Christmas!

 Rob and I ordered these awesome trapper's hats for ourselves...Merry Christmas to us! We walk around the block at night--these are perfect for keeping us warm!

 Christmas Eve Fondue!!!

 Ty's jammies were a little long!

 And...the big surprise...A PUPPY!

 Honestly, it was super stressful finding this guy! I wanted a black Yorkiepoo, (okay, actually, I didn't want a dog AT ALL, but Rob is the so persistent, I basically did it just so he'd stop bugging me!) but I found this guy from a breeder a few hours away. I dropped the kids off at school and Jimmy at preschool and rushed up there! I got home two minutes before school got out! Phew! He's a Morkie (12 weeks) and the kids LOVE him! My angel neighbor, Lori, took him in her house for a WEEK so that the kids would be surprised! The first two nights were tough, but once we realized he just wanted to be with the kids, he slept all night. Potty-training in the works...

 The boys named him HULK...totally fitting for a dog that will only be about 12 lbs!

 Jaron and Sarah came Christmas Day! The big kids were so cute and responsible--taking it upon themselves to play with Hulk and take him out etc.

 We Elfed people this year. Best part...Ty totally dropped it off at the wrong house! A stranger was pretty stoked!

Family Movie Night

Random

 Wednesday night is 99 cent night at the skating rink, so while I'm at mutual, Rob takes them over to rock out on the floor! So cute!

Rob will randomly come upstairs like this...random costumes to fight the boys. He's a little boy in a man's body!

Robbie

This kid is getting hilarious! I opened one of this notebooks, and found this on the front cover!

"This book is the property of: Robbie the Awesome!" Wow.

Since he's in STUCO this year (student government), he has to wear this shirt on certain days. I think the back is cute!


And, finally, this is his RIDICULOUS Christmas list! He told us later that he figured if he asked for crazy big stuff, we'd get more little stuff. Not a bad strategy, actually, but kind of frightening when he first handed it to us! Seriously...a WATER SLIDE? Nice try, Robbie!

O Christmas Tree!

I loved cutting down our Christmas trees at Faulkner Farm each year when I was a child, so on our way home from Iowa, we stopped at a Christmas tree farm about 15 minutes from our house. They had free hot chocolate and cookies (which was great because it was FREEZING)! The boys fell in love with this cute little tree! They each got to saw a few strokes and then WHAM!--it was all ours!

Thanksgiving!!!

It's nice having family close; it's even nicer when the kids all love each other! Honestly, my kids get SO excited when they get to see their cousins.

It was small this year--just our two families--but so low-key and non-stressful. We ate on paper plates: magical!

Sarah, as always, had a cute little treat craft for the kids: Oreo Turkeys!

The major highlight was ditching all 9 kids to go Black Friday shopping! Sarah and I got skinny jeans and boots; Rob got this uber-comfy hoodie that he won't take off--lined with sheep fur or something inside...so fun! The best part, was my mom and dad called while we were out. Robbie answered, and, like his dad, gave very few details.

"Hey Robbie! How are you?"
"Fine."
"Are your mom and dad there?"
"No. They left all of us here alone. By ourselves. We're watching Home Alone. The kids won't stop crying. "
"Oh...that's...nice."
I seriously couldn't stop laughing when my mom told me about it!

Other best part: Jaron and I went to Hurts Donut at like 10pm! Got a huge maple-bacon bar for Rob...FANTASTIC! And every night sitting on the couch and watching Christmas Hallmark movies and eating leftovers!

And, as always, the kids slept together each night for an ultimate sleepover! Love it!

The Feast!

 Ice Skating at the mall...the passes were good all day, so we went twice!

Group Mama Date

 My friends Lindsay, Bethany, and I took our boys on a hot mama date! Burgers and shakes then to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (at the high school). Totally culturing those little men!

Bike Ride Discoveries

Some of my favorite memories as a child was going on family bike rides. We'd ride on Sundays along the river bottom. We rode from the mountains in Ojai down to the beach.We used to rent surreys to ride along the promenade. Every family vacation we hauled our bikes along.

Rob's memories are far less scenic and much more reckless. He rode standing on his frame and handlebars. He poured gasoline on his tires and threw a match to them--riding with flames behind him (until they melted). Regardless, bikes are important to us and a great part of childhood! So, we make it our "thing" to find new routes and trails! We made some fantastic discoveries this summer, too!

So fun!