Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve service. I told the boys all I wanted from them for Christmas were some nice pictures. Glenn cooperated fully. Alexander... not so much. First here are the pictures of the boys.

 

 

After giving up on that, and because we were running out of time, we went to the family pictures.

I'm not sure what's going on with the leg in this picture. Perhaps he has a little captain in him...

Apparently we don't want to show our eyes anymore, according to the Zander...
 

That was it! At least we have a good series of pictures to show. At dinner, I tried to get him to smile.

Glenn has been waking in the middle of the night. So we decided that Bob would sleep with Glenn and I'd sleep with Zander so that we could keep them from seeing the presents until morning. Well, Alexander woke at 3:30. So, it's good I was with him. However, then he would not go back to sleep. Finally, a little after 5:00, he fell asleep. I guess Glenn woke at 5:30, but Bob told him we wouldn't be opening presents until 6, so at 6:00, he woke us all up. We didn't wrap the air hockey table from his Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ray. So, they got to play it right away while Bob and I got ready (coffee, tea, and so on). 

 

Alexander is constantly asking us to play blow hockey. :) 

I got these Hulk hands at a toy swap. I think they are his favorite toy. When he smashes them together, it makes sounds like the Hulk. Hey, I finally got a smile!

Now he's Iron Man. He has the rest of the costume, too.

Glenn loves everything zebra. I came across a website where you can get prescription glasses for very cheap, starting at $6.99 (that includes the frame and lenses). I think they are out of Canada (zennioptical.com). But anyway, I was ordering glasses for myself and got some zebra glasses for Glenn. They are too wide for his face, but I figured he'd wear them more at home if he had cool glasses. He loves them.

He's the abominable snow man from Rudolph. He's also sporting his Perry PJs.

The Bat Cave from Auntie Lisa and Uncle Jon.

That's all the pictures I got. And I realized today that they are all a bit cloudy because somebody used my camera and put a smudge on the lens (Zander). We spent some time with friends later in the afternoon. We're looking forward to a visit from Bob's parents on Monday and spending more time with friends during the kids' winter break. 

Saturday Before Christmas

We had a fun filled Saturday. We went to the live nativity practice in the afternoon, then had a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cupcakes and candles. Then we had the live nativity during the Saturday night church service. The boys were towns people, walking in to check in for the census. Then they got a front row seat to watch the rest, which included the normal live nativity stuff, and a chicken, goat and mini donkey. 

Afterward, we went to the town square. We had root beer floats (because it was 80 degrees, and too hot for hot chocolate). Then we listened to music on the square, playing under the lights. I should have turned off the flash so you could see the lights better. 

Wrestling

Running away from Mommy, trying not to get his picture taken.

 

Alexander decided to take the camera instead.

I know that it's hard to see, but they decorated all the palm trees green around the trunks and red on the palm fronds.

Glenn's turn with the camera, and Alexander striking a pose.

 

 

 

 

I know the picture below is blurry, but you can see the lights better.

 

Early December

We've got germs! Alexander was coughing last weekend, but was fine. Glenn started coughing on Monday. By Wednesday, he had really long coughing spells. So, I brought him to the doctor. She was afraid he was starting walking pneumonia, plus he had an ear infection. That night, I really felt off. Woke up on Thursday with a full-blown cold. And Friday, thankfully I had an appointment with my nephrologist. I had a sinus infection and an ear infection. I'm sure it happened so fast because of my last sinus infection and this bug seems to work extremely fast. So, anyway, I'm losing my voice again for the third time this fall!!! Bob had to drive up to Alabama (they have a route up there now, expanding the business)! He was afraid to come home to the house of germs. He came home anyway. 

We had a productive day. He worked on the irrigation in our "flower beds" in front (some day they will have flowers). I painted the siding he had replaced last week, put up Christmas lights with Alexander's help, and our reindeer for the lawn. Of course a third of the lights don't work on both deer, but we got them cheap. Bob got both of their heads to move (one goes up and down like it's eating, and the other is the stag looking side to side). I have more lights I might try to weave on them. 

Tomorrow, after church, we're going to dip stuff in chocolate. We'll melt the chocolate and dip three kinds of cookies, pretzels, and I'm sure we'll find something else. Then we'll let the chocolate harden. That's the hardest part: waiting! 

The boys have been playing Christmas. They take turns being "santa" while the other pretends to sleep. They fill up their stockings and then when "santa" is done, he goes up to the one sleeping yelling, "Santa's been here! Santa's been here." It's very cute. Alexander asks every day if I can put a present under the tree for him and one for Glenn so they can open it the next morning. Again, waiting is the hardest part! Alexander also enjoys wrapping up anything in a box, putting a ton of tape on it, put it outside the front door, and ring the door bell. Then he yells, "Delivery!" I got two boxes of my pens and highlighters, yesterday. He tricked his brother once into thinking he had a real delivery. Boy, was he disappointed when it was his stuffed animals he already owned!

We made a gingerbread mansion this week. Yes, a mansion! That's what it said on the kit. It fell down twice while trying to let it dry because the back side of the roof was broken when we opened the kit. It supports the front roof. But we finally got it to stay. The windows and door are made of fondant, which was in the kit, too. Here's the picture. Alexander wouldn't stop twirling, so he didn't get to be in the picture.

The Royal Wedding

This is a continuation from yesterday's post. The reason we went to Connecticut was for our niece's wedding. The boys were ring bearers (or ring security). Glenn carried the rings in on the pillow. Alexander got to bring them up to the Pastor with the best man. I love this picture of the boys. They are so serious!



Hopefully someone else got a better picture, but this is Alexander up at the front after bring the ring to the pastor.

The father of the bride had several surprises for everyone (including the couple). He and a friend sang and at the end of the ceremony, professional singers came out in the back by the organ singing. Musicians popped up all over the church. It was really amazing.

The boys had some photos with the wedding party outside in the foliage on the West Haven green. It was freezing and windy. I tried to get photos of the boys to use for a Christmas card. This was the best one. Glenn looks like an old man and Alexander is scowling.

Bob did get a smirk out of Alexander.

The reception was at the New Haven Lawn Club. The whole place was rented out. While the guest had a cocktail hour in a beautiful room, we met up with Bob's immediate family for pictures. Here's a cute picture of Alexander talking to Kat. He did this several times throughout the evening. 

Here are most of the grandchildren with Bob's parents (Kat and her brother Tim are missing in this picture). Sky has been "adopted" into the family. :)

Our family with Nan and Pop.

 
Our family- I think we were all looking at a different camera. 

Cute buddy

At the reception

Amazing floral arrangements on the tables

My Baby and me

There was a band during the cocktail hour and another band for the dinner and dancing. It really was a royal wedding for a perfect couple. 

Our Week in CT

We went for a week to CT this past week. We drove up there because our niece, Kat Anderson, was getting married. The boys had Monday and Tuesday off of school, so we went up the weekend before. We had great travel and arrived Sunday afternoon at my parents' house in Mystic. The leaves were in peak color. I haven't seen foliage like this for years. We told the boys about raking leaves into a pile and jumping into the pile. They asked why. I said because it is fun! Silly boys. So, shortly after we arrived, Nana got the boys a rake and set them to raking leaves. 

 

 

They got pumpkins with my parents. Papa helped them carve them. Alexander's is angry and Glenn's is sad. There are even tears carved into the pumpkin. I asked why his pumpkin was said. He said because we'll miss them. I'm not sure if that was my parents or my sister and her husband who would see them the next weekend. He even wrote on the pumpkin, "I will miss you. Your friend, Glenn"

On Tuesday, we drove north to my brother's house in Coventry. Apparently I was too busy to take any pictures. But the boys were so happy to stay there. Alexander and Jason, his cousin, were very excited to play with each other. They are just a month apart in age, so they are into the same things. Jason was sad to go to school the next day. He would have rather stayed and played with his cousins. 

We then left there on Wednesday to head south to West Haven. But on the way, we went to visit our old houses in Middlefield and Durham. In between, we stopped at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield. We had to get an apple pie, eat some bakery treats, drink hot apple cider and picked up half a peck of McIntosh apples. They were scrumptious. Unfortunately, we left half the bad of apples on the counter at my in-laws' house. Enjoy them Nanny and Poppy!

This is a road in Durham on the way to our old house.

Here's a view of our old road. The colors were more vibrant than this. It's just hard to get a picture through the window of a car. 

We stayed at my in-laws' house the remainder of the week. On Thursday, we went to the PEZ factory. Did you know they make PEZ in West Haven, CT? We had driven by it hundreds of times and could smell them making it, but never stopped in. We promised the boys we'd go this time and really enjoyed it. They had PEZ dispensers that they have made throughout the years. I think it started in the 1950's if I remember correctly. Here's one blinged out PEZ dispenser!

Alexander was excited to see Spider Man and The Hulk.

Glenn enjoyed the Mario Bros. dispensers.

We love Phineas and Ferb!

Bob's sister, Cindy, is hosting an exchange student from Korea. This is the second year he has stayed with them. His name is Sky and he is a senior in high school. Alexander really took to Sky. Sky enjoyed Zander, too. They were pretty much inseparable. Alexander asked if he's every going to see Sky again. We told him to come visit us when he comes to FL. So, we shall see...

Did I mention it is cold in CT? We left 80 degree weather to come to highs in the 50s. Okay, it was in the 60's a couple days, but then the temperature plummeted. I forgot to bring even a sweatshirt for Glenn, so my mom got this for him when we were in Mystic. He lived in this sweatshirt!

The boys also went to the Peabody Museum in New Haven with Nanny and Poppy. Glenn could only tell me about the dinosaur skeletons. But Alexander loved everything about it.

On Thursday night, there was a party for all of the out of town family. During the party, we had cake to celebrate Bob's upcoming birthday.

Friday, Bob had a massage for his birthday present, while Cindy and I got a manicure and pedicure. That evening was the rehearsal for the wedding and the dinner. Both Glenn and Alexander were ring bearers, or as Kat and Ryan called it, Ring Security. They got the boys bags of toys and some very cool ties as thank yous. Glenn's is a zebra tie. You can see it a bit here in the picture below. He wants to wear it at school. I said, why not!. Alexander got a batman tie and suspenders. I couldn't get him to wear it for a picture, but I'll try again.

 

 

I will blog more tomorrow, picking up at the wedding.