Christmas 2009!

Well it flew in as fast as it ended this year.....but it was a great year and the kids are at such an excitable age that it is hard not to go over the top and all out for them.....Their smiles and shocks are worth all the work that leads up to the whirlwind that was the past two weeks.

We started off in Chicago last weekend to celebrate with the Novacek clan and Lesley was gracious to host a awesome brunch for all of us.....Thanks Les! The kids love getting together with their cousins and family that they don't see as often as we would like!

Three peas in a pod.....Lexi, Brooke and CoCo showing off Nic's new inventory!

The Ladies at leisure!!

Then onto Xmas-Eve and baking some treats for the man in red...



Not sure how Brady lost all his clothing by the time it was ready to frost.....


all set and ready to go!

Then Brooke laid out some food for the reindeer...

We got to exchange gifts with Poppa and Penny who came up big with

Super Why and a digital camera.....two items on the top of the Munson's list!

Brooke surprised us with some homemade goodies.....they always seem to be my favorite!

Nuggets laying out cookies and milk.....

Tired Turkeys wondering if the Santa will show....

They couldn't wait to go to bed - knowing what lie ahead in the a.m. Brady could hardly contain himself......

Morning came sooner than they thought - Mom and Dad were ecstatic that they waited until 7am, as excited as they were they had a hard time waking up!!

Rounding the corner to see if they got loot or coal.....

Give me a V....Dot the I ....Curve the c-t-o-r-y!!!

Brooke did her usual ....Go ahead Brady open all yours first.....I will wait......Brady tore through his in 3.2 seconds and then Brooke well knowing enjoyed the glory of having the rest to open!

Brady got a Super Why costume to match his new favorite action figure......why do you say this is important.....Well it still hasn't been taken off since he opened it on Christmas - it has been worn EVERYWHERE!!!

Super Why to the rescue!

Brady: "Oh my goodness.......I asked for this!!!!!"

The coveted Wonder Pet School house.....

There were a lot of smiles Lots of excitement!

And lots of surprises!!

Birds eye view of the Madness......

My gifts on xmas morning.......two very happy and joyful kids!!

Like I said Super Why went everywhere....Here is Brady making the trek out to Grandmas house........

And the Fun continued at G'mas - Here is one happy boy with the Bat Cave in tow.....

And one Dad ready to pop with all those $*&@# plastic straight jackets!

Bless this kids heart - he is probably the only three year old that loves fruit SO much that he gets it for Xmas!! He has already devoured half of them!!

And Mom and Dad can finally exhale that the hectic season is behind us........

Hope everyone had a Great Holiday!!!!

Recital Review....

The kids had their annual Christmas show last week and it being our fourth year watching it , it was fun to see Brady come out of his shell (a little bit) as well as eye opening to see Brooke being one of the "old" ones and probably her last year as a participant! Either way it is such a nice thing they do for the kids as they all get so excited for it......

Brooke and Brady man before the show....

Brady and his bud Micah at the nativity....we have some work to do Brady thought it was a barn with the sheep and thought Joseph was the farmer......

Brooke was happy to watch one of her neighbor buddies perform.

Holiday hugs....

They are nice enough to provide food after and when I gave Brady the go ahead to head up for a treat after dinner, this is what he comes back with.......

Here is one of Brady's songs - still not a lot of verbal participation but we got some physical movement and there was no fading into the back wall like last year!

Brooke's class did 6 songs but I will spare you since I don't have the patience to download them all........ Enjoy!

Getting back to normal....

and by normal I mean not having:

- a floor surface that is flat and free of staples and rough patches

- a refrigerator that is no longer housed in our family room

- a stove that is no longer in my dining room.

- a toilet and sink that lay on my garage floor

- two men in my house for 8 hours a day (albeit very nice guys!)

- a layer of dust and grit over every living object on our first floor, including both Christmas trees.

- bowls of milk from our cereal sit out all day long since there was no access to a sink.

- to find places to be or activities to do just to get out of the house

- to eat out every meal (don't get me wrong it was great for the first few days.......but a home cooked casserole actually sounds good at this point!)

So if you haven't guessed we have gotten the home improvement bug, timely enough the week before Christmas and one of the busiest weeks of the holiday season! Great timing huh? I guess it will be all worth it to change out the one item in our house that I swore that would be the first thing to go when we moved in almost 6 years ago!

The kids thought it was quite an adventure, camping out in the basement, eating on every surface that is not normally "allowed", helping with the destruction, and making friends with the tilers.

So as much as this last week was a logistic challenge, it was well worth the finished product! Check it out!

Brooke helping dad take out the quarter rounds.......

What a total party for a six year old and a sharpie!

Saying our final Farewell.....

Poppa and Dad took on the chore of ripping out the old floor and met their demise with the thousands of staples that multiplied like gremlins....Thanks again for all your hard work Poppa!

Brooke was fascinated with the whole process and of course wanted to "help" at all moments.....Luckily the guys were great sports and let her lay her own tile.....She points it out every time we walk by it....."this is the one I put in"
Not fully complete but close.......

The Man in Red.....

Well it's that time of year again, the moment when mom terrorizes her kids to visit the Jolly old man that promises to shower them with gifts.....I know I am terrible. Well I guess let's just say I am only terrorizing one child as Brooke has seemed to make friends with the man who will give her what she wants. She has finally grown out of the fear in the name of greed. So we had to give Santa a few tries this year Mainly because the first time when Santa asked what they wanted my kids gave the following responses.

Brady: " " (Just silence)

Brooke " Ummm Yeah I haven't decided yet......"

REALLY???

So this is the first round......

Brooke ran into some of her classmates in the process.....

This Santa wasn't letting Brady get away with the "turn and ignore" strategy....

Okay fine I will make eye contact but I will not speak....I said no speaking!!!

Second time around we at least got our wishes communicated to Santa and Mom can breathe a sigh of relief that she is done shopping.

Waiting for the man of the hour to arrive...

Brooke hopped right up and stated her requests....

While Brady ran for the hills......haha love this kid he just goes "Nope I'm okay over here"

Santa/Mom finally convinced him to come over so he could plead his case for the dear sweet WonderPet Schoolhouse.....

And Yet another year with Mom next to Santa - we will see what happens in 2010!

Potty Update.

1. It's starting to happen!!
2. Brady pretty much never wears pants anymore at home.
3. I don't blame him for wearing some uggs around those lil' chicken bones of his....
4. He is going #1 and #2 at home. (I will spare you the pix, because you know I have them!)
5. He is underwear bound except for naps/overnight/and any sort of public outing... (so really not that much, but it is better than his naked butt smearing every object in our house like two weeks ago!)
6. School is requesting he wear undies on Monday and will deal with the mess! (love them!)
7. He earned some new batman undies and confirms each time he puts them on "Can't get batman wet..... he will be very Angry right?"
8. I think we are only about 40% there but I never thought we would be this far yet, so I am proud of my little guy!

Turkey Time....

I could make a big long list of all the things I am thankful for but what it really all boils down to is the following two things......

#1

#2

We were able to enjoy a very leisurely Turkey day, not sure why but things seemed to just seem easy this year.....we actually stayed in our jammies and watched the parade until 10am, went for a run, popped the bird in at noon, watched football on the couch, had our kid nap for 3 hours, and randomly had all the food hot at one time.....(the biggest challenge in my book) it was really laid back and enjoyable! So I am Thankful for that!

These are just proof that we didn't have the pizza delivery man come (although don't think it didn't cross our minds!)

Daddy cutting the bird...

When else can you have a pad of butter molded into a turkey?

And perhaps this is one reason I am thankful we hosted this year - Brady bugs hasn't mastered the art of good manners to be welcome in someone elses home......However Daniel Day Lewis would be proud!