Christmas 2012: The year of the Tractor

We had a great Christmas in Nevada. Lesa and Colin and all the kids were there too. On Christmas Even, we had a good time sledding and playing in the snow. Of course, it's completely flat there, but Grandpa just got out his ATV to solve that problem. Jack and Sam went on the sled themselves and with other people, and even Grandma and Great Grandma were talked into taking a turn. Jack also got to be a co-pilot helping Grandpa clear snow from the driveway with the big "tractor" aka...the backhoe.  Jack still loves tractors and enjoyed riding them as well as playing with the many tractor toys he got for Christmas. Every machine is still a tractor, but he actually got tractors, dump trucks, ATVs, and etc...For Christmas, Jack and Sam both got Mickey Mouse ball pits, Jack got a basketball hoop and race car, and Sam got a music table, and Doodle Sketch. The older boys both got Video game players, so they spent the rest of the days with their noses glued to them.We even managed a family picture, although Adam and Chase are missing. We couldn't quite get everyone there at the same time. Here are some of the pictures:

A Visit to Santa

Jack got all dressed up in a new winter outfit today. It was snowing and windy today, so we had to be warn to go outside. Then, we headed off to see Santa. 

 It did not go over well. He liked Santa's ball and his stuffed bear, but he absolutely refused to sit on Santa's lap. This is the closest we could come...sitting on mommy's lap next to Santa, but at least he let Santa talk to him.

 Santa gave him a coupon for a free cookie at a bakery down the way. He enjoyed that much more than Santa himself. He rather liked sitting in the big boy chair eating a Snickerdoodle (and who wouldn't ?!). And of course, since we were there, mommy had to get mint brownie (Yummy!).

After we got home, we practiced our counting. I say one and he says "two," and that's about as far as we can get so far. He thinks two means a game because we've always counted 1, 2, 3...before swinging him or tossing him on the bed. I'm not sure where 3 went! So every time he says two, he wants something fun to occur as a result. He was throwing himself down on the bed today, saying "two" and then falling over, and laughing like it was the funniest thing ever! Very cute!

Christmas Cookies and the Weekend

Yesterday, I had a fun time exchanging cookies with friends! I got lots of goodies and also some great new recipes!  All the ladies did a great job, and it was fun to visit and catch up. 

 We had a fun weekend too. Jack's learning new words all the time. His newest: "Moo" (What a cow says) and "Beep! Beep!" (what a car says). We tried to get some family pictures with the Christmas tree tonight. Here are a few...

Thanksgiving Weekend

We've had a fun and busy weekend. Had a great Turkey day, and then we] have put up Christmas decorations and lights, started working on some Christmas craft projects, and did some shopping. This is definitely going to be the year of constant tree decorating as Jackson takes things off the tree frequently! He likes the musical instrument ornaments, I guess because they are shiny. We made sure that we only put the durable and soft ornaments on the bottom half of the tree!  Mike installed the snow blade on the tractor and moved it to the garage, so we are ready for winter. The downside of this is that every time we go by, Jack wants a ride on the tractor. He's even learned to say "tractor" this weekend.

Yesterday, he also played a game of pool with daddy...on top of the table using his hands instead of a cue stick. I'm pretty sure I could be great at pool if I got to use his rules too, but he had a great time. He just brought me a few more tree ornaments, so I guess it's time to go redecorate the Christmas tree again. We are always playing fun games at our house! 

 

Trick-or-Treating

We didn't stay out for long for trick-or-treating. We went to a grand total of 5 houses, all near home, and were back in less than half an hour. Jack liked the very first piece of candy he got--a dum dum sucker--and wasn't really interested in much else. He did come to school earlier in the day to make an appearance at my class party and costume parade, and all the kids liked getting to see him.