Merry Christmas!

We had a fun filled two day Christmas extravaganza that we are currently recovering from by staying in and watching movies and playing with the boys and their loot. We basically spent great time with family, ate our way through the holiday with our favorite foods and goodies and got to experience the holiday through our kids' eyes - it was magical.

On Christmas eve we had some of Flo's family over for the breakfast of champions - my delicious orange rolls and Cinnamon. Made me proud that my orange rolls were devoured and there were only a couple of Cinnabons eaten! We had such a good time visiting and relaxing with family the whole day until we Celebrated with the Grenz side of the family that night. I think Jack and Cooper were amped up for the event and giddy about all the decorations, presents and family there that just a few crocodile tears were shed when the Santa made his appearance that night!

On Christmas Day we had my side of the family over to our house to open gifts and nosh on the huge brunch I spent Christmas Eve making. It was a little crazy with 6 little ones (who's combined age was 14) but we had a lot of fun with the help of our dear friend Mr. Coffee.

All in all it was an amazing Christmas to get to start to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas and how we celebrate Baby Jesus' Birthday. I think we definitely got more things from our kids this year than the reverse. Although Flo makes fun of me snapping pictures of everything I wanted to remember how excited and innocent our kids were. It really helped us to just count our blessings and live in the moment! I hope everyone else enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did. I am sad the season is over...I guess only 11 months to enjoy before we get to put up another Christmas tree and listen to Jingle bells over and over again. I can't wait.

Cooper and Monkey taking a ride in his new ride after his Christmas nap.

All the kids on Christmas morning (minus Cooper who was napping) right before the festivities began.

Opening presents on Christmas eve....they definitely LOVED to see the paper fly!

Taking a minute to say thank you with a hug for his new super soft stuffed cow.

Posing with Potato Head.

After Santa handed him the ONE thing he has been asking for for months...he decided he was O.K. and even gave him a high five and a hug.

Cooper got a new Monkey to join his crew...

Family picture moment (amazingly all of our eyes are open and smiles on kids!)

Hanging out with cousins on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve morning...I would like the think the big smiles are because of the yummy orange rolls!
Jack and coops hanging out with THEIR boys T and Travis

These smiles made it all worth it. Merry Christmas!

We miss you Daddy!!

So Branden has been in Santa Barbara since Sunday at Noon and I have been left to the two wild wolves we call Jack and Cooper for the week! Knowing that it was going to be a really long 6 days, so close to Christmas and being cooped up in the house - since so many people we know are sick - I have pulled out all the stops to entice good behavior and make the time go by more quickly since the combined age of my sounding board is 47 months old!

I know Flo is hard at work with training and studying for a huge exam but it has been a test of sorts to see what I can pull out of the closet to amuse the short attention spans... bubbles in the bathtub, blowing up balloons and kicking them around the living room, obstacle course in the family room, jumping on the bed, new books, Christmas light looking with corn dogs and popcorn and the crowning glory tonight we had a dance party to jingle bell rock and grandma got run over by a reindeer. Those boys have moves!

On Monday when we had the fresh fallen snow, I spend a full two hours shoveling the walk and building a massive 5 1/2 ' tall snowman as a surprise for Jack. I labored away in the snow while neighbors honked and drove by and inquired what I was doing....it was all my my boys. I couldn't wait until they woke up and I could show Jack my surprise and then he woke up and I showed him and he was about as excited as I pictured and then hugged me and said "thank you ho ho for bringing snowman to my new home." I didn't have the heart to tell him Santa didn't bring it for him, so Santa took my credit. And about 20 times a day, Jack looked out our front window and said "hi snowman, I love you!" But, due to warmer weather and rain, Mr. Snowman now looks like a blob (see above) and is going away. Its sad.

This was my / Santa's pride and joy...

$1 treat that I made the boys from Wally world = hours of fun. They are like Christmas Gumbys with their faces.

We've had a great week, and I didn't pull all my hair out, but late late tomorrow night when Flo's plane gets in cannot come soon enough! We miss you and can't wait to start more Christmas activities next week with you! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Snow!!

We woke up this morning to about 4 inches of fresh snow in our front yard and Jack couldn't have been more excited! His excitement rubbed off because Cooper was running around the living room giggling and we decided to get dressed before breakfast and head out to enjoy the morning snow.

It might have lasted only 30 minutes but as a mom, it was the first time Jack was excited to go outside and be in the snow, much less play! I am sure it was all those snow balls he saw Daddy pelt our cars and windows with last year...because all he wanted to do was make "no balls"

started out making snow balls and then he was just laying in the snow and sort of flopping around with pure joy!

We took a mini walk around the neighborhood. It was perfect. Not a soul up yet and the street was pristine!

Cooper was starting to get in the action as well...

I guess its time to go get snow pants and boots for the two tikes which is a good thing! I was holding off because I wasn't sure if it would be a waste like last year but I think we will definitely be venturing out in the snow this year! It just makes everything feel more festive with the covering of white that during cooper's first nap Jack and I are watching The Polar Express.

My baby's 1st Birthday Party

He's one?!?! Really? Where did the year go? He no longer wants to sit and snuggle in my lap but is constantly on the go, never stopping and always exploring. It is so fun to watch him discover everything within his reach and sight and see Jack and him play together and interact.


We had a big family party full of 3 grandpas, 4 grandmas and looooots of cousins and aunts and uncles. Pizza, presents, hotwings galore and cake to boot. He's really one I guess.

Posing for a pictures before Grandma and Grandpa left to drive back to Fargo.

He enjoyed his cake just a little...

This was the party table!

This was before the cake, before the chaos of the presents and before video games which is why we all don't have frosting in our hair or pizza on our clothes. Happy 1st Birthday Coops!

Date Night

We went out alone at night (without the kids) for the first time in almost 3 years...both pathetic but exciting to us! We didn't know what to do with ourselves... we could hold hands (not juggling kids in our arms), have a conversation that got finished (no yelling melting down) and didn't have to spell anything out either and managed to eat out without having to get on our hands and knees to wipe up the floor with wipes and leave a huge tip! S-U-C-C-E-S-S! Only mishap of the night was right when we sat down next to a couple and their little baby and I said "Ohhhh how old is he? He is so cute!" and got the response "she is a girl and 9 10 months old" Parents, a word to the wise : DO NOT DRESS YOUR LITTLE BALD BABY IN GREEN CAMO. Other than suffering through the rest of dinner hiding my face from their table we had a great time! We had dinner and a movie and became Flo and Jenny for a night again instead of Mommy and Daddy. Although we missed our kids so much, it was well worth it especially considering we went to bed at 12:30 am and were woken up to sick kids with temps and puking. Reality check. We spent a pretty relaxed day just nursing the two bruisers back to health. They seem to both have better color and some food in them so things are looking up.

Here are a few pics from the week that I missed posting because I was too busy drinking coffee to get myself through my sleep haze due to Coopers teething...he is up to 6 teeth now!

Eating oreos after dinner...he really got into them!

Jack was a little neater and LOOOOVED dunking!
Jack's chart: he gets stickers for good behaviors (like not getting out of bed during nap time) to work towards the toy on the fridge. He finally got it on Saturday and is working toward his next toy...for $3.99 a week he is willing to share his favorite stuffed animals with his little brother and we have a little more peace around our house. :)

Nightly bubble bath. I think there was a 1/2 inch of water after this one if I remember correctly....

I love themPosing with his backpack full of cars to play with. He was so proud.

The boys were playing so good while I was doing dishes this day. I was so thankful!

Halloween Fun

The kids started off wearing their costumes to breakfast and coffee this morning at 8 am... a good start to the day! They had a lot of fun at our church's harvest festival tonight playing games, winning prizes and EATING EATING EATING! Afterwards we all went over to my sisters for more food and some trick-or-treating around the block. Jack definitely held his own this year and liked getting candy in his pumpkin, he just wanted to grab it himself!

Coops was half asleep by the time we pulled into our neighborhood and saw that it was apparently the place to be for a trick-or-treater and to top it all off, we had no candy! I guess our plan on going to the church and my sisters house didn't factor in coming home to the treats were packed with kids! We had two options: #1 be the crazy couple who hands out Top-Ramen Noodles and Granola bars or #2 turn out all the lights and hope no one rang our bell...we are in the basement watching the world series and hoping for the best!

Sean, Austin and Charlotte right before heading out to get loot.

Most of the bunch posing (or tring to escape) for a quick picture - we have tinkerbell, a dalmation, a kitty, a gorilla (or king kong) and rival football players.

David and Jack taking a break from candy and tackeling.

Getting their game on at the church lawn...

Cooper and Aubrey playing

Hours of fun today in the box that our new TV stand came in....its a boat, a cave, a plane...

robbing the cradle

Flo turned 29 today, which officially means that I am only 1 year older than him again (those brief 2 months where I am 2 years older technically are tough, and he never lets me live it down!) I know, I know...I robbed the cradle I guess. He worked all day but we had a relaxing family night with a homemade cake (watch out Cake Boss!) dinner and some Wii Rock band after the kids went down. I think a great day in all for Flo since the Yankees tied up the world series on his birthday (even though my family refers to them a the evil empire). He definitely deserved the extra hugs and kisses he got throughout the day from the little ones as well. He is the such a good dad and husband.

Happy Birthday!

Never Say Never

Lots of changes going on around our house...Cooper is not only walking up picking up the pace to a trot and can change direction with one sniff of food in the air....Jack is working on potty training (or Mommy is working at it and Jack is along for the ride) and picked up the basics pretty fast: 1 M&M for potty, M&M's for poo. No need to know anything else for now...and last but not least, we are the proud owners of a mini-van.

I honestly can recall at least a half dozen times where we said we would "never ever" own a mini-van and now look at us, driving it and enjoying the ease of getting the two powerhouses in and out of their car seats with every trip. So needless to say, recently I have been called on a few of my NEVER comments by God (We were never going to move back to Spokane, never going to rent again, never going to drive a mini-van) so I am laying off any planning for the time being and letting him have a go! I might just go around and start saying "I will never win that darned lottery."

#1 and #2 in the bubble bath having some fun after a long rainy day. We are so blessed!

Greenbluff Take-2

We went back up to Greenbluff for Octoberfest today - but this time we went to two different orchards and we went as of the 4 of us. It was a really fun family filled day.

This was the pumpkin canon or pumpkin chucker that we saw in action twice today, the huge contraption launched the pumpkins over 1500 feet away!

Jack and Cooper all smiles after tons of Kettle corn and running around the hay maze.

Jack on his pony ride with me as his escort.

Jack and Flo posing for a quick picture right before we all went on the horse drawn hay ride.

twacta wide

I took the boys up to Greenbluff today with our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group to enjoy the fall festivities before the weather got too cold and we had a blast! The kids had a great time doing the corn maze, getting apples, picking pumpkins, eating pumpkin doughnuts and cider and last but definitely not least the tractor ride around the orchard. Jack couldn't stop talking about the amazing "twacta wide" and couldn't wait to tell Daddy when he got home from out of town. It was the highlight of our day and after asking Daddy if he wanted to go on a "twacta wide" with him, he agreed and I think we might be headed back to Greenbluff tomorrow to partake in more tractor fun!

Jack's final choice - which found a home on our front steps.

Our group's attempt a group photo!

Enjoying the pumpkin patch!

The Boys Florence enoying the great outdoors.