a great decision

i found this picture on my camera. . . taken by kiddo #3! i'm not quite sure when he did this, but it's a bit of a reminder to me that the choice to "agree with Santa" to bring us a puppy for Christmas two years ago has been a good one. the boys treat the dog like their 4th brother~~as you can tell from the picture! cole put him on the couch {at least he obeyed the rule that he is not allowed on the couch unless you are with him AND he is on a blanket} and offered up his DS. . .now that is some puppy♥love!

popcorn!

i don't really have a good heavy pan to pop corn on the stove, so we have always just done the next easiest solution: microwave popcorn. it changed this week when i broke out one of my Christmas presents--a popcorn popper--and were the boys ever excited to see it in action. so fun to watch their eyes light up at such a sight--something we all grew up with. and the taste--mmmm. so much better with fresh butter and salt. good-bye microwave popcorn!

first "big" snow

it seems like we have gotten a lot of snow this month, but it has been too warm for it to accumulate. finally we got about 4 inches this past week--enough to squeek a couple hours of outdoor play in!

christmas 2009

after church and a Christmas eve dinner out, the boys rushed in the door to run upstairs and look under their pillows to find their "matching jammies." they can never seem to figure out how they get there, but know that they are from mom and dad and love getting them! funny. we had a great evening at home, opened santa gifts the next morning and then headed to grandpa and grandma's house for the day {a favorite gift was the snuggie that each boy got!}! of course we had fabulous food and were content to do lots of relaxing!

Merry Christmas

moritz family christmas

terry's mom & dad headed to indy the weekend before to celebrate Christmas--we loved having them stay with us, were treated to a yummy Christmas dinner, a lot of relaxing, present opening, and breakfast out before they went back to IL. as always, the cousins can't get enough of being together! i loved watching their faces as they opened their presents!! the 3 little guys all got DS's from grammie and papa, soph got a wii fit, gracie was thrilled with lots of gift certificates and luke received a combo b-day/christmas gift of an ipod touch. seems shopping is starting to get simplified as the kids get older--they want more expensive gifts {which also means it is less to buy}

the parties~

the kids are always so anxious for the last day of school before Christmas break. today was no exception! All the excitement, of course, is for the class party. a bit different than when I was a kid--now no outside food is allowed into school--so they each got a slush cup and a bag of snack mix {i guess the kids don't know any different, but it makes me sad to think about what they are missing!} cole's class played a very exciting game of musical chairs!

cole has made LOTS of friends this year, but he has found one best buddy who is just sooo sweet!

the exciting game in first grade was "pass the present." a box wrapped about 12 times --kind of like hot potato, but when the music stops, you want the present so you can unwrap it to see if you get to the surprise inside! grant was the one who got to open the box!luke's class was a bit more tame!!--they had two craft stations that kept them very busy--the hard one was the origami Christmas tree that was amazing when it was finished!