Christmas 2015

Well this was our first Christmas with the shared schedule of the boys and I have to admit that I was kinda sad as the week started.  I just didn't know how I would survive without my boys on Christmas Eve but as the day arrived it all went so smooth. The boys went with Frankie for the afternoon and evening and then he brought them back to the house and we let them open their presents from us (we did presents together this year as they wanted bigger items like a Nintendo 3DS for Colton and a Tablet for Mason)!  Then Frankie left and the boys and I snuggled up on the couch to watch The Grinch.  Christmas Morning was magical as always, there is something so fun about two little boys running into your room to let you know that Santa came.  My brother spent the night and Santa even left him a stocking full of goodies which the boys thought was pretty awesome.  All the boys got Light Sabers in their stockings while mine had makeup!  We quickly opened our presents with included two new giant nerf guns and a couple board games and lego sets and then enjoyed a big breakfast and spent the afternoon playing with our new toys.  That afternoon and evening my family joined us for some board games and a delicious homemade lasagna dinner.  We ended the night with a few more presents and then snuggles on the couch.  It truly was a very relaxing Christmas spent with the ones who mean the most to me and I couldn't have asked for it have been any better!

 

 

 

Santa came to Scouts!

Colton is having a great time in Cub Scouts again this year.  He is now a Webelo and yes I am still his Den leader.  I have a den of eleven 4th Grade boys which can be extremely challenging some days but for the most part it is a lot of fun.  We had a special guest at our December Pack Meeting, Santa!!!  

Ornament Painting

We continued our tradition of painting ornaments this year!  I really do suck at drawing/painting but when an artist walks you through it step by step it can almost turn out okay!  

Christmas with the Sand's

We celebrated Christmas with the entire Sand Family and it was a great afternoon filled with laughter, cribbage, kids running everywhere and plenty of laughing.   I have always said I love having a big family and when it comes to gatherings like this it makes it even more fun!  We hold our get together in the church basement as there are just too many of us to fit into any ones house (and have room to actually function)!  Also as we are big German Family we have brought back the tradition of St Nick and have him come to our celebration to sing songs with the kids and hand out treat bags! Here are just a couple pictures from our fist Christmas celebration of 2015.

Happy Halloween

Sometimes you just need to be a Superhero.  This year has proved to me that life is short, things change, you really have no control over it even if you think you do and you don't have to be a super hero and do it all alone.  But when it comes to Halloween it seemed prefect to be a family of Superheros, so we did just that!  The boys picked their costumes first, Wolverine for Mason and Captain America for Colton and then I took them shopping and they picked out Batgirl for me.  I have to admit it was so much fun to dress up with my boys this year.  I know that they wont always want to a theme costume idea but I am gonna take full advantage for as long as I can.    My sister and her family were also Superheros!  Yes we are one big family of awesomeness.

We started our Halloween day with a little pumpkin carving at our house.  Mason did awesome this year, he didn't want anything to do with cleaning out the guts but he did a great job carving his own pumpkin with very little help from me!  Once again we went trick or treating in my parents neighborhood, it is so much more fun to trick or trick in a neighborhood where you know so many of the people.  Then that evening the boys and I headed to a Halloween Party back in our neighborhood (friends from Colton's Baseball team, did I mention I have made some amazing new friends this last year).  The kids played Ghost in the Graveyard for hours while the the adults enjoyed food and drinks around the fire.  It was another great Halloween and all three of us were home, put away our superhero powers and we were tucked in for a slumber party in my bed before 11pm.  

 

My boys really do have Super Powers, they can make any hard times and stress melt away with just a flash of their smiles or a bedtime snuggle.  I love you Colton and Mason, you will be my heroes forever.

Lake Itasca State Park

Well we finally went camping!  I have been talking about taking my boys coming for a couple years and have always wanted to go to Lake Itasca State Park and this Fall we finally went.  One of my best friends agreed to join the boys and I for the weekend.  We loaded the van with a tent, sleeping bags, food, chairs, pillows, coolers of drinks and of course the 4 of us and we made the 4 hour drive to Lake Itasca State Park.  We arrived Friday night, snuck in a few quick sunset pictures and then scrambled to get camp set up before the sun went down!  Of course, we made it and had a nice fire roaring and brats cooking in no time!  Friday night it dipped down to 39 degrees so we had to do a little snuggling in the tent to stay warm.  Saturated morning we got up and Grandma Yvonne arrived to enjoy breakfast with us and then we spent the day exploring the park.  This place was amazing, I plan to camp here again in the near future.  Saturday night we enjoyed burgers over the fire and then of course plenty of smores. We were all exhausted from our busy day and I am pretty sure we were out cold before 10pm!  Sunday morning we packed up and headed home. It was such a wonderful weekend. My boys loved their first real camping trip (sleeping in a tent and cooking everything over a fire).