Christmas 2008

We went to the farm for Christmas this year, and were brave enough to go Christmas Eve and stay overnight. My Grandma stayed the night as well, so we stayed up late chatting and watching "It's a Wonderful Life". It was really nice.

Christmas morning the boys woke up and opened stockings and gifts. Nate and Gage thought that all of the gifts should be for them. They were spoiled with toys, but had a great time!

These are the "Stop taking pictures and make with the gifts!" faces of Christmas morning.





Nate and Gage were totally into opening gifts. Jude was waiting for breakfast. He opened a few gifts, but was happier checking out what everyone else got.




Then we opened this, and he was the happiest kid in the world.



In total he got two guitars, one set of drums, a karaoke machine (to share with his brothers) and a set of bongos. I've never seen him so excited or interested in his whole life.

This is the other guitar.



Santa brought everyone a race track to share. And cars for everyone, including the adults. It is a lot of fun, and the best part is that there are no batteries!





In the afternoon, my sister and her three boys came out. Along with them for the day were her in-laws. I wish I would have taken a picture of my parent's house with all of us around the table. There were nine adults, one teenager and five boys under the age of 7.

Gage and his cousin Connor checking out Connor's new Nintendo DS. I'm Gage didn't know what they were doing, but they were having a blast!





Sean showing his Nintendo DS to his Nate and Jude.

 

Gage's Birthday

Gage turned four on December 23. According to him, this means he can make his own chicken nuggets (using the microwave), he's one year closer to being a monster truck or a tyrannosaurus rex and he's almost big enough to go to school.

Happy birthday Monster Man!



What happens when you tell a four year old to wait and let Mama take a picture before you blow out the candle.

Halloween (and everything up until December!)

I know, I let it go again. Like everyone else, we have been super busy here. With fall came the yard preparations (oh boy, did we have apples everywhere! And we don't even have an apple tree!) and the realization that in one year Gage will be going to school and we will be dealing with school supplies. I'm thinking I should stock up on them now. I wonder... do pencils go bad?

We had Halloween out at the farm this year. The boys were so excited, but by the time we got there, they were hungry, over tired and grouchy. We made it to my Grandma's, her neighbour's and then back to the farm before we called it a night. They still had a good time, and they definitely don't need any more candy than that!

We almost had the most adorable trio of boys in costume this year. Jude wanted to be Eeyore.



Nate wanted to be Tigger.



And Gage wanted to be Pooh. However, we were unable to fine a Pooh costume that fit him. But, he did see this costume, and decided that's exactly what he wanted to be.



That's right, he was a cow. It was awesome!

We have spent a lot of time in the yard again this fall. We still love the yard and the boys enjoy being outside so much. Today it is too cold to go outside (it has been for a week or so now) and it's so sad. The boys ask all the time to go outside, Nate and Jude will even get their boots and put them on, thinking that if they are already dressed, I will have to let them out. Hopefully it will warm up again soon.

Nate likes to get right into the dirt to play.



When it's too cold to go outside, we go into the basement. Yet another word we've had to use a substitute for when talking about it in front of the boys. As soon as we mention basement, they all want to go down there, use the bathroom downstairs or do the laundry. There's a lot more room down there and different toys to play with.

Jude has taken to finding pennies everywhere! I have cleaned the basement numerous times, but he still finds change all over. I am very glad that he doesn't put things in his mouth anymore.



Nate likes to be safe when riding his "motor bicycle". He did this all himself.

Things I Never Thought I'd Say

Nate, get that bagel out of your pants!

Dad

Things we like to do with Dad:

1) Vacuum. Because if Dad does it, it has to be fun. (Jude calls it a HMM. Really.)



2) Read stories. Because Dad makes great voices for all of the characters.

A boy and his (Mama's) bear

I cannot believe that Gage found this thing. I remember it from when I was little. It has to be thirty years old and the music box still works. I worked a couple of weeks of the late shift a while back and wasn't around to tuck him in. He decided that this bear had to go to bed with him. And this is how he'd be sleeping when I got home.

Fall 2008

It is tradition that every fall, around mid September, hundreds of people in our city go out to the north end of town and take pictures under the maple trees. Apparently these trees were planted years ago by the armed forces that came from the east coast. They line the street for 20 blocks or so, on the far east side of what once was the army barracks. The land has been bought by a developer, the old army houses are being torn down or moved and new houses are springing up in their place. Thankfully the trees remain. If you come to the city from the north, it's the first thing you see, red and orange and gold all the way down the street.

We missed going last year, selling the condo and moving took over. The year before that, the twins couldn't even sit up on their own and it was a quick session. This year we could have stayed all day. Our friends came with us and the kids all played in the leaves and the grass. I took over 80 pictures in the hour we were out there and I can't decide on just a few, so I'm putting up a lot.


Nate had a very bad start to the day.

I am not going to have fun, you can't make me!



Jude and his puppy. He wouldn't leave the van without it.
Gage telling Arianna about his transport truck.


We were trying to get everyone around the wagon, but the boys insisted on pulling the girls.


Sofia is a natural! She didn't need any coaching at all.







Once he started climbing trees, his attitude improved.










I told the boys to go stand beside Sofia...
... and a giant game of chase broke out! The ran around in a circle, running over other people, but thankfully not into traffic.



Emilia is so sweet. The first year we came out here, it was Sofia that was kissing Gage and he looked all unsure.

Why I Love Our Backyard (Part Three)

Our sandbox (which has no sand). Thank you to Miss J for this excellent idea. It makes a great pool! Nate liked the sprinkler the best, Gage liked everything and Jude didn't mind it once he got wet. He didn't like the sprinkler spraying in his face, but all three of them thought it was fun to run through it and jump in the pool