Winter fun

What is that saying... clean out the clutter so it doesn't follow you into the new year?  J and C cleaned the lint out of my dryer.  In fact they scrubbed the entire washer and dryer down, from top to underneath!  I love C's pondering look.  We get that quiet a bit when we're explaining something to him and he's deciding if he agrees or thinks we're nuts.  "Hmmm I don't know about that dad"

 We got a new 8+ inches of snow.  J was outside working his butt off shoveling... so C and I decided to get some hot cocoa, pull up some chairs and watch him work.  Hee hee hee   We got more snow over night though and C and I went out the next day while J was at work and shoveled that off the driveway. 

 J hard at work

 ready to head out for some more fun in the snow!  A few more years and my boots and gloves might actually fit C!

 Whoo Hooo!  I actually got to ride on the sled with C while J pulled us.  We traded and J rode on the sled with C and I pulled.. going downhill.  Batteries ran out on my camera though so this is the only picture we got.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at our house with my parents and Aunt Staci and Uncle Tony!

 Nana and Grandpa K

 Aunt Staci and Uncle Tony

 J carving the turkey

 Christmas Eve dinner was fantastic.  The turkey was juicy, the salads and all the fixin's were delicious.  The biggest hit this year was my artichoke dip.  Grandpa K and J couldn't get enough of it.  In fact they requested I make more... several times... so of course I did.

 Grandpa K and C relaxing with full bellies

 Staci, Tony and Nana

 present time!

 Yeah!  He loves his Nemo blankie!

 resting with his new blankie and sock monkey that I made.  After presents we enjoyed Aunt Staci's cheese cake and watched Polar Express.

 playing with C's new remote control helicopter.  I'm not sure if this was really for C... or for dad?  I kept finding the big boys (J and Grandpa) in the kitchen playing with this.  All the boys had fun flying this around our house.

 being goofy in Nana's shoes and Grandpa's hat

 some of Grandpa's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G woodwork!
His newest hobby is making all sorts of incredible wood creations.  Here are some of his tree ornaments

 His Santa, made from several pieces of carved wood pieced together like a puzzle

 the monkey puzzle he made for my little monkey.  He put on the last coat of stain right before they got to our house so it's still drying. 

 Each year Aunt Staci gets C an ornament that represents his year.  This year C was all about baseball.

 And each year I get a photo ornament to put C's Christmas card picture in.

 our little family  =)

We had a wonderful Christmas!  I love the holidays.  It's all about spending time with family, being surrounded by the people we love and building memories. 

the Biggest snowman Ever

We finally got some good wet snow for packing.  So, this morning the boys piled on the layers and headed out to build the Biggest snowman EVER!  C's been talking about that for weeks. 

 Pretty creative dad... his mouth is red Alaskan beer caps with polar bears on them.

 This is the back of the snowman.  Great idea J!  Now people who drive by can enjoy the front of our snowman and we can enjoy the back of the snowman from our front window.  Clever!

 Yep, J finally got to build a snowman that towers the one I built.  Good job boys.

First dentist appointment

C had his first ever dentist appointment this morning!  We watched J get his teeth cleaned and then it was C's turn in the big chair.  The hygienist said he was the absolute best 2 1/2 year old patient she's ever seen!  He did awesome. 

 Dr. King, our wonderful dentist gave him a clean bill of health. 
Everywhere we go people ooh and ahh over how polite and well mannered C is.  He's so good at saying please, thank you, excuse me and covering his mouth.  I feel like I won the lottery with him.  I'm so blessed to have such an amazingly respectful and wonderful tempered little guy in my life!  I can't imagine any other little kid even coming close to being as incredible as C.  He's absolutely, positively perfect in every way!!!  Maybe I'm biased, but it seems like everyone we meet agrees with me.  =)

 Showing off his pearly whites.

 They gave him a new tooth brush, floss sticks and a lizard toy, which he picked out the yellow one.

 Last night Santa did his yearly drive-by to wave at all the kids from the top of the fire truck.  C loved it!

 He loves his new Leap Pad.  Thanks Trantum's! 

 I finished up my baking... 5 dozen mint chocolate cookies (which I think are my new favorite cookie!), 4 loaves of pumpkin bread, magic bars (or as J's mom calls them Yummy bars), chocolate pretzels and candy turtles.  The presents are wrapped and under the tree.  The stockings are hung by the fireplace with care.  Christmas cards were mailed and I got the package for Grandma and Grandpa Charette sent off.  As C's Mooseltoe book says... so simple, so easy and so perfectly perfect.

Let the Christmas baking begin...

C and I whipped up some yummy Christmas treats this morning.  Magic bars (J's favorite growing up) and chocolate pretzels (C's favorite).

 Then we gave both dogs a full spa treatment, which included a bath.  Nala is easy, she gets her bath in the utility sink in the laundry room.  Chloe on the other hand is a bit more difficult.  When you have a dog that weights pretty darn close to what YOU weight... the only way to give her a bath is to jump in the shower with her.  When we built our house we actually added this walk in shower right off our laundry room with a hand held shower nozzle just for Chloe.  It works great!  C decided to jump in the shower and sit on the bench and watch me scrub Chloe down.

 Two beautiful, clean doggies! 

Snow day

More snow!  J and C headed out to clean up our driveway.  C's such a big helper!

 Then they built a blob in the yard?!?  It was suppose to be a big snowman, but the snow is too dry to pack... so they made this little lump and called it good.  I keep hearing how they are going to build the biggest snowman ever (another one of C's favorite books), but so far boys MY snowman (that has since melted) was the biggest snowman this year!

 wet or dry snow.. it's all good for sledding!

 would this be called cross country sledding?  The whole family, including both doggies went for a nice walk/sledding ride.  Our poor old doggies.  Chloe, the lab was limping by the time we got back to the house.  Nala, our 12 year old yorkie is on 2 meds and special food.  Although you would never know she's ill.. she still acts like a spunky puppy.  Chloe, our 10 year old lab has arthritis and takes meds for that daily.  She's had arthritis in her front legs for a few years now, which didn't bother her too much.  But we believe she's getting arthritis in her back legs now and she has more trouble getting around.  My poor little girls.  Neither of them are in pain though.

 nothing hits the spot like a nice cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows. 

Chuck E Cheese

Round Two!  

Since it was snowing outside and cold... we decided to make it a Chuck E Cheese day! Plus we had told C that if he did good on his potty training we would go.  He was doing super good at potty training and then with us traveling over Thanksgiving and being on the go without a bathroom nearby all the time... the whole potty training went into reverse.  But we're getting back on track again now.

 this was J's first visit to Chuck E Cheese, C's second... I'm not sure who had more fun  =)

 and yes, even I had fun playing some games too.

 Chuck E Cheese where a kid adult can be a kid

We followed up a fun day with a family movie night.  J made some popcorn

 and we all curled up to watch the movie Polar Express.  C loves that book.  We read it several times a week and he loved the movie.