Deck the Halls

 We are finally getting all of our Christmas decorations up and the house is starting to feel festive.  Even though this is my favorite time of year, it is a lot of work to put up decorations and part of me is always melancholy about it because I know in a month I will have to take them down and that is my least favorite time of year.  It helped that the boys were so excited about decorating the trees and their "help" made it even more joyful.  I always love seeing the ornaments I have collected over the past three decades and the flood of memories that are attached to each & every one.

 Davis enjoyed putting the ornaments on AND taking them off the tree.  Carter was happy to just take it all in.

Looks who's back for the Christmas season!  Alphie the Elf came to our house after Thanksgiving and has resumed his role of observer during the day, reporting back to Santa at night to let him know if the boys have been "naughty or nice".  Our Elf on the Shelf  is a great reminder for the boys to stay on their best behavior!

  The "rainbow tree" as the boys call it (because of the colorful lights), is in the entryway this year.  It is my favorite tree because it displays my collection of Hallmark "light and motion" ornaments that my Grandma Shirley gave us each year.  Thanks to my mom, who found the adapters from Hallmark, I am able to use these 20-year-old wonders on 21st Century light strings.  The boys, of course, are in awe of them. I love it!

 This is the last big ornament I remember my grandma giving me.  It plays one of the songs from The Nutcracker.  And, because it will make me cry if I think about it too much, I'm copying my status from Facebook today which pretty much sums it up: "I'm thankful for the 30 years I had with grandparents who made every Christmas special. It is not the same without them here, but as I decorate our tree I am flooded with countless memories of the magical Christmases from my childhood. What wonderful times we had...knowing them was one of the greatest joys of my life."

 

 Something new this year is that each of the boys got a small tree in their room (Thanks to Kohl's 75% off sale from last year!).  Davis has a cowboy-themed tree (plus Mater) and Carter's has penguins (his favorite zoo animal).  They serve as nightlights at bedtime and bring a little Christmas spirit upstairs which makes me smile.  

 Also, the Christmas Train came out last night and the boys were so excited!  They had forgotten all about this gift from Mimi & Grampy last year because we put it away when we took the decorations down.  So, it was like a new gift!  Thank goodness Daddy is a train track expert and was able to configure it to fit just right on the train table in the playroom.  It has been a huge hit all over again!

Thankful For Davis

I still can't believe that my baby boy is THREE!  It was so fitting that his birthday was on Thanksgiving day this year, because he gives us something to be thankful for every single day.  He is such a little spitfire...funny, resilient, optimistic and a little mischievous (okay, maybe more than a little).  But, he is our sweet boy and we would not change a single thing about this little stinker.  We love you to the moon and back, Davis!

Checking out his new bike!  Now he can pedal along with the big kids!

Grandad helped him get on the new ride.

And...he's off!!

Grandma Nancy & Dezo were safely hanging out in the dining room, away from crazy cyclist.  Carter & Grandad played with Legos while the birthday boy did puzzles, in an effort to keep little boys out of the kitchen.  

Davis with the Thomas cake he talked about for weeks.  He was so excited!!

Blowing out candles and sharing some extra frosting with Carter.

Playing with his new horse, Bullseye.  Giddy-Up!

Carter got to open his belated gift from Grandma & Grandad--Buzz Lightyear!!

...and Buzz's friend, Woody!

Three real cowboys...Cowboy Davis, Woody & Grandad!  We had a great time celebrating our little boy and are most thankful for what he brings to our family.  He couldn't be more different from his big brother, but they are each special and completely loved.  Happy Birthday, buddy!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had quite a Thanksgiving celebration this year!  Davis turned THREE on Thanksgiving day and we hosted 15 people for dinner, including our new friends Dezo, Martha and Zach!  It was a great day full of good food and lots of laughs.  

One of the highlights was using my Grandma Shirley's turkey roaster.  It hadn't been used since before she passed away, but it turned out the most delicious turkey and it was almost as if she were watching over us as we prepared the meal.  It also helped that Grandma Nancy, Taylor & his friend, Zach, were there to help me all day.  It was most definitely a group effort!

The star of the show--Gobble Gobble!

Taylor & Zach--you guys rock!

The birthday boy!

The crew lining up for dinner...

...and chowing down!

After the big meal, it was time to party on.  We opened birthday gifts, ate dessert and enjoyed some board game action!

Grandad really got his groove on!

Davis & Aunt Debbie were deep in conversation about string cheese.

Time for cake for the birthday boy!

This will definitely go down as one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever.  It was just a great bunch of people to spend the day with and everything seemed to fall into place.  Thank you to all who came to give thanks with us and to those who were not with us, we missed you and hope you had as wonderful a day as we did!

Family Game Night

We have had a couple of game nights recently and the boys have been loving it.  I think their favorite is "Don't Break the Ice" (courtesy of Uncle Josh & Aunt Natalie) because they get to be loud and hit things.  

 Davis was using the mallets to pound out the tune of Jingle Bells.

 Carter has finally mastered getting the ice cubes stacked in there just right!  

We finished up the night playing "Chutes and Ladders" which got Daddy & Carter pretty frustrated because Mommy won by a landslide.  Twice.  As Sean was quick to point out "It's a game based completely on luck, there's no real skill involved."  So, there you have it--guess I'm the lucky one!

Our Carter

Carter has this thing where after stories at bedtime, he likes to have a "talking" time.  We turn off the lights, I lay down in bed with him and he asks me questions or I quiz him on opposites (his choice).  We don't do it every night because, let's face it, by bedtime Mommy is really ready for some peace & quiet and sometimes a nice beer.  But, on the nights when we do have talking time together it never fails to be memorable.   My Facebook friends will recognize some of these...some of the highlights from recent conversations with Carter:

~Tonight Carter had some things he wanted to discuss before bedtime. It went something like this:
"Why do strawberries get their seeds on the outside?" I was honest and told him I had no idea. "How did the doctor cut you open to get me and Davis out of you?"  Just as I had finished explaining the anesthesia and how it allowed me to not feel the surgery he moved on to: "How do batteries make things work?" I told him that would be a better question for Daddy.  :-) And then, "How does apple juice get into the bottle?"  Gotta love how his little mind works.  I have to admit, he makes me think!

~I was explaining to Carter that today is election day and that there will be extra people at his school because it is a polling place. When I told him that we are voting for who will be President, he got a big smile on his face and said "I hope I win!".

~Out of nowhere, Carter asked me: "Where did the Earth come from?"  I told him that God made the Earth and all of us and all the animals and plants.  He replied "Mom, I don't think that one person could make all of this."  So, I took a deep breath and went on to explain how amazing God is and that he is responsible for all of the good things that happen to us and helps us when bad things happen and that's why he is special enough to have made the Earth.  LONG PAUSE from Carter.  Then I went on to say: "Some people, called Scientists, believe that our Earth was created by stars in outer space colliding."  Carter immediately said "Yeah Mom, that sounds more like how it really happened."

~Today in the car (another favorite talking spot) Carter asked me when & why Sean and I got married.  I told him that we got married because we loved each other and we still love each other a lot, even though we've been married for almost seven years.  Carter thought about that for a minute and then said "That's weird."  He's asked me before if he could marry me when he gets older (So sweet, right?) but I've explained to him that since I'm already married to Daddy, he has to find someone else to marry.  Today, he told me that when he gets older he will find a best friend to marry and love forever.  Wow--I couldn't be more proud!  I am doing my best to prepare these boys to be awesome husbands one day.  Not an easy job, people!

Carter's 2012-13 Preschool Picture

Another update: Carter had his five year well check last week and everything went...well.  :-)  He is small, 25% weight and 30% height, but following his own little growth curve just fine.  He meets and exceeds developmental milestones which makes us so very proud.  We are still working on some Sensory Processing issues with him (I like to call them "quirks") but for the most part they are mild.  For example, simple things like haircuts are a big deal for him because he actually feels the itchiness of the cut hairs as painful.  Luckily we don't go for haircuts every day and I can usually coach and/or bribe him through it.

We also had parent/teacher conferences last week with his Preschool teachers.  They had nothing but good things to say about Carter in school and again suggested we look into testing him for the "Early Access" program in our school district.  This was something that was mentioned by his teachers and the school social worker last year, but we opted to just move on with the plan to keep him in Preschool another year and send him to Kindergarten when the district age guidelines dictate.  Well, it is becoming more obvious that he may be ready to move up.  His reading level is making it difficult for his teachers to find activities that keep Carter engaged while still keeping the rest of the classroom occupied with a teacher-led story time.  

Our main concern, and one the school recognizes as well, is that Carter is socially and emotionally very much a Preschooler.  With that being said, we are planning to have him tested this Spring to see if he meets criteria for Early Access.  That does not obligate us to put him into a different school, or skip Kindergarten as one educator mentioned, but it will help Sean & I  to better know what Carter's strengths are and pursue our options.  I have been pretty stressed out by all of this and just want to do what is best for Carter.  So far, he has no idea that he is different from other kids his age & I want to keep it that way.  I know, I am worrying way too much about all of this and should just be happy that people think our kid is gifted.  But, as his mom, I just want him to feel normal and have friends and be happy.  Hopefully, we can figure out a plan that gives Carter all of the above and challenges his mind as well.  He is such a neat kid and we love him so much.  

Dance Moves

These boys can really break it down!

Snuggling and Celebrating

I cannot stress enough how helpful my mom is when she's in town.  She volunteers for bath duty, bedtime duty, laundry duty (her choice!) and whatever else she can get herself signed up for.  It is such a nice break for us!  We love you, mom & appreciate everything you do for us!

 The boys love snuggling with Mimi for stories.

Showing off our new Christmas ornaments (Iron Man and Mater) from Mimi!

 Monday was my Aunt Debbie's birthday, so we took her to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate!

 Debbie with her "kids".

 Contrary to how this picture looks, Taylor was a BIG help with these two during lunch.

 The birthday girl!

 Taylor keeping everyone together...

Just the girls! (Kelsie had to get back to campus.)  What a fun lunch and a yummy meal!

Zoo Trip with Mimi

We had a great visit with Mimi last week and took advantage of the beautiful Fall weather with a trip to the zoo!  I miss when we lived five minutes away and could just go over for an hour or so whenever we wanted. Driving there now takes a little more planning ahead, but still a fun trip and worth the drive.

Mimi helping Davis pick out some seafood.

Davis looking for something in the cave.

Mimi on wagon duty!

Our stop at Carter's favorite animal...the penguins.  He did admit that they are a bit stinky, but claims he loves them anyway.  The same could be said of his brother, I suppose, and we still love him...

And of course, no visit would be complete without rides on the carousel and train!

Special time together.  We love you, Mimi!