Christmas with the Calverts

We celebrated Christmas with the big Calvert family on the 23rd.  Before we left that day, Bryan walked into the boys' room and found a little visitor in the Nativity Scene.  :)

Christmas at Aunt Mary's house...

So much fun to play with cousins!

Nathan and his buddy, Jeremy...Nathan loves to make friends!

Oh no... the Calvert brothers found a microphone.  The Calvert Family was serenaded with all kinds of renditions of Rudolph, Frosty, and Away in a Manger!

Presents!

It is always so sweet of Bryan's Aunt Mary to open up her home on Christmas.  We always enjoy the fun times!  There are 8 great grandsons and 2 great grandaughters...oh you can bet it was a wild and crazy time!

Christmas Cheer!

We spent the evening with some of our dearest friends tonight!  Jill and I have been friends since 2nd grade...yep that would be about 24 years.  We can still talk for hours on the phone, even though we live across the street from each other.  No kidding.  It totally warms my heart to see our kids be friends, laughing, playing, and being silly together!  We went to eat pizza and enjoy the Christmas lights downtown.  What a night full of Christmas cheer!

Jill, Baby Barrett, and Me

The Calverts

The Duffs

Anna Claire as a toy soldier!  HA! So silly!  She reminds me just a little bit of a 7 year old Jill from 1987!!

Christmas Lights!

Lots to see!...

DANCE PARTY in the gazebo with Anna Claire!  These three kids would have danced in the middle of that gazebo all night if we let them.   It was so precious to see them dance and sing to all the Christmas music.

HUGS for Anna Claire!!

It's Christmas at Bass Pro Shop!

One of our very favorite Christmas activities each year is taking the boys to enjoy all the fun at Bass Pro Shop.  Bass Pro really goes the extra mile when it comes to entertaining kiddos at Christmas time!

Waiting in line to see Santa Claus!

This is the first year the boys did not cry when they sat in Santa's lap.  YAY!  They gave him a very long list of cars from the Cars movie that they want for Christmas..."Shu, Lewis,  Sally, Snotrod, Flo, Wingo, DJ, Red, Ramone, Doc..."  That sweet Santa let them carry on with their list for quite a while!

 More toys to play with...

Color Pages too!  With all those crayons and fun colors to choose from, our boys colored their whole picture with pencil.  Neat.

RACE CARS!!  Woo hoo!

And if that wasn't enough fun for one evening, a reindeer carousel to top it off!  I asked Jordan what the name of his reindeer was and he told me it was "Cupid...ummmm...no...Mommy, it's Donner."

So incredible to experience the Christmas season with young children.  No wonder Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." - Mark 10:15  They believe.  Kids believe with big hearts.  The boys have completely fallen in love with the Baby Jesus and the story of his birth.  Much of that we have to thank our darling preschool program at church and at school.  They love to sing "Away in a Manger" and talk about the angels, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and the Wise Men.  It is just precious to see their eyes completely light up with wonder and amazement every time they hear the story.  It is my deepest prayer that our boys will continue to grow and fall in love with our Savior.  How sweet it is that we have the freedom to celebrate his birth at this special time of year!

My Two Little Wise Men

Nater-Tot and Jordy had their very first preschool program this week.  It was the most precious thing ever.

We got the show we expected from our boys. Jordan knew every word and motion to every song (even the other classes songs) and was quite the dedicated performer! Nathan, not so much.  He took off  his headpiece, sang a few words, pulled at his collar, turned around, sang a few words, put his jingle bell on the ground, kicked the jingle bell, sang a few words...I bet you get the picture! HA!

Nathan's in purple and Jordan's in yellow...see?....I'm not kidding.   How can two boys born two minutes apart and have the same life experiences be so different?!  The Lord created such distinct personalities in our boys...totally cracks me up!

Big hugs from Mommy after the show!

 What a special day!  These boys of mine are getting too big too fast.

Blog Hiatus Must Be OVER.

Woo!  I'm back! My last post was dated on November 12...that is almost one month ago and I'm pretty sure it might be the longest pause in blog entries from me.

There was no Thanksgiving post because we spent our Thanksgiving Break potty training the boys.  YEP! Bryan, Nathan, Jordan, and I spent about 7 straight days within a 12 foot radius of each other.  No kidding.  The result - no pull-ups and two potty trained boys!!!  YAY!  Well, Jordy is still a little scared to go #2 in the potty but we are still making great progress.  So, there were no Thanksgiving pictures to record our Thanksgiving.  Kind of hard to take pictures when your running to the potty with two two-year-olds the whole time, cleaning tinkle off the floor, or doing 5 loads of laundry a day.  However, it was a great time!  In between running to the potty, we played cars and watched movies and had great quality family time too!

It's Christmas at our house!  All the decorations are up and we are ready to celebrate our most favorite time of the year!  The boys are so excited about Baby Jesus, Rudolph, Santa Claus, Christmas lights, Frosty the Snowman, and all sorts of Christmas fun.

Our little Elf friend, Charlie, visits every morning and his pose reveals his mischief from the night before...

I sure do love being able to say "Let's make a good choice.  Charlie the Elf will go talk to Santa Claus again tonight."  It works every time!

Jordan and Nathan had their very first taste of hot chocolate this weekend.  Don't you love the looks on their faces?!  You can tell they thought it was heavenly.  They even got to drink it out of a real mug...that never happens at our house.  It must be CHRISTMAS!

Now we're counting down to Christmas break at our house...only 8 more school days.

Family Pictures 2011

Thanks to Ashley Bell at Ashley Lauren Photography, we have some pictures that have captured the sweetest memories of my 2 year old boys.  I am so appreciative of the time she spent with our family on a Saturday morning at the farm.