A Day at Stanwick

Stephen had a long weekend not that long ago and one of the days we decided that it was just too nice to stay inside.  We all hopped in the car and drove a couple minutes down the road to Stanwick Lakes.  It was bird week at Stanwick and so our first stop was to the children's discovery area where Emerson made a bird mask.

The next stop was the play ground.  The boys had a lot of fun playing in the sand and going down the slide.

They also played "King of the Stump" and got tossed in the air by daddy.

After the playground we went on a little walk.  After a little walking we came to a bridge and raced leaves from one side to the other.

It was a really nice day and so much fun to get out and enjoy and little time outside in the sunshine.

The Boys Room

The first room we decorated when we moved into our house was the boys room.  Stephen spent a lot of time painting it and making the border for the alphabet.  We then put up the vinyl picture alphabet up.  Since these pictures we have also put up some pictures and made a valance for the window.  I will try and post some pictures of the room now that it has been 'decorated' soon.

The boys room is my favorite out of the rooms we have decorated so far.  The colors and the fun border make it feel so bright and fun and I think it is the perfect place for a couple boys to play around in.

Downstairs Bathroom

When Isaac was visiting this summer we spent an evening painting the downstairs bathroom.  Here are some photos of it after it had been painted and decorated.  (You can't tell in the photos but the walls haves some texture to them and adds a little to the neutral color and minimal decorating.)

A Little Wiggle

For Christmas the boys each got a wiggle car.  A couple days after Christmas the sun was shining and it was a nice day to go out and ride.  The boys really like their new cars and had lots of fun with them outside, riding up and down the parking lot.

Christmas Day

We started Christmas with the boys sleeping in until after 8 o'clock.  Then once everyone finally woke up we went downstairs and opened stockings.  It wasn't until after Emerson had finished going through his stocking that he noticed the wiggle cars sitting in front of the tree.  (I didn't get many picture this year cause I spent most of my time video recording the boys.)  While the boys played with their cars we made Christmas tree doughnuts and started getting ready for church.

After church we came back home and had a nice brunch to fill our tummies (scrambled eggs, bacon, the extra doughnuts from the morning and smoothie juice).  Before all the unwrapping began I managed to get a quick picture of the boys in front of the tree.  Then the boys took turns opening their presents.  They got spoiled with lots of fun movies, games, clothes, etc.  Emerson got really excited about opening all the gifts and I was surprised how well Canyon did at unwrapping all his gifts.

After unwrapping all the gifts we opened a couple of the boys toys and let them play.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with new toys, talking to family on the web cam, and eating plenty of leftovers and sweets.  Thank you for everyone who has helped make this holiday season a special one for us and our boys.

Santa's Little Helper

On Christmas Eve, after the boys had gone to bed and our guests had left, we started finishing preparations for Christmas morning.  As Stephen was putting together the boys new "wiggle cars", Canyon decided to wake up.  He came down the stairs wide awake and not all that interested in going back to bed (who could blame him with all that was going on) and so we let him stay up and "help" until we were ready to go to bed.

Christmas Eve Surprise

When we were expecting Emerson and Canyon we had the ultrasound on Christmas Eve.  It was a fun little surprise for the Christmas holiday.  To keep with this tradition we decided to wait until Christmas Eve to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl with baby number three.  To make this surprise a little more exciting, we asked one of our friends to make us a cake and have the inner layer of frosting either blue or pink (depending on what we were having).  They brought the cake on Christmas Eve's Eve and so by Christmas Eve Day we were took anxious to wait any longer.  Emerson cut the cake and inside we found...

PINK FROSTING!

We are all very excited about having a little girl join the family.  

When we first found out that we were expecting we asked Emerson if he thought it was going to be a little brother or a little sister and he was very adamant that he was going to have a sister this time.  Though he probably would have been happy about a brother, Emerson seems excited that he is going to have a sister to help protect and take care of.  It was a very fun and exciting start to our Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a very merry holiday season and a wonderful new year.  We are so very grateful for all the many blessings in our lives.  We are also grateful for all the family and friends that provide us with love and support.  May this holiday season bring you much joy and happiness.

Love, Stephen, Kristine, Emerson (3 1/2), Canyon (1 1/2) and Bump.

Gingerbread House

This year the boys and I made our first gingerbread house.  We had a really fun kit that had everything included, so all we had to do was assemble and decorate.  The boys were really exciting about making the gingerbread house and had a lot of fun putting it together and decorating it.

They both decorate a side of the roof with little round candies and then Emerson decorated the front of the house and Canyon the back.

Here is a picture of the boys being silly while they decorated and below is the finished product.  We had a really fun afternoon and will probably make a tradition out of decorating gingerbread houses during Christmas.