Christmas Eve Conversations with Brandon

Brandon: "Mom, what's your Maiden name?"

Me: "Why do you want to know that?"

Brandon: "I don't know, just wondering."

Me: "That sounds like you are trying do something you are not supposed to."

Brandon: "SIGH (of disbelief)....oh man, I wanted to order something online."

Christmas around the World

Jared and Brandon had their annual Christmas program last Thursday. The theme was Christmas around the World. Jared's class represented Ireland and his class sang "Joy to the World" and "I Saw Three Ships".

Brandon's class represented Mexico and sang "Jesus Born in Bethlehem" and "Away in a Manger".

Each of the boys sang so nicely and performed all the sign language motions perfectly along with the group! We are so proud!

Gingerbread Traditions

On our first official day of Christmas vacation, we put Lauryn down for a nap and got very busy and messy decorating Gingerbread houses. I had pre-assembled them the night before, so they were set and ready to go!

Each boy had their own house, can of frosting, plate full of candy and some decorating bottles to use in their creations.

As per usual, Jared was quite strategic about how he decorated...

And look who else has a sweet tooth in the family...

Bran had more frosting on the table and his shirt than he did on his house!

Brotherly love...can't get any sweeter!

Brandon's house

Jared's house

Caught you!!

Brandon's finished product!

Jared is so proud of his house!

Now we have beautiful Christmas centerpieces-and Whiskers has been trying to eat them ever since!

Elfed!

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Snowball

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Gingerbread house party

I had the opportunity to go visit Jared at school during his class Gingerbread house party! Each kid had quite a set-up...a bag of candy, can of frosting, and every imaginable trim you could think of!

Here he is with his finished product! He is so proud of his creative work!

Believe it or not, they really didn't eat much of the candy that day...

A sampling of houses from the class. Its pretty obvious which ones were decorated by the girls and by the boys! MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Thanksgiving Play

Long overdue, I know...but I finally loaded the pictures from Bran's Thanksgiving play. He was a pilgrim boy, and he was very cute!





Yup, that's him behind the big Indian headdress--where else would the shortest kid in first grade be standing?

Now that's better...he' s the second pilgrim from the left and he even is smiling! We are so proud of you, lil pilgrim!!

A few pictures...

Blog TAG!

My friend Laura has tagged me to: 1) Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer, 2) Choose the 4th picture, 3) Explain the picture, and 4) Tag 4 other people, so here goes!

This picture was taken at Disney's MGM Studios in November, 2007. The boys were in a phase of not wanting to pose for photos during this vacation, so we had quite an argument before they finally agreed to stand by Buzz Lightyear's spaceship!

OK, so I tag: 1. Robin L, 2. Kim, 3. Tracy, and 4. Sally! Have fun!

Happy Holidays Family Portrait Session

Yesterday, we went to have portraits made of the family, and for the first time as a family of 5! Here are some of the best shots. They are the originals taken from the CD they give you, so some are crooked and un-cropped, but they straightened them before we printed them.

Everyone was on their best behavior, and Lauryn said "cheeeeeese" bunches of times.

Above, the kids are all looking at the book "Polar Express", which Jared had been reading the night before and told the photographer all about it! I can't believe they all sat like this! Below are some individual shots. Lauryn didn't like standing by herself, so there were just a few to choose from of her, but here are the best of the bunch!

Brandon, age 6 1/2

Jared, age 7 1/2

Lauryn, age 1 1/2 (next week!!)

Aren't they just the cutest kids? My cover models!! And you'll have to wait and check your mailboxes for the picture we chose for Christmas cards, but here's the runner up!