Rainy day at the zoo

My parents got us a zoo membership this year for Christmas which is awesome!!  It accidentally emailed the confirmation to us before Christmas Day which worked out perfectly because I was already planning on heading to the zoo with Kristen and her kiddos.  We were able to use the membership already, perfect!

It was rainy but that meant there was hardly anyone there.  The boys were great and didn't seem to mind the rain at all as they happily ran from exhibit to exhibit.  We spent a good 3 1/2 hours there and it wasn't until the end when the rain started to pick up that the boys realized they were cold and wet and wanted to "be warm in the van."  We survived pushing the boys up the hill toward the exit (probably around 80-85lbs of weight!) and after changing socks/pants they happily either watched a movie or napped on the way home.  I loved watching their enthusiasm with the animals and just enjoyed the sweet company of my friend.  It was a really fun day.

Playtime!

Our schedules lately are pretty full, but I'm still managing to squeeze in some playtime with my boys.  They are in a season of constant picking on one another, but their goofy smiles and antics make me laugh.

This boy just makes me laugh.  Peter and I are starting to remember how fun this stage is, and we spend so much time trying not to squeeze him to death.

This is Benjamin holding a Thomas book that some complete stranger bought for him at Wal-Mart.  He went with Peter to get his haircut and look at toys and an older lady asked Peter if she could buy him a book (she thought he was cute dancing to the music in the toy aisle)  So she said, I'll be right back and came back with this book.  It plays all these Thomas songs and he loves it.  How nice!

We raided the dress-up bin one morning and Ben was an adorable Mr. Incredibles.  He wore it all day long.  And he insisted I take his picture with his "super-duper tower" he built.  :-)

Jon-Jon wasn't so into the cowboy hat for dress up that day.  You learn to take really quick pictures with kids and how to be satified with the shot even if there's no eye contact :-)

On my own for a week

A couple of weeks ago Peter had a training course he needed to take for work which required him to be out of town for the week.  Of course, after all the Thanksgiving busyness and crazy schedule that comes with Christmas I wasn't super excited about him being gone, but it had to be done.  And I decided to be a supportive wifee and not complain about it all week.....because he works so hard for us and I knew he didn't need to feel any "guilt" about being gone when he was so busy with the training and projects.

Anyhoo....

We survived the week just fine and aside from the fact that the boys pretty much slept horrifically each night, things were great.  The boys would just swap who was going to randomly wake up in the middle of the night, or be bright eyed at 6:00am, or refuse to nap, etc, etc.

We ran errands, played a lot, visited Peter one evening at his hotel (he was 45min away), went to small group, went to worship team practice, went to storyhour at the library and Costco....it was a good week.

In reality, I'm with my boys on my own most of the day on most days.  But, I never want to take for granted how wonderful it is to have Peter home with us in the evenings.  He is the most involved, loving Dad and my boys (and I) are really lucky. 

A few pics from our week....

Christmas Tree 2012

With a house full of family for Thanksgiving we weren't able to go get our tree during the holiday break like last year.  My sweet hubby suggested that he take a morning off work so we could go during the daylight hours to get our tree as a family.  Love it!

He let me sleep in a little bit after he got up with the boys.  I think they were having a little bit of fun "cleaning" the breakfast dishes...

We didn't realize the tree farm didn't open until late morning so we hung out until then.  Apparently the boys played hard because on the 20 minute drive there they were both out cold.  (Notice the toy saw in Benjamin's hand he insisted on bringing so he could help Daddy cut down the tree)  :-)

Once we arrived, the boys got a second wind and we were off!  We love the farm we've been to for the past 4 years because you get to ride on a tractor wagon out to the trees, cut your own pick, then warm up with cookies, cocoa and watch the train go round and round.  It's just a fun place.

*caught stealing his third or fourth cookie while Daddy wasn't watching, ha ha ha!*

 

It was a fun day with a fun memory etched into our minds.  We'll also remember Benjamin "shooting the bad guys" as we headed back to our van in the parking lot.  Good grief boy!

 

Later on, we decorated the tree and then we (okay, only I) decorated the rest of the house.  A house thats decorated for Christmas is so warm and cozy and though it's a bit of effort, I do love doing it.

 

While we were finishing the tree, I heard some laughing.  Turning around, I realized where it was coming from.  Jonah had found a candy cane Ben had dropped while putting them on the tree and he was gleefully enjoying his prize.  He started giggling and clapping when we caught him.

 

Oh, he melts my heart.

 

What a sweet family day, I love the Christmas season.

 

(scroll down for a few more posts from earlier tonight, hooray for trying to catch up!!)