First Snow

We watched the snow begin to come down last Wednesday afternoon and upon seeing the first flake, the kiddos were BEGGING to go outside. It was also blowing and freezing, though, so I made them wait until the next morning.

The minute they woke up and looked out the window on Thursday, they were anxious to get outside. Luke went out and scooped before it was even light and the boys were so bummed they couldn’t help him.

So, at about 9:25, we started the process of getting ready. Hunting down lost mittens, pinning broken snowpant straps, zipping coats, taking everything off to go to the bathroom, finding toys to play with in the snow were all part of the process and and by 10, an already tired momma and four little boys were outside. The three big boys stayed out a long time and even ventured out again after lunch (this time getting ready in a record-breaking 15 minutes!) They dug, and threw snowballs, played with Jill on the snow pile next door and created snow mounds using sand buckets.

 

It amazes me how well they play together! Having 4 little ones is busy and chaotic at times (most times…), but sometimes I think it would be much more work to have just one! These kiddos are so blessed to have each other!

Gingerbread Men

Luke spent four or five different nights in the weeks leading up to Christmas baking with the boys. I was so impressed by how patient he was with them. He’d let them take the dough and roll it into whatever silly shapes they wanted and even Leo was in on the baking!

 

Luke (as usual) had a whole system for where the kiddos went and in what order they got to help. They worked on candy cane cookies 2 or 3 nights, butterball cookies another night and finally gingerbread cookies as a grand finale. The boys read a book about the Gingerbread Man at Leap ‘n’ Learn and Jena’s and they insisted that we make our own gingerbread men at home.

They all took turns choosing what shape they wanted to use to cut out their cookies and placed them on the cookie sheet to bake.

Patrick was super bummed when his cookie didn’t come to life. He kept asking us over and over, “Why didn’t that cookie run away?-How does it come to life?” He was never really satisfied with the answers we gave him, but eventually just gave up with the questions.

All Aboard!

The Minden Opera House had a great Polar Express themed evening for the kiddos.

When we came in, we stopped at the desk and got train tickets from the conductor.

 

The kiddos wore jammies and we brought pillows and blankets.

After listening to a reading of the book “The Polar Express,” the boys each got bells and were instructed to ring them and yell, “I Believe!”

And Santa appeared! All the boys had very specific lists of what they wanted.

D wanted a red Switch and Go Dino, a soft, hooded sweatshirt, a clock and a Crazy Glo.

Following Santa, the kiddos all got to choose Hot chocolate or apple juice and train shaped cookies.

Then we snuggled and watched the movie. It really was magical! The boys loved the those night. Jackson, who takes a little more to be impressed got pretty board with the movie, but frankly, so did I! Even Leo, though, cuddled right next to me and enjoyed the whole evening. We were also happy to have Jake and Jena and a few of our other friends from Holdrege there.

Thankful

We were so happy to spend Thanksgiving with Luke’s entire family. It was a nice day, so we got the kiddos outside to play and enjoy the hot tub.

 

 

And a big, big meal, of course.

So many things to be thankful for!

Lincoln

While in Lincoln for the Bishop’s installation, we were able to visit grandma and enjoy an awesome park. Also had the kiddos pose for a few shots…

Farm Birthday

He’s 2 and we celebrated with a party! Leo is enamored with horses so we went farm birthday—complete with hats, boots and bandanas.

Lots of presents!

 

Farm cake

Grandparents (Tom, Susie and mom), Aunts and Uncles (Lucas, Jake and Jena), Cousins (Jessica, Joseph, Josh), and friends (McQuillans, Katie and Matt, Jill G and Fr. Lux) all added to the festivities! Not to mention 3 big and excited brothers and one thankful set of parents.

And lots of messy ice cream. I can’t believe this little boy can just sit with the rest of the big kids and do what they do!

 

Happy Birthday We-wohs! We love you!

Halloween, Part II

We had four superheros this year. I even tried to put Leo in our cute, cute chicken costume, but he was not having it. Jackson refused to wear his Robin mask that I threw together the night before, so his costume was pretty sub par. The other’s, though, were all gifts from friends and family and they LOVED their costumes, in fact, they all still get worn with some regularity.

Leo totally got the trick or treating part of the night. All the boys have serious sweet tooths (sweet teeth??).

At this point, Luke was scolding them, promising them that there would be no candy if they did not take a good picture with good smiles…..obviously they did not take his threat seriously.

 

I love these two shots….Leo coming in….

And helping himself while Jackson was oblivious….for the moment.

Halloween, Part I

I really consider the YMCA in Holdrege to be one of the greatest blessings this stay-at-home mommy could have. The childwatch there is so great and the ladies are wonderful with the kiddos. They had a very elaborate Halloween party for the Leap ‘n’ Learn kiddos. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday there is a free preschool program. I’ll usually take the three big kids once or twice a week and they love it!

 

The kiddos dressed up in non-scary costumes. They did cute pumpkin-bat crafts, played halloween games and had pumpkin pudding for a snack. I’d say 75% of the boys were superheros and 75% of the girls were princesses!

Big thanks for a super fun morning!

Carving

All the kiddos got to choose their own pumpkins when we went to PumpkinFest in North Platte, but we opted to do one jack-o-lantern. Not sure mom and dad could have handled much more than that…

D drew the face and all the littles helped clean out the pumpkin and I did the carving.

 

Everyone also did some pumpkin painting. We had a very festive front stoop!