Christmas Cheer

The Christmas tree is up and lights are on outside! The kids loved watching Dave do all the work.

 

 

Our visit to Santa included snow falling from the ceiling, which was a nice surprise. Drake knew something was up from waiting in the line and didn't get warm fuzzies from Santa. Lincoln asked for The Rayman Origins xbox game, a Batcave, swords and motorcycles.

 

 The cute town we live in puts on a Christmas parade. I took the boys and they got into the Christmas spirit! Both of them were waving to the parade participants. Lincoln got in trouble for running into the street for candy. To him it would have been worth it to be creamed by a huge truck for that one tiny candy cane! 

November Recap

I'm just going to jump right in, because there is too many other things to do tonight!

My parents and our family spent a weekend at Jellystone Camp Resort in the mountains of NC. It is a great, family friendly camp ground, and we all had a wonderful time!

 Lincoln and his hair enjoyed the sack races.

 

We were lucky to celebrate Thanksgiving with both sets of parents and my grandma. We celebrated turkey day down at Myrtle Beach. It was fantastic to have the Atlantic Ocean be our background music as we ate our dinner outside!

Goodbye October, Hello November

There is nothing like a good dance party at home. We celebrated Halloween morning with a dance party to the Halloween channel on pandora. Lincoln looked on pinterest with me to find a Halloween treat to make. He wanted to make everything he saw, but decided on owl cupcakes with oreos for eyes. They were cute and he felt so proud icing the cupcake and putting the decorations on.

He kept asking all day when we were going to go "all around the city" aka trick-or-treating. We just went around our little neighborhood, so we introduced ourselves to all the people we haven't met yet. Drake and Lincoln had to take turns ringing the door bell: I didn't think Drake would be into it yet this year, but I guess with a big brother, it happens. We let Lincoln eat 4 pieces of candy, since he is 4 years old. Dave and I were thrilled he picked out the not so yummy candy and left some chocolate for us to enjoy!

 We said hello to November with a wonderful visit with some of our favorite people. Dave met Jen and Jeff before he met me, almost 9 years ago. They also have 2 boys, who are the same ages as Lincoln and Drake. Lincoln was so excited to have his buddy come over for a 4 day slumber party. I'm not going to lie, we were all excited about them coming!

 Lincoln and Will playing xbox, following their father's footsteps

 We wanted to give them a taste of the south, so we went to a BBQ place. We also went to the Nascar museum for some really good people watching!

 Rub a dub dub, 4 boys in a tub

I fell in love with Lukie. He is so sweet and quiet. He just minds his own business and when he needs to, can bust out crazy arms!

Fall Fun

We have been having too much fun this Fall, I haven't done much blogging.

Our fall festivities started out with a trip to a pumpkin patch. I got the dates wrong and went a day before it opened, but the owners were extremely nice and let us pick some out. The boys had fun pulling the wagon around the farm.

We started a new tradition of popping popcorn and carving pumpkins. Lincoln wanted a happy pumpkin this year. Dave carved a scary pumpkin for work, which I don't have pictures of.

Dave and I went to my 10 year high school reunion. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, because I actually had clean clothes on, make-up, and my hair out of a ponytail. Anyway, it was so great to see old friends and catch up with everyone.

Before the reunion, we took the kids to Octoberfest in Hickory. It was so crowded, we just might have to skip it next year. Lincoln had a good time riding some rides, but didn't understand waiting in long lines. The best thing from Octoberfest was the kettle corn!

Dave's office throws a Halloween party every year. We all dressed up as the Avengers; although we didn't win the group prize, Dave did win most original costume. There was tons of candy and each part of the office was decorated.

Because the kids didn't get enough candy at Dave's work party (geeeze), we went to our church Halloween party that same night. I don't think Lincoln was awake by the time we walked away from his bed to turn off his light. Actually, we all slept pretty well.

On a beautiful fall afternoon, Lincoln and his buddies flew some paper airplanes outside. Drake took a great nap, so I was able to play with these cuties and do some different projects with them.

There is a little chill in the air, so when we go to the park or take a jog (which the boys have been loving lately, they probably just enjoy the lollipops they get during the run), they get their hoodies on. I love hoddie weather!

What would be fall without decorating cookies? The Haunted House cookie was the first one gone.

 

 

We hope everyone else is enjoying this time of year as much as we are!


Just a little bit alot about the boys...

Drake is WIDE OPEN! There is nothing stopping this crazy kid. He climbs everything, wants to eat everything, and copies everything Lincoln does. Drake is so tough. I was washing his hands after breakfast one morning and noticed 2 big burns on his fingers. The only thing I can think that happened was the vaporizer in his room was too close to his crib, and he tried to grab the steam. I never heard him cry about it once. They still look painful, but he doesn't notice.

He seriously asks to eat every 15 minutes, so he is filling out like a football player. I am amazed at his motor skills: he stood up on Lincoln's scooter, held the handle bars, and pushed off with his foot. What?!? I screamed, which scared him and he got off, but I never thought a 16 month old could do that.

Drake can say quite a few words now: mama, dada, ikies (lincoln), tei ber (teddy bear), more, all done, bye bye, nigh nigh (night night), papa, shoe, amen (he folds his arms during prayers). He gives Dave the best send offs for work with kisses and waves.

Lincoln has grown a ton: it seems like all of the sudden he is so tall. I have probably written this before, but I love 4 year olds! This age has been really fun. Here is a conversation I overheard last week:

Lincoln (handing a lego he built to his friend): Here you go, cause I'm da bomb.
Tristan: You are a bomb?
Lincoln: Yea, and my daddy is too!

He also cracked me up when he asked me to build a "Lincoln Punch" out of blocks. I started with the legs and then the body and neck, but Lincoln stopped me and said, "Mom, you forgot to build a business." You can imagine what he calls business and where he put the block.

Lincoln has been living in his Halloween costumes (the one from last year still fits and I already scored a good deal for next year). Everywhere we go, he is either Spiderman, Iron Man, or a Power Ranger. When his friend came over and asked if he wanted to play dress up, Lincoln said, "Ewwwww, dress up is for girls."  I had to tell him, when he put on his costumes, he was dressing up.

Typical Thursdays

If I don't answer my phone on Thursdays, this is why:

I watch 3 other little boys, so that makes 5 boys 4 years old and younger. There are 2 year old twins and another boy Drake's age. You would think it would be complete chaos, but the (other) boys are very well behaved. The twins love nothing more than playing Thomas trains, and we have plenty of those!


I never seem to get pictures of us doing our normal "stuff" throughout the week. We had a play-dough morning one day last week. It was Drake's first time playing (eating) with it.

Do you notice the chairs on the table? It's because Drake figured out how to climb the stools and get on top of the table. I discovered this after helping Lincoln in the bathroom. I walked out into the kitchen and saw Drake sitting on top of the table shaking the powder sugar shaker.

Party Express

Lincoln turned 4 on Tuesday and we celebrated by having a train party on Saturday. We combined our efforts with Tristan, since his birthday was so close to Lincoln's.

I sewed the train hats and made the cake, Tristan's mom made the trains and some of the snacks, and Dave made the cool train that held the food. It truly was a combined effort!!

The party continued on Lincoln's actual birthday. We went to Toys R Us, so he could pick out a present from Giggi. He felt like a boss, being able to pick out whatever he wanted. He decided on a T-Rex Hot Wheels track, that he loves!

Next we hit up Monkey Joe's. It was Drake's first time, and he had a lot of fun. I put the most slick pants on both the boys, so they went flying down the slides.

(Of course they aren't looking at me, they are too busy checking out where to go first!)

 

(Lincoln Punch coming at ya!)

When Dave got home we went to Best Buy. Whoo-hoo, right?!? Lincoln has been begging to go, since they have the Xbox Kinec demo there. He went once with Dave and has been wanting to go back for a while. I'm fine with free entertainment, although it seems weird!

We finished up the night with stopping at Ben & Jerry's. Dave wanted to walk out as soon as he saw the political signs that they have up there, but I'm so glad we stayed. Look at this cute picture! It was totally worth staying.

Drakie Boy

Look at who can sleep through the night now! Ever since we got home from Oregon, he has been a sleeping champ. Here are some other facts about this handsome little guy:

1. He just got his 5th tooth.
2. When he gets mad, he makes this pirate face, where he scrunches down his right eye.
3. His feet are so chubby, crocs don't even feet him.
4. He lights up when he sees Lincoln, and Lincoln can get him to laugh more than anyone else.
5. When you tell him to jump, he bends his knees and straightens them.
6. He is listening to commands like: Give Lincoln a kiss or Show this to daddy.
7. His kisses are kind of toothy.
8. He throws things to get attention.
9. He loves the end of the bath, when there is just a little water left in it, so he can do belly flops.
10. He is such a climber. He has already mastered climbing Lincoln's slide bed, which terrifies Dave.