Life Lately....That's a Wrap on Fall!!

We are officially in Winter now... so here is a look back on how we wrapped up Fall 2016!

Again, another picture overload post.. I need to be better about posting these more often so I don't have so much to get caught up on! We'll call that a possible New Years Resolution. 

Ok, here we go!!!

We spent many an evening/weekend at the library! Our library just got renovated and it's awesome! They have a huge area for kids with Legos, blocks, puzzles, computer games... was it sad that I spent 15 mins trying to figure out how to get a certain computer game to work and Owen figured it out in no time?? #I'mOld

Mah name's Owen. Owen Gump. haha. Something about the khaki pants and baseball cap totally reminded me of Forrest Gump... I had to laugh. 

Neal and I got a date night out with some friends in early November. We were happy to see that our little downtown Oregon City was quite the cool location! Lots of cute restaurants and cafes have popped up in the last few years, and we're excited to try out new places and be really close to home. 

Squirrly kids?? Give them brushes and play Beauty Parlor. Just expect a rat's nest to ensue... stock up on conditioner to get those tangles out. 

A Tale of Two Brothers.... School Face-Off. I can't believe that in about 6 months Austin will no longer be at daycare, and I'll be dropping off and picking up just Owen. I'm already dreading it. It's going to be a huge transition for us. The boys are used to seeing each other during the day, and playing together...  I hope these next months go by slowly. #Don'tComeTooFastKindergarten

Watch your wallets folks! Austin learned the fine art of playing for money (in his case, the board game Aggravation with Gramma Darlene) and has experienced the sweet taste of victory!! He was so excited about his dollar!!!

Just a totally typical picture of a typical 4-year-old on a typical Sunday afternoon. Anything and everything is used to fuel his imagination. This is his rocket ship with a shooter gun. Definitely all boy, and creative to boot!

Poppa and Pete wanted to give the boys jumbo stuffies for Christmas, and the koala for Owen was at a store near us... so I got the pleasure of going to pick him up and driving him to Poppa and Pete's house. He was a pretty awesome carpool partner... wore his seatbelt, didn't try and tell me how to drive, and let me control the radio. 

There is nothing cuter than a cute kid with some bad hat-hair. 

#OwenHasWings

"Hey kids... you have a whole playroom full of toys. Don't ya want to go play with those? No? Just this box? This box is the bestest toy ever and totally worth all your attention and even fighting over? Alrighty then..."

We got Austin a little Kindergarten workbook to do while Owen is napping on the weekends. We try and have Austin have "quiet time" (which doesn't always happen) so when we found out he did worksheets once at a friend's house and loved them, we got him his own. Now if we can just convince him that paying bills is fun too and hand that paperwork over to him as well... 

Rah! Rah! We went down to Canby one night because Neal's school had a varsity basketball game against them. He wanted to see his students play and we thought the boys would have fun. Thankfully basketball games are full of fun things like popcorn and cheerleaders and mascots and bands and buzzers and bleachers. The game? Did they enjoy the game you ask? What game?? haha. #TheyWereDistractedByEverything

Owen is going through a major Daddy phase... so any cuddles I get lately are from my buddy Austin. He still loves his Mommy and freely gives hugs and kisses and cuddles all the time. I will take it!!

We had two weeks of really crazy winter weather and got some snow and ice. That means we all stay home and make cinnamon rolls!!! The boys thought icing them was the real fun part and didn't even really eat them... more for me and Neal!

Hello Winter Wonderland!!!

This is how you spend a snowy morning at home!! Comfies, blankets, cartoons... I want to be a kid again, seriously. 

Instead, I get to be an adult. And have a career. And keep up on my work by working from home on the snow days. At least I got to work in my robe, and my coworkers were super cute.. if not slightly too loud, a bit sticky and sometimes poop their pants. #I'mLookingAtYouOwen #LetsGetOnThatPottyTrainingPlease

Chef Owen is taking special orders!! The boys love to "cook" and I love that they are entertained so I let them play with my pans... until one of my tempered glass pan lids got SMASHED into a million tiny pieces. #R.I.P #PoorLid #ThanksNealForCleaningUpTheGlass #MyBad

Day 3 of Snowmaggedon and we made it out of the house to get groceries. We decided to pick up a couple of cute kids too, since they were on sale. 

The snow finally melted, and we officially got out of the house for the day! We went to the library, then out to lunch. Going to lunch is a super rare occasion for us... and the boys behaved so well it gives me hope for the future. Granted they did nothing but eat their weight in chips and salsa, but I'll take what I can get if it means they sit still. 

OMG Owen is actually cuddling with me!!! I had to document it. Remember when he was a baby and was obsessed with me? Where did we go wrong? How did the love get lost?? haha. Hopefully he will get out of his Anti-Mommy mood at some point. 

Playing "train to California" on a lazy weekend... and yes, we do wear jammies almost all day everyday on the weekends. Thanks for noticing. 

I forgot to include seeing Santa in my Christmas post. We went to the mall on a weeknight like we've done the past few years and were unfortunate enough to get behind a huge group of people who wanted a pic of every combo of their 12 kids and Santa mathematically possible and instead of our usual 15 min wait.. it was an hour wait. Boo.

Then we were told one of their printers was down, so it was going to take hours to get our official portrait printed... so waiting for that was a big fat no. The above candid will have to do for the year 2016. At least we didn't have any tears. 

The boys got school pictures taken... and they never disappoint. Ever. This might be my favorite EVER because if that's not a cheesy prom pose... I don't know what is. #ILikeYourSleeves

(these pics are from the daycare's app, hence the black bars on them)... Oh Owen. My sweet little emotional child. He loves the baby dolls at school and takes care of them a lot. Feeds them, rocks them, pats them, puts them to bed... I love his natural caring side. #GonnaMakeAGoodDaddy

And then there is this one and his imagination. He was King Caterpillar... and was quite a regal King at that!!!

I took this pic simply because I adore Owen and his little quirkiness. This is how he sits a lot. Legs crossed, hands folded or clasped.. there is something so "proper" about his mannerisms. 

Just a typical night in our house... a kid mostly undressed, a kid not wanting to take a picture, me looking like a lizard (note to self, stop wearing your hair pulled back for pictures) and reading a book for the umpteenth time. #NealActuallyTookAPicture #ItsAMiracle

Again, he's my cuddler at the moment. Some mornings he wakes up way too early... and on those mornings he comes into our room to lay in our bed while we are getting ready. I decided to take a picture and he decided to point because he felt like pointing. #YouDoYouKid

Merry Making 2016

Well Christmas is over for another year.... and this was one of the best holiday seasons so far! Owen was finally old enough this year to really understand things and be excited about things, and we slowed down a bit and didn't try to do so much this year, which resulted in a relaxed, fun Christmas season. 

Hold on tight, this is picture overload because I'm recapping all the holiday happenings that well... happened. Ha. 

 We kicked off the season right after Thanksgiving by participating in Operation Christmas Child. It's really important to us to teach the boys the act of charity... and to instill in them compassion for others. We went shopping together to pick out shoebox items for a little boy, inspected each item closely, put them all in the box and dropped it off at a local church. This is something we will do every year for sure!

 As we discovered last year by complete surprise, the Clackamas County Fire District's Operation Santa Claus parade comes right through our neighborhood! This year, instead of going "what the heck is that noise? Are those sirens? What? There is a fire truck in front of our house with Santa inside? What is this???" we were ready and waiting! The parade picks up canned food and new toys and we had 2 bags of food ready to hand over. Despite the rain, the boys loved watching Santa cruise by on his big fire truck!!

 We got the house all decked out and festive! My Aunt donated a lot of decorations to me, things she brought up with her from San Diego and didn't have room for in her new townhouse. I was happy to adopt them! 

 I heard about a local event called Reindeer Magic and wanted to check it out. The crowds made Owen all shy, and the only activity that didn't have a line 20 million miles long was the face painting. So Austin turned into the cutest little reindeer and we were done after that. I don't mind busy events but when you can't even walk because people are so packed in.. no thank you. 

 Since it wasn't raining after we high-tailed it out of Reindeer Magic, and since we were already bundled up, we decided to go get our Christmas tree! It was quite the hunt for the perfect one. Neal did lots of pointing, and Austin begged to hold the saw every 5 seconds and Owen tripped over every stump out there...but we found the perfect tree! So...very successful mission. 

 Austin got invited to a cookie decorating party at his friend Brayden's house. He had so much fun frosting sugar cookies and bringing them home in all their smeared glory.

 Our friends hosted a "real" adult Christmas cocktail party! We haven't had an occasion to dress up in years! There was a real bartender, and a photo booth... which we obviously were awesome at utilizing. 

These two crazy elves "mustache" if you have been naughty or nice this year.... (sorry, couldn't help myself with the mustache joke). 

 Some Merry Mail came our way too! I love getting Christmas cards, it's one of my favorite parts of the holidays. The boys got cards just for them from Aunt Patty, Gramma and Gramma Darlene and were so excited their clothes just fell right off. Actually, this is how they look 90% of the time they are home. Undressed or half dressed or using shirts as skirts or pants at hats or whatever.

 The boys were busy at school all during the holidays making crafts! My favorite was the snowflake ornament Austin made me. He made sure to tell me he made it "weally sparkly" just for me.

 Twas the night before Christmas Eve... and Owen was.... over it? Tired? Exasperated? Who knows, to be honest. He sat like this for quite a long time and it was hilarious. I feel ya, kiddo. I feel ya. 

 Finally it was Christmas Eve!! We were hosting Neal's family at our house this year, so we spent the morning taking it easy and watching Christmas cartoons...

 ...and we gave the boys their two "bigger" gifts from us. They each got a ride on bouncy ball, and Owen got a vacuum (he's obsessed) and Austin got a Star Wars ship. Thankfully Owen jumped right in to chore mode and started cleaning up!! And yes I know it's pink. It's the one he liked in the store... so if my baby boy wants a pink vacuum, he's getting a pink vacuum.

 Aunt Patty gave us this cool book that we read several times! Neal looks thrilled he's on round 547 of the story, doesn't he??? Yeah... he's over Eugene again... coming this way... hurray....

 Poppa came over bearing very large new stuffy friends for the boys!!! Gramma Pete had to stay home because she is battling cancer and her immune system is not very strong right now. We missed her, and called her via Skype later in the night. The boys loved their big friends from Poppa and Pete though, and snuggled all night with them! 

 We did our White Elephant gift exchange and Auntie Lori ended up with a back massager that Owen decided to claim for most of the night. He was so hilarious! He started in a standing position and just melted on to the floor while going "oh... oh yeah. Oh... " the whole time. Every time Neal would try and turn it off he'd start pleading for more massages! "Me? Me? Me??" 

 After a fun night, it was finally Christmas morning!!! Santa came and nibbled on the cookies we left! The reindeer loved the shredded carrots Austin insisted on leaving because they were "smaller and easier to eat"

 Santa came!!!

 Obligatory blurry photo of excited kids heading down the stairs!!

 There are goodies in my stocking too???

 What??? A Batman mask/hat in my stocking???? So awesome!!!

 Owen needed a few moments to wake up before joining in on the fray, and decided that the leftover cookie bits needed to be consumed!!

 Then the unwrapping began....everything from "Santa" was pretty small, and I was proud of both boys for being appreciative and excited over even the smallest gifts. 

 Hulkblaster fists!!! How cool!! (sidenote, best "photo bomb" by Neal ever... his face!!! hahaha)

 Neal's face pretty much sums up how we were feeling... "those seemed like a good idea at the time... but... crap.... these are gonna cause a ruckus"

 After a quick breakfast we loaded into the car and headed down to Gramma and Grandpa's house for more celebrating. Grampa needed a lot of help opening his gifts!

 I think they loved ripping the paper the most. They both got cool Star Wars figures!

Grampa got both the boys an official UPS beanie! Austin didn't take his off almost the whole day. Proud to represent! And pretty darn stoked to be eating a Christmas cookie too. 

 In the afternoon we went over to Gramma Darlene's house for Christmas dinner and yep.. more presents!!

 Just look at the aftermath. I mean, seriously. 

 Austin got a Darth Vadar car!! The kid has seen Star Wars ONCE and is so obsessed. 

After Christmas the boys stayed down at Gramma and Grampa's for a few days and Neal and I got to come home and take down decorations, clean up, rearrange things and do some house projects (more on that later).... when they got home we had their new train table all set up for them! Austin said it was "awesome, awesome, awesome!!!" 

Well, that was Christmas!

Whew...busy and fun and festive and jolly and all that good stuff!!!