December

A quick hug while trying to take some pictures for Grandma A's Christmas card...pretty much the only positive during a classic Christmas card photo session!


Does it look like Walter is running cross country? I couldn't talk him out of wearing his summer Thomas the Train pajamas, so we compromised by putting a pair of long pajamas underneath the short pair.


Do you think Henry's complaints about Walter taking up too much room are fair?


Henry's at the stage where he doesn't nap any more, but by 4:30 p.m. he's struggling. I was making dinner one evening when it suddenly got quiet and walked out to the other room and found this:


Henry's class singing in the Christmas program at church. He had a little competition with the boy next to him - who could hold their star higher. As you can see, his neighbor decided he needed to go up a step in order to win (Isn't that cheating?).


We couldn't help but laugh and take a picture when we saw this:

Nate's Birthday

We celebrated Nate's birthday with his parents and the boys at our house. The boys waited very patiently for the birthday cake to come out...they had their forks ready!


Daddy with his boys - they sure do love him.


We celebrated with my family the next weekend. Relaxing together for just a few minutes.




Nate modeling a birthday present.


The hangers from Cabela's were perfect guns...




...and kid catchers


Having fun with Mimi


Goofing off with Boppa

Christmas Cookies

A few weeks ago, Nate had a dinner meeting so I thought the boys and I could make sugar cookies to keep us busy.

All ready to go.




Decorating - later on you will see that they each had a decorating preference.




Walter really liked playing with the flour...


No pictures please!


Quality control check


Still enjoying the flour...


Henry preferred green sprinkles...and lots of them!


I had plenty to clean up (mostly flour and green sparkles) for one evening, so we decided to do the frosting the next night. Yes, you're seeing correctly - they decorated in just underwear and a diaper.












I had to include this because Nate's gingerbread man with red hot eyes made me laugh.


As you can see, Walter was pretty heavy-handed with the red hots.


With Dad

Mummies

Boxes are so much fun when you have an imagination! Henry couldn't resist pretending to be a mummy in a sarcophagus...and Walter was right behind him.

Thanksgiving 2011

The boys and I drove to the cities the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. After spending a few hours with grandma in the morning, the three of us went to lunch with Mimi #1. After a good portion of my Jimmy John's sandwich was eaten by Walter, we ran an errand and then headed to visit a few toy stores and a local bookstore that is also home to a chicken, tarantula, cat, 2 ferrets, birds and a number of other fun animals. Amazingly, Henry remembered that Sebastian Joe's ice cream was just down the street. After trying the eggnog flavored ice cream (because it was yellow) and deciding that he didn't like it, Walter opted for Henry's flavor of choice - salted caramel. We made our way over to Mimi's house and watched "Wallace & Gromit" while Mimi did a little organizing. By then Nate was on his way, so we headed to grandma and grandpa's for some Macaroni and Cheese. It was a full and fun day!

Watching Tiger, Blankie and Little Bear taking a spin in the washer.




Thursday morning, we drove to my aunt and uncle's house in Wisconsin and enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We missed Aunt Gayle and cousin, Kat, but enjoyed catching up with everybody else. Henry and Walter loved playing with the toys that Aunt Edie brought out for them.






And of course, you have to nap and recover from over-eating while bonding in front of the TV.


Russell also enjoyed a pretty good nap...

until his tongue proved too big a temptation for Walter to resist. He just had to touch it (over and over again). He also thought Russell's eyes were interesting.




Mama Bakkel with her great-grandsons


Goofing off with cousin "Kayak" during the picture session. (Henry thought that Kyle's name was Kayak.)


I'm sure you can't tell which cousins hail from the great state of Wisconsin!


Although we were planning on driving home on Friday, we ended up staying at my parent's through Sunday. Henry and Walter love pretending to be "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." Thankfully they were in good hands with Dr. Mimi #1.








Bedtime stories