Say Cheese!

Since this may be my last post for 2013, I wanted to add a few of my favorite posed pictures from this Christmas season.  The boys really have become experts at "saying Cheese!"  We saw Santa twice this year - once at the Sterling Fire Department and once at the Tyson's Galleria, where we've seen the same Santa 3 years in a row (and he really is the nicest and best looking Santa around)!  Goodbye 2013 - from Spencer taking his first steps, turning 1, and learning to climb, swim and swing to the twins turning 2, learning their ABC's, singing nursery rhymes, and heading off to preschool - what a great year!!! 

Fun with Uncles

The boys had a blast during Christmas with their Uncles, and as I was editing pictures last night I came across so many great pictures of them with Uncle Rob and Uncle Reed that I had to put them in a separate post!  There are some cute cousins in a few of these as well!  Spencer, the shoe connoisseur, approved of Uncle Rob's footwear and offered to help lace his shoes for him on Christmas day.

Sunday Visit

Today we met up with Ryan's cousin and family who are in town from Austin visiting DC for Christmas.  We visited at our house in the morning while our little boys had fun getting to know and playing trains with their older boys Lockhart and Calder.  We had a quick lunch at home and then headed out to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum.  As always, the boys enjoyed all the big airplanes and did their usual run around on the second floor before we started back toward home.  We made one more stop at the Great Falls park to check out the falls (there had been a ton of rain the night before) and it was fun to see the water so high and fast.  We all had a great visit and our boys were exhausted after such a full day and ready for an early bedtime!

Feeding Spencer Steak

We just arrived back home from our week long trip to Dallas for Christmas.  Lots of pictures and videos to come!  Today we slept in late and spent most of the day unpacking and settling back into our routine.  The boys fell into a more lackadaisical eating routine while we were away.  So when Spencer refused to eat his steak dinner tonight because he wanted to leave the table to play with some new toys, Owen stepped in and took my role and started trying to feed him bites of steak.  Surprisingly, Spencer didn't fuss at all for Owen and willingly ate every bite!  You'll even see him asking for more as he holds the fork out for Owen to feed him another piece.  Yes, a two year old can feed a one year old better than Mommy sometimes!  I love how Owen tells Spencer to eat the bites "for Percy and Thomas" - clearly using my tactic of negotiating bites for a favorite toy or show.  Maybe I better train him to do all the meals.   

Preschool Christmas Party

On Tuesday the boys had their preschool Christmas party and the parents were invited to watch them sing a few songs and have treats afterward.  I made holiday Funfetti cupcakes with green icing and sprinkles for the kids and Oliver and Spencer gobbled theirs up (of course they both already had a preview cupcake the night before).  The teachers were nice enough to let Spencie sit at the table with the "big" kids, even though there probably would have been no stopping him otherwise - as he darted over next to Oliver as soon as the kids sat down and cupcakes were served.  The class showed a big improvement in their singing since the Halloween performance...from 2 to 4 songs, with more focus and enthusiasm!

 

Santa Overload!

We made it to Dallas on Wednesday night and have already taken a couple night tours of the many, amazing neighborhood light displays!  There was one house that Dee calls the "wow house" that Oliver wasn't too fond of visiting due to the plethora of Santas in the front yard.  All he could do was cover his eyes and beg, "Mommy let's go, let's go!!"  For someone who is still a little nervous about the whole Santa thing, I can see how this might be a little terrifying...



Morning Reading

The boys have recently gotten into reading in their rooms for a little bit before heading downstairs for breakfast in the morning.  They move their little choo choo chairs around from one room to the next, until they pick a good spot for a story or two.  Owen likes to be in charge of reading by holding the book and turning the pages.  He was so cute reading to Spencer the other day, while Spencer sat back and relaxed in his chair with his silky around his neck and "ba-ba" in his mouth!  All they need is a footrest and a cup of coffee!  Their favorite book this week has been Little Quack's Hide and Seek - it's so funny to listen to Owen recite the ducklings' names, "Widdle, Waddle, Piddle, Puddle, and Little Quack"!

Preschool Bday Party

The boys were invited to one of their preschool classmate's 3rd birthday party on Saturday, held at one of their favorite bouncy places.  Spencer was even invited to come along - isn't he lucky to have big brothers?!  The boys wore themselves out bouncing and sliding for the first hour, then all of the kids had their picture taken on a giant inflatable chair.  Someone made an announcement that it was time for pizza and cake and all of the kids went running into the eating area, while ours were the only ones who wanted to stay behind and watch the chair deflate.  They sure are curious as to how things like that work!  They eventually made their way over to the food and when Oliver saw the brightly colored Spiderman cake his eyes lit up.  I had to watch him closely to make sure he didn't sneak over to the cake table and grab a handful before Happy Birthday was sung.  Before leaving a lot of kids were trying the Hurricane simulator, and after seeing a few others do it the boys wanted a turn!  Everyone had a great time bouncing, eating, celebrating and was ready for a nice long afternoon nap by the time we made it home (including Mommy and Daddy)!