Do you see what I see...

Yes, it's my children performing on stage!!

Today was the children's Christmas program at church. It is so much fun to watch them. They all put in a lot of hard work. Both Jacob and Ethan were able to perform with their classes.

The toddler class that Ethan is in performed Away in a Manger and Jingle, Jingle Happy Bells. It was so much fun watching them. Ethan is one of the older kids in his class most of them are two-year olds just out of the nursery. They did a great job!!

This is Ethan shortly after they got on stage. He was excited about doing this, but once he saw all the people in the audience he froze and had his panicked look. After a few seconds he started doing the hand movements and singing. We were so proud of him. This was his first time on stage!

This is Jacob's class. They are all four and five-year old's. They did a great job too. I think these to younger classes really stole the show. They are all just so cute.

Being up on stage was a big deal for Jacob. Last year he had a bit of a melt down and wouldn't participate. This year he was right up there, leading the kids in the hand motions. Yeah, Jacob!!

Snowy Day

This past week the boys were able to go outside and play in the snow. They were so excited to be out there. I think they ended up staying in the cold for about two hours before I made them come in. I'm just glad they didn't want me out there with them, I much prefer the heated indoors.

Jacob making snow-angels.

Zip-zip down the slide.

Snowball anyone??

Too cute!!

A Very Grinchy Boy!!

Without a doubt the boys favorite Christmas movie this year is How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey. They have watched it countless times already. Today while I was getting ready in the bathroom I heard some banging and clanging in the boys bedroom. When I stepped out to see what was going on I saw Jacob and Ethan with toy buckets piled on top of their toy box and little metal canisters lined up in front. Jacob gave me a mean little look and said "I'm the Grinch that stole Christmas and I'm on my sleigh". Then out popped Ethan's cute little head with his reindeer headband and he said "I'm Max, the Grinch's dog". So, here's their version of the Grinch and his dog Max.

O' Christmas Tree

The day before Thanksgiving we hauled out all of our Christmas decorations and set up the tree in the living room. We did it a little early (usually we put it out the day after Thanksgiving) because we were all going to be gone over the weekend and knew it would be hard to fit it in during the week.

Jacob and Ethan were excited to help decorate the tree this year. They both have their own ornaments. Some of the ornaments are store bought and some of them have been handmade by Grandma Mary, others have been crafted by the boys.

This is the tree all decked out in ornamental glory. The boys had a blast. Once it was all done we pulled out Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie and watched the first Christmas movie of the season.

Pilgrim's and Native Americans

The week of Thanksgiving Jacob's class had a Thanksgiving Feast. Ethan and I were able to stick around and help with the party.

Mrs. Brail had some of the students dress up as Native American Indians. They made the costumes out of large rolls of paper and each student was able to decorate his or her own.

Some of the kids were pilgrims.

Ethan did more partying that helping, but it is fun to see him interact with Jacob and his friends in the classroom. They all feasted on shaved turkey lunchmeat, carrot sticks, corn bread, apple slices and pumpkin pie. It was a fun afternoon. I am so thankful that I get to participate in Jacob's school activities. I feel very blessed to be able to stay home with my boys.

Frankenmuth

This past saturday (hey, my blog is catching up!!) Curt, Jacob, Ethan and I went to Frankenmuth with my Mom and Dad. We stopped in Grand Ledge at a place called Sophia's for breakfast. It was great! I had a ham and cheese omelet that was huge, it was made with five eggs. I shared some of it with Ethan and still left thinking I wouldn't need any lunch. After our yummy and very filling breakfast we drove to Frankenmuth. We stopped at Bronner's first. I hadn't been there for a very long time and had forgotten just how big Bronner's is. I loved looking at all the decorations they had hanging from the ceiling and so did the boys.

Of all the decorations they had my favorite by far was the gingerbread house. I seriously felt like I had jumped into the game Candyland.

This was us over by the christmas trees. It was a great place for a family picture. Look how happy Ethan is!

After we left Bronner's we drove into the town. It was packed with people. Our first stop was the restrooms at the Bavarian Inn and then we were looking for food because Jacob was hungry. We were all still full from breakfast, but he was hungry. He must be growing. Anyway, the wait for the all-famous chicken dinner was close to an hour so we decided to try and find something else. When we walked outside we saw the horse and buggies and Ethan was excited. He wanted to ride that horse and buggie.

This is Spirit and he was kind enough (along with the wonderful driver) to take us on a ride around town. Thank you Nana and Papa for treating us to this.

This is Ethan during the ride in the buggie. I'm not sure I have ever seen him so happy. He loved every minute of it.

After Frankenmuth we found some lunch over at Birch Run which we had to go to because of the Nascar store that Curt wanted to visit. That pretty much rounded out our visit so we headed home. Once we reached Nana and Papa's house Jacob was all about the food again. After some cheese and crackers and a few peanut butter M&M's we headed home for a good dose of sleep!

Bubble Baths

I always thought that bubble baths were for girls, but my boys have proven me wrong. Jacob won a bottle of Transformer bubble bath at my nephew Cameron's birthday party and that was all it took. Jacob and Ethan loved taking bubble baths, so much so that the bubble bath is already all gone.


Bubble on boys, bubble on!!