The calm...after the storm?

Ok I know the phrase is "the calm before the storm" but it is truly the calm after the storm this morning. The kids are content and playing and seem to have recovered from the Christmas madness. Yesterday was pretty much udder chaos! Both of the boys had a rough night so we didn't get very much sleep so everyone was a bit grumpy to start the day. I don't know what happened this year because I started out with a small list of things for the boys with the thought that they didn't need very much and I didn't want to spend very much money. I don't know, blame the early start on shopping or what but we ended up with WAY more then we intended for the boys. They had fun opening presents though and I guess that is the most important part. Stuff is still strung through out the house but we will get it back in order... eventually. The funnest thing about this morning though, Alex is playing one of his old video games and Zach, well he was playing with a cord for my computer... oh well. I told Shawn yesterday evening that no matter what next year we are not getting as much stuff! Anyways I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and I hope you are all too enjoying the "calm after the storm"! Here are some Christmas pics for you.

Alex's reaction to the presents...

You don't really see it well in the picture but he was completely in awe it was cute. Here is Zach's reaction. Unfortunately for Alex we made him wait until Zach had gotten up until he opened the presents. (We did let him open his stocking).

Yea me!

All three cats were around but Izzie was the most visable one this year she was trying to open the presents because she loved the paper.

One of Alex's favorite toy... his Fisher-Price digital camera! Here he is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. The funniest part he turned the camera because I had turned the camera. Maybe later I will snag it and load up some of his pictures (they aren't very high quality but he LOVES it! It's more fun to take the pictures I think)

Zachy got a lot of Fisher-Price "Incrediblocks" things (I got an awesome deal on e-bay) Here he is sitting in his "wagon" (not what it is for)

Of course we had to include a pic of Shawn!

Here is Izzie tired out from the festivities taking a nap in a box lid!

Gingerbread and cooking

Last night for our Family Home Evening activity we did a Gingerbread house. Alex had seen the kits in the store a few weeks back and was so excited about it that I finally picked on up. He was bouncing with excitement! We had to keep reminding him that the candy was limited, not because he wanted to eat it he wanted to cover all of the frosting. He also didn't understand the concept of weight he put as many gumballs on the tree as would fit and the poor thing could barely stand up. Not being a candy eater he was being funny about it, Shawn said if a piece of candy fell off he would pick up the piece lick off the frosting and put the candy back on the house. I was looking at it after it was all finished and I realized he had made a "smiley face", I am not sure if he did it intentionally or not but it's cute none the less.

His latest thing is "I wanna cook with you!" Neither of us can step foot in the kitchen with out him being plastered by our side (which sometimes is a little dangerous). He absolutely loves the whole cooking process so hopefully he will continue to love it and he can be a good cook like his daddy. (Not the most flattering picture of me but this is him helping me bake bread last night)

Sad state of reality

On Sunday in our Sunday School class our lesson was on "Honoring your Parents". One of the "activities" for the kids was to have them write a letter to their parents telling them how much they appreciate them. We teach the 12,13 & 14 year olds and lessons are always hit and miss but the kids really seemed to enjoy this activity. After the kids finished their letters I gave them all envelopes and told them to seal the envelopes and address them so I could mail them to their parents. 3/4 of the class didn't know how to properly address an envelope. These are kids that are in 6th, 7th and 8th grade and they don't know how to address an envelope! I was completely baffled by this as was Shawn. The funny thing in all of this is that I so rarely mail things any more that the stamps I had were not the current rate!

Dear Santa...

Alex came home from preschool yesterday with a "letter to Santa" (written by his teacher) "Dear Santa, I have been so good! Please bring me: 1.Apples 2. Bumble bee 3. Cars
Love, Alexander" Ok then...

Happy 1st Birthday Zachary

I can't believe it but here it is, Zachy's First Birthday! Time has just flown by.