Winter Fun at the Lodge 2012–Part 1

 

We headed to the cabin outside of Helena the day after Christmas – with an overnight in Couer D’Alene.

Brennan is learning to read at school and for Christmas he got a whole series of Bob books to help him learn.  Here he is reading a Bob book to Nana (in Grandpa Roger’s chair – it should be noted). 

Here is Nana playing Ned’s Head with the kids.  I think she has probably played that game 100 times.  There are a bunch of gross things that go in Ned’s Head (dirty diaper, Ned’s Lost Lunch, rat, dirty Q-Tip, sticky sucker) and then you pick cards and have to reach into Ned’s Head to retrieve what is on your card.  Brennan thinks it is the funniest thing if Nana gets Ned’s Lost Lunch, the Dirty Diaper, or the bird poop.  They play over and over again…..its probably easier for Nana to do that than to do Jedi Battles…..

Watching some kid shows on the TV they  now have at the cabin.  Notice baby Stella is right by Caelan’s side. 

We love to go to the cabin in the winter to play in the snow.  Here is Caelan all decked out and ready to go…..

Here is Brennan in Grandpa’s snow plow.  They plowed the road all the way out to the highway to make sure it was passable for my friend Lori and her family driving down from Great Falls that morning. 

The sledding fun begins…..

My friend Lori and her husband Jason have three girls, and they all had a blast sledding.  This is a great action shot of them. 

Brennan loved sledding this year…..

The best part of sledding at the cabin is that you don’t have to walk back up to the top.  Between the snow mobiles and 4 wheelers you didn’t have to wait too long to hitch aride.  The driver is Helen, Sean’s cousin Dennis’ girlfriend. 

Caelan did not go sledding, instead, she rode like a Queen on her throne with either Grandpa or Papa. 

This is Brennan on the sled being pulled up the hill…..

After sledding we enjoy hotdogs and S’mores at a Bonfire.  This is Lori and her three girls…..I have known Lori since I was 2yrs old. 

Caelan got very cold, so she and Grandpa ditched the bonfire and headed inside.  This is where she was when I came in. 

The morning after…..my girl had some crazy, crazy hair…..

Christmas Day 2012

 

I was amazed – on Christmas morning I was the only one up at 7:30am!  In fact, we woke Brennan up at 8:30am and he was still sound asleep!  It didn’t take long to it to register with him what day it was…..

What was also funny is that Brennan ran straight for the tree and didn’t even notice his ‘santa presents’ that were unwrapped under his stocking.  He almost stomped right over them when he finally thought about his stockings. 

His santa list was:

1.  Helicopter

2.  Bey Blades – which are kind of like tops – there are different parts you piece together to try and craft the bey blade that wills pin the longest and ‘knock out’ competitors.  I really lucked out with these.  We were in my favorite consighment shop and a lady walked in with 6 bey blades in a carrying case and an ‘arena’ for them to battle in – I told the ladies in a hushed voice that I definitely wanted them – and I got them for $15 – vs retail price of ~$75. 

3.  Red Suitcase.  Brennan had seen this suitcase in Costco and just really wanted it….enough for him to put it on his Santa list.  Unfortunately, they were sold out here by the time we got around to getting presents.  Luckily, they were still in stock in Helena, so Nana played Santa for us.  On Christmas Day when we talked to Nana she mentioned to Brennan that Santa must have gotten confused and delivered a package to MT on accident.  He totally bought it and was over the moon excited to open it when we got to MT on the 27th. 

Caelan’s Santa gift was Baby Stella……she was very pleased. 

both kids were very excited to get new headphones.  Caelan wanted them opened right away….and this is where she sat for at least a 1/2 hour.  

I thought this scene was so funny.  Notice the boys very intent in the background and Caelan doing her thing with her iPod. 

We spent the rest of Christmas Day packing for our road trip to MT the next day.  After dinner we did go and look at Christmas lights in Issaquah and found some great gems. 

It was a great Christmas Day with just the four of us, but I did miss having more people to share in our holiday cheer(*hint, hint, to the grandparents, brothers, sisters, etc*)

Christmas Eve 2012

 

I was pretty bummed about being ‘alone’ this Christmas…..so it was so nice when my good friend Brooke, and her family invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner and church.  Brooke and Stephen are Godparents to both kids, so they are like family. 

But first, my funny story.  I was assigned dessert for Christmas eve, so I decided to make Grandma Rozella’s Sugar Cookies.  After we baked them I noticed that they were incredibly crumbly, almost falling apart.   After taste testing them, Sean asked if I was sure that I added all of the ingredients, because they just didn’t taste right?  Boy, was I mad at him for that…..later, however, I checked the recipe to find that I had, in fact, left out a pretty key ingredient…..WHITE SUGAR!  Yes, I made sugar cookies but forgot the sugar (they did have powdered sugar in them, though). 

In my defense, I mixed them up with ‘help’ from Caelan – which means I was always in defense mode to avoid too big of a mess and to avoid fingers, arms, and spatulas in the mixer.  I apologized to Sean later for being so mad at him and we had a good laugh. 

Brooke’s sister Megan and her husband Mike also live in Seattle. 

The kids table was in the living room next to the roaring fireplace….pretty nice, I’d say. 

Brooke, Megan and Brooke’s husband Stephen. 

Our after-dinner serenade…..this is Caelan and Cael…..no we really didn’t name Caelan after Cael……it just turned out that way.  Cael had the name first – I think he is about 5mo. older than Caelan. 

 

We went to church with everybody at their church in downtown Seattle at 7pm, came back to house for dessert, and then came home about 10pm.  And, we weren’t ready for Santa at all……so Brennan got right to work.   This message was all his idea. 

Yes, we did pawn off the sugarless sugar cookies on Santa.  He did also have a green holly wreath marshmallow treat, but the photographer ate that before this shot was taken.  <smile>

 

Christmas Program at Church

Brennan’s Christmas program at church was the Sunday before Christmas.  He did such an awesome job.  We got a CD to bring home and listen to, and he asked for that CD to be his ‘going to bed’ music (he has listened to the same CD for the last 5 1/2 years while going to bed – so this was a big deal), so he had practiced – consciously and sub-consciously in his sleep! 
Piggy-tails in her hair are a new thing for Caelan – she tolerates them, kinda…..but they sure are cute! 

The video will be inserted below….

I just thought it was so funny how the kindergarteners/1st graders were sprawled out on the stairs watching the rest of the play all decked out in their halos and wings. 

God is Always with You – shooby dooby dooby dooby dooby dooby always with you…..

More sprawling Angels…..

Not sure what this little scrinchy face is? 

Show Finale!

My handsome boy!

Home from church…..so cute…..those are a pair of 3D glasses from his dress up box that he found it the pocket of his car seat. 

Special Christmas Ornament

 

So far, my favorite art project from Kindergarten!