Family Night Out

We went over to Erik & Stephanie's new house on Saturday night and had such a fun time.  Erik drove Matty out to see the pond, and the boys loved playing with the giant spotlight.

Looking for deer with the giant spotlight.

This thing is great!

Nana gave them dream light pillows.

Matty loves his Great Uncle Ronnie!

Inside Play

We have been inside a lot this past week due to the cold weather.  The boys have really enjoyed playing with all of their new toys!  And Zach has a new favorite game...he likes to go into Jeremy's closet and smell colognes and then put the caps back on.  He even knows the names to several different fragrances!

They love their new yard equipment.

The new clubhouse is great!

Matty's has a nice John Deere collection.

The sizzle & pop kitchen set is great!

Z loves cologne!

Plaza Night

We took the boys to the Plaza last night to see all of the lights.  We ate at Tomfooleries and then walked around for a bit...they especially liked the Barnes and Noble store because they could ride the escalators up and down!  Then, some snow flurries started to fall!

Christmas

We had a nice, quiet Christmas this year.  We went to mass on Christmas Eve and then had a little pasta dinner at home.  The boys were excited to wake up to see the gifts that Santa brought the next morning...their favorite gifts were a bike, a new train set, the Umizoomi car, remote control cars, and of course some Home Depot lawn equipment (mower, blowers, weed eaters, tools).  We went to my parents' house later in the day and had a nice evening and dinner.  It is so much fun to see the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of little children.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

The blowers were a hit!

This was Jeremy's coat when he was little!

Big Puzzle

When we were snowed in the other day, Matty helped me put a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle together...it was over 4 feet tall!

Snow Day

Last night, a thunderstorm rolled in around 10pm, and then a few hours later I heard loud gusty winds.  This morning, there was a layer of slush/snow outside and all of the schools in the area were cancelled.  Zach was excited to look out the window, since he was only a little guy when we had our last substantial snowfall.  Even though it was pretty chilly, I let them go outside for awhile to play in the snow.  Matty loved shoveling the driveway, but Zach kept telling me that he was cold.  Plus, he wasn't happy that his boots and mittens kept falling off!

Z preferred to stay in the warmer garage!

Gingerbread House

When I made my previous blog post last Friday morning, I truly thought that the second bug was on its way out of my house.  I definitely posted too soon!  A couple hours later, Matty started getting sick...basically the last 8 days have been just awful.  I missed Jeremy's company holiday party on Friday night, we missed the Santa at our neighborhood clubhouse on Sunday night, we missed Matty's school holiday program last night, and he missed his first day of school today.  Zach turned a corner on Saturday evening and finally started eating again.  Matty is on day 5 now, and really hasn't eaten much at all.  It is really scary to see your kids lose weight, but it is inevitable with the darn bug.  I pray that he gains his appetite back soon!  Our washing machine and dryer have been on constantly, and to top it all off, Jeremy came down with it yesterday.  The house has been lysoled from top to bottom...please go away bug and let us enjoy Christmas next week!  Only one fun thing to report...the boys managed to make their annual gingerbread cottage this morning.

Under the Weather

We have been fighting several bugs for the past few weeks, and I am ready for a healthy household once again!  Zach started it off with the first bug that the rest of us eventually caught, then Jeremy and I had sinus stuff going on, and then this week Zach had another bug...I even took him to the doctor yesterday to make sure that he was staying hydrated.  I don't know where he keeps getting these germs...since I am a germaphobe, I always use a cart cover at the stores, carry purell hand sanitizers wherever I go, and am of course big on handwashing.  (I have washed my hands so much this week, they are practically raw).  Plus, the boys mostly play outside and aren't around a ton of other people.  I even sanitize Zach's nightly binkie after each use, so it's a mystery.  It looks like Zach is much better today though, thank goodness!

Holiday Fun

This morning, my Mom and I took the boys to Crown Center and Union Station to check out some of the holiday attractions!  The boys had a great time and enjoyed all of the Christmas sights and sounds.

Checking out the Crown Center gingerbread train display.

One of the easels at Crayola.

Coloring at the Crayola experience.

Zach loves to color!

Running through the Link.

The big tree at Union Station.

Matty rode the old Jones Store train.

Checking out the holiday train display.

Vehicles next to the large Crown Center tree!

Matty loved seeing Santa!

He asked for a bike and a leaf blower.