Merry Christmas!

I may be too busy to blog over the next few days, but I wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! I hope all of your last minute preparations go well. I feel completely unprepared for Christmas this year, but I'm going to have the opportunity to see a lot of families members which I'm really looking forward to. At least I know I will be free of grading for two weeks and that brings me a lot of cheer.

Some adventures from Monday night- my mom and I took the boys shopping. Without using a stroller. Uff-da! Aiden leaping for joy at Old Navy:

Climbing under the clothing racks. I recall spending a lot of time in the middle of those circular clothing racks when I was little. My brother made me do it:

First try at candy canes. They both told me they were too sweet and sticky:

Sharing mac and cheese at Panera:

Trying to figure out how to steal the Christmas lights from the mannequin at Nordstroms:

Watching people on the escalators:

Waiting for Grandma:

Riding the escalators (aka alligators) was by far the highlight of the entire outing. The boys and I went up and down more than a couple of times. They now talk about taking the "alligator" when the walk up and down the stairs at home:

Poor Reid. He's a good brudder for sharing his bed with Aiden:

Ainnie and Brudder

I had to write this down before I forgot...

Over the past couple of months, the boys have settled on their names for each other. Reid calls Aiden, "Ainnie". Not like the orphan. It's "A-knee". Aiden mostly refers to Reid as "Brudder". If I'm trying to get Reid's attention and say his name, Aiden will parrot me by calling him "Weed!" Although, he is getting much better at pronouncing r's.

Stopping at one of the newly "installed" stop lights in our house. Here Reid is blowing straight through the stop light (on purpose), even though Aiden said "Red means stop!"

Couch potatoes waiting for Mommy and Daddy when we went to go see Santa:

It appears that we could have saved ourselves some money and bought one crib/toddler bed:

Comparing iPad apps. Aiden was playing the guitar on Garage Band, while Reid was playing Temple Run, a game my students were briefly addicted to before they moved on to the next craze:

Testing out Papa's Walkman that Grandma had brought over to try to catch the tail-end of A Prairie Home Companion:

Talking about names reminded me of my Dad's blog post after the boys were born:

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Kathy bought a "name your baby" book over 30 years ago. That's how long it's been since we were selecting names for our kids.

Aiden:Irish "Little fiery one" A man whose temper flared between his mirth and tears. That probably fits most babies, teens, and many adults. I'm Irish so there is the potential.

Reid:Old English: "Red-haired or red-complexioned" Reid really does have the more ruddy complexion of the two.

We'll have to see it plays out especially since the names were chosen before they were born. I do appreciate that K & E incorporated both grandfathers' names as middle names. I am honored.

Bumper sticker seen in Cheyenne:
"Support your local police-
Commit a crime."

(Lots of grading for me this weekend while Eric was home. I've been desperate to get close to being caught up, so it was a huge relief for him to be home. More blogging to come. I still have photos from the end of November.)

"You Might Be a Redneck If...

Your Christmas yard decorations are visible from space." (I think I might have married a redneck.)

I just found this one posted on my dad's blog from December 2009. Tonight I ordered the last two blog books that I created in Blurb. I was pleased with the first one and anticipate these will turn out equally well. My dad's birthday is on Monday, so it's hard not to think of him a lot more lately. I just bought the boys new shoes which turns out to be a pretty fitting tribute for their Papa's birthday, as there wasn't a pair of sporty shoes or jacket that he didn't like.

Here are my guys pretending to sleep. Aiden and Reid were a little more believable than Eric. Time for some "Honk Shoo" myself.

This and That

The varied moods of toddlers:

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider- Aiden has his glasses off because we were singing before naptime. They can do this song a little more in-sync, but this was the 5th take and last resort before naps, so I was pleased to get it filmed.



Finally, I wasn't surprised to find Aiden in Reid's bed last night, but it took me off guard this afternoon during naptime:

Road Trip to the Park

Eric sent this one to me as he and the boys trekked to the park today (Wednesday). When Aiden is driving, he has this extreme look of road rage that makes me chuckle. He's very serious about his cars. Apparently Reid decided it would be faster to walk.

[I have too much I want to do and too much I have to do. The have-to-do's almost always win. Can anyone help me figure out how to trick the world into giving me more time? More blogging this weekend, I hope.]

For Your Viewing Pleasure

The boys and I spent Black Friday at home. It was nice to just putz around the house. I finally captured Reid singing his ABCs. Both of them can sing it now, but Reid especially is prone to burst out singing at random times.

 

I wanted to video tape Aiden playing with his cars so you can see how meticulous he is in lining them up. He was making good engine noises until I started filming.

Time for Break and Celebration

11/03

After we woke up, the boys wanted to stay up in their room to hang out while I made breakfast. Aiden read while Reid played with a music box.

Jumping off the guest bed into bags of stuffing that I intend to use for bean bag chairs for the boys. Some day.

Running around and flying their Delta airplanes.

Wresting with Grandma:

Bedtime:
Our bedtime routine has evolved into quite the complicated deal. After we read six books, each boy takes three out to the top of the stairs and then they stack them up with their sippy cups on top. Then we all gather by our bedroom for the "March-Quack Parade". Reid leads the way by sprinting to their bedroom yelling, "March. Quack. March. Quack." Then Aiden leads the slow portion of the parade, while Eric and I have to march while making duck beak motions with our hands. The boys help us set up the gate in front of their door, do a little tug-of-war and then a few somersaults. We sing three songs, climb into bed, get tucked into bed, and then the boys have to kiss us on both cheeks. I'm not even sure how this all came about, but we go with it.

Eva is now walking! Here are a couple of pictures of her wearing the leg warmers I made.

11/05
Aiden still thinks he gets to start driving any day now. It's going to be a long 13 years for him.

My little handy men helping me change a light bulb:

11/06
I have my Iowa State building wooden replicas set up in our guest room. The boys like to pretend they are phones. They were also surprisingly willing to mug for some pictures.

11/07
Reid has gotten better about dressing himself, although in this case his arm went out the neck hole by mistake. Now he likes to purposely put his arm out the neck hole and then flashes a big grin. He's quite the teaser.

11/08
Brudders

David sent pictures of Eva wearing one of the hats I knitted for her.

11/10
Laundry is never dull with these two.

I cut out some letters and numbers from the extra felt from the Halloween costumes.

While I cut out the felt, the boys worked on earning their keep. Just after they went outside, Reid came back inside insisting he needed his broom to be able to help Daddy..

Watching the videos from their park adventures.

11/11
Our little sluggers.

Reid playing with my graphing calculator...

and correctly pointing out "pi" and "sigma". I'm raising 'em right.

Aiden passed the "pi" test too. Makes a mama proud.

Playing beach volleyball.

It's good to have a brudder when you need a little comforting.

11/12
Adding to the kitchen art work.

Monkey business during the Broncos game.

Reid working on punting the football.

While Aiden boogied down.

11/14
My husband is way more into Christmas decorating than I would have guessed. Back to Target for more lights.

We've all been battling colds the past couple of weeks; Aiden taking some medicine. I'm going to miss those chipmunks cheeks as they grow up.

11/17
I took the boys to our doctor's office this morning to get their flu shots.

Aiden was suspicious when the nurse called their names and gave her a crusty look. She did a great job and there was no crying.

Reid was excited when we pulled up to the building because he saw the address. "I see numbers, Mom!"

Here he is pointing out our van.

Saw a deer crossing the street on the way home.

It was nice enough to stay outside and play after we returned home.

Enjoying some much needed down time as Thanksgiving Break officially begins.

Grandma took us out to Panera for supper and celebration.

Bath night. They spent most of the bath fighting over the same toys, yet these two would be lost without the other.

The reason for our celebration: I found out this morning that I achieved National Board certification!!!!! I'm so excited and very relieved. This one's for you, Mom and Dad, two of my favorite teachers.