Christmas 2012

I was on our computer earlier looking at past Christmas seasons and it brought smiles and laughs.  I thought I'd share some of my favorites from years past.

2004

 2005

 Christian just makes me laugh!  

Love these cute boys!

2006

2007

2008

 2010

 This was the first year the boys put the tree up all on their own.

  They did a great job.

2012

A winner!

 At the beginning of the month was the huge lottery worth just over $500 million.  Not gonna lie but I went in with some people at work and bought 3 of my own.  The boys and I talked the night of the drawing about all the things that we would like.  Anthony was the funniest and most real when he said he just wanted a garage. 

 

 Even though we didn't win the big bucks we did win later in the week.  The gas station by our house had a grand opening of the new snack shop that goes with the station.  The store was giving out FREE hotdogs and sodas!  Lunch...check! 

A local radio station was there as well giving away free stuff and a raffle for a gas gift card.  Yes we stuck around and who won the gift card?  ME!  I even got my picture taken with the DJ!  It was a great day!

At one with the woods

Last weekend I took the boys on a hike.  They LOVE being in the woods.  This first picture was taken in the parking lot.  They couldn't wait to get climbing.  It was a beautiful day and we could have stayed all day.  There were games of war, "mountain climbing", trying to guess how old a tree was (there were many fallen trees due to the storm the week before) and survival talk.  A fun afternoon for sure.

Diego's New Room

 

This kid is crazy! Yes, that is the bathroom.  He thinks this is sooooo comfortable...much better than the "awful" mattress he has on his bed.  What????  He says he sleeps so much better since he doesn't have to listen to Christian snoring or Anthony making so much noise.  Umm...ok.  It's his 4th night in there but I'm thinking it might not last too much longer.  I'm a little lost on his thinking with this one.

A little Bike Ride

 This week Anthony and I went on a bike ride at a park.  It was great.  Diego and Christian were spending the week at Cub Scout Day Camp from 9-3 everyday so we decided to something fun.  Anthony was a champ and his little legs were able to go about 3 miles.  Granted for about 2 miles he kept asking "Is that our parking lot?" whenever we passed the little parking lots for trails.  We even saw a deer on our ride.  We will definitely be going again.

 I love this pic because Anthony is looking at me like "Really?  Crazy lady!"

Only Diego!

Only Diego would find another turtle in the woods behind our house.  The boys were out building a fort in the woods and while looking for more sticks Diego found a larger version of Eco.  No, this one is not staying in our house!  It was nice to see what Eco might eventually look like.

Family Beach Fun

It was a another good week at the Outer Banks.  There was:

Lunch Poolside

Lots of swimming in the pool

Climbing up and running down the sand dunes

Having fun in the ocean

This year an obstacle course was added.  It was created by Jordan and Tyler.  They put their powers together for good and a great time was had by all.

Here is Diego's run at the obstacle course.  He was creative in his popping the balloon section.  Good memories were made with this obstacle course that will be talked about for years to come (thanks to Adam's comment about the sounds of the whoppie cushion).

Having fun..

 Before the end of the school year I take the boys to Kings Dominion.  We always go before school gets out (on a school day) so its not so busy.  My boys have no idea the agony of waiting in line for over 45 minutes to get on a ride.  They only know the pleasure of walking right on up, waiting for the coaster to return and getting on.  Then they usually can keep sitting and go again.  

This picture is the only one I was able to take before my battery died.  But that's o.k. because it's in front of the best ride at the whole park....The Grizzly!  It truly makes me happy that the boys love roller coasters and that they love this one.  We rode it 4 times in a row!!!  

Anthony is missing because he is still 2 inches short of being able to ride most rides.  He got to go to school and then go swimming with our neighbor at the pool.  He was ok with that. We are hoping for a growth spurt this year and really hope and pray he will love roller coasters like the rest of us.

 Kindergarten Graduation

 Last week I was able to go to kindergarten graduation for Anthony.  This kid makes me laugh with his little strut and smile.  He kept looking over with a "I'm too cool for this" look.  He came a long way with his reading and writing this year.  He is ready and excited to go to 1st grade.

 Thank you!

During the school year I volunteered in Anthony's class.  As a thanks his teacher gave all the volunteers this.  It is super cute.  Inside the cake holder is a cake mix, frosting and cupcake holders.  The card read "Our volunteers Take the Cake!  Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to our classroom!"  Way cute.

Blood Bank?

 A couple weeks ago I scored a bunch of strawberries.  Having strawberry freezer jam at my brothers house one time I fell in love.  It was sooo good and I've always wanted to make it.  Finding time to go strawberry picking has never really worked out.  I managed to "pick" my strawberries from a bag and that was good for me.  There were 3 tubs of berries but I didn't think to document this occasion until I had already started.  It was super easy to make (so easy I had to call my sis-in-law to make sure I wasn't forgetting something!)  I have yet to try it but several bags have been taken and sampled and the outcome was a success.

When the boys saw what I was doing they asked "Is that blood?"  Boys.  Though it was fun to play along for a moment. 

Polynesian Dancing

 On Saturday the boys and I went to see some Polynesian dancing. The boys loved it!  They of course loved the guy dances and their eyes were glued to the stage the whole time.  Sitting in front of us were a group of guys and one was from Samoa and he kept screaming their "Samoan yell" and every time my boys would laugh and a huge smile came on their face. It was a fun evening (minus the 20 minute wait at the drive thru for milkshakes that I promised the boys if they were good!  Poor Anthony fell asleep waiting and never got one.)  I figure this will be the closest that I'll ever get to actually going to the islands to see dancing.

This was the Haka dance--a fan favorite.

 I love the face of the guy on the right. 

 He was great.

This dance was cool.

They turned off the lights and their batons glowed.  

It reminded the boys of a light show that someone at church did that was spectacular.

This one was the best.  

The Slap dance.  

Spring Break 2012

I took the boys on a little vacation for spring break. We had a good time and look forward to doing it again next year.

We visited a reptile/animal zoo.

Played at the arcade.

Played in the pool everyday (all day if Anthony had his way!)

Played basketball

The boys immediately thought of Grandpa!

Went hiking

Boys were in heaven at this little place in the woods