Lego Advent Calendar

Being a mom of two very active boys, I am constantly thinking of different ways to keep their brains active and bodies entertained. 

With that being said, this year's advent calendar was so fun to put together. I sewed 25 little bags. My friend Rebecca helped me with the #s. I then filled them with different Lego guys. I purchased the "Lego Advent" calendar and pulled it all apart. It basically was filled with guys. In my opinion it needed more active play. So we made:

Santa's work shop. . . 

chunky snow men. . . 

some ski slopes. 

One morning they had a fire to put out.

They even made a forest of Christmas trees. It was a Advent calendar success. The boys loved it! What the heck am I going to do next year? --Emily

2012 Christmas Card

Snow Camping

The week before Christmas we went camping at a rustic cabin camping with friends. The kids had such a fantastic time playing in the snow and sledding all day. It was a great way to spend time with friends and our cute little family! --Emily

Visit From Santa

Here comes Santa! 

My amazing friend has planned this Santa party for the past few years and it is so darn cute! 

She hires this classic little Santa, 

he brings gifts for all the kids, 

they all get a moment to sit with him and chat about what they want for Christmas. 

The evening is filled with lots of Christmas magic! Thanks Jeannine --Emily

Christmas Vanilla

For this year's neighbor, teacher, mailman, delivery guy, milk man gift, my friend and I whipped up several bottles of home-made vanilla. We each made our own labels, something simple in PhotoShop and sha-zam, a unique, usable Christmas gift! It was a ton of fun to make and so simple. --Emily

2012 Santa Photo

For the past few year we have gone to the same place for our Santa photos. This year, Santa looked a little different.  He must have been one of Santa's helpers. Needless to say the boys had lots of question after our Santa visit this year.  --Emily 

Halloween 2012

 This year for Halloween, along with some of our friends, we decided to dress up as skeletons. We bought some plain black sweats online and turned them into spooky skeleton outfits. I think they turned out awesome. They even glow! I hand cut a stencil and painted the bones for the boys. Then Kelly and I worked together to do our own. 

Hands down it was the best trick-or-treating year yet! Our evening began gathering with friends for pizza and some veggies prior to our candy-gathering frenzy. Jacob and Andrew friends also dressed up as skeletons, so they were a spooky little group.  They ran from house to house trick-or-treating for two hours. We even got in a hay ride and sipped hot chocolate.  The boys were so tired when all was said and done, they went right to bed. I had to wake them both up in the morning. Andrew is normally up before Kelly wakes up, but not this morning.  It was definitely a great Halloween. --Emily

Pumpkin Carving

A few days before Halloween we carved our pumpkins.

The boys loved pulling out the pumpkin guts.

There pumpkins turned out super cute. --Emily

Andrew's Birthday Week

Thursday afternoon we celebrated Andrew's Birthday with his pre-school. We sang, ate cupcakes and had a great time!

Saturday Andrew wanted to go to Red Robin so he could get some birthday ice cream!  He was so excited, he ate it all himself.

After lunch, we went home and Andrew opened his presents from the family.  Jacob had bought him a monkey from Build-a-Bear.  Emily made the monkey some fun clothes.

Andrew enjoyed all the fun gifts he got from his grandparents.

He is so cute with his monkey.

After opening presents, we ate some cupcakes, and Andrew blew out his 5 candles.

Making a wish. . . and blowing out the candles.

The next Saturday, we had Andrew's party with his friends.

Whenever we asked Andrew what he wanted the theme of his party to be, he said he wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party.  He wanted to invite his three best friends, and the four of them could each be one of the turtles.

We started the party by watching a vintage episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while the boys ate pizza
(the favorite food of the turtles).

We gave each of the boys a party pack with the mask and weapons of one of the turtles.  

Of course Andrew wanted a pinata', so Kelly made a paper mache' pinata' decorated to look like the head of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  

The boys used their turtle weapons to break open the pinata'.

Then we opened presents.The boys all had a lot of fun.  It was a great party.

We love Andrew and we're glad he's in our family.  It was a fun week celebrating his birthday. --emily