We got to go sledding yesterday over by the Discovery Cottage, with some great friends! I took Ian and Luke and we met up with Marla, Sean, & Corrine, and Judi, Aaron & Jordan. The boys had a blast and so did I! I love sledding and I am so glad that we were able to share our fun time with great friends! The boys were definately wore out and were pretty mellow the rest of the day. An early bedtime came easy, so I call that a successful day!
Well, another Christmas has come and gone! I cannot believe how time has passed this year! We had a pretty good Christmas this year. Despite threatening the boys with the 'naughty list', they still got lots of new things from Mom, Dad, and of course, Santa! :) We started our Christmas journeys by heading to Dave's Grandma and Grandpa Formenti's house in Joliet and had a nice visit there with Dave's brothers and grandparents! I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures! Darn it! The next day, we headed over to Wilmington where we got to see Dave's half brother and sister and their mom. It was fun to see them as well, and they boys loved it too! We played fun games and had a good time! On Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandma Beeler's house and all of my family was there except my sister and her family, who are in Texas. It was great to visit with them and eat yummy food and let the boys play with their cousins! We had a nice gift exchange and everyone had a good time. Christmas morning came quicker than I thought it would. I at least wanted the boys to sleep until 7 am, but alas, that didn't happen! At 6:15 a.m. they were out of their rooms, and had all the presents sorted into their little piles! I didn't even TRY to tell them to go back to sleep... instead, I just told Dave to go ahead and get up... they were ready! They loved their presents! Hopefully they remember the true meaning of Christmas, even though they do love those toys! The day after Christmas, we headed back out to Joliet to spend the day with Dave's Mom and Granny and Grandpa. It was nice to see them too, and we had a good time visiting them. We hope everyone had a great Christmas as we did! Enjoy the slides!
So, the title says it all.... with these three little rascals... there are bound to be some fights. Ok... so it's a lot of fights! BUT, sometimes, they play great together, snuggle together, and have fun together and that is awesome to me! I SO love those moments!
Mason was playing around with Ian's new hat and sunglasses and boots last week and this is what came of it! He is so stinkin' cute I just can't stand it! I love what a funny kid Mason is, and I love seeing his personality burst through that little body of his! Being this cute has kept him alive thus far, since he is also a MAJOR destructing force in our home! :) Love you Mason!
A few weeks ago, Ian received his FIRST ever Cub Scout Badge! He earned his Bobcat Rank and was so proud of his accomplishment! Dave and I were proud too! I even got a cool little pin! Ian is so excited about Cub Scouts, and really enjoys every second of it! I hope his love of scouts will last throughout his life! Way to go Ian!
Ian had his badge placed upside-down at Pack Meeting, and was told that when he does a "Good Turn", he can then turn his badge right side up and that mom can put it permanently on his uniform! He helped put the chairs away after the meeting, so he got to turn it that night.
IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT! Ian wanted his Grandma to make his cake again this year! He even asked her before he told me! haha! But as always, she did a great job! Ian loved his cake! We had family over after Ian's baptism for dinner and cake, and it was a great time! Too bad that Dave was sick the whole day! He really wasn't doing too hot, but I'm grateful that he had the strength to do the baptism. Ian also had fun with his grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles at his birthday dinner! He got lots of fun stuff for his birthday and was really happy!
This past Sunday, Ian was Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! He chose to be baptized, and was so very excited! He has chosen to follow Christ, and try his hardest to be a good example! It was a very special day for all of us! I was so proud of my Ian and how grown up he is becoming! We had a little program for him: I gave a talk on baptism, Dave baptized him, Grandpa Beeler gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Dave confirmed him a member of the church. It was a great program, and Ian feels so good inside! I am so grateful for all our family and friends who showed their support to Ian on this very special day!
Ian had such a wonderful 8th Birthday this year! Instead of a friend birthday party, he was given the option of going the LegoLand Discovery Center up in Schaumburg, Illinois! He totally was all for that! He had a really fun time! His Grandma Beeler came with on the adventure! We started by having lunch at Wendy's then off to the lego land! Ian was totally blown away with all the huge animals, cities, and people that were created out of just legos! He loved the dragon ride where it went and took you through a lego castle! He also loved the Technicycle ride that he got to go on with Dad! He had a fun time meeting his 'lego idols' of Indiana Jones, Batman, and Darth Vader! Ian said that his birthday was the best, and he was so happy he got a chance to go up there! Last, we got to watch a 4D movie, "The Adventures of Clutch Powers! It was so neat! He really had a great time!
Ian has finally turned 8 years old and can now be a cub scout at church! Since I am his den leader, this will be a fun adventure! He has been looking forward to being in cub scouts for a year now! Last Friday, his Grandpa Beeler took him over to the store and got him all set up with his new scout uniform! He had a great time going in the red truck and spending time with his grandpa! He went to his first den meeting last night and learned how to play marbles! He had such a wonderful time and is excited to start earning his patches! I think this is going to be a great experience for Ian and I hope he loves scouting and continues into boy scouts someday!
Getting ready to go trick or treating with our good friends, the Newmans! The boys had a good time going out with their friends... although, both Ian and Luke got really tired after the 2nd street, and we ended up coming back early. Oh well, they had a good time anyway!
Left to right: Luke (Luigi), Alex (Jedi), Ian (Mario), Mason (Mike Wazowski - Monsters Inc), Ava (Watermelon Butterfly) They were all so very cute!
This is Dave and my pumpkin! We couldn't decide what we wanted to do, so I just picked a pattern and did it. It turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself! You can't tell, but is says "D&A" on the bottom! hahah
Mason LOVES his pumpkin, and even says it really well, "PUN-KIN" or "my Pun-kin!" But once we started cutting the holes in the tops of them, he recited the line in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", where Linus says to Lucy, "Awe... you didn't say you were going to kill it! awwwweee!" It was so stinkin' cute! Mason didn't really want to touch the pumpkin at all this year... he would rather color on his paper and let mom do all the work. Oh well, turned out pretty cute though! Good job, Mason, and MOM! :)
Luke was ok with getting into his pumpkin, I think he'll be the surgeon of the family. He did think it was kind of sticky, but he did a lot of it. I had to help him draw his face and carve it since I don't trust him yet with the little knives. He liked his pumpkin and loved that we added 'horns' to it at the end!
This is the best picture ever! Ian started gagging when we got the top of the pumpkin off and started pulling out the 'guts'! It was so funny! But not to him! He really couldn't handle the sliminess of it all, and we had to clean out the 'guts' for him! so funny. But this year, we let Ian carve his own and use the little knife. He did a fantastic job! Dave and him added the 'extras', the nose, tongue, and ears to make it super cool! Ian loved it!
Wednesday Night, we had our Church's Chili Cook-Off and Trunk or Treating for the kids! It was really nice and the boys had a fun time! We decorated our trunk like a big mouth (thank you wal-mart!) and I think the boys liked handing out candy just as much as going around the parking lot to get candy! They were all very cute!
Dave taking Mason and his little friend around to 'trunk or treat'!
