The after effects of our New Year's Eve party. This is a whole different type of clean up after a party than it was 10 years ago!
Afternoon snuggle with this little man before getting dressed for our final Christmas celebration at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Just 5 more minutes... :)
A new car transporter for our dapper little man!
Our cute little family // My main squeeze and I
We celebrated Christmas a lot this year. They didn't mind one bit because it meant lots of gift opening.
/\/\ Legos! \/\/
We're still working on "show me what you got!" - He is showing me, but is way more focused on what's next :)
You can never have too many winter hats...
...or Lighning McQueen crocs!
Seriously, button down, bowtie and Star Wars shirt. It doesn't get any cuter than this.
We brought Pie Face along for a little post gift opening fun.
Another morning. Another cup of chocolate milk with a snuggle blanket on his lap.
Sporting his new sweater from Grandma & Grandpa. This is a very sophisticated way to play legos.
John lost interest in his Christmas gifts on Christmas morning. Every time we asked him if he wanted to finish opening his gifts he told us no. We tried a few more times in the days immediately following Christmas and still got a "no." Finally, on January 3, he decided he was ready to finish opening them. Will was more than willing to help.
Look, mommy! I got a letter! And he sure looked good doing it. Thanks for the new clothes, Grandma & Grandpa! Will was very sharply dressed for school today.
This is my bed from childhood. It has moved from my parent's house to my first house in New Berlin, our house in Lafayette, into storage and then into our current house. We've never done a thing with it in all that time. I decided it can be John's new big boy bed. All it needs is a few coats of paint and some new hardware to connect it to the mattress spring. Wish me luck!
Will's new sweatshirt from Christmas. Little did we know it had the added surprise of a fun mask built into the hood!
Thanks for the new ice cream maker, Nana & Papa! Once it warms up a little we'll be using it all the time!
Snuggles with my little man. He really is the best.
My sweet William tucked his friends in so they'd be all warm and cozy. He even gave them each a pillow.
Coloring with John is usually an adventure. Crayons are all over the floor, and crayon marks cover the pages as well as the table. Anything to keep my boys happy! Also, notice my cute little lefty?
Brother snuggles!
Will loves his new suitcase from Christmas. It sure is fun to have a place to store race cars and other treasures. Plus, having a spot for bear to ride along on an adventure is always fun.
Real men wear princess slippers. Looking good, John John!
We had our first major head injury that required a look by the doctor. Big brother shoved little brother into the corner of the pantry just as we were getting ready to leave my parent's house after dinner the night before. Luckily, the bleed subsided with a very wet washcloth and an ice pack. John was very brave. Momma was very upset. Will felt really terrible. John visited the doctor the next morning and got a checkup and some steri-strips to help the cut heal. Thank goodness it wasn't bad enough for an ER visit the night before or any stitches. I think these brothers learned a good lesson about pushing. At least I hope so!
Who needs a feather in his cap when he can just use a flag? America!
We took the boys to a very special movie premiere of Mickey & The Roadster racers. It was John's first ever big boy movie experience. They had popcorn and lots of yummy snacks.
Henry and his mom & dad joined us for the fun! Here's what trying to take a picture of 3 boys, 4 and under looks like :)
John had a very important train to build this morning. So important, in fact, that it required safety goggles.
The start of the big boy bed painting project!
It was dentist day for our 2 little men! Will sat in the chair all by himself and sported the cool shades. He sat so nicely while they brushed, flossed and counted his teeth. He even had his first X-rays! He was so brave the whole time and earned extra toys because of it.
Then it was John's turn. Everything I stated above about Will? Picture the opposite with John. He was not a happy camper for his first dentist visit. He sat in momma's lap, rather than the big chair since it was his first time. Luckily the pediatric dentists are very fast and very patient! John was happy to be done so he could play in the awesome waiting room play area before we went home.
"I don't know about you, but when I can't find a chair I just sit on an applesauce box." - John, age 2
Stella will be 9 this year. We have always joked that watching her go down the stairs is like watching a piano fall down the stairs because of her very large back end. Well, unfortunately, with old age and her already proven lack of grace, she had a couple instances where she slid down the stairs when coming down first thing in the morning. Erik and I were very sad to have to move her bed to the main level, as she's slept in our room with us since she was just a little puppy. But, it's for her best interest so that she doesn't get hurt. We thought she'd have a rough transition. Can you tell by the photo below just how stressed she is to have her bed moved downstairs and her entire world disrupted? Yep, she loves it. I'm pretty sure she would have been happy if we would have done this for her years ago so she has an escape when the boys are running crazily around the house.
John didn't want to nap today. He wanted to watch TV and play with his puzzle barn instead. Priorities.
Erik likes to go to Goodwill to look for records and VHS tapes. One such family day out, he found the original, non digitally remastered, trilogy. I'll admit, I was pretty excited too. We put the kids to bed that night and watched A New Hope in our basement. Well, I watched it while Erik dozed off and snored next to me.
When we moved into our house almost 6 years ago, this space was built in with a desk and upper cabinets with a very small fridge opening. We ripped it out before moving in, bought a larger fridge and eventually bought this trash/recycling cabinet at Maxwell Street Days in Mukwonago to fill the space. Eventually I hung a picture above it, we moved the coffee maker and toaster over to it and it worked ok for years. I was never fully satisfied with the space and thought it needed shelving or something more. If we were to be in this house long term and didn't have a pending move, we probably would have eventually done some custom built ins for the space to finish it off.
I often browse Pinterest and found inspiration about 2 years ago with this cool mug hanging wall shelf. It was from Hobby Lobby and I could never justify to myself the $120 that this cost. Then, one day, while looking back through my Pinterest boards I came across it again, looked it up on Hobby Lobby's site and, wouldn't you know, it was marked down to 50% off! I measured the space, showed my idea to Erik and we stopped to pick it up after our Goodwill stop. We hung it that afternoon, I made a new table runner for the top of the trash can and the space feels finished, finally, after all these years!
Another Goodwill find? This Labrynth marble game that Will spent a lot of time playing at Nana & Papa's kitchen counter while we were visiting for Thanksgiving. Daddy sure has an eye for that Goodwill hunting!
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