Spoiled and Happy Kiddos

Josh decided to make a garage for his suitcase. Logical.

What one boys does, so does the other.  

Ruby thought the garages were great ideas.  

This is Josh's super happy face.

 

My little Vanna White

Luke got his first bow and arrow.  He's thrilled. 

Luke loved his flashlight friend...as seen on TV is a huge draw to these kids.

Luke wanted a Air Hogs Bomb Drop most of all.  This is his happy face. 

This is what Luke thinks of a toothbrush for Christmas.

They got spark scooters from the Harley Grandparents and they loved them. Thankfully the weather was nice enough to try them out in the driveway.

Their "big present" from us was this Black Friday bargain -- WiiU.  Video Games for the win.

Happy ChristmasThis

This Christmas was so fun  -- the boys were so into Santa and the surprises!  We had entirely too many presents (like usual, gluttons!) but we loved it all the same.

The boys carefully inspected their stockings first thing.  

This is Josh hugging Luke for putting gear ties in his stocking. Such a Christmas miracle moment.

Luke got this Spongebob hat and put it on immediately. 

Ruby liked getting her own stocking.  It's fun that she's so small this year because next year we'll be out of the Puppy Phase (i think...)

Pre Christmas Festivities

We had a busy week of Christmas-time happenings, and here they are in no particular order.

Josh accepting his Barnard Santa gift.  He got a Zombie killing nerf gun.  The boys wore their "handsome suits" for this big occasion. .

Friday was Josh's school program. He wore his "suit and tie" (channeling his inner Justin Timberlake). He had a speaking part and did well with his little line.

We got so much snow in the last week or so, sledding was terrific!  Yes, we put helmets on our boys for sledding.  We figure what can it hurt -- they're a bit insane.

We have so much snow the boys made a tunnel system in our side yard.
 

They used the jump rope to push through to daylight. They wanted to use the skateboard hooked to the jump rope to take out snow (just like a muck car in a real tunnel), but they decided to use a small shovel instead. 

Josh daylighting

And Luke busting through.

Sparkles is showing off her sweet tooth this week.

This is the gingerbread house (made of graham crackers on milk cartons) that Josh made in school.

Sparkles really upset Luke when she was in his goodie bag. Luke was just sure that she'd eat all his goodies.

 

 

 

 

Annual Sledding Trip

We went sledding with our group of close friends, and had another fantastic time this year. 

Luke hustled right up the hill as soon as we got there...not a moment to waste.

We took Ruby to the hills, and we wondered if she'd like to go sledding.  This was her first of three runs. 

He's always smiling.

Ty caught some pretty big air for a 3 year old.  This was his first solo run of the day.

Josh had wiped his saucer sled down with "a damp cloth" so he could set a land speed record like Clark W. Griswold. 

He's always serious.

This year Kevin brought wood for a fire -- great thinking.  Ruby got kind of chilly, and so daddy sacrificed his sled time so he could sit down, have a beer and cuddle his puppy.

This is just a fun picture of our whole group.  We had 10 adults and 8 kids, plus 2 dogs.

Here are the kids.  L to R - Ady, Ashtyn, Luke, Ty, Kyler, Josh, Gabe, and a very unhappy Connor in front

Luke's Happy Birthday Party

We had the birthday party at Ridge Kids.

Luke really loves a day all about himself.  He loved the shirt, the pin, and the hat.

This room full of 12 kids was about enough to make me want to drink. Man they had fun!

We got to play in the Fun Zone for almost an hour.  We had kids from 1 1/2 to 10 years old having fun in there.

We also got to go to the gym for the bouncy house.

And then back to the birthday room for pizza and cake and presents. Oh my.

Luke is huge into SpongeBob right now, so here we are.

So happy to hear them singing to him.

It took him two tries, but he blew the candles out alright!

And then he proceeded to eat without using his hands or a fork. Nice...

After the cake was presents.  He was so animated as he ripped into each one.

 

The piñata was a zoo -- just what these kids needed was more sugar.

Luke got a magic kit and he immediately unpacked that and started playing.

Sunday morning we continued birthday week and made pancakes -- he wanted an L and a J, and then asked for a U.  He only ate the L, so it was a good thing we didn't spell his whole name.