December, Part 1: Preparing for Christmas!

Above: This was technically still in November. We put up our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. The boys were very helpful and were really excited to put the decorations on the tree.

Above: Here Johnny is painstakingly gathering his bows to be placed on the tree.

Above: Here is Peter demonstrating how the bow could be worn.

Above: Trying to get these boys to take a picture in front of our finished product is no small feat, let me tell you!

Above: I love 'em! Sassy though they may be!

Above: That afternoon after putting up our Christmas tree, we met the Washburn clan at Thanksgiving Point and saw Frozen in the theater, and then went by the deli to see the reindeer.

Above: Mimi keeping cousin Cameron warm.

Above: The first day of Christmas, we were blessed with the presence of our very own elf! The boys were really excited about this, and Peter was particularly interested. The boys (mostly Peter) named the elf "David." I won't really include that many pictures of David the Elf's hiding places because I forgot to take pictures of each day and I wasn't all that creative. My main criteria was to hide David in high places so that Peter couldn't get to him.

Above: We put our blue, silver, and white tree in our entryway.

Above: We put our red, green, silver, and gold tree on the landing at the top of our stairs.

Above: We got a nice neighborly visit from this cute little ferret the day before a big snowstorm hit. I'm sure he was somebody's pet, and he was gone before I could do anything about it. I hope he made it home safely before it snowed.

Above: The first Monday in December (December 2nd), we went to City Creek and had dinner at the food court and then after giving the boys some time to play, we went to see the lights at Temple Square. The boys loved it all!

Above: The toys were kind of squishy, and even Johnny didn't stay shy for too long!

Above: Temple Square was beautiful and since it was so early in the month, it wasn't too cold at all. In fact, it was a very nice night.

Above: The main thing that stressed me out is that my two boys want completely different things...and if they want the same things, they want them at different times. It was really hard to keep track of both of my guys, and Temple Square was PACKED, and Peter just wanted to run everywhere.

Above: Clayton, Kim, and little Grant! We got to go with the whole Mackay family.

Above: I love my guys! I also have some great pictures from my phone that I am having trouble getting off. I may have to add to this post, or do a separate post later once I get those pictures off.

Above: This was the best picture I could get with my sweet Pete!

Above: Then, pretty much the next day, the snow came. Not fun to drive in.

Above: However, if you have to stay in, there is nothing like playing with Floam and sticking a bunch of toys into it.

Above: This guy is just happy to be alive! Life is good!

Above: What a sweetie.

Above: There is nothing like a good Floam beard. Especially when there is a pirate guy lodged in it.

Above: Now that we have a little snow, how about we build a ramp to sled on?

Above: Johnny was still not a huge fan of winter/snow. He could only take about 10 minutes of it before needing to go back inside. Since it took me 10 minutes to get the boys dressed in their snow suit, I would say it was a wash...or maybe you would consider it that I broke even. Since this picture, Johnny has actually been able to stay out in the snow longer and has done really well playing out in the cold.

Above: So, I saw this idea on Pinterest where you filled balloons with water (and also dyed the water, though I didn't do that). I thought the boys would think it was really cool. However, I didn't think it through. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that hard ovals/balls of ice could have the potential to be quite dangerous, especially when I have boys who love to throw things. D'oh! Lucky for me, they threw them all at our rocks (and not at people), and when they were gone, I simply told them that we had no more water balloons and we would need to buy some more in the summer time.

Above: Good times!  

Above: That Pete of mine is a good sledder!

Above: We made a gingerbread house (from a store-bought kit). The boys had so much fun decorating it.

Above: And then after it had been finished less than 10 minutes, all the boys wanted to do was demolish it and eat it. I guess that's how we do it in our house! Next year, I might just make one of my own while the boys are sleeping simply to keep around for the season!

Above: Seemingly innocent things become weapons of war in this house. You may think this is just a tube of wrapping paper. Well, it is not, it is an instrument of death and destruction!

Above: Just trying on some old 3D glasses from one of Mom and Dad's dates waaaaay back in the day.

Above: We built a snowman! It is actually not very easy to do up here! It takes just the right kind of snow. Usually, our snow is too powdery and you can't get it to pack. However, after a big snowstorm, the snow melted just enough to get a little wet so it would stick together...and our little snowman was born.

More December updates to come shortly!