Month in Photos: January

1. We've played with a lot of Lego's this month after getting some fun new sets for Christmas. Ryan loves the "guys" the most.

2. We had snow here! Just a little, but enough to make the head of a snowman.

3. We had visitors two weekends in a row. First Grandma Chambers, Betsy & Lindsay, and Hayley & Wade came. The boys loved having cousins visit that we don't get to see enough. The next weekend the White's arrived for a few fun days of hanging out.

4. We celebrated Jack's fifth birthday by taking a trip to Disneyland! We stayed in a fun hotel with a bunk bed and I made the boys some matching pj pants as a surprise.

5. We spent a couple days in the park enjoying the rides and having fun together, just the four of us. Jack's favorite was the Matterhorn and Ryan loved the carousel and teacups.

Five Years

This past week we celebrated Jack's 5th birthday and had quite the exciting week. First he got to celebrate with his preschool class by taking the treats and a poster we worked on about his favorite things (and I forgot to take a picture). Most his favorites were nothing new to me, but I did learn he wants to be a spy when he grows up. After school, we got Happy Meals for all his little carpool friends and they had a picnic in the park. Later that evening we had an early party with our family here and served up an exciting menu of Jack's choosing which included macaroni & cheese and ice cream sundaes for dessert. He had fun opening his gifts and if all that wasn't enough, we spent the next day packing up and getting ready for a quick road trip to Disneyland!! (More on that to come...)

Some things about Jack at this age:

*You are smart and inquisitive, always asking what words say or showing me what you've learned. You like to create things and take pride in doing things just so like coloring in the lines.

*You are sensitive and don't like to get your feelings hurt. Whether you think you're going to get in trouble for something or you don't like to be laughed at (even when you say something cute and funny), you might easily get upset.

*You're a good big brother and even though you know exactly how to push your little brother's buttons, you like playing together and getting him as excited as you are about fun things.

*You love playing with your friends and cousins and have a great imagination. You'll do anything from pretending you're a super hero to playing "Mom and Dad" or having a tea party!

*You have a recent love of video games and can't get enough. We had to quickly set limits or you'd play all day if we let you. Your favorite is playing Lego Indiana Jones with Dad and getting so excited when you're the one to figure out how to pass the level.

*You're still a picky eater, but getting better about trying new things. And of course you still love all things FRUIT.

*You're pretty short and have to hear all the time about how Ryan will be bigger than you before long, but we're thinking you'll hit a growth spurt at some point...and nothing wrong with being short in my opinion!

*You are so much fun to have around and I can't believe five years have gone by since I first became a mom. You need to stop growing up so fast so you can be my little boy for a long time!

We may have a problem...

Ryan loves to do whatever Jack is doing so that means he thinks he needs his turn at playing video games. If it's a game requiring a controller, Ryan thinks he's playing when it's not even turned on (a trick JP used with Jack up until a few months ago)! But then there's the iPod with a couple games including Ryan's favorite--Angry Birds. He can figure out how to get where he wants and make things happen, even if he replays the same level over and over. If the iPod is ever left in his reach, he'll snatch it up and play right where he's standing--or laying if that's more comfortable...


It's kind of cute how into it he is, but it also gets old real quick when I hear arguing over "my turn...it's my turn now!" He loves one of the games Jack got for Christmas--Lego Indiana Jones. Or as Jack says, "Indian and the Jones." There is one thing Ryan loves more than video games and once again it's because he needs to be doing whatever Jack is and in this case it's Lego's. They still spend lots of time throughout the day building and breaking and building again. Everything Ryan makes has a guy with a boat and when he's not playing with Lego's he's asking, "Where my guy at?" Lately he has to set his last creation for the day by his bed at night. I'll usually hear more clicking as he's supposed to be going to sleep, but I let him do it for now because then I don't have to lay on the floor by him and he still goes to bed pretty quick. Lucky for him he has a patient big brother who shares his toys, except the ones he puts out of his reach so they can't be destroyed.

December

December was a fun, busy month for us filled with lots of visitors and a trip up north to visit our family there. We saw the lights at Temple Square, exchanged gifts with cousins, ate lots of yummy food, and saw the nativity show at Tuacahn. It's been a cold month even for us and we loved waking up to snow TWO different mornings.

I love having a crafty mom because that means my boys have a crafty grandma who makes them a countdown to Christmas pillow with ABC ornaments! Jack loves everything ABC lately so he was excited to do this every day until only "Z" was left...

...and then it was Christmas Eve!! We had a delicious dinner that included steak, crab legs and homemade croissants. This year Jon was joined in his traditional trumpet playing by Dewy on the recorder. After opening some new PJs, we headed home and got ready for Santa to come.

Both boys woke up too early--Jack to use the bathroom and Ryan just because he's difficult--so they ended up in our bed and JP woke us all up again at 7:30.

Jack was thrilled with his new Lego's and Lego video games--plus what he wanted most from Santa--a Nintendo DS. Ryan loved his new tools and cheap little robot bug most.

And this is why Lola only gets a stuffed toy once a year. Poor skunk didn't last more than 5 minutes.

It was a fun day and we're ready for a fun new year with lots to look forward to. I've made some resolutions and one of them is to take more pictures. After both boys were born I would take pictures all the time and now we're back to only getting out the camera for holidays and special events. Not just more pictures, but better pictures and do something with them like make a book--that's been on my list for a while. I like this idea to get me started. And this is the year I hope to get a nice camera instead of my trusty point and shoot. Two years in a row now I've returned the DSLR cameras JP tries to get me for Christmas because I'm cheap like that--but we'll see later this year! (I have no resolutions to curb my cheapness).