Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day marked by much excitement and a lot of laziness. The boys slept late this morning until almost 8 which was a present in itself. Then they opened their Santa presents and played with them while we made breakfast. The boys had cinnamon rolls and smoothies. Jeremy and I enjoyed a French Toast Casserole that are neighbor made for us and brought over last night and we just had to throw in the oven this morning. Did I mention how wonderful my neighbors are? Santa brought Nick his NBA 2K12 he asked for as well as a few other hot items on his list. Santa brought Aidan a bow and arrow which was at the top of his list too. Santa also brought a 10 in 1 game table for the whole family and sleds. After breakfast we sat down and opened the rest of the massive pile of presents. There were so many good presents that the kids haven't stopped playing all day and are already deciding when they will play what this week. Thank you to everyone who sent us presents and made this day special. We missed you greatly this year. It was rather quiet this year although Nick said he was happy to not have to sleep in the same room as the whole family this year. Hope everyone had a great day and took some time to reflect on the real meaning of the day. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We snapped a few pictures before we went to Mass last night since all of my boys were dressed nicely which is a rare occasion around here. They weren't being very cooperative especially the big one who is grimacing in almost every picture. We enjoyed a beautiful Mass at Holy Family and then came home and ate some finger foods like smoked salmon cream cheese rolls, shrimp, and stuffed peppers. The boys pretty much just ate the plates and plates of goodies that all of our neighbors dropped off all week. We are truly spoiled living here.

Aidan at Swim Lessons

Aidan finished up his swim lessons today and passed level 2 which means he can go on to level 3 where they learn more coordinated breathing in their front crawl and a true back stroke. He has come a long way in just a couple of months. I have enjoyed the hour every Tuesday too because I usually swim laps while he is in lessons and then hit the hot tub. Then the two of us play toys in the kiddie pool for a few hours. It has been fun for both of us and we will probably do it again after the coldest months pass.

Baking Christmas Cookies

Last Sunday we baked cookies pretty much all day. The boys have been begging me for weeks to make Christmas cookies. We just have been so busy and I really didn't want them in the house any longer then necessary because I didn't want to eat them all. I really truly love making cookies with them but the mess with 2 young kids is crazy. We had sprinkles and flour and chocolate and icing from one end of the kitchen to the other. I am still finding stuff 4 days later. We made scotch a roos, peanut butter cornflake balls, puppy chow, sugar cookies, and peanut butter kiss cookies. We made plates for all of our neighbors so that I don't gain like 20 pounds from all these cookies. They were all super yummy except some of the sugar cookies tasted more like flour then sugar but with a little icing they tasted just fine.

Breakfast with Santa

Today our church had breakfast with Santa after Mass. Nick had lots of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream on top. This was the first time Nick has seen Santa this year. He asked him for NBA 2K12. Aidan wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa and sat under the table pouting which I don't think had anything to do with Santa but more to do with the fact that he didn't want to go to church today. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only 1 week away.

Jeremy's "Skunks" Holiday Party

Me and best friend Meg

Meg and her husband Brian

Last night we went to Jeremy's work party. It was in Old Town Alexandria right on the waterfront at a restaurant called Bilbo Baggins. The food was amazing as well as the beer and wine selection. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to finally meet a lot of the people that Jeremy comes home talking about. Plus my best friend Meg was there who I haven't seen in a couple months so we pretty much spent the night catching up which was wonderful. This is the second time this month we have been out on a date and almost completely forgotten that we have children at home. Man that is a nice feeling to be lost in the moment and enjoying each others company. We went with a few friends after the party to Murphy's which is a famous Irish Bar on King Street. Guinness and live music what more could anyone ask for. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the Holiday season.

Aidan's Bible Study Christmas Sing-A-Long

Last Wednesday Aidan had a little Christmas Sing-A-Long at the bible study we go to at our church. I posted one of the songs on Facebook that they sang. My video camera ran out of battery in the middle of the third song so I didn't get to tape much which was fine because after the first song Aidan pretty much refused to sing or do anymore actions and sat there like a bump on a log for the rest of the time. He has been super moody lately. He is either sweet as pie or being so stubborn that he makes all of us miserable. Hopefully, he will be more cooperative at his preschool Christmas show tomorrow. I will charge the camera and take more pictures then.

The Decorated Tree and St. Nick's Day

I thought I would upload a few pictures of the completely decorated tree. Aidan set his Christmas train up around the tree and has been playing with it non-stop. The last picture is what St. Nick brought the boys a few days ago. Nick got The New Diary of a Wimpy Kid book and Aidan got the G. I. Joe he has been coveting. What St. Nick didn't realize was that parachuting G.I. Joe from the second level would damage the hard wood floors so we now have to put pillows underneath his drop zone. Aidan was so excited it was so cute to hear him and his brother talking downstairs about St. Nick before I got out of bed. It makes me excited for Christmas because their innocence and love of the Holiday is so pure and fun. And a note to Santa Claus Aidan would like a candy cane not candy in his stocking. Now to get some presents wrapped and put under the tree and do some Holiday baking.

Our First Real Christmas Tree

Yesterday, we went to a tree farm by our house and cut down our first real Christmas tree. It was a lot of fun and the boys loved running around looking for the perfect tree. The little tree farm provided saws and a wagon ride out to the area but then you were pretty much on your own to hack it down and haul it back to the wagon for a ride back. They did have amazing free cider at the end. They also shook out the tree and wrapped it for you and carried it to your car if you wanted. We decided after dealing with it inside the house this is probably going to be the only year we do this. They are messy and they poke you every time you put an ornament on and you have to water it everyday, and we are way to much of perfectionists to not constantly notice how this tree kind of leans to one side even though it is standing up right. The boys liked it and we all had fun so it was worth trying. Now if we can just keep it from dying before Christmas.

Thanksgiving Blessings

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. First, Jeremy had a half day on Wednesday which it was really nice to see him early that day and Aidan had a performance at school which was really sweet. Then we were blessed to have Jeremy's cousins over on Thanksgiving which I took absolutely no pictures of despite both Eileen and I having our cameras sitting out. It is so nice to have some family living close by again and it was wonderful to share in the day with them. Their girls are so sweet and make really good pumpkin pie. We hope to be able to see them more while we are here.

On Friday we traveled down to Ashland, VA to see our good friends the Archers who were our neighbors at Vandenberg. It was wonderful to catch up and for our boys to have playmates to hang out with again. And of course Aidan's favorite person Miss Meg spoiled him rotten as usual. We were also blessed with good food again as we had fresh oyster soup and fried oysters. So yummy! We also hit the Bass Pro to get Jeremy's Christmas present while we were there and that is where all the pictures are from. Miss Meg also let the boys shoot air pellet guns which they enjoyed every second of. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and eating leftovers which was wonderful. We got our outside Christmas lights up which was fun and pulled out our inside Christmas stuff but haven't decorated yet because we are going to get a real Christmas tree next weekend.

We spent a lot of time talking with the boys this weekend about what we are thankful for as we have been so blessed in our lives. A few of the things they were thankful for were football, new friends, a new bike, and video games. The things I am thankful for this year are new friends, great new neighbors, good schools and teachers, wonderful warm Fall weather, old friends who are keeping me sane, and good health just to name a few. I have really been trying to make a concerted effort to spend some time everyday thanking God for all the many blessings even the small ones and this year I would really like to stay present enough to really enjoy those many blessings. Hope everyone had as blessed a Thanksgiving weekend.