Snow, Angry Birds, and Ryan the Rockstar

Of course while Tutu was here, there was an impressive snowstorm. Inevitably, there is a huge storm of some sort while she’s here - - blizzard, tornado, flash flood, fire…she brings this with her, I think. Anyway, the boys were stoked about sledding on our driveway. They bundled up (and got mad because I pulled out my camera due to the fact that they were so cute and look at the facial expression I received when I said 'smile'!). Anyhoo...they quickly slid down the driveway (well, Jack did it only once as it was scary). Eban kept on going like the Energizer Bunny. I swear- he’s fearless at times. The boys learned about throwing snowballs and loved it until the icy cold snow got stuck on their faces. They would cry and wail until I brushed it off and then they’d start the whole cycle all over again until the snow hurt their faces too much. Of course, following their outdoor escapades, we went inside for hot cocoa. That evening, Tutu and Eban made ‘mummy dogs’. They rolled up hot dogs in pastry dough with cheese and baked them in the oven. Of course, the fact that they were mummies was so “WAY COOL,” said Eban. The other new fad the boys are into is the game/phone application called “Angry Birds.” They just love this game and I understand as it’s somewhat addictive. They both revel in it. Then at church one Sunday, our friend Keegan introduced them to the game Fruit Ninja so now the boys are fans of this application. Interesting stuff but I certainly find it interesting that the boys can navigate a computer and phone applications with ease. I’m just hoping they don’t start browsing and accidentally buy something like that kid in Europe did…he bought a fighter jet. Nice. Finally, I made a ton of bread in late December/early January. My favorite is an asiago cheese/herb bread. It makes a small 1.5 pound loaf and it’s so easy in the bread machine. I just don’t like the fact that we can’t really use it for sandwiches as the slices are too thick. But Ryan and I love it. Tutu did too!

Tutu left and the boys were sad as they love having the special attention.

The first weekend in January was special as Ryan played in a show in Boulder…he and Liza sang back-up for a singer named Dechen Hawk. They were awesome and really had some great energy which the crowd absorbed. I took my neighbors with me so that was fun to hang out with the backyard neighbors. I also met up with Katie J...SO FUN. Our families owned a boat together on Lake Michigan so we practically grew up together. She's still such a quality human being and just so nice to see her even though we had to practically shout to talk to one another. Anyway, Ryan really did rock it and it was fun to see him play - - more importantly, he was having a blast doing it! Hopefully, I'll be able to load some videos from my phone from that evening...I'm going to run and check right now...

Scooby at Bridlewood Farms

Following Christmas, Ryan was busy at work and I took my mom and the boys to visit my friend’s horse farm. We worked together ten years ago at a PR agency and this was always her dream. She now owns and runs the business with her husband and only house jumpers (a type of horse). They have an indoor facility and an outdoor facility, a huge pond, lots of acres and plenty of room for us to come back in the summer to camp and make s’mores. It’s Bridlewood Farms - http://bridlewood-farms.com/horses.html.
We brought a bag of apples and went around to all the horses to give them snacks. She also let the boys romp around in the trailers they have and the RV because they use these large vehicles to travel around the country in when showing their horses. It was a massive empire…and I know nothing about this world, but it really opened my eyes to another field.
Outside, Gia’s horse was in one of the many corrals and he was covered in a blanket . He quickly ambled over for an apple. His name was Scooby and boy…did that make the kids’ day. They just LOVED Scooby.
We also had a memorable visit to the zoo as the boys were more than crabby. There were brief reprieves of the fighting and that was lovely. Jack loved the cobras again - - at least he’s not kissing the snake window this time. They fought, shoved one another and eventually we just had to leave. They took a lot of photos with their cameras that they got on Christmas so that was at least fun to see them use the cameras.
Speaking of their cameras…below are pictures they have taken. I combined them so I don’t know who took which picture but you can see what they are taking pictures of:

Christmas 2010

With two weeks off at the holiday, I was adamantly resolute that I was going to potty train Jack. Really…how hard could it be? Eban seemed like a piece of cake to potty train but if I could stay home and focus on it, I thought I’d have no problem. BOY, was I wrong.

The first two days were dedicated to asking every hour if he had to potty. That didn’t work as frustrating as that was. Then I opted for the naked baby game. They say..you know the experts..say that kids won’t pee or poop on the floor. Boy was I wrong? Then Jack decided to hold it for four days so we couldn’t train. He’d pee without any problem but pooping was scary. Then we did the every 15 minutes he sits on the potty for 5 minutes tactic. That was futile too. Jack is one head strong little tyke.

So with five days left of break and no hope in sight, I had to inform the preschool that Jack would not attend and I needed to find an in-home day care that would help us to potty train him so he could start going to preschool. I think Jack is so smart that he is manipulating all of us. He, at one point, told me he loves baby school. So we’ll see how long it takes for ‘code brown’ to occur.

Tutu came in the midst of the training. The boys were thrilled to see her and it was Christmas Eve so we had to get busy preparing for Santa’s arrival. We made sugar cookies for Santa and got out some carrots for the reindeer. Eban took a bite of one of Santa’s cookies like he did two years ago, so we had to replenish Santa’s stock. This year, Eban even helped write the note to Santa and signed his name. Ahhh, I'm such a proud mom for the fact that he's now started to sign his name.
On Christmas Eve, we had one group of carolers come by. Our back yard neighbors had their relatives in town so they rang the doorbell and sang one song and stopped midway as all the kids said we were lame. I was laughing pretty hard with that assessment. Following this lackluster front porch show, Jack fell promptly asleep while Eban laid in our bed looking out the blinds for Santa and his sleigh. It was so cute to see him peering out the window and try to fight of sleep. After 45 minutes of innocently watching, he finally fell prey to the sandman.
Christmas morning came and the boys were overjoyed and brimming with excitement. They woke everyone up so they could tear into their stockings before Grandpa came over. Grandpa arrived and we had to eat breakfast - - a traditional Christmas quiche much to the boys’ chagrin. Finally, the boys got their wish and they could unwrap the presents.
Each kid took turns opening presents. They loved and delighted with each gift which was great to see as in year’s past, they would opt for only one present and not want to open others. They got the drift of Christmas this year…for sure. There were clothes, toys, puzzles, soap, a kid’s recliner, cameras, watches, etc. The kids LOVED it. Santa got Eban some Scooby Doo items like a Leapster game (this is Eban’s hand held Gameboy system) and videos. Jack received a Thomas the Train (Molly, I think) and Whack-A-Mole. We haven’t thanked Santa for this kind gift as it’s loud and promotes thwacking emerging moles with mallets from a little game board. The kids actively played this game for four full days - - we could only tear them away with the next activity. But any down time resulted in this crazy game. Only now will they not play it as much because the batteries ran out and we haven’t replenished them.
The dogs got some bones for the holidays so they were happy. Plus there were plenty of table scraps during this time so they were totally happy with all the kitchen activities.
Ryan roasted a turkey all day and that smelled up the house with wonderful aromas. This complimented his new smoker for the back yard which was placed across from our grill.
Christmas was a resounding success this year - - without a doubt.

Video Evidence of Jack's Refusal to Use the Toilet

Eban Reading One of his Books from Christmas

Jack Winking (So cute)