Home sweet home!

We have moved to our new home!  A very big THANK YOU to the mighty strong men and women who helped us move furniture, boxes, bags, and who knows what else from one end of town to the other.  And a very big THANK YOU to the might patient grandmas and grandpas who helped wrangle, snuggle, play with, read to (and most likely wipe) two little blonde boys.  We are so very grateful for your help!

We enjoyed our first meal as a family in our new home.  This peaceful scene lasted for just the 2 minutes it took for me to set up the camera and take the shot.  The boys were wound up -- I'll leave it at that.  Ha!

It's now 9:48pm and everyone but mama is snuggled in bed.  Time for me to call it a night, too.  The house is quiet.  We have new noises to get used to, which means it takes a little longer than usual to drift off to sleep.  The boys will no longer be sleeping across the hall from us and it makes me a little sad.  There were many nights on Jadden Lane where I'd be lying awake in the middle of the night and could hear all three of my boys (that includes Tanner!) snoring.  I often heard Weston and Miles mumbling and wiggling in their sleep.  Hearing those sweet noises might still be possible, though, because this house is very quiet at night.  A mama can hope!

Good night.  More tales from the move will come soon!

Moving into the new year

We're moving into the new year. Literally!

First things first, though. We had a great time bidding adieu to 2013 with our good friends Nolan, Finley, and Bergen (and their parents) on New Year's Eve. We feasted on pickle dip, mystery meat sloppy joes, pickle dip, chips, pickle dip, veggies, pickle dip, and fruit pizza. And pickle dip. The kids hurried through their meal (including the pickle dip) so they'd have plenty of time for a dip in the hot tub.

It was 0 (that's zero) degrees at 7:30pm when the hot tub dipping took place. Aside from the tub's fancy lights and jets, the next most thrilling part of the event was having a warm body but frozen hair! It was pretty silly. We look forward to taking another dip with our friends when the weather is a little warmer -- Miles can hardly wait to dip in the water, then go run through the snow and jump back in the hot tub. Little does he know that it stings. Kinda bad. Well, he does know that because we've told him, but it's certainly not going to stop him!

The little boys and girls lasted until about 10pm, which was a few hours later than the adults were hoping for...but hey, it was a fun night! Before they attempted to settle in for the night, we had our own countdown complete with a ball dropping on the computer. Some sparkling grape juice, loud noisemakers, and general giddiness made for a festive end to the night!

Based on this scene, you'd think the kids were up until 3am. Weston looks like he was partying at a frat house. Ruh roh.

I can't get that picture of Nolan and Miles to lay right on this blog thing.  Sorry.

Spending the evening with Rolloff's was a great break from the packing, packing, and more packing we've been doing at home. The house is full of piles of boxes and items that have yet to be put in boxes. We're feeling pretty ready, thanks in large part to Miles' mad packing skills (never mind that Weston follows right behind, unpacking most things from boxes that haven't yet been taped shut....ugh.).

We enjoyed our last family meal at home on Tuesday night. It included a mismatch of leftovers and plenty of inappropriate bodily noises and roaring laughter by the boys. So really, just another night at home!

The boys took their last bath together in their tub. Miles usually takes showers now but loves excuses to take a bath with Westy. It usually spells T.R.O.U.B.L.E., and this "last bath" was no exception.

They also had a slumber party on their floor last night. I promise Miles is in there! And I promise we uncovered him.... (Sorry, picture is flipped funny again)

Since all of our food and most dishes are packed up, we enjoyed supper out on the town on Thursday. Weston is our little salad shooter. This about sums up the night.

Friday is a big day! We close on our new home and begin the adventures of moving in. We will most definitely miss our home on Jadden Lane. Lots of good memories here....but lots of good memories to be had on Woodcrest Drive!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

I have no evidence to show that we are literally rockin' around the Christmas tree, but I can guarantee you that it's the song most frequently sung in our house these days.  If it's not being sung out loud, then it's being sung in someone's head.  Or all of our heads.  All the time.  Thanks to Weston Charles!  He rehearsed the song for weeks with his preschool friends and had a smashing performance at their recent Christmas concert. And once you start singin' it, you just can't stop!

This Christmas is a bit out of the ordinary for our little family of four as we prepare to move to a new house across town.  We put the tree up but didn't add any decorations, so Miles decided he'd just make some. When he's in the mood, he'll get out the markers, paper, and scissors and create a new masterpiece.  Several of them are attached to the tree with duct tape.  This could get interesting.

We have other Christmas decorations out, including some of the 872 snowmen from my collection (okay, I don't have 872, but it is a rather large herd of snowpeople) but they are shadowed by stacks of boxes full of things we've carefully packed away we need to carefully repack for the move. Lots of work to be done in the next two weeks!  The boys have been (mostly) helpful, and Weston has thrown only a couple of tantrums over things he wants that are already sealed up in a box for his new bedroom.  In particular, his battery powered chainsaw and the farting Santa.  Need I say more?!

This is the last full weekend in our current home and it's bittersweet.  I'll elaborate on that later.  For now, some festive pictures!

We kicked off December with a wonderful trip to Green Bay, where we visited Great Grandma Lucille -- 

 and four lucky adults got to go to the Packers game.  Yes, it was cold.  Yes, it was awesome.

Next up was a great concert put on by Kids Korner.  Weston knew his songs well and surprised us by willingly participating in the show.  We were sitting in the balcony of the theater and could hear him perfectly!

(He's in the middle row, fifth one in from the right. Just squint really hard and you'll see him.)

Miles' class told the story about the birth of Jesus.  Although the donkey and wise men costumes were pretty neat, I think Miles was fine with having a speaking role.  I can't describe how proud of him we were (and still are!) for the hard work he put into practicing his line, and for the confidence he showed during their performance.  He was fabulous!  And so were his friends!

(I think we need to get him a pair of non-sneaker style casual shoes.  You think so?!)

Here's the full cast of characters from the event.  They led the audience in singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  I might have cried a little...or a lot.

Then it was on to making gingerbread houses.  As you can see, the kindergartners had plenty of candy for the occasion.  Enough leftover to do a little landscaping!

On the home front, we've been busy making messes in the kitchen.  Last night we cut out about 7 dozen cookies....

And tonight, we decorated all but 9 of them. Actually, 10 -- I ate one when the boys weren't looking.  What happened to the last nine, you ask?  The boys simply ran out of steam.  It was time to lick the frosting off their little plastic knives and call it a night.  I don't blame them!  

After clearing the aluminum foil off the table (I went a bit overboard) and sweeping up sprinkles, we ventured up the road about 10 miles to take in the magic of this little display of lights.  We might go back again tomorrow.  Probably Sunday night, too.  It's worth the short drive, even with two little brothers trapped in their car seats relentlessly pestering each other.  Amazing how quiet the car gets as soon as we get there.

 

Merry, merry Christmas!