Christmas Time

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. We sure did. Here are pictures from the past week:

Wants to bake


Baking sugar cookies


Concentrating hard on painting on the icing


Enjoying the hard work


I found him sitting on the couch pretending to talk on the phone


We took this before going to the Christmas Eve service


In the Christmas mess


So happy about his presents


Playing Mario Cart


Couldn't stop playing with his new toys even during snack time (notice the milk and the mouth full of food)


Loves his new buggy


Playing cards with Nana

Message from Santa

I heard from a friend about a website where you can put in info about your child, their picture, what they are getting for Christmas, and what they did well this year (to be good). Then Santa comes up and talks to the child. Glenn was mesmerized! He was surprised he knew how old he was and what he wanted and how he knew he was a good boy. It was cute. Here's the link to the message if you want to see it. Note that I had to put in Glen instead of Glenn because they didn't have his name with two "n's".
Santa's message

Just one more post today, I promise

Alexander finally crashed this afternoon at about 3:30. I took a picture. I guess I'll just leave him there.

One More Picture

Their Nana and Papa gave them these cute train sweaters and matching shirts. On a cold Sunday (yes, it does occasionally get cold here, although it was 84 yesterday), they wore them to church.

One more thing

I forgot to mention that Alexander has had a growth spurt. He has been such a tiny peanut for the longest time. Last week he was very cranky and I couldn't figure out why. But I think I figured it out this morning. We go to a play group every week, but had not gone for 2 weeks. A little girl a month and a half younger than Alexander also goes. They were pretty much the same height. But this morning we noticed that Alexander is much taller. So, he must have been growing very rapidly the past couple weeks and that's why he was so cranky. It must hurt to grow that fast. I'm losing my little peanut. He's getting too big. I think I'm going to have to do away with the changing table soon because he just barely fits on it.

Alexander has been keeping me busier than usual. He has decided that he no longer wants to sleep in the crib. He told this to me by getting out yesterday. He must have gotten over the rail and held on as long as he could because he didn't get hurt at all. I was very nervous at first. Then he was his normal goofy self. Thankfully my dad was down here since Bob was away to help me disassemble the crib, move furniture, and brace the furniture to the walls, because you know if it's possible, he'll do it! He is now sleeping on the mattress on the floor under his loft bed. He did not take a nap yesterday. Instead, he decided to take everything off the changing table, out of the hamper, and I stopped him just before he took the dirty diapers out of the diaper pail (that no longer stays in his room when he's sleeping). He laid on the floor in front of the gate in his doorway last night and eventually fell asleep (in less than an hour). It was so sweet. So, I put him back into bed. When I checked on him before I went to bed, he was on the floor cuddled against the wall, so I just left him. He woke at 5:30 was was not about to go back to sleep. So, today, I put bed rails on to keep him from rolling off the bed in his sleep. Of course I don't know how well that works yet, because he hasn't napped yet today, either. We'll try again later. I'm just happy he fell sleep at a reasonable hour last night and slept all night. Right now he's laying on the floor at my feet and saying "ma, ma, ma, mama, ma, mama..." He's so cute.

Here are some pictures of my cuties (not as many as Glenn because I see more of Alexander than I do of Glenn).

He loves wearing Glenn's old santa hat. He wore it most of the day this day.


He loves wearing this backpack. I put Tad the frog in there and turned on his music. He loved it!


Pictures from this morning:

Jingle Bell Boys

We just got a new video camera this week. Alexander had broken our old one. Bob took a video of them dancing to Jingle Bells. Unfortunately there's no sound and I don't know why (or maybe it's just on my computer- let me know if you do hear sound). But it's still a cute video. Enjoy!

We got a bed for Alexander's room from Ikea (actually from Nana and Papa for Christmas). Papa brought it down from CT this week and put it together for us. It's a loft bed. Glenn will sleep up top when we have company visiting, and when we move Alexander from the crib to the bed (which will probably be soon), we'll put the mattress on the floor below the bed. Both boys love the bed up top with the canopy and Alexander even loves playing below it.


Here are a couple pictures of my new work space. I love it. It's so much nicer than the card table I was working on before.



Glenn and I made a gingerbread train today. He actually did most of the candy decorating while I did the icing. I had it already put together for him when he came home from school so we could get right to decorating it. He's so proud of his creation. And now he sits and stares at it hoping I'll say he can eat it (he's actually do that right now).

Thanksgiving week

We went to Orlando the week of Thanksgiving. Bob's parents got a time share that we stayed at with Bob's Aunt Jane and Uncle Ronnie, who live on the west coast of FL. I actually had the weekend before Thanksgiving to myself at home because I stayed behind a couple days so I could sing in my church choir. I completely cleaned the house and had a couple of friends over. It was really nice.

While in Orlando, we hung out at the resort and didn't go to any theme parks. It was relaxing. We did get to go swimming a little, but it was pretty dreary most of the week. On Thanksgiving, it was beautiful. We went for a long walk while the turkey was cooking. And after dinner, we took Glenn mini golfing for the first time. He loved it, although he wasn't actually following the rules.

We also did a little shopping. I got a new work space for my sewing at Ikea. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it. We also bought the boys some shoes at Nike. Glenn goes through shoes very quickly, so we thought maybe some better made shoes might last a little longer. He saw some shoes and said they were spicy and kept going back to them calling them spicy. So, we asked him if he wanted the spicy shoes, and he did. He even sang about his spicy shoes on the way back to the time share. He's hilarious. He says they are spicy because they have red Nike swooshes on them and red on the bottom.

Here are some pictures from last week:

Zander had his own cabinet to play in:


Loving brothers:


Reading with Nanny


Bob's office for the week:


Cuddling with Poppy


Alexander had fun climbing under the bar stools and being silly:





More reading with Nanny (about Toby the turkey who did NOT get eaten on Thanksgiving)


Glenn's hand turkey place cards for Thanksgiving dinner:


Keeping busy any way possible

My boys (Bob included) left yesterday with Bob's parents to Orlando. They are staying in a time share with Bob's aunt and uncle, who live south of Tampa. I'm joining them tomorrow. In the meantime, I've had a very productive weekend having the house to myself. And tonight, I'm having a couple of friends over. Below are some pictures from this week.

I introduced the cozy coupe to Alexander this week. Before, his legs were just too short. Now, he can go backwards in it, but he falls down to the floor if he tries to move it forward. Mostly, he likes to climb in and out of it (on the side without the door, of course) and push it.


Glenn had his Thanksgiving Feast yesterday at school. Here are the boys sitting in the "circle time chairs."


Glenn is the student of the month from his class this month. The theme this month was caring. He is definitely a caring child. We'll be going to a ceremony where he'll get an award after Thanksgiving.

So, Alexander ripped a gate out of the wall yesterday. I'm sure it was already on it's way out, but he's the one that pulled it. It was even secured with sheet-rock screws. I discovered that they now make door handle locks for lever handles. When we moved down here, I had brought all our door knob covers that make it difficult for kids to open only to get here and realize that we had all lever door handles. The locks weren't cheap, but they are easy to use. So, I installed them on all the doors I wanted to keep locked and the mounting tape will be cured in the morning. I'll be so happy. I also spent more time Alexander proofing his room so that eventually when he gets his bed (out of the crib) he'll be safe.

Here are some fun pictures:

This was taken at breakfast one morning. He was biting the spoon and wasn't letting me take it out. The words on his shirt say it all (but he's a cute monster):


Loving brothers


He goes into the pantry every day to get the crayons. He loves to color, even if it's just a minute. What's even more fun is practicing getting on and off the chair.

Yesterday, we celebrated Bob's birthday since he was away at a conference on his actual birthday. Glenn and I made him a crown, which he wore from the time Glenn came home from school. And after his birthday chocolate cream pie, Glenn presented him with a painting, which now hangs in Bob's office.



Alexander has been making car noises when he's pushing a little car. It's so cute. Yesterday, he and I were playing in his room. I was folding his diapers when I heard him grunt a little. Then he came over to me, picked up a diaper and handed it to me. I asked him if he had a dirty diaper. Sure enough, he did. When I was changing his diaper, he kept signing "thank you." So, polite! He's also smart. He has figured out how to open the cabinet and door locks. We have the ones where you can open the door slightly before it catches, then you have to push down on the lever to release the lock. I don't know what I'm going to do with this smarty pants.

Glenn's still waiting on his teeth to be fixed. He's been such a good boy at school. He's had a green smiley face every day (means he did what he's told to do and doesn't behave badly). I'm proud of my good boy. We have a day planned of making baked apples and crafts tomorrow since he has the day off from school for the holiday.

Glenn's Teeth

We got a call from school this morning. They were on the playground when they saw Glenn putting something in his mouth. They told him not to put things in his mouth. He put something on the ground an looked up with a panicked look. So, they asked him what was wrong and he said his teeth fell out and Mommy and Daddy said they don't come out. He apparently bumped heads with another child and the two teeth of his kiddie partial came off the wire and fell out. He was just trying to put them back in his mouth, poor guy. So, I called the dentist and they said to come right in. She took the wire out of his mouth (it was attached to rings around his back molars). He didn't bend the wire and thankfully they still had the impression from last time (he throws up when they take his impressions). They have never had that happen at this dentist office. So, I'm hoping the lab that created them will fix it for free. If they can't put the teeth back on the wire, they'll have to make a new one. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, Alexander is a mess. He has a cold, but since he doesn't know how to blow his nose, he's... messy. And his eyes are all watery. I feel so bad for him. No fever, so I'm sure it's just a cold. Glenn has a little cough, but no runny nose.

Here are some pictures from our busy week last week.

These first 4 pictures are of Alexander (and some with his playgroup friend) at a neighborhood Halloween party. His friend's parents took the pictures and sent them to us. At the last half hour of the party, they turned off all the lights and had a disco ball and flashing lights with music. Alexander and Glenn danced the whole half hour, it was adorable:








Alexander in a chair in Glenn's classroom during the Fall Festival:


Glenn eating a monster claw cookie he decorated. His class had 5 craft stations at the Fall Festival, and I helped the kids decorate their cookies.


Glenn the green crayon in the story book parade at his school:


Alexander dancing to the high school band playing at the story book parade:


Alexander sat down to listen to the band and his friend from his play group sat next to him. It was sweet. Both their brothers are in the same class.


Glenn came out one evening with his swim goggles on:


The boys working on the pumpkin:


Glenn was very proud of his pumpkin:


Daisy was a princess again for Halloween:


Getting ready for trick-or-treating... Elmo was very hot. It was very humid and in the 70s.


After trick-or-treating on our street, we sat outside to hand out candy (after Elmo went to bed). Glenn loved it every time someone came to our driveway. He'd run to them and say Happy Halloween. While we were waiting for more to come, Glenn needed to show us the inspiration behind the carving for the pumpkin- his silly face.


Waiting for more trick-or-treaters: