Making Spirits Bright- Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was better than ever with my sweet cubs! We kicked off the month by going to the Christmas Tree farm with Grammy, Pops, Jay, Jenny, and Blake to pick out a real Christmas tree. We found the perfect tree and brought it home for the boys to decorate. This year we had 2 big trees (a mommy tree, and the fun tree) plus the boys very own little tree for their room. The boys loved helping decorate all the trees and helped make paper chains for the fun tree. We made cookies, and sang Christmas carols ("Oh Christmas Tree" was a favorite this year...next year we'll learn all the words to it). The boys helped daddy put up our usual red and white lights outside while mommy decked the halls inside. The boys got a new snow globe from Grammy and Pops which they loved shaking (yikes!) and winding up. Another favorite was their new nativity scene with the light up star that sang "Away in a Manger"...the boys would press the button and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"...another Christmas Carol to learn for next year. Oh, and I can't forget to mention our friend Buddy that showed up after Thanksgiving...Buddy is our "Elf on a Shelf" that showed up to keep an eye on Grant and Reid. The boys grew to love Buddy; although when he first showed up I wasn't so sure how it would go over since Reid kept kicking Buddy and knocking him off the rocking horse. Every night after their prayers the boys would whisper to Buddy what they wished Santa would bring them, and they would try to convince Buddy that they had been good little boys :) Well turned out they must have made the "nice list" because Santa brought Grant his "Big Mack Truck" and Reid's "Pink heart purse" that they wished for.

This year was a White Christmas, which was absolutely gorgeous! I never managed to get the boys out to play in the snow before it melted, but I did get a few quick snapshots. They loved the snow and keep telling me it's going to snow again and that it will be Christmas again...so I guess "snow" = Christmas :) Another big hit this year was the Vandergriffs "Present Christmas Tree". Reid caught a glimpse of this wonderful, festive piece of yard art at the Vandergriff house, and was obsessed with it the rest of the month. Every day on the way to or from school he wanted to know if the "Present Christmas Tree out my window mommy?" It became a game...whose window would the Present Christmas Tree be out...we would have to turn around and do another drive by so it could be out Grants window too....the joys they bring!

I know there is so much I'm forgetting to mention, and as I typed I know there are pictures I'm leaving out, but I guess this is why you need to blog every day...right Erin?! :)

My Snow Cubs

Drinking Hot Cocoa....a new obsession after our visit to Britton and Miss Mauri's house

Mommy's tree

The snow globe from Grammy and Pops...you can almost see all the finger prints on it

"Twinkle twinkle little star...."

One of Grant's favorite gifts from the O'Dwyers..."to infinity and beyond"

Christmas at the Nicholsons...playing peekaboo with Papa

Grant and Cousin Colin on their scooters from Grammy and Pops

All the cousins...I love this one

The famous "Pink heart purse"

Merry Christmas! (try to ignore the wood panelling)

Making cookies for Santa

The Good Things

As I sit here and watch a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse marathon with the boys I'm reminded of all the sweet joys my cubs have brought me lately. They have been learning so much, and it's been so long since I've really blogged about these things and how much fun we've been having.

This parenting thing just keeps getting more fun. The boys are both into playing pretend, which all started with a little Neiman's shopping bag I brought home filled with new makeup...the boys were so fascinated by the cute little shopping bag (I know what you're thinking...who wouldn't be fascinated by a cute little Neiman's bag) so I took everything out and gave them each a bag to play "shopping" with. Well they went around their playroom collecting all kinds of toys to put in their bags, and next thing I knew they were telling me "bye mama, I go to the beach, have a good day", and they would sit in their little red chairs, which was their pretend car....their imaginations are wild...they would put their shopping bags in the "way back" of their pretend car, and play like they were driving to the beach. Now they are obsessed with any kind of bag, backpack, or anything they can pack things in. The other thing they have enjoyed doing is calling Mickey Mouse on their play cell phone. Reid has lengthy conversations (for a 2 year old) with Mickey and asks him all kinds of questions like..."wanna come trick or treating with us" or "Hi Mickey Mouse, wanna come eat supper with us", or sometimes it is "Hi Mickey Mouse, what you gonna be for Halloween Mickey Mouse, oh a cowboy?". Lot's of pretend play in this house lately!

We're also learning a lot at school...the boys can sing their "A,B,C,D's" better than ever, and will usually tell me "No help mama". I've heard them count to 30...between the 2 of them (they sometimes help each other), and on their own they can make it at least to 20 or so. I learned on the way to school one morning they are very familiar with all their shapes...."Oh look mama it's a Octogan"...and next thing I knew they were pointing out diamonds, triangles and all kinds of shapes along our drives. The octogan is still their favorite, but they love to play "I spye colors" which turns into "I spye shapes, or Mac trucks" or anything they find interesting. Our art skills are also coming along nicely. The boys always have a nice new piece of art they're bringing home, but my favorite so far was Reid's Tractor he drew me the other night....he very intently drew some scribbly picture on the paper and told me "Look mama, I draw a tractor, it says dig, dig, dig (showing me the hand motions)..."and these tracks" he said. I didn't notice right away, but at second glance it actually resembled a digger, complete with mud tracks and all....coincidence maybe, the next Picaso...I'll let you be the judge :) ha, j/k but maybe he will get the Speece artistist abilities, something I never seemed to pick up.

My sweet Grant on the other hand is quite the song bird. Always wants me to "Sing mama sing" (not sure how much longer this will last, but it still melts my heart every time I have a request for "Mary had a little lamb"). He doesn't even need me to sing because as soon as I start a song he belts out every last word on his own. Grant is definitely my lovey bear, always giving the sweetest kisses and hugs, and telling me out of the clear blue "I wuv you mama", or "I missed you mama", and always wants to say a special prayer for daddy at dinner...sounds pretty much perfect right :) this blog is titled the "good things". I mean I'm sure I'm just like every other mom out there, but I truly feel like the luckiest, most blessed girl in the whole world to have 2 happy, healthy, and especially fun loving boys! These are definitely the good things!!

Tha master piece!

Future Payne Stewart??

These were just a couple of random pics I snapped. We were trying on clothes deciding what to wear for our real photo shoot with Miss Corri, and I thought these were kind of sweet of my Reidy Bean...not sure why the pics have the white space around them :(

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween was so much fun for the boys this year! They decided to be pirates, and sported these little master pieces that Grammy made! They loved the costumes, and Reid enjoyed playing dress up and 'trick or treating' even before the big night. Trick or treating was at cousin Blakey's this year, and you can see from the pics he was the cutest little native american indian ever...even without his feather which he refused to wear :) The boys had a great time going house to house, but were definitely exhausted by the end of it all. Reid also insisted that Ruff needed a pirate costume too, which explains his eye patch and bandana.

Fall Festivities

We had a good weekend full of full of fun fall activities...we started off at the Pecan Festival with cousin Blake, and Baby Logan on Saturday morning. Mommy managed to get about 2 pictures from that adventure since she was busy chasing crazy 2 year olds around the park. Then we decided to bake "leaf" cookies that of course resembled nothing close to leaves, but they sure were fun to decorate. Then we decorated the front porch with pumpkins, and Grant just wanted to eat his while Reid was determined to prove he was strong enough to carry his...our little 'Bam-bam'!

Love this one...comon mom can I eat it yet already??

Can you tell which one Reid decorated...heavy on the 'prinkles pease'

These pictures scream Jason...Reid's mannerism's are all his daddy....right down to that smile!

Not my little angel...

Well it's official we had our first bad word....from my sweet little Grant! How 'G.D.' could come out of the mouth of this sweet little thing...well you'll have to ask Jason how that happened, but Aunt Jenny you will appreciate this part...last night after Reid accidentally knocked over Jason's drink with the volleyball Grant uttered those words...and I didn't quite catch it until Jason pointed it out, so I asked him..."Grant what did you say?" ...."I said G.D. mamma, I said G.D." lol made me think of your little girl story! haha I mean seriously....from this sweet little lovey?!?!

Beach Time

Beach Bums

The boys had the best time on their first trip to the beach. Nana and Pappa took us all to Port Aransas for a little beach time. The boys were so excited...we talked for weeks before about what we would see at the beach...seashells, sand castles, fishies, and crabs..."snap-snap" (as Grant would say) I think their first beach experience far surpassed their expectations!

In the "big scary shark" with daddy...check out the look on Grant's face...it took a little convincing to get him in the picture

Reidy learning to hang ten...

I don't think this one needs a caption...ugh I want to squeeze him

My surfer dudes

Cousins

Beach Babe

You're a Grand Ole Flag...

I flew back from a few relaxing days in Miami on the 4th of July, and was greeted at the airport by these adorable little patriotic cubs....they were decked out in their red, white, and blue and of course coulen't get enough of the flags Grammy bought them. We spent the day swimming at Grammy and Pop's with cousin Blake while Daddy was still in Miami winning the National Championship! One of the first Gold Place finishes in the Open Division for his club! Way to go babe...we are so proud!

Take Me Out to the Balllll Game...

The boys had been dying to go to a baseball game for months...it's all Reid could talk about since Miss Debbie was supposed to take him a few months ago and he got sick; so the boys gave Jason tickets to the Ranger game for Father's Day...what could be better than the gift that gives back :) Anyhow to say the boys loved it would be a gross understatement. From the big loud fireworks "high in the sky" to the "big ones" that the baseball players hit, to the peanuts and hot dogs, and of course the kids zone where they got to hit "big ones" themselves they loved every minute of it. By the end of the night they were exhausted, but they couldn't wait to go back for more. This experience was one of the best so far...just to re-live the excitement of your first ball game through their eyes...priceless!

Prinkler Fun

Cousin Blake came over for some fun in the sun a few weeks ago, and the boys had the best time running through the "prinkler" chasing each other, and pushing the water down, and letting it go. I think these pictures (although not award winning) really capture the action and excitement.

My Favorite Age

The boys have been so much fun lately. They are learning new things every day and just growing up so fast it's hard to keep up with it all. They are talking so much, and doing the funniest things. Reid is into every sport known to man, and I think the only ones he doesn't play on a regular basis are rugby, and lacrosse. He is very proud of his skills and always wants us to watch him, or play him. "Play me golf Mama" he will say, or whatever the sport of the moment is. I came into the family room the other day and our kitty (or litty) Zappa was sitting on the fire place and Reid was up in her face saying "big one Zappa, big one...watch Zappa, I hit a big one" (everything is a BIG ONE these days), and then he turned around and hit the base ball, and then stared at Zappa waiting for her reaction. I'm not sure if he was expecting her to get up and clap, or cheer or what, but of course she just stared at him like...'seriously kid...beat it'. This is the same boy that would say "catch litty" and throw the basketball straight at the kitty's head...so who knows.
They love telling me to slow down when I drive, and we have to be very careful with our words these days since we have two little parrots in the house. I made the mistake of telling Grant during one of his melt downs to "Dude knock it off", and funniest thing happened...I had an echo coming from who else but Reid.
Another one of their favorite things is to call each other by their first and middle name. Reid calls his brother "Gant Eward", and Grant calls Reid...."Rei-D" or "Reidy-T".

We have been talking a lot about going to a baseball game lately, and also about our beach vacation we will be taking with Nana and Pappa in a few weeks. Every time I would bring up either of those topics Reid would say "I wike it, bubba wike it, dada wike it", and he would get more and more excited with each person who would like it, and I'm pretty sure he thought we were going right then....just a few more weeks Reid!

Ok, well that's all I have for now....I know there are so many more stories to tell, but these are the ones that come to mind....here are some random pics of just hanging out.

This was one of those "watch me" moments...look at the tough guy trying to play it cool :)

Grant found this baby in an old box of stuff my mom gave me from when I was liittle...he named the baby 'Nana'???? lol

This was a picture of silly hair day at school...they wanted "rooster do's"

Summer 2009 Kick Off

Grant kicks it in the chase lounge
Joe Cool

While Reid takes a dip in the pool

We discovered the water wings this year and we love them!!!

Maddie Cate's Birthday Party

Maddie Cate turned 5 on May 21st, and of course in true Nicholson style there was a big celebration complete with face painting, bounce house and of course delicious cake...why we want to celebrate my sweet girl growing up I haven't figured out because I want them all to stay little forever! Anyhow you can see the boys had a great time having their faces painted. Grant got a puppy (or a tiger depending on who you ask), and Reid didn't care what he got as long as it had pink! So he got a monkey face...what could be better :)