Saturday, December 29, 2012

December catch-up take 1

December was a totally crazy, busy and fun month (yes I know I have a couple days left).
Eli was up to something almost every day. This had to be one of our favorites though. Notice the skull snowflake. Our elf is the coolest. :) 
I did the Crafaholics Anonymous gift exchange again. It's so much fun to make something for someone you've never met, know very little about, and knows very little about you. My partner for this exchange loves books, one of her fave authors being CS Lewis.
I love that I was able to personalize her gifts even without knowing much about her. 
She was very happy. 
She made me this awesome mug. Not only is it adorable and fun, it's HUGE! Perfect. 
I got the boys some funny light up noses one day, and you'd have thought I spent a bazillion dollars on them. They wore them the rest of the day while they played. It was so funny to look over at them and see their blinking noses on.  
Then I got this in the mail. Christmas present #1 from Jason. It's handmade stacked rings. The diamonds are raw diamonds, and each one is totally unique. He even had the maker write a little note for the box. I'm still drooling over it and can't believe it's mine. Her website is here if you want to see her other awesome work. 
There was hockey (of course), this time in Idaho Falls. Jason was still in Alabama, so it was just the boys and I for this trip. We did share our car and hotel with another mom and her son, and it made the trip a lot more fun for all of us. The boys all played awesome, and had some tough games, but held their own and came out with 2 wins for the weekend.  
I just love watching this kid play. 
Always giving 110%. 


The rink had a place upstairs to watch the game in the warmth, and Elliott got to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates. What could be better?  
Ethan and his teammates watching our 10yr old team play. 
I did the "business thing" and ordered myself an official pen. Mostly because it was cheap, and I was already ordering a bunch of other stuff.
We got a super special ornament for our tree from Henrik.  
And Elliott and I did a little Christmas crafting for our house. 
Sock snowmen. They turned out so cute! 
My friend Andrea moved this month which breaks my heart, but we did get to exchange gifts early. She got me a handmade, crocheted mug cozy and mug, dig it.
And she made mohawk hats for the boys. They love them! 
And then the day before Jason came home, I was on my way into town after dropping Elliott off. There was fog to the west, snow where I was, and a gorgeous sunrise and rainbow to the East. It was the craziest, and most amazing thing I've ever seen. Gotta love Montana. 
More December to come............

Sunday, December 2, 2012

this makes me happy

I love when our house is decorated for the holidays. Any holiday really, but Christmas makes me happy. I made this for our front door this year. It's simple, but I think it's perfect.
Then, there is our tree. I do really love our GIANT fake tree, but we just don't have room. You can see the whole story about this tree on my crafty blog here
I abosulutely love how this tree looks and it's so perfect for us. Another Pinterest inspired project that was "Jason approved".  
Eli has been up to some mischief, and the kids LOVE it. 
Elliott could not believe that Eli did this. He thought Eli was going to be in so much trouble, and told on him immediately. 
The kids could not find Eli when he was in the bathroom. They searched all over the downstairs, and were so worried that he left. Elliott even thought that maybe we didn't know what day it really was, and that Christmas was already here. When they did find him, they both wanted the mirror cleaned right away. They are so funny sometimes.
I hope you all are having a great time getting ready for Christmas too.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

A birthday and Thanksgiving week

Monday morning, Andrea came over to save my whole day. Long story short, she's my hero. And these two........ bestest friends. 
Monday was actually Ethan's birthday, but he's been getting gifts for over a month. He didn't have an actual party, but he was ok with that this year. We have been really busy, Jason is gone, etc. So he was happy with cupcakes. 
Brought to his class and we hung out for a while. 
And the best part of his day? Grandma, Papa and Dominik came to visit for the week! 
We ate at his choice of restaurants, and he got cheesecake. WHAT?!?! What happened to chocolate cake? 
And Aunt Let sent presents for both boys. :)  
Boxing gloves! 
Both boys had school Tuesday, but after Elliott got out, we got to hang out with everyone until Ethan got out. 
Then there was swimming! 
They all had so much fun. 
Papa made them a water toy. A water bottle with a little water in it to throw around and fight for. 
These two always pick up right where they left off, even if it's been over a year since they were together. 
Then we went to pizza. The boys got their own table and picked the biggest table in the place so they could all sit really close together. 
Thanksgiving day was gorgeous! The boys played with the neighborhood kids. 
Dominik plays football, so he was in heaven. 
It was fun to see them enjoying the day. 
My Dad fried the turkey. 
Sooooooo good. 
And Mom and I made the sides and pie! Mmmmm pie.  
Papa brought up his wood burning stuff with him. Grandma transferred their pictures for them. Ethan showed off his skills, and Dominik made his first piece. They both did great. Elliott was resting, so Papa made him one too.  
Look at the concentration. 
Ethan made a name plaque. 
Then, look who joined the party! Eli is back! 
He had a letter for the boys. 
Unfortunately his handwriting isn't that great. :) 
Eli wasted no time getting into stuff. We woke up to this on Friday. 
After we spent the day in Great Falls, seeing family and shopping, the boys got to do some more swimming. 
We headed home and got ready to snowboard on Saturday. 
Grandma and Papa headed home early Saturday morning. Eli wanted to go with us. 
The day was beautiful and perfect for snowboarding. 
It was sunny, not windy, and just plain awesome. Look at those smiles. They couldn't wait to get going. 
Our friends were able to come up with us, and their boys snowboarded with Ethan. He did lose track of them for a while though and took about 3 runs all on his own. He's getting so big, it scares me a little. But I think that face says it all. Big smile, rosy cheeks and pure joy. 
I love watching Ethan be so comfortable. He was up and down the hill all day and even when I was sure he'd be exhausted, he did not want to leave.
Elliott took some convincing to get him going, but after his first little trip down about 1/4 of the learning hill, he was hooked. He killed it too. This video makes me laugh. Doesn't every 4 year old start jumping his snowboard on his very first day out? He told me "I like to cuz it makes me go faster!"
I knew Elliott was tired, but before he passed out, he decided he should color a picture on the door of my car. I'm still not happy about it, but how do you stay mad at this kid? 
We are still counting down the days until Jason gets home. 14 to be exact, and we can't wait!