Baseball for Michael

We've gone through two seasons of baseball and through both of them Michael watched Gabriel closely.  Now, it is finally Michael's turn to give Dad's favorite game a try...

Michael was really excited to have his first game (just in case you couldn't tell).

And Aunt Anita came to watch him.  He was happy to have some fans!

Now that it was Gabriel's turn to watch, turns out he doesn't think it is very much fun and was sad he couldn't play.

Until next time,
Angie

Flossing...

This morning after showers and breakfast I asked the boys to go brush and floss (attempt that is) their teeth.  In record time Gabriel was in and back out of the bathroom.  Knowing that he couldn't have successfully finished either of those tasks, I asked...

"Gabriel did you floss?"
Yelling from the other room he responded, "No Mom.  See I'm so good at brushing my teeth, I don't have to floss." 

Guess we'll let his dentist decide that.

Until next time,
Angie

Snack please...

I'm not sure if it is just because they are boys or if it is just the way our boys are.  The truth is they are hungry all the time.  People joke and tell me to wait until they are teenagers.  I'm not joking when I respond, "I know, I"m seriously thinking about a part time job at a grocery store just to get an employee discount on food."

It no longer surprises me that one of the first things out of each of their mouths on the way home from school is, "Can I have a snack? I'm hungry."

I try to give the boys options of what to snack on... yogurt, crackers, grapes, even cereal.  And although the boys love the choices above, the other day I had to laugh at what Gabriel picked out of the fridge to eat.

Here's a picture that shows what he chose...

It looks like an apple... but it isn't.

It's actually a tomato!

And when I asked him if he wanted me to slice it up, he said, no mom I want to eat it all.

I can never imagine as a 6-yr-old wanting to have a tomato, in fact I can't even imagine as an adult wanting a plain tomato.  The kid loves his fruit and I guess that means tomato's included (tomato is still a fruit right?)

Until next time,
angie

Hawkeyes in the desert...

After Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa came down from Iowa with their employees for a quick weekend trip.  It just so happened that the Iowa Hawkeys (our alma mater) were playing in the Insight Bowl and Grandma and Grandpa got all of us tickets (thanks Mom and Dad)!

We had a lot of fun, especially the boys, watching all of the people and talking to the other Iowa fans around us.  We tailgated, got to see the Iowa band including Herky two times and then walked into the stadium with high hopes that the underdog Hawkeyes could pull out a victory (going against Oklahoma, we knew it would be difficult).

Michael waving to the cheerleaders...

as they walked by...

and I guess we caught Jarrett watching them as well. 

The boys cheered on the Hawks...

and enjoyed their first college bowl game!

Even though the Iowa Hawkeyes couldn't pull out a win, it sure was a lot of fun.

Until next time,
Angie

All I asked for was a skateboard...

On Christmas morning the boys once again awoke to presents flowing out from below the tree. Santa Claus stopped by sometime between midnight at 5:00 a.m. and boy were they excited to run into the living room. 

As the boys began to open the nicely wrapped presents that were labeled with their name, Gabriel stopped and said, "Mom, why did Santa bring us me all these presents, all I asked for was a skateboard?"

To which I replied, "Does that mean you don't want any of these other presents?" and he quickly responded, "No, Mom, I want all these presents, I was just asking."

Here's a picture of our 5:00 a.m. wake up call on Christmas morning.

The boys deciding who should open up their present first.

Michael received his tools and his Batman house.

Dad helped Jack open his present...

He seemed to like it.

Michael seemed to really like his Batman house.

And Gabriel got his skateboard.

Santa even brought Grandpa Ray some presents

And Gabriel serenaded us while we contemplated going back to bed...

but instead Grandpa made us a tasty Christmas morning breakfast.

It was a wonderful morning, even if it did start at so early. :-)

Until next time,
Angie

Christmas Eve...

On Christmas Eve after going to church we came home and opened a few gifts before retiring to bed so Santa could come.  The boys were excited to open presents and everyone had fun getting to open a gift or two.  This year we were blessed to have my Grandfather with us for the few weeks before Christmas and we really enjoyed celebrating Christmas with him.   Here are a few photos to recap the fun that was Christmas Eve in our home as a family for the second time.

By this point the boys were saying, "enough pictures Mom, can we open our presents?"

And the first package they decided to open was this mysterious and very heavy box from our wonderful neighbors.  They are always spoiling the boys and giving them treats that mom and dad won't give them.

So we really shouldn't have been too surprised when we opened up the HUGE box to see if was filled with 10+ pounds of candy.  "Please mom, can we have just 5 or 7 or 9 pieces of candy?  We promise we'll control our sugar, we promise." 

And then Mom got to open a gift that Gabriel had made me.  An ornament with 5 snowmen made from his hand print.  It comes with a great saying and I hung it proudly on our tree to share.

And then it was Gabriel's turn again.  The kid LOVES balls.  He was so excited and wanted to play catch right then.

And then it was Michael's turn which he happened to get a tool, or in his words, "toodles" set. 

When it became Grandpa's turn to open his presents, there were two helpers that made sure the wrapping paper was removed in less than 5 seconds.

And finally Dad's turn.  I guess Jack was interested in seeing what was in the box too.

And after seeing it was just batteries and a flashlight... he jumped down from Jarrett's lap and went to sleep in his bed.

And one of the other highlights from the night was when Gabriel opened up a gift Michael had gotten for him.  Michael picked out two small candy canes and one afternoon while Gabriel was at school, Michael wrapped them himself.  As Gabriel opened up and saw there were two candy canes you would have thought he had just opened up a trip to Disneyland.  He grabbed Michael, wrapped his arms around him and said, "Thank you so much Michael!  I love you!" and then they hugged.  It was heartwarming to see that the two brothers, who continue to be the bestest of friends, love and care for each other so much.

Until next time,
angie

Messages from Santa

This year the boys received a couple of correspondence from the one and only Santa Claus.

First they received a letter that gave them a gentle reminded to be good and to listed to their parents.  He also said that Santa was watching. Perhaps it was because Santa had seen their listening slip a little and their tendency to argue with each other and their mom and dad increase.   It is amazing the timing of Santa's letter.  Just a few days earlier Jarrett and I were having a conversation about the good old days when the boys would jump up and do what we asked right away.  And then, just a few days later, boom, a letter from jolly old St. Nick came to our rescue.

 The letter helped, in fact the boys insisted they would do what ever it would take to avoid getting a lump of coal for the holidays.  It was great, we'd ask the boys to get ready for bed and before we knew it, they were changed, had brushed their teeth, gone to the bathroom and were in bed waiting for us to say their good night prayers.  Glorious!

And then within a week of Christmas the boys received yet another message from the big guy at the North Pole.  In case you'd like to view the video yourself, here are the links to the message from Santa to Gabriel and one to Michael...

Michael's message from Santa: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/m1xzW6Yh5sTF_uHOz3ShsjA
Gabriel's message from Santa: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/mktODwkGoA2SgnnTa8nzXKw

The videos are pretty neat and I was excited to see Gabriel and Michael's reaction.  In fact I recorded their reaction because, well, how often do you get a personalized message from Santa. 

I enjoyed watching the boys watch Santa talk with them and we hope you enjoy also...
Gabriel got to watch his video first and then Michael. 

Gabriel's reaction to watching Santa's message...http://youtu.be/fETtTQ6VZDQ
Michael's reaction to watching Santa's message...http://youtu.be/2Y3PB_SsAiw

We will cherish these videos for years to come. And I hope someday, if or when the boys are all grown, ask what they thought of Santa as a young boy, I'll be able to show them the video that I think captures the beauty that is the wonder of Christmas.

Until next time,
Angie