O Christmas Tree!

Christmas tree pictures are probably my favorite pictures to take! Especially when you get two cute boys in matching jammies sitting in front of it!! 

Santa is coming tonight, so after we set out our milk and cookies, I had to take advantage of the perfect moment to take their pictures!  I just love the joy they've had this Christmas season! Its been all about love and giving! And their wishlist as well, but hey...they are kids!! 

Looking forward to celebrating our little family Christmas in the morning!!

Railroad Museum, Lego Style

Grant still lives and breathes Legos. He comes home from school and plays them til he goes to bed. He wakes up in the morning and plays them before school. It's a never ending cycle, really. He just loves to build!! So when I heard that the Railroad Museum here in Enid (yes, that's actually a thing) was hosting a Lego Train display, I knew it was something Grant HAD to see! We squeezed in a trip on Friday. I was hoping Grant wasn't expecting LegoLand quality, because we are in Enid afterall. But even though it wasn't remotely close to LegoLand quality, Grant's eyes lit up just the same!

The display was created by a local man and included quite a few Lego train sets as well as some of his other creations, some of Grant's favorites being the airplanes and helicopters. Go figure! He also had an Arctic scene where the guy built his own version of an igloo. That was the first thing Grant had to build when he got home. Grant just kept smiling and saying, "Wow, I cannot believe it!" the whole time we walked around. The display was only three folding tables long, but we walked around those tables for a good 30 minutes checking out every last detail!! It gave Grant a renewed enthusiasm for Legos, although its not like he needed one!!!

 I think he was saying, "I'm going to build my own LegoLand!"

And here he is with his favorite creation, this helicopter and airplane!! I love my Lego-loving boy!!

On Thin Ice

We have two ponds around our house- one in the front of the neighborhood and one in the woods in front our our culdesac. Grant has always talked about going ice skating on it if it ever froze. Well, with our arctic temperatures we had the last few weeks, his wish came true!

After seeing the front pond was frozen solid, we knew the back one had to have been as well, since its alot more shallow. So Levi and the boys got all bundled up to go check it out! They came inside about 5 minutes later and said it was frozen solid, but Levi was too cold to stay out there. His poor Florida blood hasn't quite thickened yet! Grant kept begging to go back out, so this time I bundled up and headed out with them. 

I was a little more terrified of finding thin ice, but I guess I knew the water was no deeper than Grant's knees if the ice did crack, but I definitely was a little more cautious than Grant wanted me to be! But he enjoyed "playing hockey" with his golf club, and "ice skating" with his boots! I got a great video of him "skating" and turning and then falling on his butt! hehe! 

It was cold and I was a little overprotective, but Grant can't wait for the pond to freeze over so we can do it again! Current temperature today: 56!! Maybe sometime soon!!

Movies and Mice

Occasionally, I'll have a tiny surprise for the boys when I pick them up from school. Anything from a sucker, to donut holes, to a tiny toy. I remember my mom doing this for me, except she'd have them on our bed when we got home from school. But you never quite knew when a surprise was going to show up! 

Well, last week, I had two surprises for the boys! The first were two little stuffed animals I found at the Emporium. I found a Christmas Mouse for Grant, because he is obsessed with mice! Probably as obsessed as he his with Harpy's. And I found a Rudolph for Wyatt! They loved them and squealed with delight! Actually, I think Grant yelled, "I'm so stinkin excited!!!" 

I told them that those weren't their only surprises, that I had another surprise in store! We grabbed two happy meals and headed over to the mall. We sat down in the (now empty) food court to eat our lunch and they still couldn't guess what we were doing. Funny enough, the food court is right next to the movie theater and the mall really has nothing else to offer, so it was funny they didn't put the pieces together. But we went to see Frozen! They were so excited, so we grabbed some kiddie snack boxes and found our seat. We were the only ones in the theater! I enjoyed snuggling with them and they enjoyed snuggling with their new surprises! It was fun for everyone!

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And speaking of mice....these pictures just made me smile! I just love the little thoughts that pop into Grant's head! This one happened after we tucked him in one night, so not sure the whole story behind it, but you can definitely imagine the story line!

 All Grant's little Christmas Mice and some of their bunny and penguin friends came to visit baby Jesus at the Nativity.

And this sweet one of his Christmas Mice singing Christmas songs under my Grandma's tree!

Shed's Shenanigans

December 6: Shed waited for St. Nicholas by reading a book about him.

 December 7: Shed loves the Christmas tree as much as I do!

 December 8: Shed getting an upclose look at baby Jesus!

 December 9: Shed made some "frosty" friends to keep him company as he kept an eye on the boys!

 December 10: Shed reading Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to all of Grant's little Christmas mice!

 December 11: Shed loves Legos as much as Grant apparently! He built the cutest little Christmas tree!

 December 12: Shed hanging around in our ornamanet display!

 December 13: Shed loves a good dot-to-dot!

 December 14: Shed must have used our propeller to help him fly back to the North Pole!

 December 15: Shed taking a ride on the Little People Christmas Express!! He looks so happy there!

Kingfisher Lights

We took a drive out to Kingfisher, which is about 30 miles are so from here. I'd heard that had a really night drive-thru Christmas light display! We never made it out there last year, so the other night, we loaded up and bundled up and headed that way! For being a pretty small town, they did an AMAZING job!! So many many many things to see. The car was filled with, "Look at that!" and "Look over there!" The boys unbuckled from their seats and sat in the way back of the car to look all around. That probably made the whole thing that much more exciting! After we drove thru once, we had to do it again, just in case we missed anything! 

They did have this cute little train that drove through parts of the display, but we didn't wear jackets or shoes- just blankets and slippers- so we weren't bundled enough for the 17 degree temperature! So maybe we will try and head out there one more time before Christmas and try that out!!

We drove home singing Christmas songs, with Christmas spirit filled hearts...and more Christmas light ideas for Levi!

(sorry for the blurry iphone pics...Levi wouldn't stop long enough to get a still shot....he was too busy collecting ideas!)

 The ENTIRE path was lined with these candy canes. They looked like something formed them out of rebar and then wrapped at least 200 lights around each one. There had to have been over 500 of these!!

 There was a tunnel of lights that lead to this amazing bridge. If I was to get married again, in December, in Kingfisher, at night- I'd definitely get pictures taken here! It was truly romantic!

All Lit Up For Christmas

The first year Levi and I put up lights on our house was when we lived in Jacksonville in 2007. It was 88 degrees. Levi was shirtless, sweating, and stringing lights around the edge of the roof. I was pregnant, sitting in my lawn chair watching, while wearing a tank top. Our neighbors were lining their streets with candy canes while the kids played in the sprinkler. It was weird.

Fast forward to last year when Levi got the brilliant idea to go all out on the lights. We had a big yard where LOTS of people can see us from the highway. So he came up with this beautiful display:

And he made this!!!!!

And now, fast forward to this year where he's taken his "big display" even farther! After hitting up some after Christmas sales last year and finding a bunch of lights on sale and numerous Christmas light shopping trips this year...our display has grown exponentially!!

 We added many trees, the net lights on the front of the house to make a "present" of sorts, the red lights that lined the driveway and the entire yard, and lots more candy cane lights. 

 Even the basketball goal got disguised as a Christmas tree!

 And I can't even believe it myself, but we added three inflatables this year- a huskie pup, a seal, and a raccoon, all wearing Santa hats!

And Levi's newest homemade creation is the Believe sign! He said it didn't turn out how he imagined, so he will be remaking it next year. I love it and it shines so bright!! 

Would you believe that he and the boys are getting dressed right now to go put up MORE lights?? They came home from shopping yesterday with 6 more boxes of lights! I can't imagine where else we have room to put them, but I know they'll think of something!! 

Having our house all lit up for Christmas brings joy to my heart!!

Letters to Santa

This was the first year we wrote letters to Santa. Well, I did the writing, they did the dictating! I wanted them to write their letter and take it when we went to visit Santa, but since we had to change our Santa visit to a spur of the moment one, our letters came AFTER we saw him! But I told the boys we'd mail it anyway! 

As Grant was dictating his letter, I was worried I was going to need an extra sheet of paper! But I managed to "condense" a few of his thoughts, with his liking of course! I just love his attitude this Christmas. He has seen things at stores that he likes and makes it a point to see he really likes that, but he hasn't actually asked for specific things for Christmas. Even while seeing Santa, he asked for a "remote control airplane that's blue" but he told me after that, that he doesn't really care what Santa brings him. So here are Grant's thoughts for Santa:

Gotta love the Amen! part! And the three humps in his N. Oh dear! 

Wyatt has been such a joy this Christmas season. He truly understands that magic that the season brings and he is all about all things Christmas! He loves to recite the verse, "It's better to give than to receive!" He has been pretty consistent with his wish from Santa. Although the entire month of November, he'd been asking for a "toy guitar with real strings" and then the day we went to see Santa, he asked for a "remote control train that doesn't go on tracks" and he is dead set on that. I told him Santa might have a hard time finding that, and he said, "Well he can just make it in his workshop!" Can't argue with that! So here is Wyatt's letter:

Again, love the Amen! and the "blustery snow." Seriously, this kid is a crack up! 

I'm curious to see how they feel when they see what Santa decides to buy them! As well as their response to their other gifts. Last year, after they saw their Santa presents and I said it was time to open the rest of the gifts, they said, "You mean we get more presents?" I hope I can keep that spirit alive and they truly understand that Christmas isn't about presents! But more about the love we share when we give!

St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day is one of my favorite traditions to celebrate at Christmas! It tells the true story behind Santa Claus! I love to bring the real stories to life and show the boys that the magic of Christmas is a real thing! Because without St. Nicholas, we probably wouldn't have Santa Claus! And although that's not the reason for the season, the love behind it is! 

I found this book at the Christian bookstore and it was a wonderful story and easy for them to understand. 

 After we read the book, the boys put out their shoes in hopes that St. Nicholas would come! Shed kept an eye out too and decided he needed to read the St. Nicholas book too! And sure enough, that night, St. Nicholas came! He brought gold coins, just like he did the first day when he visited the three girls, except ours were made of chocolate! He also brought them a little toy, a snowglobe with the Nativity scene, and an orange. The boys were overjoyed!

I love seeing the magic of Christmas through their eyes. Their innocence, their love, their passion! It makes my heart happy to know that they have embraced the true reason for the season and find the magic through it all!!

Snow Play!

We've had two days in the past few weeks that we had a light dusting of snow! The boys are thrilled to see any white stuff on the ground, it doesn't seem to matter how much it is! (Although the three of us are hoping for a big snow one of these days!) And even though the temperatures are bitterly cold- I'm talking single digits at times- they still happily bundle up and head outside! 

These first five pictures were taken early one morning before heading to one of Grant's therapies. I think it was about 7:40am and maybe 17 degrees! But their faces show the pure joy they are feeling!!!

 This was their attempt at snow balls. The snow wasn't conducive to packing, but it was conducive for shoveling and throwing!!

 Of course, after Grant's therapy and a few errands we came back home and it was back out for round two. The whole time we were out running errands, they were so worried it was going to melt, but I kept reassuring them that snow doesn't melt when its 17 degrees out!! So into snow clothes and boots they went and enjoyed a good 30 minutes of snow play! They even got the gator out and went cruising around! They made their snow angels, tried for snowballs (again!), and shoveled happily! I watched them, all warm and cozy, inside from their playroom window! I LOVE snow as much as them, but I don't love freezing my face off! I'd much rather prefer snow in 30 degree weather!

We are watching the weather forecast each day hoping for more and more snow!!!!!!!