Texas Storms

One thing I dislike about Texas is storm season. Last week we had bad weather and the sirens went off indicating a tornado. The boys put there blankets and foam chairs in the closet which is our shelter and really enjoyed themselves. This was the first time Fantom got to experience this with us. He didn't like it very much and was the first one in the closet!

Life with the boys...

I was enjoying a somewhat peaceful evening after having sick kids for the past week. Jeremy took the boys outside to get some fresh air and I had started making dinner. Easton rushed in the house and tells me I have to come see quick! I freak out because like I said, this last week has been a long one with sick kids and I instantly think the worse. I rush outside and this is what he shows me. He asked if I thought it was the coolest thing ever to which I replied, "of course!" The boys then spend the next few minutes talking about how they thought the lizard died. Easton and Cade thought maybe a bird ate the skin and left the skeleton. Davis thought a lion ate it. The boys thought the lizard skeleton was the coolest thing to happen at our house in a long time. I can't wait until something else happens! What do you think happened to the lizard?

The World According to Easton

Jeremy has finally finished painting my bathroom and I have to tell you I could not be happier. I chose to have it painted purple (native lilac to be precise) because that is my favorite color and there is nothing else girlie in the entire house. Easton came in while Jeremy was painting and asked why the bathroom was purple. I told him because mommy wanted it that way, to which he replied, " then why is daddy painting?" I guess when you are five, life is simple.

A monster in the house

Easton got a hat and glove set for Christmas from Davis. The day Jeremy had to go to get his injections in his back was cold so they bundled up on the way to Nana's. Here is our little monster.

How to keep Easton reverent during FHE

Monday night for Family Home Evening we were setting goals as a family and individuals. Easton was sitting right up next to Jeremy. Jeremy commented halfway through how reverent Easton was being this time (he could not see Easton from where he was sitting). Easton was quiet but it was because he was ASLEEP!! Now we know how to keep Easton reverent....

Not a creature was stirring...

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, except mom and dad..

Since the kids are paying more attention to things these days, mom and dad are up till all hours of the night making sure presents are wrapped. Each child has his own paper so that we don't have to write on the packages because we would have handwriting analysis going on. Then Santa has different paper from mom and dad and yet again each boy has his own color. Let's not forget Granny, (I love you mom but we have to come up with another separate paper for Granny. Christmas was a lot easier when the boys did not notice so many things!!!

After Santa came that night....

Once they woke up.....
Later that morning.......

Traditions

Neither Jeremy nor I grew up in a home that had Christmas traditions so when we got married we had to create our own. They may not be much, but they are all we have. By far, my favorite is not necessarily a Christmas but a birthday one. The birthday child gets to choose dinner and since Davis' birthday is Christmas Eve, our family Christmas Eve dinner is usually chicken nuggets, pizza, etc. This year he choose hamburgers. I can't tell you how nice is it to only have to make hamburgers on such a busy night! Did I ever mention how much I love Davis? Jeremy already posted about our ornament exchange so I thought I would post a few pictures of some of our other favorites. Below is a picture of the boys in Santa suits which we got 4 years ago. The boys decided they wanted to wear them to sleep on Christmas Eve so this is what they wear during our family talk show and then to bed. This picture if you notice is only from the waist up because.... Cade kept telling me all year he didn't want to wear his suit anymore and just wanted regular PJ's so I never go him a new suit. When the boys went upstairs to get ready for the night Cade still kept insisting he was just going to wear regular PJ's. When they came downstairs, they were all dressed up. Cade had a change of heart (which I was secretly happy for) but his suit being four years old, came up half way up his arms and way high on his legs. Below is the real picture. Needless to say the tradition continues and next year they will all have bigger suits!!

Every year Santa brings silly string in the boys stockings and on Christmas Day we have a war. The boys look forward to this so much but this year. They love to gang up on Dad!

This tradition came from Jeremy's neighbor growing up. Every year the neighbor gave himself Big Loader and played with it during Christmas then put it up and gave it to himself again the next year. Jeremy remembers going over and watching it as a child. Jeremy finally got himself a Big Loader and was excited to have his own "Christmas toy". Shortly after moving to Texas we found this Big Big Loader which has more levels and tracks. They say everything in Texas is bigger and I guess that includes the Big Loader. Now our boys love to watch as Dad plays with his toy every year and now an again, if they are good, they are allowed to play too!!