5th Birthday in Illinois

Our "baby" turned 5 yesterday! 

 He decided to open his presents in the morning, just after breakfast. He even collected them on the chair and waited for all of us to gather around.

 I found this photo on my camera - along with a few others...

 Finally it was time to open the gifts! He got a marble run that attaches to the wall,

 a big box of dinosaurs, new jeans, boots and a lariat.

 Andy and Lia's dog Otto has been hanging out with us and is always so eager to play with the boys and their toys.

 Later we took the boys to the Children's Museum and then out to lunch at Avanti's (a local favorite).
Otherwise, we've spent a lot of time putting puzzles together.

It's addicting and we just keep finding ourselves working on getting more pieces in place.

Just before supper, Levi helped grandma ice and decorate his birthday brownies.

 Ahhhh...the birthday boy.

 He ate rice and beans for supper and then ended the day with a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal. Happy birthday buddy, we love you!

Christmas Day

I have the most random photos from Christmas Day. It was great to wake up in the morning and feel good - although about an hour later I felt very tired again! The boys were much more patient about opening gifts than I thought they'd be. We even ate our "special" Christmas morning Monkey Bread before we got around to opening gifts. 

 The boys wanted Nintendo DS's and iPads for Christmas - but instead got one PS2 game, sleeping bags, the game Perfection, guitar strap and some coloring books and DVD's. They opened gifts one at a time, but went through them pretty quickly and at the end seemed disappointed that there wasn't more. Oh well. It was plenty - more than they needed.

 Later in the morning, we walked across the yard to my parents' house and found a pretty princess waiting there for us! Levi and Rylee are a hoot together! You never know what kind of trouble they'll get into next.

 Oddly enough, while Levi and I had been sick so had my parents and my sister! So when it came time to eat Christmas lunch most of us weren't quite up to eating a ton of food. We did enjoy our meal, even if we had  more leftovers than usual.
Next up - time to open presents!! Erica and Miki helped to continue the camping theme with lanterns and head lamps for the boys, snacks and hot dog roasting sticks for Ben and me.

 The boys jumped up and down with joy for a new bale elevator toy and a Leap Pad 2. It was great to get a gift card from my parents (intended for new shoes - assuming I finally find some I like). I got the biggest joy out of giving our parents the gift of a get-away to Lawrence for their first KU basketball game.

 The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out, playing games and enjoying being together.

 It was a good day, nice and relaxed (except for Ben's stint as a human trampoline) and that's just what we all needed.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve wasn't the best day for our family. Levi and I were sick from super-early that morning through most of the day. It was just our stomachs - no fevers or aches. Thankfully it was the one day we didn't have any family gatherings or other plans. Levi perked up by mid-afternoon and ended up going to the Christmas Eve program at church. I, however, didn't feel better until Christmas morning.

 Ben graciously took photos of the church program for me.

 I sure wish I could have been there to watch the boys and participate in one of my favorite church services of the year. Instead, I watched random Christmas shows on TV.

Christmas Gatherings

Christmas for us means many family gatherings. We had five gatherings in the four days before Christmas. It's wonderful that we can spend time with so many people in our family at the holidays, but it does make for a hectic schedule. 

 We use dry erase boards to keep the kids busy and quiet during church. They've been a really good thing for us - especially when the drawings are as cute as the one above.
At our Schmidt gathering we got to eat off vintage plates with one of my favorite patterns - thanks Eileen for bringing festive plates for us to use!

 Our Schmidt gatherings take place at Bethesda, where my grandma lives. We even had a bit of live entertainment this year!

 That evening, we had our Epp gathering at my aunt and uncle's house. The boys both spontaneously  summoned the courage to share an individual piece to share with the family before we opened presents. Noah sang part of "The Friendly Beasts" and Levi said a finger play he learned in preschool.

 The Angel Band was just as fabulous as always.

 The young kids did a gift exchange and thankfully, Addi liked the gift Noah gave her (a print from Etsy).

 And Noah was THRILLED to get a new football and tee!

 After the adult gift exchange, my aunt and uncle had a game for us to play. The adults split into two teams and raced to blow up balloons and then stuff them into pantyhose. Then the hose had to be put on a persons head and the team had to sing Jingle Bells. It was hilarious!!!

Carriage Ride

 The boys and I enjoyed our first carriage ride last week. We were in Buhler for an extended family Christmas and kept seeing a carriage go by while we ate lunch. So once lunch was finished the moms went out with the kids to see if we could get a ride, too.

 It was a warm winter day, just perfect for a quaint carriage ride around Buhler.
Love those two! Rylee's showing off her cheesy smile and cute new haircut.

Making memories on the cheap. :-)

Practicing

Levi often plays songs for me, but he always makes a big deal out of it. I have to come and watch and react in certain ways. But this time, he was doing it quietly. He was by himself in our room and I just happened to find him in the middle of a "practice session."

 He told me he was just practicing some Christmas songs. Still in his underwear and jammy t-shirt, playing songs from the Wee Sing for Christmas book, sweetly practicing by himself.

Snow!

 Last week it snowed!  The boys had been talking and talking and talking about snow and then it actually happened.

 We had a great time exploring in the snow - it's amazing how much more interesting a pasture can be when it's covered in snow.

A couple days later, we took a family walk in the sunshine - lucky for us it was a warm and calm day.

 On a separate note, Ben has become quite the cat person. Since our kittens' mama got injured, we've been in charge of feeding them, therefore they really, really like us. And for reasons we don't understand, we really like them too.

Preschool Christmas

What's better than a preschool Christmas program? The kids are so cute, they could do just about anything and still be cute. This year they were all really well behaved, Levi included. He seemed a bit nervous, or at least he was doing a lot of nervous fidgeting while he waited for the program to start.

 This was our last preschool Christmas program, which gave me mixed emotions.

 So many Santa faces!

 Levi was consistently reserved throughout the program

 but he sang every song, did all the actions and played the instruments he was given.

 It was so cute and precious.

 Then he proudly showed us around the room to show us everything he'd made in the last month.

 He showed grandpa the different kinds of green leaves they had in the science center - some were poky, some were smooth, some were prickly.

 He did a great job serving us snacks and water and then it was time to go.  It was a great program, full of preschool enthusiasm.