Christmas

I don't have many pictures of Christmas because my digital camera worked when it wanted to, not when I needed it too. I have pictures of Christmas morning and such, but they are on film and haven't been developed yet.  So the only ones I have are of the mini Christmas we had with Klaus and Lisa before the party. They had come down the night before and spent night. I had a great time visiting with them before the mayhem and we got to spend some time opening gifts and just enjoying each others company.

Ethan and Lukas playdate

This year my Aunt Daiva and I have been having planned weekly playdates for Ethan and my cousin Lukas. They are the same age. This video is from this afternoon. It has some of Tomas, Lukas' baby brother, who is a chunky four month old. Ethan and Lukas were waiting at the table for their lunch and having a grand old time banging their cups and screaming. For anyone who has never been around two two year old boys, this is normal. We are constantly telling them to play nice, don't hit, no throwing, etc. But they are boys so that is normal.

Making Christmas

We're finally getting into the Holiday spirit around here. At least a little. Having kids really changes your perspective on Christmas and basically any holiday. Ethan loves looking at all the Christmas lights people have put up and he loves our trees (yes, Trees). This year we didn't just set up our normal big tree, we bought a little three foot one for Ethan to have as his very own.  Erik's mom visited this past weekend and reminded us about how she did that for Erik when he was little. She also set up Advent bags for Ethan. Each bag has a surprise in it and he gets to pick which one he wants every day before Christmas. My mom also got him a chocolate Advent calendar. I think he is one of the most love spoiled and spoiled kids I know.
Anyway. I hope everyone isn't thinking too much about how much time there is left to finish shopping as much as we should all be thinking about how great our lives are. If I don't post again before Christmas, Happy Christmas Everyone. Don't forget the reason for the season. Love you all!

                                              Gradma setting up the Advent bags.

              My boys playing after the hard work of setting up the big tree and stringing the lights on.
          Below they are setting up Ethans little tree. I put bell lights on that also play different Christmas Carols.

                                           Looking into the shiny ornaments and making faces.

                                                                        All Done!!

                                                 Trying to get a nice picture. Best of three.

                                                                    Our Big Tree.

Pictures from Last month

Just some pictures from last month that I never got around to posting anywhere.  Most are just of Ethan running around in the leaves in our backyard. The others are from our last trip up. Erik, Ethan and Grandma Gail playing Candyland, the old version that was Erik's when he was a kid.
Oh and yes the Caulking is still holding strong. So if anyone is doing caulking in their bathroom, it pays to buy the good stuff!

12/1

So much and so little has been happening lately I don't really know where to start.

We had a bathroom completely redone over the summer. New walls, new lights, exhaust fan, new tub surround, etc. We still haven't gotten around to getting new towel racks or even a toilet paper holder yet, but when you have such a pretty new wall, who wants to put holes in it?  There has been one tiny little headache that has come with it though and that simply put is Caulking.  The caulking on the shower walls cured and is fine. Around the tub has been a whole different nightmare. After four times redoing it with it each time flaking off and turning squishy, regardless of how long we let it sit. Suffering through bucket baths or bumming showers at a nearby friends, we were ready to throw out the bath. Erik read how to strip old caulking off, clean the surface, reapply new caulking, and so on. It didn't seem to matter. It would take here and not there or end up with it all melting off. In frustration Erik stopped at Home Depot to compare caulking brands, etc. While reading the labels he discovered that we were using the WORST caulking for a bathroom. It wasn't even mold and mildew resistant! So spending a few dollars more, he just finished applying what we are hoping is going to be the last round of bathtub caulking.  This stuff says "Premium" on it and things like "Starts to harden in ten minutes............showering is safe in one hour...............twenty-four hours until safe to touch...."  etc. So hopefully we bought the mother of all bathroom caulking and this headache will be over!

On the other hand, Ethan has been sick with a cold this week. Which that mixed with the wonderful weather, neither of us has really been out of the house.  We did some little crafty things today making window ornaments. It's not fall anymore so the sticky leaves have to come down. Ethan really enjoyed glueing and sticking.

 He's always so proud of his little accomplishments.


And our dead mouse total is now at 5. So things are looking up. Have a great one everyone!