Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 In Review

Usually I take a few moments to reflect on the year on New Years eve and write in my journal. I have no idea where my journal is, so I decided to do my reflecting here.

The past year has been pretty good for us. Sean has continued working for his new office and enjoys it most of the time. I received a one of a time chance when I was offered a post-doc this summer. Commuting has been difficult, but we've made due. Sean helps so much with the boys! We have found much help from our neighbors too, who watch Liam for us after school. Liam enjoys having the extra time to spend with his friend, Joshua. John, Nicole, Joshua, Lidia, and Penny spent part of the morning with us today in fact!

Not much else has changed, really. They boys continued to grow and amaze me. I feel very fortunate for all that we have and all of the opportunities that we have been granted. All in all, 2011 has been a good year and I hope that fate will continue to be kind to us in 2012.

Fly Boyz



Yesterday we took the boys to the Air Zoo. The trip was nearly perfect. The boys were very excited, but behaved pretty well. Both Grant and Liam enjoyed themselves looking at planes, cycles, cars, and misc NASA stuff. Grant loved playing with the toggle switches in the gemini capsule. They were both brave enough to ride some of the amusement park rides with me. Grant flew biplanes and rode on the ferris wheel. Liam rode those two plus the spinning balloon ride. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Very Merry and Very Early Christmas Morning

Christmas began very early this year, when a super psyched Liam woke everyone up at 4:30am! Sean and I relented and got up at 5am. We came done to find that Santa had been busy the night before and left ample gives under the tree and in stockings. We started with stockings and then allowed the boys to open the few gifts from mommy and daddy. Then it was time for some breakfast. I made homemade blintzes. Yum!

But one we had food in our bellies, it was difficult to stay awake. So Sean and Grant and I all laid down for a nap between 7am and 9am. After a little rest, we came back to continue opening gifts from Santa. After all the packages were open, mommy got busy building the Lego sets that both Grant and Liam got for Christmas. We spent the day playing and eating Christmas treats!

In the evening, we visited our neighbor, Peggy, to spread a little Holiday cheer. She has had a rough year and I knew it would brighten her day to see the boys. She also treated them to a gift. Grant got a see-and-say, Liam got a hexbug and an ornament. They are sure lucky boys!



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The day after Christmas, we received a visit from Grandma Kathie and Great Grandma! The boys had lots of fun showing the grandma's their new toys and going out for a Chinese lunch. We are so glad they could come spend the day with us!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Winter Fun

Today we had thought about taking the boys on the Polar Express Train ride, but we were all in no mood for traveling. So we decided to go to the City Market's holiday event in town instead. It turned out to be a great decision, because there were lots of fun events going on. Liam and Grant got to both visit with Father Christmas, listen to live harp and violin music, pet ponies, and decorate a giant ginger bread house. We also tasted real roasted chestnuts - super yummy! Upon leaving Sean and I entered a drawing for a free dinner and the kids got goodie bags. Later when we got home, we received a call that we had won the drawing for the free dinner!




Saturday, December 3, 2011

December Day

It's hard to believe that Grant is already 17 months old today! He had a rough week, particularly, yesterday, when he had a flu bug. The poor guy woke up sick and couldn't eat anything all day without getting sick. We spent the day together, snuggled, and had low-key play. I just hope that I don't end up getting it after cleaning up all the messes. Today he was feeling better and could hold down some food.

Liam also apparently had a rough day yesterday. Sean met him at the bus stop to pick him up and the bus driver told Sean that Liam had been miss-behaving and was getting written up. In particular, he supposedly hit a boy who sits behind him. After talking with Liam we learned that the other child had been harassing Liam - that doesn't excuse his behavior, however. The big concern is that if Liam continues his behavior, he will be suspended form the bus for three days. This will make things quite difficult for Sean and I. What a way to start off December...

On the plus side, Grant is talking up a storm - I can actually have a conversation with him now! This evening I got out the peg board and he spent quite some time playing with it. He nearly filled the board with 100 pegs! Later, Liam and Grant were both making music with daddy. Grant and Liam were having fun playing with the little keyboard. I love it when they are creative. :) I told Liam that I would let him take piano lessons if he learned how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. I taught him the first part of the song. He was very pleased with himself and I think he may actually be determined to learn it. Liam was also inspired to draw an orchid, because Sean and I were working on our orchid artwork for next year's competition. Liam's drawing was very impressive for a 5 year old!