Wrapping up 2009 - Finale!

Or should I say FINALLY?!

This is the final post wrapping up December activities and therefore closing up the 2009 chapter!

Wow, I can hardly believe that I caught it all up!

In early December, we went to Alexis' Christmas Recital Fundraiser.  The Dance School that she attends does this annually in the high school auditorium and raises funds from admissions for a local community charity that helps family with clothes, food, and many other much needed items.  As you can imagine, Christmas this year was tough for many, so the money they raised plus the matching funds from area businesses was a major blessing for their community!

Here are some pictures of little Angel Alexis:

She is siting on the stage, in the very center of the photo.

She is so pretty in her angel wings and tutu.  She did a wonderful job in her dances and was so very proud - as we all were!!

Tyler and Santa

The only reason Jack would even agree to get close to Santa was  because Tyler was going to do it.  Jack held Tyler's hand in line the whole time, it was sweet!

 

Have to have 2 pictures, because Lord knows that they both cannot look at the camera at the same time!

You will notice that Quentin is very excited and happy to see Santa.  He had it all planned what he would say to him, "Trains and cars and trucks!"  Jack was less enthusiastic about being on the big buy's lap, but when Gramma put him there he stayed and even talked a little to him (even though he did do the lean out away from him the whole time).  Jack repeated what Quent had said that he wanted when Santa asked, but the fact that he spoke at all was amazing to me!!

We got another chance to see Santa at our Mothers of Multiples Christmas party.  We had a pizza party this year and all the kids seemed really happy about that!  In addition to the pizza and goodies and crafts, we also did a book exchange and that was a major hit!

Here are our friends Jacob and Sarah (their Mom is Barb from My Sweet Life) opening their books that they chose.  Looks like they got a couple of winners too!

Here's how that night's meeting with Santa went down:

Obviously a hit with Quent, but Jack was still slightly apprehensive.

All in all, a super fun night followed by seeing lots of Christmas lights and decorations on the way home!

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Usually it snows well before December in Michigan.
Well not this year.
We may have gotten a few flurries before then, but really the only accumulation we got did not happen until December.  And it really was not all that much accumulation - you can still see the grass peeking through here and there.  Jack and Quent were ecstatic to see this much snow on the ground and did not care if it was just that little bit they were determined to make a snowman!

So, they went out with Daddy and did just that.

Quent in the orange - Jack in the blue

Woo-Hoo!

Cheesy Jack!

(can you see that adorable little snowman they are working on?!)

SNOWBALL FIGHT!!

♥ My Three Handsome Men ♥

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Christmas Eve:
Decorating cookies for Santa

I had made cut out cookies for Christmas as I do every year.  I love doing it, its kinda my thing.  Well, the boys helped a little here and there, but mostly their help was staying preoccupied and busy while I worked in the kitchen.  Which was a stretch for them at times, but they did pretty well.
They got to each pick out 2 cookies to decorate to leave out  for Santa.

Quent hard at work making his cookies look just how he wants.

(notice the loads of cookies in containers in the background!  I kept track of how many I made this year and it was 245 cookies.  Holy Moly! Its a good thing we had lots of family and friends to give them away to!)

Jack is so concentrating on his cookies, it was all he could do not to lick the frosting off the knife!

Their cookie plate for Santa


Christmas Eve dinner was at our house with Tom's family.  His sister Julie, Mike, Sierra and Brendan were here along with Tom's Dad and his wife, Inez.  We had a nice dinner followed by yummy Banana Split cake that Julie brought, oh I love that stuff.  Between dinner and dessert, the kids got to open their gifts.

Jack and Quent got THOMAS the train tracks sets from Aunt Julie and Uncle Mike and the kids.

Daddy and Uncle Mike could not get the packaging off fast enough for them!

Oh, they were so excited!
See the plane - Jeremy his name - in Jack's hand.  Yep, the kid carried that around the rest of the night! 

Quent and Daddy opening a card from Grandpa and Inez.

Our Christmas Tree

OKAY, we are ready for Santa!!
(and his reindeer too!)

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Christmas morning tree

First thing they went for was the train table for all their Thomas stuff.

Oh, my.  Yes, that is me in all my no-makeup glory on Christmas morning.
Thanks Tom, Love ya.

Dinosaurs - just one of their favorite things!

Quent wanted to put all the bows from his gifts on his head.
Where did he get that idea from?

I know exactly who - Aunt Kyle!

Here's the proof (just one of many occasions) that Auntie Ky-Ky is the silly girl that started it all.  This is from Christmas 2007 and Jack is helping her to put bows on her head!

Quent playing with his Tag reader, but what is up with the Dr.Evil pinky thing??

Jackson just immersed in those trains...

Momma helping them use their Tag readers. 

These Tag books and reader are the COOLEST!

Wait, what's in here?

MORE TRAINS!!

If you look closely at Jack's face - he is actually making the truck noises as he is playing.

Cute :)

The very best part of Christmas is watching my boys open their things and marvel at each and every thing.  They were so excited and appreciative of everything, it just warms my heart even now just thinking about it.  We got to spend Christmas morning enjoying our family, playing with our boys and cherishing every minute.

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After lunch and a nap (for everyone), we headed over to my Aunt Barb and Uncle Don's house to celebrate Christmas with my Mom's family.  Its a big family and Christmas is always a big celebration!!

The kids opening their gifts:

Quent got an imaginext (?) dinosaur playset  - very cool.
Here Quent, Avery and Jack are checking it out.   Just look at those sweet braids on Avery.

Tessa opening her gift, Aunt Lisa (that would be me) helping.

Jack and Quent working on a gift, You can't see Avery - she is behind Jack opening hers.

Len is taking pictures and Brad is checking it all out.

Jack shows off more Thomas fun stuff!

Tessa is in heaven with all her jewelry.
She is a girly-girl!

Some of the ladies (Aunt Anne, my Mom, me and Aunt Barb) in the Ladies' gift exchange.

Tessa, Avery and Quent playing with the dino toys while the grown up are doing gifts.

Aunt Margaret opens a bottle of Aftershock (haha) in the ladies' exchange.
GG opens a necklace and she's not trading that!
Uncle Dan, Erich, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Jean are behind them.

Okay, so Jack was not too happy about something (probably just too tired at this point) and needed to sit with Momma while we played our exchange game.  I am holding my gift, The Hangover DVD, trying desperately to hide it so it doesn't get stolen!  It did, but I got it back!

The guys' exchange is always way more rowdy!
Donnie, Uncle Eldon and Uncle Andrew.

And there is always much more liquor passed around!
(and stolen and stolen !!)
Matt, Uncle Don, Rob, and Joe playing and laughing.
Behind them are Uncle Jim, Len, Aunt Anne, and Abby.

Standing: Aunt Margaret, Mom, GG, and Aunt Jean.
Sitting: Uncle Donnie, Erich, Matt, and Uncle Don.

Standing: Jeff's girlfriend Riley, Aunt Sue and Andrea.
Sitting: Jeff, Uncle Dan, Uncle Donnie, Erich, and the side of Rob's head!

Good Times.
Great Times.

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To complete the marathon of celebrations, we did Christmas brunch at my parents' house the day after Christmas.  Now, by this point the boys are certain no matter where they go or who they see they WILL be opening presents, so they were pretty geeked!

Here's the Fantastic 4 waiting ever so patiently for the presents to be handed out!

(Quent, Tessa, Avery and Jack - Len and Gramma in the back)

Little Tessa Bean had her hair in pigtails - ADORABLE!

Let the paper fly!

Its funny, cuz Kyle was taking pictures from the south side and I was on the east end, so we ended up with a lot of pictures that are similar - but from different angles!

Avery was sporting her cute braids and concentrating hard on getting that box open.

Funny how they both tear the clothes boxes open from the ends!

And like typical kids, toss the clothes aside and look for the toys!

But wait...

Quent found some pretty cool Buzz Lightyear underwear.

And of course, you have to wear the bow.

Quent's explaining all the dinosaurs in his box to Papa.

Yes, he knows them all.

Do you see what's in that box for Jack and Quent??

Its hard to see, but its the DVD headrests for the van!  They were asking for these ever since they saw Avery and Tessa's.  Thansk Uncle Rob, Aunt Abby, Avery and Tessa!!

What a smile on that B-E-A-utiful girl Avery!

She is a rock star!

Tessa : "yeah, um, Jack leave my necklaces and baby alone - they are mine!"

Maybe the boys should have gotten strollers too, they sure did try to steal them from the girls all day.  Although they used them for racing around and crashing into things - typical BOYS!

After the kids had naps, we all packed up and went out to Uncle Dan and Aunt Betty's for Poker and Polar Express.  The kids watched Polar Express with the non-Poker playing adults.

The boys had not seen the movie yet and boy did they love it.  Not that I thought otherwise.  Literally, it was the longest I ever saw Jack sit in one spot and not get up!!  He made it almost to the end - which is amazing for my energy filled boy.  To say they loved it just does not even express it.  We still are talking about all our favorite parts and singing "hot hot hot HOT Chocolate!"

We spent our New Years Eve at home, ordered in pizza and cozied up for a night in.  At midnight, I got to kiss my sweetheart ♥ and sneak into the boys room to kiss their sleepyheads and wish them a Happy New Year.

And here's to a really Happy New Year - one filled with love, hope, prosperity and friendship.

(and maybe even an updated Blog! ;)

HOORAY!!
This rounds out the year and makes me all caught up!
My big goal is to stay caught up in the New Year, so all of our fun adventures get on here and I don't miss out on documenting ONE MEMORABLE MOMENT!!
Thanks for hangin' in there...

Do you love the '80s?

If you do, you will certainly appreciate this one!

One of my MOMs friends sent this to me in an email.

Tom and I laughed out loud!  It is freakin' hilarious!

This is a perfect example of the ridiculous stuff that was in '80s music videos.

Ridiculous and FABULOUS!

I vividly remember the era of the music video.  When MTV would schedule the 'World Premiere' of a new video we would make sure we watched to see what awesomeness would be on. Then talk to our friends about how cool it was. We watched MTV and sang and danced along at sleepovers.  That was how we knew the cool clothes to wear, how to do our makeup, how high to rat our hair!  Not everyone on MTV was beautiful back then, but that didn't seem to matter.  (Seriously, think about some of the hair bands, definitely not  the pretty boy band cuteness of today).
The music video was part of the culture of my youth.
Now that MTV rarely plays a music video at all, its kind of sad.

Then again, today it is not the same - videos today are at all  like the videos of the 80's were.  Makes me feel nostalgic for the old days of crazy lyrics, bad lighting, fugly band members, cheap visual effects, huge hair and silly outfits and seemingly random plot scenes!

Ahhh, those were the days!

Wrapping up 2009 - Just cuz they are cute!

These pictures I selected from the last few months that capture some cute and memorable times that we have had - some everyday adorable stuff  - including the silly and funny!!

Jack and his tower of blocks.  I must say these blocks were some of the best toys we have ever had.  They are cardboard and come out of the package flat.  They take a crazy long time to fold them all up into block shapes, but they are so worth it!  You'll see a few have some paper torn off and maybe even some bite marks in them, but they are well used and loved.  They have become towers, houses, roads, train tracks, barnyards, and much more.  BEST part: they are very light, so as not to cause major bodily injury when inevitably thrown at your brother!!

Quent loves his cars.

Passionately.

They both love cars really, but here's a picture of Quent with some of our favorite cars from the CARS movie (which coincidentally they are watching in the other room as I type this!)  They can quote pretty much all the lines from that movie and often act them out with the cars they have.  Oh and they have far more than these pictured.  Here the cars are lined up for a race.  Of course they are!

Quentin is talking to his Gramma on the phone and he was just so adorable walking around the  house telling her everything he could think of to stay on the phone longer.  He is definitely the talker of the two boys - wonder where he got that from?!

Quent playing on the wooden train at the Orchard while Daddy watches.

Peek!  Jack pops up through the opening of a train car at the orchard.

The boys are taking the wooden tractor out for a spin.

I tell you, these wooden vehicles at the orchard were so cool, we wish we had some in our yard to play with!!

Wow look at all those apples -

(on our orchard tour)

Checking out the piglets at the orchard farm with some of our Mothers of Multiples friends.

(take note: RARE sighting of me in the pictures!)

Momma and her boys ready to have some cider and donuts at the orchard. 

Beautiful weather, wonderful day for the 4 of us and some great friends!

Yes, one day Jack will curse me for these.

BUT they are so darn cute!! 

I LOVE that he takes a book and reads while he is in the bathroom.  Of course I started it when we were potty training to get them to sit on the potty longer, but he has very much continued doing it.  I cannot be in there when he is having some private time.  He says , "Momma go, go, I will call you when I am done!", but I just had to take a picture of that cute boy in there reading on the throne.

These pictures just go to show that they can be nice to each other and love each other and have sweet moments together.  Actually they play together quite nicely a lot, but they also have those not-so-nice times and these photos help me to remember the great brothers and friends they really are!

Jack playing trampoline basketball with Sierra.

She's on the freshman team at school, maybe she is giving him some tips!

Brendan jumping with the boys too, and looks like he is helping Jack to stay standing :)

More jumping from Sierra and Quentin.

Sierra, Brendan, Jack and Quent take a second to pose for Tom to take a picture!

Yum, gummy worms.

Making dirt pudding with gummy worms at playgroup.

The best part is eating it all up when we are done making it!

Quentin takes his finger painting seriously, he uses his whole arm!

Quent, Jack and some friends Teddy and Amelia playing after playgroup.

Some of my Mothers of Multiples friends partying together for Denise's Birthday!

Back row: Dorothy, Stephanie, Denise, Barb (from My Sweet Life), and me

Front row: Amy, Dawn, Liz, Susie, and Jen.

All of us are Mommas of sets of twins, some with a few more kiddos too!

What an awesome bunch of women!

Jack, AJ, and Quent making cute smiles for the camera.

My boys are 3 1/2 and AJ was 2 on Halloween, they were the perfect ages to have loads of FUN together while the Moms (and dads too) got to do some catching up.

Watching Mindy (AJ's Momma) doing something silly!!

Me and (one of my bestest friends) Mindy!!

Mindy, her husband Tony, and their son AJ visited us in December from North Carolina on their way through to Tony's family Up North.  I was so thrilled to get to see my Mindy!!

Mindy and I met when we worked together for ACTS in Lansing back in 2001 and she has been such an awesome friend and support for me through so many amazing and trying times throughout all these years.  I so miss getting to hang out with her everyday at work.  We even sometimes got some work done too!!  She just recently moved back to the states after being in Germany for 3 years - sad time for the Lisafer* that she was so far away.  Despite the sometimes long distance we have stayed super close and will always be!

The only bummer of that night was that our other ACTS super friend, Sarah, was not able to make it :(

We missed you so much Sarah!

 (*Lisafer is my nickname from way back and kinda crazy to explain, but if she or some of the other ACTS friends read this, they will get it!)

Only one more post to go to wrap up all the happenings in 2009!!
Woo Hoo!!
Are you enjoying this as much as me?!