Night of Lights

Last night, we went to St. Augustine to see the Night of Lights. It's basically a trolley ride around downtown St. Augustine where the entire city is lit up! We went last year and Grant had sooooo much fun, we knew we had to go again this year! It was finally a brisk night- and by brisk, I mean 50- which made it even more enjoyable!! We all got our jackets, the boys wore hats, and it felt Christmasy!! I wasn't sure what Wyatt would do, since it started at 6 and he's always ready for bed about 6:15, but he loved it, although he could have done without the hat! The tour lasted about 45 minutes, with a quick cookie and cider stop in the middle! Grant was very excited to hear "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" playing over the speaker- he remembered that from last year! It was a wonderful night!

 They give everyone these glasses so when you look at the Christmas lights, they look like snowflakes.

 Wyatt's little Eskimo hat!

 Daddy sat with Wyatt the first half, then we switched! Wyatt was the tricky one, as Grant sat perfectly still the entire ride. Wyatt was on pure overload and didn't know where to look!

 We just can't get Grant to smile normal anymore for pictures!

 Here's a blurry view of the town square. Lights, lights, and more lights!

 A palm tree all decked out! (I seriously need a lesson on how to use my camera at night- either they were dark like this, or blurry like the first one!)

 A nice old lady took our picture on the trolley- its definitely not the best, but at least you can see everyones eyes!

I love my little family of four!!

The Halls are Decked

 I absolutely love putting up my Christmas decorations and I seriously wait with anticipation all year long!! We have always decorated the day after Thanksgiving and this year was no different. After getting up bright and early, thanks to Wyatt, we did a little Black Friday shopping then came home and decorated ALL day!! And by all day, I mean I didn't sit down til about 10pm, but it was so worth it!! It was a little difficult decorating the tree with Wyatt around. He is into EVERYTHING!! Grant was always so good about not getting into stuff he shouldn't be into when he was a baby, but Wyatt is totally nothing like that!! So Levi did some baby wrangling and I did some tree decorating! I must say, I love how it turned out!

 Grant helped me put on about 5 ornaments, and he was spent. He personally liked all the ornaments hanging on one branch, so I had to move a few when he was done! 

 Apparently a little forethought would have been beneficial! We forgot the tree skirt until after everything was all decorated!

Our newest Christmas decoration- a countdown quilt my mom made for us. They are all little pockets for fun little advent treasures!! Grant is already about to explode waiting for Dec. 1st to come long!! This will be a fun tradition for years to come- Thanks Mom!!

Low-key Turkey Day

We had a very low-key turkey-day! It was just the four of us, so we cooked a small, yet plentiful feast!! Levi always likes to eat holiday dinners at lunchtime, so we were ready to eat at noon! We ate until we were stuffed- well me, Levi, and Wyatt did- Grant didn't eat a bite. Then we all snuggled up to watch Toy Story 3. We spent the rest of the day playing around the house, chatting with our families on the webcam, and eating pumpkin pie!! Then it was an early bedtime, as we had some major Black Friday shopping to do!! It was such a relaxing, change of pace, Thanksgiving day!

 Typical Grant- he turned away from his food as soon as I put it in front of him. This was his next reaction- covering his eyes in hopes it would disappear. No such luck buddy! He sat and mashed his roll into his jello and said, "I made pink!" Then apparently the leaves on his placemat were on fire, so he squirted his juicebox all over to put the fire out. Needless to say, he didn't last too long at the table!

 In typical Wyatt fashion- he couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough! He munched on turkey, corn, stuffing, rolls, and jello! 

A mouthful of turkey!

 One thing Grant enjoyed eating was some pumpkin pie!! Notice Grant is still in his jammies (this was taken at 1:00)- that's the kind of day we had :)

 Little Puppy, I mean Little Wyatt, went from person to person begging for anyone to give him a bit of pumpkin pie!

Any guesses on if you think he liked it?!?

Only Grant

Grant has been doing things "like a grown up," as he says. That usually refers to things he shouldn't be doing, but does anyway because he thinks he's a "grown up." Last night, I was cooking dinner and was talking on the phone. Grant was playing in the living room, watching a show. I peeked on him from time to time, and at one point, noticed he got the markers out of the craft closet. He knows he can't play with markers without my help! So I brought him to the kitchen table with his coloring book so I could keep a closer eye on him. So as I was making mac and cheese, I turned around to see Grant not coloring on his book whatsoever, but coloring ALL over his body!! As I was putting the markers away, he was begging to take a bath, but I told him he'd have to wait because dinner was almost ready. So as I am getting the fish sticks out of the oven (jealous of our food selection last night??!), I hear water running in Grant's bathroom. I go in there to find him naked, sitting in the sink- something I do with Wyatt after he finishes a meal and needs a quick rinse. He said, "I'm doing it like a grown up!"  I guess I give him credit for taking the initiative for trying to clean up his own mess!

I think he was using the toilet water at first because I noticed this hand print, plus some other washed off marker on the seat of the toilet. Way to be sneaky, Grant!

Oh, only Grant!!!

The Silver Lining

 I know I've probably said a million times that I hate living in Florida. I mean- hot, sticky weather 9 months out of the year is not my idea of fun. I really am a Midwest girl at heart and nothing will ever change that, no matter how long I've lived away. But really, can you get anything more beautiful than family pictures on the beach?? Not really!!! Last week, we took advantage of Levi having Veteran's Day off (as he totally deserved!) and headed out to the beach. My awesome friend, Kelly, and her kids joined us so we could take some pictures. It couldn't have been a more perfect day- about 75, sunny and breezy (its one of the 3 gorgeous months of the year)! Kelly got some amazing shots of us and I was able to take a few of her and her kiddos! After pictures, the kids had so much fun playing in the sand, and leave it to Grant to go for an impromptu swim in the freezing water. So we had to call it a day! 

So even after all my complaining about how much I dislike living in Florida, I guess there is a silver lining to living here, or should I say- sandy lining?!? 

 Wyatt loved eating sand, which I wasn't a bit surprised about!

Grant had fun chasing the waves and throwing sand back in the water! He was loving every second!

A Thankful Mess

 This whole table food thing is not only new to Wyatt, it's new to me too. Grant gagged at the touch and practically the sight of any food, so there was not much experimentation going with him when he was this age (and at the present age, for that matter). Wyatt, on the other hand, can't shovel in the food fast enough. I swear he's like a hamster who's cheeks puff up because they're full of food!!  So far, he hasn't found a food he doesn't like, which makes me want to sing, "Hallelujah!"  He makes a HUGE mess at every meal, almost requiring a bath, and most definitely requiring a wardrobe change, not to mention the need to take the power washer to his high chair and the floor!   But its a thankful mess because for once, there is not a person in the house (yes, including Levi) that I don't have to wonder if they'll like what I'm giving them for a meal. I can already hear my reservation at P.F. Changs: "Laura, party of 2..."  "Yes, we'll be needing a high chair."

By the looks of it, not much got in his mouth!

 He likes the fact that he drops food during lunch, so he can find snacks later!

And then he so kindly helps me load the dishwasher!

Pearly Whites

See those two little pearls of white in Wyatt's mouth?!? Oh, they are the cutest little teeth I've ever seen! He's got two matching "fangs" on the top to go with him!! It's about darn time too- I thought we'd never get any sleep around here! He hasn't exactly been easy to work with during the teething phase. Grant got his molars without us even knowing!! So needless to say, a few months of teething hasn't been super fun for us! But we're dealing! I just hope the next few all come in at once so we can be done with this...at least for a few months!

School Games

 As you read from a previous post, one of my new goals is to do a "school activity" with Grant each day. So far, it was been very successful and he usually asks me all day to do his "school game." Being the old teacher that I am, I have collected educational games for Grant over the last 2.5 years, and some of my old teaching supplies have come in handy, so finding ideas and games hasn't been too hard!
Yesterday, we did peg boards. I have been working with Grant on his colors and shapes since he turned a year old. I'm beginning to think he is color blind, or just doesn't care! He knows them on occasion, but most often he says the wrong answer. I think he knows more than he leads on, but its frustrating to me! We had fun sorting the shapes, stacking the colors, and making patterns. I think he had the most fun when I'd build a tower and he'd pretend to be the Big Bad Wolf and blow my tower down!!  

Tonight, I did a Thanksgiving pattern game with Grant. I found an amazing blog that has given me some wonderful activities!! One of Grant's favorite shows is Team Umizoomi and his favorite song is, "Snack Patterns." He's been starting to understand the concept of patterns a little bit. So, we started off by cutting out the pieces. I let Grant use scissors for the first time, with my guidance of course! He caught on pretty quickly and did great cutting out the pieces! Afterwards, we sorted the pieces and then started the pattern. I went through the first few with him, but then he just knew what to do! He was so proud of his hard work that he asked to hang it up in his room!!

Very proud of his cutting work!!

The Pilgrims and Indians are sorted!

Placing the patterns!

TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fall Rain

It's been a wonderful fall, rainy day! The day started off very cloudy, very muggy!! I dressed us all in jeans when we went out this morning and I was totally regretting that decision by 2pm! I was sweating!! But once we got home and the rain came down, it really started to feel like fall outside!! Grant asked to use his umbrella outside, and since it actually felt like fall, I wanted to go outside too! Grant stood at the end of the sidewalk, looked at the rain for a few minutes, tried to catch some on his tongue, then turned around and said, "How about we go inside now?" So that was that!! But I was totally refreshed!

As for Wyatt, he's been enjoying watching the rain come down for about 30 minutes now!!

Fall rain, Fall!!!!

Under New Managment

It seems as if my "New Year's Resolution" started November 1st.  After following a few other blogs where the writers are pretty much the "Domestic CEO" of the house, I decided it was time to run our house under new management. By being a stay-at-home mom, it is very easy to get into a habit of being lazy, and having an "I'll just do that tomorrow" attitude, which I find myself falling victim to very often!  When there are two kids who need constant attention, a husband who's schedule changes from day to day and is often absent, it becomes almost necessary to have a plan of action to actually accomplish anything!! So here are my goals to hopefully make life run smoother in the Broeckelman household:

• I set myself up with a cleaning schedule. It usually seems as if I save the major cleaning for one whole day, usually a weekend, and I always dread that day. To vacuum, mop, dust, clean bathrooms- its just a horrible way to spend the weekend, especially since our time with Levi is so limited. So, I assigned a cleaning chore for everyday of the week. Take 20 minutes out of each day to clean, and come the weekend, I'm not spending the entire day on chores! 
• Do one "school activity" with Grant every day. Since Wyatt has been born and Levi has been gone so much, I feel as if quality one-on-one time with Grant has ceased to exist. I made a monthly calendar of a new activity to do each day with Grant while Wyatt naps (whenever that may be). So far, Grant has LOVED playing "school games."  Today's game was using his "grab-nabber" to put the pom-poms in the bowl. I'd tell him I wanted "blue" cereal in my bowl, so he'd have find all the blue ones. It lasted about as long as it took you to read this sentence, but the game lasted for 20 minutes- it was just on his own terms! 

• Do one load of laundry everyday! After spending 1.5 hours last Saturday folding laundry, then another 30 minutes hanging things up and putting things away, I decided I am not doing that anymore! I am doing one load of laundry a day (rotating between our laundry, and kids laundry). Then Saturday its sheets and towels! Hopefully that will keep me from being buried under a mountain of clothes every weekend!

So these goals may not be world-changing by any means, but they will make our household run smoother, our lives much easier (and cleaner), and our weekends much more enjoyable!!! And heck, Grant might even learn something in the process!!!

A Box of Many Uses

A hiding place from Mom when she's trying to make me eat an apple slice....

A dog house to pretend to be Dixie panting....

Or just a lounging place to watch TV!!

Switcheroo

This weekend, we pulled a switcheroo and moved Wyatt into a big boy car seat!! The little guy kept trying to sit up in his baby seat and hated being in the reclined position. We never carry him around in the infant carrier anymore- he's just too heavy. Plus, he enjoys sitting in high chairs at restaurants and grocery carts at the store. So, we saw this carseat on sale at Costco (notice it is the exact same one as Grant's- which we love!) so we went for it! He is super happy to be able to look out the window, have more leg room, and of course- to be sitting up straight!!

Just another step in Wyatt's journey to becoming a big boy (tear!).