Goodbye 2017 and HELLO 2018....we are ready for you!

We had an amazing Christmas break. The kids all stayed healthy and the weather was tolerable. Both things make any holiday a success in my book. My brother and his family were able to spend quite some time in Omaha so we got a lot of cousin time in as well. Our church decided to do their Christmas Eve Service no both the 23rd and the 24th which was nice. We usually do a big seafood feast with my parents a night or two prior to Christmas Eve so we were able to combine Church with this tradition as well this year. Now sitting in a church service with 5 kids ages 6 and under was an experience. My nephew Grayson has to be by Easton and Ben 24/7....its the cutest. So when it came time for the children's story and prayer our Pastor called all the kids to the front of the sanctuary. Easton, Ben, and Grayson ran down a little after the majority of the kid were already seating with Pastor Mandy....and they didn't run down the aisle quietly.....She talked to them about the Grinch and a few other things. They were sitting so nicely and then there was a small pause. Apparently Ben thought the session was over so he just got up and ran back down the aisle and to our seats.....5 seconds later Grayson came trailing behind calling after Benny. Of course Easton stayed seated and listened to Pastor Mandy. Once Ben realized his mistake he and Grayson ran back down the aisle to resume their spots and catch the tail end of the story and say the prayer. It was hysterical. I haven't seen my mom laugh that hard in awhile :) 

That night we ate crab legs, shrimp, and oysters and let the kids run rampant around the house. My mom has always dreamed of having kids camp out under their Christmas tree (it was something my brother and I did every year we were kids bc we thought we would catch Santa that way). This year she had the three oldest boys sleepover and they had a ball! 

Ben refuses to sit still or smile "nicely" for any photos these days

all the grandkids except Paxton eating dinner 

3 zonked out boys..

The following day was Christmas Eve. Since it was on a weekend we were able to just lounge around all day and not feel rushed making food for our annual Kalasek potluck Christmas Eve night. Again all the Kalasek kiddos were healthy and ready to play. They ran around, made a mess, and rarely sat still the entire night. Its so fun to watch the older 4 play together and see their different personalities mix and match together.

Kalasek Cousins (once again minus Paxton)

Grammie and Pax

Easton and his cool spy glasses 

Everyone in their PJs 

We got home in time to sprinkle our reindeer confetti on the drive way and get everyone tucked into bed. After 2 days straight of playing with cousins the boys were out cold in minutes. I'm pretty type A and like to have things done well ahead of time so the night before Christmas is pretty easy for me. No wrapping or putting things together for me. Its been done and waiting to just be set out for weeks. Brian and I both woke up early to feed Paxton and wait....and wait.....and wait. We fully expected Easton and Ben to jump out of bed super early....but that did not happen hahaha. We were making coffee and complaining that they weren't up yet (which we NEVER do when they decide to sleep in). Finally they got up and the tornado of opening gifts and stockings happened. 

holidays are exausting 

Pretty soon after all the Santa gifts are discovered we head to my parents house for breakfast and more fun. We do more gifts and stockings over there and then later the extended French families that were able to come over did. We added 4 more kiddos to the already 5 kids we had! For the most part everyone played nicely and there were very little tears. My Uncle Dick and his wife Tammie brought over a fondue pot so the kids got to have a picnic dipping things into chocolate. 

Easton wanted a telescope SO badly this year...Nana for the win !

fondu time

bedtime stories with Aunt Halley

some of the French Cousins (not pictured Paxton and baby Emersyn)

For New Years Even my in laws traditionally take the older grand kids for the night. They have dinner and lots of fun activities planned for them. They do a countdown, have noise makers, and sparkling juice. The kids look forward to this all year and always have SO MUCH FUN! Brian and I didn't have quite as an exciting NYE, however we enjoyed our quiet evening at home with just Paxton and our Kona take out. The weather has been ridiculously cold so going out was never an option.

2018 has had a great start. Its been busy per usual for us, but we haven't had anyone sick, and we have a lot of fun things in the works already for this year.

Easton is still loving school, but had a wonderful time going to Mary's during Christmas Break.....and last week and again today as they have had 2 snow days in the past 7 days. Its not been for mass amounts of snow they can play in, but rather the dangerous cold temps. We are still hoping for at least one good snow to build snowmen and sled, but not so sure thats going to happen. He is getting really great at reading and is turning more and more into Brian everyday. A week or so ago the two neighbor boys were over and as they were getting ready to go from destroying our basement to destroying the playroom upstairs Brian asked them to clean up their mess. Ethan goes "why do we always have to clean up at your house" and Easton's reply was "Ethan its actually really good to clean. If you don't clean up your house it will fall apart" Now I am not saying Easton always cleans up his messes, but usually he has no problem putting things away. He also LOVES to tattle on his brother who doesn't seem to share these clean tendencies :) Easton still has his "girlfriend" Hannah. I love picking him up from school and watching them wave goodbye to each other everyday. A few nights ago Brian said "Easton isn't your mommy the prettiest girl you've ever seen" and Easton's reply was "Even prettier than Hannah?" I fear the time has passed when I am the be all and end all lady in his life :) Im perfectly okay with that as long as he continues to crush on girls as sweet as little Hannah.

For my moms bday she just wanted to all go to breakfast and then take these clowns to the Train show....

Benjamin is...well I'm not sure you can explain Benjamin in words. He is more like an experience. The things that come out of his mouth are always hilarious and unexpected. He is the most snuggly little bug, but man his temper is quick and LOUD! He loves to whine about everything and anything, but can turn any complaint into laughter with the drop of a hat so do not be tricked. In the past week I found him using the word "epic" to describe things?! And the other day we were trying to separate them as Easton wasn't sure if he felt great or not (turned out to just be tired) so Ben literally followed me around all day and did not stop talking. I told him that he could do his "quiet time" in my bed bc I didn't want him bothering Easton while he was resting. His response was "ok mom....I don't want to bother Easton I just want to bother you" The other day he was sitting next to me on the couch and all of a sudden jumped up and exclaimed "its been nice sitting by you mom but I have to go take over the world now" Only Ben! No clue who he takes after but I just hope he uses his abilities for good and not evil someday. He is able to argue and wear down anyone by asking the same questions over and over until he gets the answer he is looking for and he can tell you a story for hours on end and you never really no what he's talking about or where he got his info. He makes our lives entertaining and always interesting. We couldn't love him anymore! He's the best!

Easton is EVERYTHING to Paxton...and Ben is always doing his own thing

Paxton is doing awesome! He is army crawling like a champ and starting to allow us to get him on his hands and knees without too much help. He is doing some major things in the world of occupational therapy lately which is fun to see. He will pick up balls and set them in their proper places now. He will use mallets to hammer away at toy pegs. He is FINALLY starting to use baby sign language. We have been doing basic signs to him since around 5 months old. Mostly we have been doing the sign for "more"...finally just this past weekend he started doing it back and using it at the right moments. Its pretty exciting and he gets excited when he sees that we understand what he is trying to communicate to us. He has actually said the words "ball" "baby" "bye-bye" "mama" and "dada"...now he doesn't say them a lot (except for dada of course) but he's said them and that is certainly something! We continue our weekly therapies Mon-Thursday and for the most part he enjoys them and is a willing participant.

we donated his premie clothes to the NICU....cant believe this onesie used to be HUGE on him

holding his own bottle...and will sometimes do a sippy cup these days

we have learned how to climb up and under the sofa table !!! 

The entire family is ready for warmer weather but we know we are far from Spring. Cabin Fever is a real thing and after spending weekends all under the same roof with very little to do everyone is ready for Monday to appear :) Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday and are staying safe and warm wherever you may be. God Bless and Happy New Year!