Peek-a-Boo (The Full Monty)

So...I was doing laundry this morning while the boys played peek-a-boo behind the curtains. I thought it was really cute, so I went to grab the video camera. Naturally, there were clothes all over the place in the laundry room, so nothing seemed unusual. Little did I know Elijah had a little show planned...

Valentines Day

Elijah and his "Love Bug" that mimi gave him

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Valentines Day! I love that we have a day set aside to remind us to tell those we love how we feel.

Ian and I decided to have a family Valentine celebration this year and it was so special. Sunday night we all dressed up for the occasion and sat down to a "fancy dinner". (The fact that I lit a candle in the middle of the table really impressed the boys.) We all sat at the big table with place mats and our own "flower on a plate".

I cooked steamed artichoke for everyone and the boys LOVED getting to see their own "flower" open up and eat the petals. We taught them how to eat the artichoke with their teeth and that got a kick out of that one too! For desert I made everyone caramel apples with flax seed granola on them. (Hey, I at least tried to get something healthy on those pure sugar apples!)

Ian and I had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries too. I considered fondue, but decided to pre-dip the fruit just in case the boys got a little to excited about the dipping part and the table got crazy. :)

Ian and I both agreed that it was a really special Valentine celebration having our boys be a part of our fancy dinner. Elijah and Joaquin knew it was a big deal and we could tell they felt very special getting to be a part of everything.

Let me also just say that to all our friends and family out there reading this, whether we tell you a lot or hardly at all, we love you all. Ian and I truly believe that each and every person in our lives is there for a reason and has a particular roll they are to play in our lives. We are so grateful for all that we learn, glean, and aspire to because of your presence in our day to day world.

Even more than that, now that we are parents our gratitude and joy is multiplied to see those we care about loving on our boys. That is the greatest gift you could ever give us, to invest in the hearts and lives of our children. Thank you for helping us raise them; when you love Ian and I you are building us up and helping us be better parents to our children. All that to say, we love you. Happy Valentine day! May you feel and experience love all around you today and forever...

Elijah going to town on his flax/caramel apple

Joaquin, happy with his caramel face

Joaquin eating his artichoke (AKA flower petals)

My Valentines

Snow Day

It was such a fun surprise to wake up to snow today! The weather report was forecasting snow but weather reports in Texas aren't always that accurate. We are known to have sudden changes in temperature, to say the least.

So, last night before the boys went to bed we prayed for snow and the boys were so excited to wake up to find their prayers answered! :) We attempted a snow man in the front yard, but the final product was a nub with a stick in it because the boys hands got too cold to stay out any longer. That is the problem about living in a city that very rarely sees snow...you have no snow clothes prepared to keep you warm! Everything just ended up cold and wet, so the boys all came by the fire. We made a big pallet on the floor and cuddled and had story time.

Here are a few videos of the morning.

The snowman attempt...

Happy Snow Feet...

Where we ended up...

2.5 year old genius drummer

Elijah is such a stud with his rhythm! Already at two and a half he uses both sticks and the foot pedal; mommy just learned to do that!

Christmas Pics

OK, I finally got around to downloading my camera pics onto our computer and now I can post them. These cover a few weeks during the Christmas season, so be ready for a long post! We actually had a few different "Christmas Celebrations" with the family this year.

Ian and I trade off years with our parents and this was our year to stay in Texas for the holiday. My mom's side of the family could only get together a week before Christmas, so we all celebrated a bit early. The Kirkland's sent tons of boxes full of presents so the boys got to open all those and celebrate the Kirkland Christmas a day early.

Then, Adam and Chandra flew in from China with their two boys on Christmas Eve. My dad's side of the family came over on Christmas day so we had that celebration together. Then, about 4 days later my mom's brother and his daughter came into town and we all got together again to go to the museum.

So, this year involved about 3 weeks of straight Christmas time! :) Of course the boys were in heaven. Here are pics from the holidays.

Elijah, Noah, and Joaquin getting their baths before heading to bed. It was quite a chore to have the boys all sleeping in rooms next to each other at MiMi's house. They loved to shout through the walls to each other and see how long they could resist falling asleep! :)

They LOVED playing together, if you can't tell

Cynde (my dad's sis), mom and dad. Cynde brought over all these old pictures of people from my dad's family for them to look at. They had so much fun remembering all the faces.

Chandra and baby Tristan in his cute little Christmas outfit

the boys having some snacks at the booth table

Christmas morning. The kids were so excited to see all the goodies in their stockings!

Playing legos

Joaquin, MiMi, Namama and Elijah next to the freaky mannequin mom dressed up as Santa. It scared everyone at night to see him in the light of the hallway.

Namama and Bill gave the boys little Peter Rabbits and the book series for Christmas. It was a special treat for them to all sit down and read the book together!

And, this was the mega-gift of the season... the mini-drumset

Uncle Bobby, Aunt Mary, and their girls gave the boys a drumset just their size and, as you can imagine, it blew them away!

The biggest issue has become sharing time with the drums...

Christmas is so much more fun with little kids around.

Their little faces just light up with joy when they get to unwrap something!

Another musical toy the boys love!

Uncle Brett gave Elijah a cool cat keyboard with a microphone!

The reading of the Christmas story is a tradition. Someone is selected every year to read Luke 2 before we open all the presents.

Uncle Bobby was the reader this year. It has become a very special reading and we all say a prayer of thanks afterward.

Joni's outfit for Christmas day

There is always music when the family gets together.

Before everyone heads to bed at night the guitars usually come out and we all sit around to listen to the guys play.

Almost asleep while cuddling with Uncle John

Elijah was getting sleepy...

Uncle Jeff, Elijah, Joaquin and cousin Brett watching the Veggie Tales story of St. Nicholas

Uncle Jeff and Elijah became fast buddies

And Uncle Bobby and Joaquin became fast buds too!

Uncle Bobby reading a night night story to Joaquin

Uncle Jeff let go of Joaquin hanging onto that kitchen library ladder pole!

typical scene from the guys playing pool upstairs

Our room at MiMi and Papaws house for the holidays

Brett concentrating on his shot :)

I'm not sure who won that game, but Joaquin couldn't stand not getting to roll the balls around on the table! It was all Ian could do to keep him from storming the table.

Papaw and Joaquin; they have the same baby-blues

the gals- Namama, Mary and mom

getting ready for dinner; Em, Namama and Elijah

Namama and Elijah saying cheese

Elijah and Namama had so much fun together

Joni's Rudolf T-shirt (says "Rudolf's got nothing on me")

The typical, everyone always ends up congregating in the kitchen!

Elijah, at his MDO Christmas party, eating all sorts of sugar goodies

Joaquin at his school Christmas Party.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my little sunshine!

The Mayborn Museum

A couple days after Christmas, all the little boy cousins, Uncle John, Cousin Natalie, and mommy and daddy's to a trip to the children's museum at Baylor. As we walked into the museum, Noah and Elijah were holding hands walking towards the trains and it was such a precious moment!

And of course Uncle John had to jump in the Middle Eastern head hole. It was so funny and the boys of course think Uncle John is hilarious!

The Native American room was an instant favorite of the boys with the Tepee and the drums!

And, then Ian caught a quick shot in the wall of mirrors with the boys!

Everyone had such a great time that day! Elijah and Noah are such great play buddies and they are all so much fun to watch now that they are older and get really excited about learning!

Christmas Videos

I haven't had time to process the photos from Christmas yet, but it is fast to just upload the videos. So, here are some clips from this Christmas! This first one was of the boys opening one of their gifts from Gamma and Gampa!

Here is a video from Christmas morning. We spent the night of Christmas Eve at my parents house in Moody with Adam and Chandra, their two boys, Noah and Tristan, my Aunt Kellye, my younger brother John, and my parents. It was so special that Adam and Chandra and their boys were visiting from China and that Elijah and Noah got to play together. This video is of the cousins (mind you they are only one month apart in age) playing the piano together.

This was the first Christmas where Elijah was old enough to learn about St. Nick. He still isn't to the age where he is waking up and running down the stairs to see what goodies Santa brought, but it was so much fun to see the boys eyes light up when they realized their stockings were full of toys on Christmas morning!