Christmas Time

Of course these pictures are completely out of order, because that's how I roll.

Jack was cooking with his new play food (while sitting in his new rocking chair from G&G Bakken) when he decided it was time to eat. He yelled out to me "Mamma! Pray! Amen!"

Jack had to open his presents with his new wooden knife that came with his play food.

Jack got some new underwear from Aunties Carol and Becky. He immediately had to wear it.

Playing with stocking stuffers. Their favorites are these pathetic kazoos from the dollar store that don't even work.

Some Pre-Christmas shots...

Patrick dual-sipping

And reading books

And walking. Lots and lots of walking now. Crawling is for babies.

The boys got to open an early Christmas present from G&G Mertens - a nativity set. Patrick likes the box the best.

Ooh "Caymuls"!

As they always say... the box is the best part.

I must say... Christmas just gets more and more fun every year. Next year we will have a 3 yr old, almost 2 yr old and an infant. What fun will that be?!

Fashion sense

Jack pulled this look off all on his own. He got the boxers on the right way, but the boots are on the wrong feet. Better luck next time.

Here he is putting on his "shoe boots."

And Patrick still likes eating...

Chilly Days

Patrick is finding his love for all things wheels. Here he was crawling around pushing this ambulance going "brrrm brrrm."

Jack knows what's stylin'.

Pretending to sleep with Matthias.

The boys got some pre-Christmas presents from Aunties Carol and Becky ("Carl and Bucky".) Patrick really liked the wrapping paper.

Advent is here!

I rushed to finish this in time. Please don't zoom in on the binding - it certainly needs to be redone some other time of year. (Hah.) Today's activity was "Play with friends." And tonight Jack will discover a gold chocolate coin in the "1" pocket.

O Christmas Tree

The pictures in this post are quite out-of-order. They also help exhibit just how difficult it is for me to get a decent picture of the boys. They just don't hold still... or smile... or the camera runs out of battery... or fails to snap the picture before the subject is completely out of view.

The boys managed to crawl across the room to inspect the camera by the time it finally took the picture.

Yet another try. We did not manage to get a decent "Boys sitting peacefully infront of the newly decorated Christmas tree" picture.

But I did manage to get this shot of Patrick... that would be a vacuum cleaner he's sucking on.

Jack played in the snow for the first time since last year. He had a blast being hit by snow balls and especially eating snow. I'm trying to teach him the difference between clean and dirty snow. Apparently he doesn't notice the difference in taste, as he seems to enjoy snow off the bottom of boots and from windshield wipers just as much as soft clean powder.

Mr. Alien Potato Head.

This might not be such a good idea.

Buddies

My boys do almost everything together now. Even when I put Patrick in the pack and play so I can get some cooking done, Jack insists on playing with Patrick in it or atleast sticking around the outside of it so he can give Patrick toys.

Little boys must have it hardwired in them to climb up a slide. Maybe they just like the challenge.

Fashion Conscience

I told Jack to go put on his undies....

He's a bit better at dressing up in my shoes than with the underwear.

In other news, Patrick has been very busy these past few days. He's cut his first tooth. He also took his first independent steps todays. He'll be 10 months in a week.

Lions and Tigers and Oh my!

Helping "Papa" (Grandpa Bakken) mow the lawn. It was this little boy's dream come true.

Thankfully he got over his fear of the lion costume just in time for the festival.

Patrick wasn't the only tiger. Matthias had on his stripes too!

Bringing in the fun

With the yucky weather, we've had to bring the fun indoors. No more playdates at the park :-(

Jack had discovered how useful chairs are - especially with cookies cooling on the counter.

And this is how he plays with playdough.

Glued to Finding Nemo while I made dinner. We were out of food so I cooked up a pumpkin that we had on the patio and made pumpkin curry soup.

I love watching the boys play together. Usually Jack is busy with 2 yr old business and Patrick is set on crawling all over it.

Our one nice autumn day. It actually snowed quite a bit today (thankfully it didn't stick.)

Enjoying the bouncy castle before all the other children arrived at a company party.