Merry Christmas!

Our real Christmas gift this year was being in our new house. We are in heaven! This is our poor tree. It has seen better days. We will have to take it down before Cameron pulls it down on top of him. It does, however, get the place of honor. No other furniture to compete with it!



We did get a few gifts. I kind of like having a Christmas where my kids aren't running around in circles wondering what toy to play with next.
Ian was particularly concerned about Cameron "getting" his toys. That's why all his toys are stuffed in the closet in Ian's "special place". Ian plays with Cameron's toys because his toys are safely tucked away. Apparently NO ONE is allowed to play with them - not even Ian.

This was a small moment when Cameron wasn't yanking the lights off the tree. His favorite gift is a big bucket of plastic food. Who would have guessed?

It's not easy to get Ian to pose for pictures these days. When we get the CD with our family pictures on it, I'll have to post some, because it was a circus!

Ian didn't get one vehicle from us this Christmas. His cousins did give him a tractor, but it's time to expand his toy tastes.

Tyler got the most exciting gift of all. He got two new pair of work jeans, and a welding jacket. We are hoping to keep his work shirts a little less holy than in the past.

Tyler gave me a pair of cowboy boots. I believe he hopes I will choose to wear them instead of my snow boots to social gatherings. What would the fashion experts say?

What can I say? I have to walk through two feet of snow to get to the car, and again to get where we're going. Snow boots are warm and dry. Besides, we never know when we'll get stuck in a snow drift and have to walk home. NEVERTHELESS I will do my best to dress up my footwear wherever possible. The boots are really cute, and I really appreciate them!

We hope to also buy some shelving and toy storage supplies for our family room as our Christmas this year. Anyone know of anything really neat or something that has worked for them? We were thinking modular shelving would work best for us - but there might be something better out there.

Santa

Every year, the school puts on a little Christmas program at the Ruby Valley Community Hall. Afterward, Santa comes and brings gifts to the kids. About half of the kids are terrified of Santa.


Cameron wasn't one of them. Although we don't have a picture of it, he even pulled a little smile for him.

Ian was scared of him. Although he told me all the things he was going to bring to Santa, including a slice of banana bread, when Santa showed up, he said he'd rather just stay in our seats while little brother claimed their gifts.

By the way - Cameron has teeth now! You can just barely see one of the bottom ones. He now has two on the bottom, and is working on the second top tooth. He really did get his two front teeth for Christmas!

Tyler's Projects

Despite the winter weather moving in, Tyler has managed to finish some of his projects. With the help of Marlow and Logan, he built this arbor, trellis, pergola...whatever it's called. He has since put up some railings - but I'm not willing to venture out in the blizzard to get a shot of it. Doesn't it look great? It doesn't keep the snow off, but maybe we can get a vine to grow up it next summer.

Although I have never witnessed it, Tyler says his father used to always hold screws in his mouth while working on projects. Let's hope he never shoved this many screws in!

Where to Start?

We've been getting a lot of snow lately.

So, we've been taking advantage of the great sledding.

Cameron's not such a big fan.

But Ian loves it.....even if he gets a face full of snow every trip down.

Being stuck inside helps bring out Ian's creative side. He begs me to dig in the flour. He had a good time last time I made rolls.

Kitchen Makeover

Don't you just love makeovers? I will sit through a whole hour of Stacy and Clinton hurling insults at a person about "What Not to Wear", just to see the end result. This is also why I'm enthralled by shows like "The Biggest Loser". Anyway, I'm not sure you can actually call this a makeover....all we really did is paint. Just be glad you don't have to listen to insults to see the results.




I guess I should have included the other wall on the right. It's painted antique white. This is the table and chairs we bought from a smoker. We never thought we'd be able to have it in our house, but my cousin, Lisi came to the rescue. Ever heard of an ozonator (er) (i have no idea how to spell it)? Just stick the offensive piece of furniture in a room with the contraption for a day, and viola! No more smoke smell. It's a miracle - really. Also, we recovered the seats with something we could wipe clean. No fabric for us!

Whoa - it really does look different. Still - I'm not sad to see the red paint tucked away for a long, long time. It was a PAIN to paint with. You could see every little mistake you made. But, I love it.....and will have to be tortured for a long time before I agree to paint it again.

I was just talking with a couple ladies my age today. Two of us had painted our kitchens red, the other was contemplating doing it herself. Funny thing - all 0f our mothers warned against it. COLOR IS EVIL!! But, my mother quickly admitted she likes how it turned out.

Tyler says red is supposed to stimulate appetite, so you may see Tyler and I wearing elastic waist pants from now on. Also, maybe Ian will eat!!

Ian is THREE!

Ok - it was a week and a half ago - but we've been pretty busy since then - moving, painting....you should see our RED kitchen! I'll send makeover pictures when I'm done. Anyway, back to Ian. I can't believe he's three years old.


I had to keep his cake hidden until party time. You can tell he was kind of distraught I wouldn't let him haul the "dirt" on the cake.


Ian got his first pair of cowboy boots for his birthday. Actually, I didn't hide them very well after we bought them, and he found them a week before his birthday. He wore them everywhere. They are a few sizes too big, so he trips a lot. Maybe I went a little overboard on buying them so big - but they're so blasted expensive!! I thought he should wear them for awhile before he grows out of them. So, a few days before his birthday, he got upset, and threw his boots at the wall. Tyler confiscated them for the day, and we ended up keeping them until his birthday. We wrapped them up, and he was just as excited as if he'd never had them.
You can't see it in this picture, but he also got a really nice loader tractor that we bought in Illinois back in September. We braved the perils of perhaps having an overweight bag (it's really heavy) on the airplane to bring it home. Ian was really excited. A few days later, he drove it off the table and broke the roof of the cab. It is now awaiting repair. Let's hope it lasts for Cameron to enjoy too.

I added this picture so you could see what a rockin' party it was.
Cameron enjoyed the spoils of the party. This is after his first oreo (used to make the "dirt" on the cake).

And last, on Wednesday, we took Ian to his 3 year old checkup. Ian nearly flipped his lid when they told him they needed his clothes to be off. I couldn't believe that because he's spent most of the last 6 months in his underwear or naked. It was a rough 20 minutes for us all. He wouldn't stand up to be measured, and I could barely get him on the scale, and I don't even want to talk about the physical check up. Luckily, he didn't need any booster shots, or I'm sure we would have had a class A riot on our hands. The doctor then proceeded to tell us that they threes are often more tumultuous than the twos. I second the motion. We love Ian. He's really a cute, fun kid (when he's happy). May Tyler and I be blessed with the patience and fortitude to resist the urge to sell him to the gypsies this year.