Thursday, December 29, 2016

Taking It Easy

I am trying to put all my Christmas stuff away, clean my house, do laundry and get over a small stomach bug I have had. Why does it take so much longer to clean up from Christmas than it is to get ready for it? Maybe because I have a 4 year old at home who undoes everything I do! Haha.

We have had some nice days at home…watching movies, playing games, napping, and playing with new Christmas stuff. Nik has worked a little each day, but has taken some time off to hang with the family :)

Yesterday we even went to a new friends house for a playdate! It was fun to meet new people and watch Jaxen play with one of his school friends.

One morning while Zane napped I played Candy Land, Chutes and Ladder and Memory with Jaxen.

 Jaxen has spent a lot of time with his new activity desk.

A favorite gift…bath colors!
Each time the boys take a bath they pick a different color to make their water!

So basically, we are taking things easy. Just the way I like it after a busy season of life!

Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas 2016

CHRISTMAS EVE

So…parent confessional time…
Zane saw and played with his “Santa” gift early.
Is that what happens with the second child?!
Zane does not go to bed until really late and Nik wanted to get gifts put together…
therefore - Zane saw, played with, and loved his gift!
And I couldn’t help but let him enjoy it for a while :)



All the presents wrapped, and ready for morning!



One last thing we did for Jaxen was to wrap his door with streamers.
Thinking in the morning he would break through and open his stocking.
well….


CHRISTMAS MORNING

Jaxen woke up and was almost in tears that he was stuck in his room and couldn’t get out! lol.
Poor boy.
Once we explained to him that he just had to break through, he loved it!



I put a little “Merry Christmas” note in each of the boy’s Christmas mailbox,
and had placed their stocking outside their door.



Zane had a stocking and mailbox too. 
Apparently I didn’t get any pictures of it.
Jaxen pulled everything out of it anyway, and showed it to Zane.


Jaxen, of course, had to put on his new undies before we went downstairs.
There will probably always be new undies in Jaxen’s stockings.


After stockings were looked through and played with, we headed downstairs.
Zane went straight for his walker and Jaxen was so excited about his activity desk!
(The white board part flips down, so it is more of a ‘desk’ - 
and has markers and crayons stored up top).




We let the boys play with their stocking stuff and “Santa” gifts until it was time to head to church.
At church we had a Happy Birthday Jesus Service.
Complete with a game of charades (acting out the nativity story),
party favors (for the kids), songs, a chorus of Happy Birthday and cake!
There was also a short sermon involved :)
It was a great service and and celebration of Jesus’ birth!


After church we delivered some leftover cookies to the workers at our gas station in town,
and tried to deliver to the firehouse and police station (but no one was there). 
So we came home and snacked for lunch and then did some gift opening!



Nik and I both have a Yeti cup, and decided to get Jaxen a ‘fake’ Yeti.
He was so excited…he calls it his “yea yea cup” :)


Zane’s favorite gift was this vibrating teether.
But look how adorable his new outfits are!


Nik enjoyed his new bluetooth shower speaker…as did the boys.
Dance party!



And Nik surprised me with new house shoes!

We had a lot of fun opening gifts and I think everyone really loved what they received!


CHRISTMAS AFTERMATH



Look at the mess of paper and boxes!


I stuck the boys in the middle of the mess and tried to get a cute pic...



My favorite :)


Awww…good times!


The rest of the afternoon we watched a Christmas movie (elf),
relaxed and ate dinner (sirloin tip roast with crescent rolls and sweet potatoes).


It was a great day!


THE DAY AFTER

We were out of the house by 10am to do some after-Christmas shopping!
I love December 26. The stores, the sales and the yummy pizza Nik treated us to.
Zane loved Jaxen pushing him in the cart.
And please notice our one and only Sam’s purchase…wipes.


My main goal was to get a Christmas tree for next year, that would fit in our house.
We purchased a 7.5 foot one.
I’ll keep holding on to my 9 footer, just in case I can use it again one day!
We didn’t purchase much…
a few items for a Christmas Party next year, a few decorations
and then we found king size flannel sheets at a ridiculous good price.
They are in the dryer as we speak…I’m really excited to try them out tonight!

After running all over Rochester we headed home 
to play with Nerf Guns :)

The sweetest thing happened today…
Nik had given Jaxen $5 that he could spend on a toy while we were out shopping.
At the first store, Jaxen spotted a few things he wanted to buy.
But after walking around looking at the nerf guns, paw patrol stuff and other things -
Jaxen told Nik “Daddy, I want to buy you a nerf gun.”
Nik questioned Jaxen about him buying a nerf gun…
asked him if he was willing to give up the other toys he wanted,
 to purchase a nerf gun for Nik…and he said 
“Yea daddy. I heard you say you wanted a nerf gun and so you don’t have to borrow mine!”
(We have a few nerf guns, but Jaxen recently got a new one with a laser that Nik likes!)
So Nik let Jaxen pick out a nerf gun (and he picked out the exact same one he had)
and bought it (with a few extra dollars from us) for his daddy.
So sweet, right?!


Tomorrow is RELAX day.
At day at home.
Resting and playing.
My boys need a day at home to recoup from the fun and busyness the last week held.


Saturday, December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas!

It is Saturday night (almost midnight) and I’m winding down. We had our Christmas Eve Service today - which was a come-and-go reflection and communion time. And then we were invited to dinner by some friends of ours. It was a nice time and I’m thankful to them, for including us :)

All the boys are in bed and we are ready for Christmas morning. I finished up the last of the wrapping, stuffed the stockings, and watched Nik put together 2 items that are “Santa” gifts. I am really excited for Jaxen tomorrow. I hope that he has great memories and loves the gifts he is given. Zane too…but honestly, Jaxen’s age is a little more fun at Christmas - haha! But I also was praying tonight that no matter how much fun Jaxen has, or how many memories are made, that he will grow to know and love Jesus more than the gifts or traditions. Those are great and I want him to have that…but I want him to have Jesus more. I want him to know what Christmas is all about and why we do the things we do.

Tomorrow morning we will open stockings and a few gifts and then we will get ready for the day and head to church to celebrate Jesus’ Birthday! We are having a Happy Birthday Jesus church service. Complete with cake and balloons. We will tell the story of the birth of Christ and celebrate and worship because of that day long ago.

The past four weeks we have been doing a church-wide advent study. I have had the opportunity to lead a small group in our home each week and have so much enjoyed it, the study, and the people. The study this past week focused on the promise of Christmas. I loved what the book had to say about it... “Christmas is the assurance that no matter how far we have strayed, how low we have fallen, how deeply we hurt or how others may see us, God has not come to judge or condemn but to be with us.” I’m so thankful for that.

I pray you have a Merry Christmas!

P.S. no pictures tonight. I’m pretty sure I will overload you in the coming days :)

Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas Eve Eve

Is Christmas Eve Eve a real thing? 
Well, I say it is! 
We started off our Christmas weekend with a bang…
Tonight we had a “Cookie & Cocoa Open House”!



It was so much fun to have people in our home, just visiting and hanging out!
I had a great time baking this week…but we do have leftovers…!

The party ended a little after 9pm when Jaxen threw up in the kitchen.
Poor boy. He has been complaining about his tummy hurting…
So after throwing up twice - he is finally in bed and asleep.
I hope it is just exhaustion, excitement and sugar - and hope he wakes up feeling better.

Before that and before the party - 
my two favorite things of the day were…

cuddling my sweet baby.
He fell asleep on me and I never laid him in his crib.
I’m so glad Nik captured this picture!

and...
 looking at all the fun crafts Jaxen brought home from school!






Pretty cute, right?!

And…look at my Christmas Card wall :)
One of my favorite things this time of year!



Here is a few more snow pictures for your enjoyment -



a friend took this photo - and I thought it was so pretty!

On my way to get Jaxen from school yesterday…it was cold!

Jaxen likes to throw snowballs everyday after school.


Well, this post is a bit of a hodgepodge…
I guess I had lots of things to share!

The Christmas weekend is off to a great start (even with a sick one)...
and I’m really excited for the next few days!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!