We had a wonderful Christmas this year with lots of time
spent with lots of family. The only
downside was that Lincoln, Ryan and I were all sick at some point which was no
fun and now Wyatt and Gavin are getting it so we are definitely ready for a
healthier new year.
The weekend before Christmas we made our gingerbread
house. The boys had a fun time
decorating the house and each enjoyed a gingerbread cookie they got to decorate
afterwards.
On Christmas Eve we attended the early church service at
Hope. It was amazing as usual. Gavin did awesome during the service and
Lincoln and Wyatt made it through most of the service so I would call that a
success. Afterwards we headed down to my
parent’s house for some yummy food and to open presents. The big gift of the night was kind of a silly
story. When I first asked Wyatt what he
wanted for Christmas all he would tell me were Cheetos. I told Jen this and she decided to have one
of her friends build a giant Cheeto piñata filled with Cheetos. He had a great time busting that open the
next day and was almost just as excited about getting his very own bat (see
below).
It was so nice to get to spend Christmas Eve night at our
house in our own beds especially since Lincoln was not feeling well. Gavin woke up around 6 and was really good
about playing quietly by himself until Wyatt woke up around 7 and then they
both were very patient waiting until Lincoln finally woke up around 7:30 so
they could open their gifts that Santa brought.
Wyatt was so cute because the first thing he said was We were good this
year! I guess he was a little worried
lol. Gavin was really fun this year too
because he was so excited about all his presents exclaiming that each was
exactly what he always wanted.
The big hits were legos for both of the boys, Wyatt’s Ninja Turtle play doh set and Lincoln loved his new broom set and tunnel. We cooked a ham on Christmas to enjoy and my parents came over to see what the boys got for Christmas and play for a little while. It was a nice low key day which was just what we needed since the rest of the weekend was pretty busy.
On Friday Derek, Jenny and kids got into town so we headed
over to Keith and Jan’s for dinner and presents. The boys loved getting to see their cousins
and had such a fun time. Saturday they
all came over to our house to play for the afternoon and the girls and Wyatt
decorated sugar cookies. Then we headed
to Pizza Ranch for the big Steffen Christmas and back to Keith and Jan’s for
some more fun and gift exchange.
Saturday is when Ryan really got hit with the flu so he was pretty much
out of pocket the rest of the weekend.
Sunday was Jan’s 60th birthday so we headed over to Ryan’s
uncle Pat’s house for brunch to celebrate and then hung out at home the rest of
the day so Ryan could rest. Monday we
finished off our Christmas celebration over at my grandparents’ house. My grandma cooked her usual amazing Christmas
dinner and the boys were so excited about their new indoor basketball game from
my grandparents.
The boys just finished their first round of basketball
through the YMCA. Neither of them have
played before but we do lots of practice in the basement with our little
plastic hoop and we were looking to keep them busy during the winter months so
we thought we’d give it a try.
Wyatt participated and had a fun time. He wasn’t quite as into it as Gavin but there
were no tears and he tried and liked being around other kids and was always
excited to go. The session was only 5
weeks and they had 2 weeks of practice and 3 weeks with the first half practice
and the second half a game. His age
group of 3-4 year olds was pretty entertaining to watch and all the kids seemed
to have a fun time working on dribbling and shooting baskets. I think he’ll be excited to play another
round next year.
Gavin loved basketball this round so we decided to go ahead
and sign him up for another session starting in January. This is the first sport where the coach asked
him if he wanted to sit out for the subs and he said no. Usually he’s the first to run out even if he
likes the sport he’s playing. It was
really fun to watch this age group and see how much their team improved just
over the 5 weeks they played. Their last
game they did such a great job actually playing as a team, passing to each
other, rebounding and making baskets.
Gavin has really improved on his shooting, dribbling and rebounding. I’m excited to see how much more he improves
over the next session.
Wyatt had his Christmas program at The Children’s Place on
Friday. It was such a cute program and
he did such a good job. He was all
smiley, waving to us and signing his songs.
His class performed 4 songs: Frosty the Snowman, I want a Hippopotamus
for Christmas, S-A-N-T-A (to the theme of bingo) and The button factory. I didn’t get any video since his school
always records it and sends us a copy but I did get a video of Wyatt practicing
one of his songs which is so cute although he does say Mom instead of Santa lol.
Gavin lost his first tooth last week! It’s so funny because he had been complaining
for a while about the fact that he was never going to lose a tooth and we kind
of agreed since at his last dentist appointment the doctor mentioned that he
had pretty good roots so it didn't seem like it would happen any time soon so
when Gavin first mentioned that he had a loose tooth I really didn't believe
him but sure enough it had a little wiggle.
We thought he would probably lose it by his birthday but then it started
getting looser so we said maybe by Christmas.
Well I guess it must have been ready because last week he had an early
out and I was sitting in my office working when he just walked in and said look
and shoved his hand in my face with his tooth in it. I couldn't believe it. Apparently he was wiggling it a little bit
and it just fell out. Seriously the
easiest way to lose a first tooth! No
tears, no pain. He was so excited for
the tooth fairy to come that night and to tell his teacher and friends at
school the next day. It’s funny because
he never thought he would lose a tooth and he ended up being one of the first
few in his class to do it.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday with lots of
amazing food and time spent with family and even a little shopping on my part J. A few things our family is thankful for this
year and one sweet little turkey.
It was a beautiful day on Friday so bundled up and headed over to the Christmas Tree farm to pick out our Christmas Tree. It was pretty picked over but we were able to
find a beautiful tree and the boys loved walking through all the trees and
playing in the snow.
The only bad part was that the place was super busy and after waiting
over an hour to get our tree cut down we finally had to head home so the boys
could eat lunch. Ryan headed back on his
own to pick up our tree and it was just being brought in at 2. I couldn’t believe it! I think we’ll probably try to find a less
popular place next year and maybe somewhere where we can just cut down our own
tree because when you have little ones you don’t really have 3 hours to wait
for a tree. The boys also got to see Santa. Gavin loved it, Wyatt just wanted to observe from afar and Lincoln was not a fan :).
The boys were really into decorating the tree this
year. Even Lincoln got into it this year
and I think it turned out beautiful. That night we headed over to Keith and Jan’s
for dinner to celebrate Keith’s birthday and then on Saturday my parents
watched the kids so Ryan and I could head up to Ames for the last home football
game. Although we lost it was a much
better game than we were expecting and we got to head over to Great Plains for
some yummy pizza that I have been craving forever after the game and got to
catch up for a few minutes with a great friends. Sunday was a lazy day at home. Ryan told the older two boys to the Y for
some basketball and swimming and wore them out while Lincoln and I did some
cleaning and ran some errands. Overall
it was a great holiday weekend and none of us were ready for it to be
over. Luckily Christmas is just around
the corner!
