A Good Snow Fall

Last week we actually got snow! The week prior to this it was 54 degrees, now we have snow! Amazing. The boys were dying to play in it, so I got them bundled up and they helped Daddy shovel.

 Owen runs in the snow with Daddy

 Chase goes outside to join Owen

A Salad Spinner Art Project

 We made some fun cards last weekend.  I make this with the boys every so often and use them as thank you notes, birthday tags, etc.  They have fun making them and the mess is usually contained to a small area.  Here's how:

First, get out your salad spinner and take a piece of paper that you've cut into a square and put it in the middle.

 Use small bottles from a craft store to put paint in.  Squeeze paint onto the paper.

 Use two colors for variety

 

Put the lid on and push down quickly on the top of the salad spinner

 When done spinning reach in and pull out your art work

 Show it off begin another!

Early Saturday Morning

We get up pretty early around here so we need to find things to do when Mom and Dad aren't quite awake.  This morning Owen wanted to play in the sink so I pulled up the chairs and away we went.  It was relatively dry for an early morning activity. :)

 Owen and Chase play on Saturday morning with a white winter land in the background.

 Making a tower

 There were not enough dishes in the sink, so when my back was turned (I was actually on Facebook) they got into the kid dish drawer and filled the sink with all these items.

Owen peers up at Mommy innocently.

Bye Daddy!

On the weekends when Daddy leaves to run an errand Chase and Owen LOVE to stand in the door and way and YELL, "Bye Daddy!" over and over until they can't see him any more.  I think it's so sweet.  It's almost like game to them.  They like to see who can yell the loudest.

games

Jeff started a very intense game of musical chairs the other night.  It was pretty funny.  The boys did not like the idea of someone getting out each round.  They wouldn't let us take a chair away and we had to always be the one to not sit in the chair.  It was a fun way to pass some time and laugh a bit.

My Birthday

My birthday was Sunday and it was a super great day. I got to do many of my favorite things-including going to church, going shopping by myself, hanging out with my 3 favorite people, having dinner made for me, eating cake and cuddling with jammie clad boys.  My boys were so great to me. They sang Happy Birthday 3 times, Chase made me a sweet card, Jeff gave me a sweet card and Chase, Owen and Daddy picked out a cute cake and roses for me. 

Owen sat at the table a long time after everyone else was done eating their cake.  He loves it as much as I do!  He relished in the little tiny pieces, shoving them in his mouth with all his fingers.  Chase just ate the frosting and was done.

On Saturday we went to Sophia's 4th birthday party.  We had so much fun.  The boys were super excited to see their friends Sophie and Gavin. 

Owen smiles

Chase smiles-he's looking like such a big boy to me lately.

The kids at the party.

Chase, Gavin and Sophie

Making funny faces!

Owen makes a good funny face!

Cousins!

Gavin, Sophie, Chase and Owen

Kisses for the birthday girl.

stockings

I saw this stocking and fell in love with it.  When my parents were coming for Christmas I remembered they didn't have stockings so I whipped up a couple for them.  My mom's looked pretty much like this one, except it said, "Grandma".  My dad's was a red version of the above and it said, "Grandpa."  I forgot to take pictures of my work! :(

These are a Few of My Favorite Mommy Things

A few weeks ago I blogged about my favorite things for kids' skin.  Today I'm blogging about my favorite things for Mommies.

Amazon Mom

IsABelt-the invisible belt
     
This is an amazing product!  If you don't have one, get one today and it will change your life. Low jeans, pants, etc. can be very difficult to wear when you are a mommy.  Because we have to bend over so much and jeans gap, well, you know what happens.  This belt holds your jeans up without being bulky.  You can wear a shirt over it and not see a huge buckle through the shirt.  I have the wide belt version, what is shown here is the narrow.  I'd suggest the wide.

Again, you can buy it on Amazon, but I got mine at Hot Mama.  Speaking of Hot Mama this is my next favorite thing.

Hot Mama
If you haven't been here, you need to go.  The women who work there can fit you in a pair of jeans like no other.  They are located in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, MN, Michigan, Missouri, ND, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

AmLactin
AmLactin is a wonderful moisturizer used for very dry skin, like heels or calluses.  AmLactin® Moisturizing Body Lotion gently exfoliates dead skin cells to help return dry skin to its healthy, natural state. It helps skin lock in and retain moisture through intense hydration.  You can buy it at the Target or Walgreen's pharmacy or on Amazon.

Christmas was Great!

We had just a wonderful Christmas with my family!  The boys were very well behaved and took each event as it came.  They were so happy to see Nana and Papa and Auntie Kate and Lane.  Each day more presents appeared under the tree and they were so patient, never tearing into the gifts or really whining about opening them.  I get so excited to have them open the gifts we got for them, mostly because I know they will love them!

Because I had a lot of family in town we had several events.  On the 23rd we went to my cousin Kathryn's for dinner with my cousins Phil and James and their significant others.  It was so nice to see everyone.  The boys had fun with Kathryn's son Blake and they played with his cars.  My parents and Kate and Lane arrived late on the 23rd.  We spent the next morning with Phil, Amanda, James and Marthe as they came to our home for brunch.  Phil and James live on opposite sides of the country; Phil in San Francisco and James in New York City, so we don't see them often.  It was nice to be with them at Christmas. 

Amanda, Phil, Susie, Kate, Lane, Marthe, James

 Owen and Chase before church in their little suits

 The Bergers 2011

Boy do these guys love each other.  I think this picture and the ones of them hugging are just adorable.  Owen yells, "Chasey," when he wants him, just like we do.  It's cute.

The boys loved ornaments this year.  Chase shows the blue glass ornament that was his favorite.  I was so afraid it was going to get broken because he was not always gentle. 

Owen shows off his favorite ornament-pink of course!  They loved the sparkly things on the tree.

Holding the favorite blue ornament carefully.

We went to church at 3:40 that day and boy was it packed.  Chase and Owen sat through their first church service because there was not child care. Chase wasn't feeling the best and he sat very still and colored with Jeff the entire service.  Owen was feeling very good and was wiggly.  He did great too, but was busy moving around.  He liked to stand up on my lap and look at the choir singing and wondered, "Where did the people go?" when they left the stage.  At one point he stood up and started dancing, which was sweet.

Throughout the weekend I heard, "Hi Auntie Kate," over and over. Chase and Owen loved having Auntie Kate around.

We had snacks and chili for dinner and fought back the urge to open gifts. Santa made an appearance and Chase and Owen were excited to see him.  They dug in his bag and looked for gifts.  Santa brought crayons, markers and Cars coloring books and the boys were very satisfied!  He also brought gifts for the rest of us, which was so nice of Santa!

Chase and Owen peer into the bag

Chase holds and envelope for Aunty Kate

Owen and Chase smile with Santa and hold their chocolatey sucker.

Owen, Kate, Chase and Grandma.

Daddy

Of course after church, the shirts had to come off and the muscles had to come out.  Isn't he tough looking?!

Double trouble-Owen had to get in there and show his muscles too

Christmas morning started around 6:30 with C, O and I making our way downstairs to find Santa had been there.  We checked the advent calendar and found baby Jesus in the 25th pocket.  Chase carefully placed him in the manger we had padded with cotton and we thanked God for sending Jesus.

Owen looks up with a smile-he doesn't know his favorite cars that he really wanted are inside!

Chase tears open his special gift from Santa-cars!

The boys help Daddy open his gift.

Chase and Owen help Mommy open a new pair of pants

Mommy and Owen open some books.  Books were the hot item at our house this year.  I think they got around 12.  Good thing because they love love reading.

The rest of the family gets up and we open stockings-which is a tradition in our house.  Owen had fun passing out gifts to everyone and helped most people open the presents too.

Chase got a head lamp for camping!  Owen got one and Daddy got two!

Uncle Lane helps Chase open his new truck from Grandma and Grandpa

Owen drives his new truck and is happy about it!

Owen helps Grandpa open his present.

Chase is so happy to have Nigel the car.

yummy, candy canes!

Mommy sees the gift for Chase and Owen and is excited! 

It's a new Car track to go on the wall!!! Owen is thrilled to see it comes with a new car!

Chase is happy and lets Nana and Papa know

Daddy is putting together the new track and the boys wait patiently.

Nana tries to nap and Chase stands by with a sucker.

Owen pokes Nana in the face with the sucker.

Papa Curly reads a new Dr. Seuss book.

Owen and his 5 new cars!

We sent over and the boys started to pull things out of their stockings, giggling with glee. There were lots of fun things and lots of Cars items.  They found a little Simba and Nala, which they loved.  Jeff got up shortly after this and we opened a few gifts from Santa and each other.  The boys got what they asked Santa for!  Chase got a black car and a purple car.  Owen got a pink car and a blue car (Disney Cars of course).

Papa and Chase play together.

Christmas Eve dinner

When the rest of the family got up we opened presents and enjoyed the time with each other.  That night we had our traditional dinner of prime rib.  Kate helped out with crab legs and boy were we full!  We played some SkipBo after the boys went to bed and ended the night with some new cards Jeff got-"Would you Rather."  We had a lot of good laughs over that game.