Tag: Christmas

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Snow with gingerbread – media overload

The temps rose into the mid 20’s today, so we took advantage of the balmy weather and sun and headed out back to do a little shoveling & playing.  The snow was perfect – light & fluffy and easy for the kids to maneuver through with their snow gear & boots on.  Nolan helped me clear off the patio and Lincoln assisted with brushing off the wood bins on the deck.  They were both my little helpers this afternoon.  Nolan asked me to get thee sled out of the shed and he was nice enough to pull his little brother around the yard.  It was pretty funny to watch!  There were several times I thought Lincoln was going to tumble out, but he hung on!  Once Nolan was tired from pulling, I had Nolan jump in the sled and I took them around the yard.  We drove Maverick nuts as we made a figure eight path.

I bribed the kids this afternoon.  I told them we could finish decorating the gingerbread house we assembled this morning IF they took naps.  For Nolan, he not only had to take a nap, but not get out of bed (at all.)  It worked!  Both of them crashed for a good chunk of the afternoon, which really isn’t surprising since we spent about 45 minutes or so out in the cold right before they went to sleep.  I loaded the gingerbread with frosting and let the kids add the candies.  Lincoln actually ate more than he added to the house – at least the gumdrops he was eating were miniature 🙂  Nolan really got into the project.  It was a good way for him to have fun while practicing his counting.

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Gym kindness and a Christmas program

When I went to pick the boys up from childcare at the gym this morning, the department head was holding a little boy as she scanned my membership card to check my kids out.  She told me the little guy in her arms had just been pushed down by his older brother in the gym.  My sweet Lincoln apparently went over to him, kissed his own hand and then patted the little boy’s back with that hand.  What a sweet gesture from my little guy!  It makes me smile just thinking about it.

Tonight was Nolan’s 1st preschool Christmas program.  Each class stood in the front of the church and sang two songs.  I think standing in front of the audience of parents, siblings, grandparents & friends was a bit overwhelming for a handful of the kids, including Nolan.  He stood quite nicely and looked out at everyone while most of his classmates sang.  At the end, when the audience applauded, he clapped excitedly too.  It was really cute!  Tonight, as Jake and I were getting the boys ready for bed, Nolan started singing one of the songs his class performed.  Maybe we’ll get a front row seat to a personal performance in the coming days.

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Haircuts & Christmas Lights

The kids both got haircuts yesterday.  Nolan’s was long overdue.  I think his last one was mid-October, right before my mom has shoulder surgery.  I took the scissors into my own hands and snipped Lincoln’s hair in about 4 places before calling it good.  Nolan’s took a bit longer because it is so thick and curly, but he sat so well for me.  My past attempts at cutting his hair have not gone well.  Maybe the practice he’s had sitting still for my mom has rubbed off.

Tonight, as an incentive to finish dinner, I told the boys we’d drive around and look at Christmas lights.  Their eyes lit up and they gobbled up the food on their plates.  I loaded them into the suburban and off we went.  Every year, there is one house that is the fan favorite by a landslide.  We even have to drive by it during the day because Nolan and Lincoln both like looking at the display.  Lights on or off, it’s apparently exciting either way.

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OTW – crafts, cookies & party shirts

Friday afternoon after nap time, I pulled out the “magical box of craft supplies” and let the boys use their imaginations. They each selected a piece of construction paper and loaded it with stickers & popsicle sticks and then punched out stars. We also pulled out the glitter and made a few ornaments for the tree. I love that part of my job as a mom means I get to play with fun craft stuff alongside my kids.

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We were invited to a Christmas party on Saturday afternoon. Nolan and Lincoln helped me bake cookies to bring along. We made my Grandma Fran’s Gumdrop Cookies. (They’re my dad’s favorite, so I made sure we had extras to send my parents’ way.) I loaded the cookie sheets with dough balls and let the boys add the gumdrops. It was the perfect activity for them – just about as much fun as eating the final product.

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Today as the kids were getting ready for the day, Nolan told me he wanted to wear his party shirt to school. I figured it would be good practice for the birthday celebration we’re having for a friends of ours on Saturday. Once Nolan had his shirt on, Lincoln made it very apparent that he, too, wanted to wear his party shirt. Here are the partiers playing in their hut after dinner.

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Sleep deprived

I have failed miserably at getting to bed at a decent hour for the last week. Tonight is more of the same. I had intended on going to sleep shortly after returning home from meeting with my women’s group, but instead got sucked in to HD TLC while multitasking and on my laptop – catching up on email, price shopping for Christmas gifts, and looking at flight options for a vacation we’ll be taking at some point. I need to work on getting a little more sleep. I walked around in a fog most of the day today, even parking in a spot at our church that I shouldn’t have. Whoops! No wonder the people in the car next to me looked at me so funny.

On a kid note, Shecklet #2 was doing kiddie push-ups tonight. I had put him in the pack & play for a time out because he chose to stand up in his highchair for the umpteenth time today. Apparently he got bored and started doing what looked like a combination of yoga and push-ups. Add in running around in circles and giggles and you’ve got quite a dinnertime show!

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Dance, dance, dance

Today I pulled out the carousel that my Grandpa Cal (Pops) set our way last winter.  It is a source of much ooh-ing, aaah-ing, laughing & dancing.  The boys love that they can turn the thing on and off.  That’s the part I don’t love quite as much.  Turning it off means when they turn it back on, the song set starts from the beginning.  By the end of the Advent & Christmas seasons, I have a feeling I’m not going to want to hear Jingle Bells for another 12 months.

We had a visitor for a couple of hours this morning.  Little J came over to play with the boys.  She joined was just as enthralled with the carousel as the boys were.  I captured still shots of them checking out the little horses as they went up & down and around & around, but the video is way more entertaining!

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5 days of fun

Wednesday night we had to scrounge up some pj’s for Nolan.  I was a tad behind on laundry, so his “normal” pajamas were still in the dirty laundry pile.  We made due with sport pants and a Twins shirt.  Not to be left out, Lincoln “requested” a t-shirt of his own.  Actually, he requested one of Nolan’s and we put it over his sleeper.  He was SO proud of the fact that he was wearing the Corn Dog shirt.  It’s a Sheck boy favorite.

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Thursday was Thanksgiving Day.  Nolan and I worked on a special project Wednesday afternoon & Thursday morning.  We made turkeys using an outline of his hand and finger paint prints of his fingers.  He had a lot of fun gluing on the beaks, “gobblers,” googly-eyes, and feathers.  After the glue dried, I had him decorate the place settings at the table.  He was pretty proud!

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We hosted my family and our friends Teri & Nate for Thanksgiving dinner.  My parents brought the main course (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing & gravy,) I put together a couple of side dishes (the token green bean casserole and squash & apple dish I made a couple of weeks ago,) Tony brought fruit salad, and Teri made two delicious desserts.  We dined with a couple of pilgrims who gobbled up the food on their plates like old Turkey Day pros.  It was really nice to spend the day with family.

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Can you tell they’re brothers?  Lincoln has started smiling the way his big brother does.  Both of them really know how to ham it up for the camera.

After Thanksgiving dinner I made the mistake of drinking two cups of coffee (with lots of flavored creamer.)  The kids went to bed at 7 & 9.  Jake did the same around midnight or so and I was up until 3AM!  When I laid my head down at 3, I laid awake for another hour.  It was ridiculous.  I don’t know what I was thinking putting that much caffeine into my body so late in the day.  Lesson learned…the hard way.

Friday we spent some time at Larissa’s apartment.  She had a group of us over to swim in her pool.  It was a tad on the chilly side, so we didn’t stay in the water long.  We gave the boys a warm bath to raise their body temps and then had pizza for lunch followed by ice cream sundaes.  Yum!  Jake then took the kids home for a nap while I went in to the office for a few hours.  When I got home, we put the kids to bed and went out in the porch for a while.  Not much was on TV on Friday night; somehow we ended up on QVC.  I ended up making my first purchase thanks to the TV pitchpeople.  (I didn’t call in though – I made the purchase online.)  I’ve been looking for sleeping bags for the boys’ Santa presents and found the perfect ones on QVC.  Who would have thought?  And not only are they sleeping bags, but they’re sleeping bags with cots!  So as the boys get bigger and we’re able to bring the cots with when we travel, the kids won’t have to make camp on the hard (and nasty) hotel floor.  Thanks QVC!

On Saturday we made the annual trip to Menards to pick up our Christmas tree.  We thought about going to a tree farm to cut one down this year, but I think we’ll wait a bit longer before we go on that adventure.  At this point, the kids are more excited about just getting the tree inside the house and decorating it.  Down the road when they’re able to enjoy seeking out the “perfect” tree, we’ll head to the tree farm.  Until then, Menards will bring the tree selection to us.  We convinced the kids to take a nap after we got the tree home, telling them we’d decorate it if they napped.  It worked perfectly.  We all got some much needed sleep and then later in the evening, enjoyed hanging lights and decorations.  We put the tree in the porch so little fingers can’t get to it unless they’re monitored.  Thanks to the former owners of our house, some of the outlets in the porch are on a switch that is in the toy room.  So even though they can’t get up close to the tree without mom or dad, the boys can turn the lights on and off by themselves – it’s perfect.

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Having two little boys in the house means we build a lot of forts.  Sunday afternoon was no different.  The card table we used on Thursday was still in the living room, so we covered it with a sheet and then placed the kids’ hut next to it to extend the width of the fort.  Jake crawled in to see if he would fit.  😉 His feet stuck out one end and his head peered out the other.  Being the helpful toddler, Lincoln checked on his daddy and then proceeded to try to rescue him by pulling on Jake’s head.

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