the end of the evening! This is likely the last year that we will be able to coordinate their costumes. Dane wanted to be  a firefighter this year and so Kale was a dalmatian. Kale didn't seem to care what he was this year, but next year he will likely have a voice in what he would like to be.