Christmas 2021

Christmas 2021 - it was a fun one! This year was Short Christmas so Stephen's family came in for the festivities. We actually started early and surprised Dom with an awesome gift - a custom wrapped vehicle compliments of Shorty's. Needless to say, he was pretty surprised!

Dom spent the week prior to Christmas at the shop helping with the wrap while Chris set up a remote office upstairs. Check out the finished product!

Denise and Ray got into town on the 23rd so we were all able to hang out before Chris and Dom had to head home. Unfortunately they had a scheduling conflict and couldn't stay. But! So glad we were able to hang out a bit beforehand.

Virtual reality gaming. It's pretty intense.

Christmas eve started all the fun festivities. Cookies, gingerbread houses, intermingled gifts here and there concluding with a glow stick movie party before the BIG day.

Alas. Santa has come and gone and it's here! Christmas morning has arrived!

Miles was so funny. All gifts were wrapped in Amazon boxes and when he opened each of them, he'd yell "Another BOX!".... like that was the gift. It took him awhile to realize he has to look inside the box to see the gift.

When I was growing up, my parents would always come up with creative ways to present/hide gifts. Whether that be a scavenger hunt or similar, it was always something I looked forward to. This has become a tradition Stephen and I have brought into our family.

This year, we decided on the famous Feekin family string box.

A big boy bike for Miles!

A spider swing for Carson!

This guy, so gross motor oriented since birth. No surprise it didn't take him long to figure things out.

Such a fun and successful day. The boys had a blast, loved all of their gifts and were SO happy. Cheers to all day PJ wearing, all day mimosas and an early bedtime. :)

Team Santa at the Shorts

Lets take it back. Pretend Thanksgiving just happened. 

Now - go!

Getting all the good for our yard decorations.  The kids were less than impressed with the limited cart space

Final Product! Stephen wanted to go Griswold and Griswold we went :)

Carson wanted to help with the star

So naturally, so did Miles. Queue the put star up, take star down, put start up again sequence

*Carson throwing the block on the ground*
Miles: "Oh no! It's okay Mama. I'll fix them"
Remer Ymsha-itrs everyone!

The elves came back this year and the boys were pumped. They loved seeing if they got into any shenanigans during the night. Benny decided to use our tissue box as a bed and left a little path for the boy to find him

Miles: "Mama, take a picture of me with Benny. I won't touch him. I won't even smile"

Boys: "Mama!!!! Dada!!! There are TWO ELVES!"

Sights and Sounds - It's back!

Sights and sounds is one of our favorite things over the holidays. It was cancelled last year because of Covid, so we were pumped to be back!

The whole crew joined in on the fun - Shorts, Gates, Devlins, Kasprzaks and Langs. 

The whole group - minus Emmy. They joined us a little later

When we got there, we went straight for Santa to stand our post because we didn't want to wait in a super long line. Turns out not many people line up an hour before Santa, so we were the first there! Stephen and I took turns riding the carousel with the boys and the guys went out to grab snacks while we waited.

Santa was a little late and the kids were getting pretty restless. They didn't eat much except for cotton candy so things were getting rowdy lol.

He's here! Santa's here! We had been talking with the boys about Santa for weeks. We practiced what we were going to tell Santa when he asks what they want for Christmas. They . were . pumped.

As our turn approached, Miles was ready to go. So ready he just pranced right up there and put on a huge smile for his photo with Santa. Carson? Well... Carson had change of heart. Like a cat being put in water... resisting with all his might. We didn't push it. He waived and told Santa (very softly) what he wanted for Christmas and we called it a win.

Total winner here. Such a cutie :)

After Santa, we played at the playground with the whole group, checked out the light displays, said a very quick hi and bye to the petting zoo (boys NOT a fan) and, of course, funnel cakes for the win. (You are correct - the kids had cotton candy and funnel cake for dinner). 

At this point, the boys were pooped. So we said bye to the big kids as they went to enjoy all the festival rides. We had a total blast and can't wait for next year when the boys will be big enough to ride a couple rides themselves. Movin on up!

ps. Don't worry. The boys ate apples and a PB&J on the way home. We're not THAT terrible. lol

Turkey Day!

Happy day from our turkeys! 

Chef Lia prepping some TGiving apps

"Caramel??? I want to help!!"

Loving this one. Such a great pic of all of them! My grandma just moved to Austin from Plano and is living just 5 minutes from my parents house. This was the first year in a long time that we spent Thanksgiving with her. Cheers to more holidays and family dinners to come.

The whole crew

Can't help but laugh

Miles:  "Mama, these are lizards. Poop lizards." [points to an object he made with his building toys]

Me:  "Oh, like dung beetles?" (he learned about those in a book and thought they were hilarious)

Miles:  "Yea! They eat bugs, then POOP, then eat flies, then POOP! Poop lizards." 

Carson:  "Yook! a EM!"  [pointing at his name]

Miles:  "No, you don't have a M in your name. IIII have a M in my name. Trust me. I 4"

Me:  "Hey Miles, who is your best friend?"

Miles:  "Carson... [smiles and gives a sweet hug to Carson]

*MELT*

[Me laying with Carson on the couch]

Carson:  "No Mama. Off me! You no baby. IIII baby. You too big."

Carson:  "My bai foooo!! See!" [pooches out belly and proceeds to pat it]  ('my belly full!')

                 "Mama - pu chits in my bai. CHITS IN MY BAI!" [runs to pantry]  ('Mama, put chips in my belly. CHIPS IN MY BELLY!')

I gave the boys pom poms to use on their crafts and instead of gluing them to their paper, they were playing with them. No big deal. But.... for the rest of the day all I hear Carson talking about is...

"No touch my BALLS!" "Oh no! My balls stuck!" "Yook at my baby balls Mama!" 

I'm sorry, but come on. You can't help but laugh...

Miles: "Mama - I don't like your dance. Turn it off!"

Carson:  "I eat my BRA-nana Mama!"

Carson:  *eating blueberries* "Tank you fo my BOOBIESSS!!"

Miles:  "Mama - these coconuts are HUGE!"

Me: "...... uh... those are acorns"

*Looking at a pic of a dinosaur*

Todd:  "Look it's a green turkey"

Carson:  "No Tata. No turkey. ROAR!"

Miles:  "Mama!!!!" *Comes to be all excited* "I have frenkles! I'm a BIG BOY with frennnnklllessss!"

Oh these boys. Gotta love em.