For Grammy - Legos

My mom has a thing about Legos. She loves them! Whenever we spend time with Grammy, you can bet that a table full of Legos (or a sheet outdoors) is somehow involved! For Christmas she sent money for the boys to get . . . . Legos, of course!

I have to say that I am amazed at the good job my boys do with those things! Trevor is 9 and completely built this tractor on his own. Before it was a tractor it was an impressive dune buggy.

Cole built the motorcycle without help!

They thought they should pose with their creations. Already the motorcycle is no more. . . . it's been dismantled so they can build something else.

7-Years-Old

Cole turned seven a couple of weeks ago. I always felt bad that his birthday was 2 weeks after Christmas. To be honest, I am about partied-out by that point! But the night before I hung the balloons and streamers in the dining room like I always do, and was rewarded when he came downstairs with a big smile.

We started the morning with one present before school.


After dinner we decided to go to Slinky's. The kids love to play in this giant playland. (Like a McDonald's play place, only much, much bigger!) We all got ready to go then Cole opened his gifts.

I decided to save the Sunday comics for some wrapping paper, that way all of his gifts wouldn't be wrapped in Christmas paper. Hee-hee! I'm not only frugal but green as well! :-)

Cole got a nice set of walkie-talkies. Logan calls them "talkie-walkies," which I think is

just too cute!

It was late when we got back from Slinky's, so we ate ice cream cake in our jammies.

We're thankful that seven years ago, God gave us this handsome boy. We love him very much!

Tea, Anyone?

While we were in Indiana Brooke just loved playing with my niece's little kitchen set. She seemed to know automatically what to do with all those dishes and pretend foods. I was so delighted! It's so much fun having a girly-girl! :)

I decided then and there that Brooke would be getting a kitchen and dishes for her birthday. We went to the grocery store Sunday night for an emergency diaper run. They were clearancing their Christmas toys for 75% off! They even had a purple tea set. I snatched up those little dishes right then, and I was so excited! I thought about keeping them for Brooke's birthday, but then I thought to myself, "They cost me $1.74!" So I opened that package and my little girl spent a half hour with her dishes. So cute!

Everyday since then, Brooke has spent time with her little tea set.

Where Do I Begin?

It seems like I've taken a month-long hiatus from blogging. The truth is, once you get behind, it's hard to know where to pick up again.

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the house. The kids loved their gifts, and us parents enjoyed watching them tear into things. I made a simple dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, veggies and rolls.

Brooke turned 18-months old on Christmas day. It's hard to believe that she's already been with us a year-and-a-half. Sometimes I can't remember life without her, and other times it seems we just got our precious, little girl.

Here's the aftermath of our Christmas celebration:

The Monday after Christmas we made a rather impromptu decision to drive all the way to Indiana to visit my husband's family! We didn't hit the road until 3 in the afternoon, but we got there before midnight. It was quite a trip. We stayed until Saturday morning. Thankfully our road trips were uneventful. Here are some scenes from our visit with David's family:

(Not really sure how David and Sandra ended up on the kitchen floor!)

My sister-in-law Kat mentioned having an early birthday celebration for Cole. That was so thoughtful of her.

I love this picture of Cole! He could barely contain his excitement!

Kit & Cole - cousins

While in Indiana I got to see one of my dear friends from college. Megan and I traveled together in a summer tour group.

Here are two of the "original" Farley boys:

All of the cousins are in this picture except for little Brienna.

Here's a picture of the girl cousins:

My Logan

Uncle David is a hit with the kids. (Probably because he can play like the best of them!)

Sleepy boys

On the way home we stopped in Ohio to visit with David's younger brother John and his family.

There's little Brienna, with Amber and John, of course!

Merry Christmas Editing!

I was editing some photos today and got to having too much fun! :)

Nodding Her Head

Brooke's latest cute stunt is to nod her head. You wouldn't think nodding your head up and down could be so cute, but if you're just 17 months old, it's adorable! Brooke nods her head so vigorously when you ask her questions. Here's a clip of her at the dinner table.

The boys like to ask Brooke silly questions. She'll nod her head up and down (because she doesn't know how to nod the other way) and the boys will giggle with glee. They'll say, "Do you want to pick your nose, Brookie?" And she'll nod her head up and down. Or they will say, "Do you like your stinky diaper, Brooke?" And she will nod her head up and down. The boys go into gales of laughter, and Brooke just smiles and smiles, because everyone around her is having such a good time. I'm enjoying these precious days.

Brooke

This past Sunday was the first official Sunday in December. I took advantage of that and had Brooke wear her Christmas dress this week. Isn't it beautiful? I went shopping after Christmas last year specifically to find a dress with white fur on it. (Don't worry. . . no animals were harmed in the making of this dress! Tee-hee!)

And here's a bonus picture of our little Brooke. She's so much fun these days. The other day the boys were all gathered around her trying to get her to nod her head at their silly nonsense. She was having the time of her life, like a princess with her royal subjects. David looked at me and said, "She is going to be SO SPOILED!" I just laughed! Every little princess needs some spoiling, don't you think?

Trimming The Tree

The Monday after Thanksgiving we decided to set up our Christmas tree. The boys had the day off of school, and were so excited about getting ready for Christmas. We were getting things back into shape after having company, so I told the boys they had to get their rooms cleaned first. They were so excited to set up the Christmas tree, that they cleaned their rooms quickly and without any fuss!

I know you should hang the stockings by the chimney with care, but at our house the chimney is in use! We hung the kid's stockings in the living room doorway.

Somebody was taking a break!
We each had jobs. Cole's job was to test the lights.

Logan used my $8 vacuum to clean up some of the tree needles for me.

Trevor helped me get the lights on the tree and plugged in.

FINALLY! They got to start hanging ornaments.

Here's our finished tree. Later we went to Wal-Mart and bought a star for the top. Growing up we always had angels on top of the tree, but this year I wanted to try something different.

When we were all done I said, "Hmmm. . . . something's missing. . . ." Then I went to my stash and put some presents under the tree. If I had thought the boys were excited before, they were doubly excited after they saw the presents!