12th birthday

 We locked Brady out of his room the night before his birthday.  I think he suspected why, but it was still fun to make him wait for his birthday surprise.  He went to bed in Rudy's trundle bed, but James moved him into his new queen bed in the middle of the night.

He said he woke up around 3:00 am and figured it out.  We woke him up again the next morning for a few other presents and birthday pancakes.   He was thrilled with the neon colored hoodies that Nana picked out for him and wore one to school that morning. 

Brownies and ice cream were his dessert of choice for the evening. 

 

A few days later - and another one of the new hoodies:

And, another few days later, Oma gave him a new bedding set at his birthday party.  He loved the wild colors!

Be Awesome: Check, and double check

Kathy and Tony have hired the boys to keep an eye on the house while they're gone over the winter.  Notice the two tasks that the kids have added to the checklist...

Cats on break...

I think part of why Rudy likes school holidays is because of all of the extra time he gets with his cats.  I suspect that Jingle likes having him around, but Bell is happy to have some peace and quiet return to her life.  

No idiots

Tell me you don't wish you had a sign like this on your front door...

2015 - let Rudy sum up

New Year's Day

Why wouldn't it be warm enough to swing outside with your brother?

 

 

New Year's Eve games

Nana and Popsie joined us for New Year's Eve.  We played a lot of games, but somehow only got pictures of our adventures with Staxis - which requires a lot of concentration!

 

Dog snuggles

Charlie is not a snuggler.  She knows that James is the alpha dog, so is very hesitant to jump in our bed, even when called.  If he's not in the room, I can usually get her to jump up for a quick pet, but she gets pretty antsy as soon as he walks in the room.  Ocasionally, in the mornings, she'll consent to come up to visit.  

Nana and Popsie

We love having Nana and Popsie in town in the summers.  We all miss them in the winters, so it's nice when they can squeeze in a visit with us!

Jelly beans

Played Beanboozled with the kids.  It was almost worth eating a dog food and a baby wipes jelly beans to watch their expressions.  Almost, but maybe not quite.  

 

 

Christmas day

Brian and Rebecca and the kids came over for brunch.  We had a lot of presents to open and a lot of playing to do!  It was still crazy hot, so the kids were thrilled to get to play with some of their new toys outside.

Once it got dark, we brought the party inside for some games.  First up was Pieface, with much hilarity.  The kids weren't interested in winning; they just wanted to get smacked in the face with the whipped cream so they could eat it.

We rounded out the evening with some Disney Wii dance party.  It was pretty funny to watch!

Christmas morning

For years, I was the first person up on Christmas morning.  I'd have to wait an hour (or more) before I could start crashing around and making noise to wake up the kids.  We had told them that they couldn't wake anyone up until 7:00 am on Christmas morning, and that if they woke up early they had to stay in bed.  I woke up at 4:00 am and 5:00 am and finally gave up at 6.  I found the boys in Rudy's bed, not-so-patiently waiting for time to tick by. 

Between the three of us, we were able to get everyone else moving, ever so slowly. The boys waited, not-so-patiently, at the top of the stairs for all of the adults to get up and get ready for the day...

The big Santa gift this year was an Xbox One, which really blew their minds.  It never even made it onto their Christmas lists, because they assumed it was out of the question.  Also received:  ornaments with their school logo on them, colored pencils, Flamin' Hot Cheetos (a special request on Brady's list), battle spider bots, and new games.  The socks were Rudy's gift to Brady (and he bought a pair for himself).