Christmas in Kamloops

Christmas this year was fantastic! We got to have a ton of days off and spend it with Bruce's family in Kamloops. Eli and Simon loved having all the attention and were so spoiled. They are certainly lucky boys. Bruce and I were pretty lucky too... I got to read a ton of comics and got to nap pretty much every day! What more can a mom ask for? I can't really go over everything we did and all the gifts we received but I will simply say that it was a very memorable Christmas. Recharged and ready for the year!

We are so excited!

Ready to hand out the presents

Simon enjoying the chaos

Merry Christmas!

Spaghetti

We had spaghetti for dinner the other night. I feel like that's pretty much all I need to say to explain these photos...

Food is all it takes to keep my kids happy. I am one lucky mom.

And The Countdown Begins

I have never really felt that Christmas is a very busy time of year... until this year. As a kid you just get to sit back and enjoy it all. Even when Eli was younger it didn't feel too busy because we only had one extra person to buy for and if he just gets a single Hot Wheel he's happy. Now with Eli in school and me at work I feel like the days and weeks are passing at an alarming rate. Suddenly, it's December 9th and there are less than two weeks until we go to Kamloops! It's a good thing Bruce and I planned ahead and got almost all of our shopping done in November. Thank goodness for online shopping as well! We have also been to see Santa at the mall but I'll have to put those pictures up later. Naturally, we waited in line for forever and neither one of the boys would sit on his lap. Typical. In any case we are all very excited for Christmas this year and every morning Eli asks me if it's Christmas day yet. I can't wait to see his face when I get to say "yes'! I don't have a lot of Christmas pictures so far but here are a few of the boys just doing what they do.

What are you looking at?

Someone is skeptical

Was I not supposed to dump them all out?

Giving Simon a ride

And finally he has teeth!

I know it's under here somewhere

When You're The Best of Friends

Lately I have found myself really appreciating my two little boys. I have a part time job now and every time I come home I get these great big hugs and kisses. I definitely think that is one of the unexpected joys of having a job. Obviously the pay cheque is great but I was really reluctant to enter the work force again. So far it has not been bad at all though. The boys get to spend a couple of days with their Dad and I get to have some adult time too. Now that I am gone for a couple days a week I feel like everything they do is 10x cuter. Eli is getting so grown up and Simon is just adorable. Earlier today he said the word "cookie". What?! He's getting so big. I am such a lucky mom because most of the time they are best buddies and do pretty much everything together. I just wanted to share some of the pictures I've gotten of the two of them palling around together lately. 

Snack time

He insists on using an easel

Sit on my lap, Simon!

So in the picture above I had gone out for a girls night in Vancouver and basically 15 minutes after I had left I got a text from Bruce saying that Eli had woken up and peed the bed. That's why Eli looks so put out. Bruce had to give him a quick rinse in the tub and let the boys cuddle in front of the TV for a little while before putting them both back to bed. 

Little artists

Literally answered one email and this happens

Apple buddies

All Hallows' Eve

This little post about Halloween is going to be pretty quick. Eli was so excited this year to go out and get candy. He got to wear his costume tons because at his preschool they had a Halloween party on Monday and he also got to wear is again for his class on Friday. This year he decided to be Wolverine and I thought it was pretty awesome. We decided just to use Simon's Superman costume again this year to keep things simple so I had two superheroes again. I think that I might just be buying superhero costumes every year for Halloween and to be honest that is totally fine with me. 

I thought that Eli would go trick-or-treating forever when we first left the house because he was so excited. Not so. We made it about a block and a half before he wanted to turn around and go home. Turns out he was just too excited to start eating the candy to wait any longer. Simon enjoyed every second of it and was chattering away the entire time. We had a pretty wonderful Halloween and I am already looking forward to next year!

Preschool Halloween party

He followed this poor girl around the entire time.
I think he was pretty taken with her Elsa costume.

Ready to save the day

Party time!

 The next morning our house looked extra Halloween-ish. There was a pretty thick fog and the water droplets were clinging to all of the spider webs on our railing outside. It looked pretty spectacular so I had Bruce take a couple pictures. On a side note... look at all the spider webs around our house. Yuck.

...And Many More!

This past month has certainly been a busy one. On October 29th Eli turned 4! I have been wanting to put up pictures of his birthday for a while but we didn't have his party until Saturday so I had to hold off for a few days. It is amazing to me that I now have a 4 year old running around my house. Even in the past couple months he has grown up so much and I know before long I'll be wishing I could roll back the clock. He is such an amazing and quirky kid. Our home is always full of laughter as he chases Simon around the kitchen table, dances to "fast music with the man singing" (his personal favourite), and fights off the zombies that hide in my bed. I love that he is such a social boy and makes friends with everyone anytime we go to the playground. I am so blessed to have this little man in my life!
For his birthday we just had a family dinner of his choice (Chinese food), some ice cream cupcakes, and he got to open his presents. The next morning he was up at the crack of dawn to play with them again. His love affair with Batman continues and he loved every one of his gifts! On Saturday the lovely Gasser family came over for pizza and cake. Eli had so much fun playing with Liam and all the adults got to have fun chatting while the kids played. Here are some pictures of the birthday boy!

Happy birthday to you!

He's a little embarrassed

Sparklers?!

The family party 

A shot of Simon amid the chaos

Presents!

Thank you, everyone!

Dad Days

Not a whole lot has happened in our little family over the last few days. Mostly, we've been doing our own routine and trying to get ready for Thanksgiving. I honestly cannot believe that it is already October and I'm going to have to start preparing for Eli's fourth birthday. Anyway I have managed to get a few good pictures of Bruce and the boys goofing around. I think that Eli's favourite thing in the world is to wrestle with his Daddy. This morning as he was drinking his milk he was telling me how he was going to be stronger than Daddy because he finished it all and he would win the wrestling. We also decided to start a new tradition for General Conference and so Bruce and Eli made us some delicious soft pretzels while we watched.

Wake up, Dad

Pretzel time

Brotherly love...

...sort of