Winter Happenings

So last blog I mentioned that my mom, Halley, and I were doing a girls trip to Chicago for some shopping, shows, and R&R! We had the BEST time. I had so much fun having good ole fashioned girl talk and little to no responsibilities. We ate at some wonderful restaurants.....shopped tip we dropped....and saw the show "BEAUTIFUL" which is the story of Carole King's life. It was SOOOOO good. I knew my mom would love it as she grew up listening to her, and I knew that I enjoyed her music, but I really didn't think I would love it as much as I did. If its every playing someplace you are visiting GO SEE IT! :) It was a quick trip but I think we were able to accomplish all we wanted to which was mainly food, drinks, girl talk, and Halley and I definitely enjoyed sleeping in (or attempting to) We all agreed that this must be an annual or semi-annual thing! 

mama and I 

 While we were off in Chicago playing Brian did a lot of Santa events with the little dudes. They went and saw Santa twice at two different events. Both boys did well. Easton decided that he wanted a shiny whistle (so random) and Ben refuses to sit still so he basically just wanted to jump off Santa's lap the second he was placed on it.

Both Santa and Ben looks thrilled in this pic

The boys got to hang with cousin Baylor as well

Last night in Chi town...lots of wine and food 

 Easton still enjoys pre-school. Although there are a few mornings when he is grumpy and claims that "school is boring" lol. I figured we had a food 10 years until those words came out of his mouth.... He is our little negotiator. Everything is a back and forth conversation. "How about this mom..." or "I have a really good idea what if......" He still is a wonderful big brother but they have definitely entered the fighting stage. They love to push each others buttons and now that Ben is talking clearly and NON STOP there is a lot of yelling and tattling going on in our house. Eastons favorite way to send Ben over the edge is to sit on my lap and say "my mom....shes MY mom" and Ben hits the roof. I can't complain too much about being loved so much, but there are moments when I want to rip my hair out lol. Benny is growing leaps and bounds and is talking non-stop. He speaks in sentences now and his words are so clear (even with a binky in his mouth most of the time). He has definitely lost all traces of baby-ness and is a full fledged toddler now!!!

Eastons Pre-School does a really fun thing where each class makes their own gingerbread house. They make the dough one week and the following week they assemble and decorate. Then they sell the houses at the school and auction them off (as every parents wants their childs classroom house).

Mrs. Kinworthys Class

Easton pouting bc Brian married me and so he can't lol 

 Last week on Friday I took the boys to see the Reindeer at Mulhal's Nursery. They loved watching them but we had a lot of questions about where Rudolph was, where Santa was, how they fly to our house etc. Hope I sold him on my answers lol. We also made some cookies, a gingerbread house, and picked out some gifts for MaryPat and all their friends there. Chippy our Elf on the Shelf has also been here and so far the boys have been good enough that he comes back each day. Ben quickly learned his name and if he spots "ChippEEEE" first Easton gets very angry. Just another fun thing we something get to deal with in the mornings :)

he was very aggressive with the sprinkles lol

 Last weekend we had our Aurora Christmas. Everyone was able to make it except my cousin Sheridan's husband who has been over seas with the Army. He left after her son was born (2 weeks after he was born) and she just found out he comes home this week!!! Lucas is now almost 8 months old. I can't even imagine having my first child and then doing all the hard work those first months are alone. Easton and Ben has fun running around my grandparents tiny lil condo and my cousin Brandon's girls (10yrs and 8yrs) had fun playing with them. My grandparents are doing great and making being in your early 90's look good :) As my grandpa puts it "I can't hear a damn thing and neither of us can see well but other than that we are doing great" lol.

Battleship time

gift exchange game

Easton and grandpa Dean...they are buddies 

 Both boys have been fighting colds for what seems like forever. This is normal for winter time, but exhausting all the same. Ben stinks at sleeping as it is so when he doesn't feel well we just know that we will be getting up with him at some point (middle of the night or WAY too early in the AM). He is the funniest, goofiest, and most ornery child. He gives you a little smile and you just know that he is contemplating doing something naughty or dangerous (or both). He is also the most snuggly sweet thing so he gets away with all his shenanigans easily. Easton and Ben are so sweet when no one is looking and I love to catch them in moments like this:

Just patting his brothers head while he rests

 I am so excited for the holidays. I love having all my family together and letting the boys run around with their cousins; especially the ones they only see a few times a year. I can't believe how fast time has gone. I feel like we just got done with Thanksgiving but here we are a week away from Christmas. The weather has been pretty calm so maybe thats why I don't feel like it should be the end of December already. We are all ready for baking fun Christmas goodies next week and celebrating Christmas at MaryPat's. She is going to take all the kids to the Children's Museum next week (brave lady). She has some nieces out of school that will help her. I have a hard enough time with my two boys so I can't imagine taking 10+ kids there but if anyone can manage it gracefully it is her.

Fruit Xmas tree Easton helped me make for snack at MaryPat's

 Today was Eastons Holiday Party at Pre-School. they made elf hats and made gifts for us. (he of course already told me what it is lol).

 Easton also helped me make a hot cocoa Santa to give to his teacher along with some other goodies. Now fingers crossed he remembered to give it to her today and its not still in his backpack when I pick him up!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year. I will probably not blog until 2016 as there won't be a whole lot of pictures, news, or fun stories until after all the holiday craziness. Be safe and remember the reason for this Blessed holiday! God Bless you all!