Jack's Christmas Program

  The Tuesday before Christmas I headed over to Jack's preschool to watch his Christmas program.  It was pretty cute.  He looked so sweet in his 'handsome' sweater.  I could just eat him up.

 The transition to preschool has been tough for our littlest man.  We are actually changing things around a bit after winter break to see if we can help him be a bit more successful at school.  We know he is amazing in every conceivable way - he just needs to show it to his teachers as well.  

We will miss you Sierra!

It's been a tough week in our household.  Sierra made her way to doggy heaven on Wednesday evening - with mommy and daddy talking to her and petting her until she took her last breath in this world.  We are heartbroken over the loss of our sweet Sierra Bo Berra.  But at the same time we are so grateful for the nearly 12 years she was part of our family.

Max and Sierra

William and Sierra

Jack and Sierra

 Enjoy doggy heaven pretty girl!

Gardenland Express

Brian's company had a corporate day at the garden - which meant free admission to the Gardenland Express.  The price was perfect for him, because I'll admit while I love going, it is a lot of money for an hour of entertainment.

Every year the train exhibit has a theme.  This year it was organized around plants and buildings from different continents.  It was way better than the food theme from last year.  As always they had a scavenger hunt that the boys absolutely loved!

They big boys were very serious scavengers - Jack just smiled looking at the trains. His very favorite train was the silver amtrak.

 As always, the flowers were just beautiful.  They had a whole movie about how they grow these gorgeous poinsettias and I found it fascinating.

 Nonna and Nonno joined us, which made the whole thing even more fun.  I told Jack to go get Nonno at one point and he ran over to him with such excitement he almost fell over.  It was pretty darn sweet.

 I think we have gotten our money's worth out of this sweater Jack is wearing.  All three boys have worn it and I'm sad that they are growing so fast and I don't have a little boy to wear it next year.

I enjoy our family so much.  The years are just flying by.  Max is already to my shoulder and I realize that before I know it he will be a teen and how think a scavenger hunt at the garden is so much fun.  I'll just enjoy the present with them, because it truly is a gift.  Even if that is a ridiculously cheesy saying :)

Breakfast with Santa

I love this tradition we have created - every year we head down to St. Ambrose for mass and breakfast with Santa.  I love celebrating mass in the church we were married and Max was baptized.  It was also the church I would attend with my grandma when I was little.  Just walking through those giant doors fills me with a sense of peace.  Brian likes that mass is only 40 minutes rather than an hour an 10 like at St. Joe :)

 After mass we headed downstairs for breakfast.  It didn't seem nearly as crazy this year as in years past.  We were actually able to get a table and chat for a while without anyone hovering for our spots.

 After everyone was fed, it was time to go see the big guy in red!  Jack didn't cry this year, but he refused to look at Santa either.  It was pretty funny! If you look closely you can see him trying to peek out from between his fingers as he got a little more comfortable.

 I love this picture of my boys with my cousins.  The look on Jacks face as he peeks as his godfather just melts my heart.

All in all if was a pretty great morning - although William was being a bit of a stinker.  He pulled it together for our next outing though!  Can't wait to continue with fun celebration next year!

He's Back

 The boys were so excited to wake up on December 1st and see the Christmas traditions quilt on the wall.  Like last year, their first task was to read Elf on the shelf to see if Elfie would return.

Sure enough Friday morning they were greeted with this scene as they came down the stairs.

They were ridiculously excited!

 They all started to complete the fun tasks left in the calendar pockets.  They had to set up the nativity the other day.  They took such care setting it all out.  They made sure the wise men were far away from Mary and Joseph since they haven't' even begun their travels yet.  They also hid baby Jesus.  It was too cute.  Will put Jesus behind a picture of him on the shelf.  Max said it wan't fair that Jesus was just behind Will's picture.  So they agreed to hide our sweet one armed baby Jesus behind a picture of all three boys.

 This morning they didn't waste any time getting the job done - they had to hang the stockings by the chimney with care.

 Not so sure about the 'with care' part, but they are up and the house is starting to look a little bit like Christmas.  I love doing a little each day with the boys.  It's so much more fun than when we try to get it all done at once and it feels like a chore.  This way we are are enjoying every little bit :)

Two minutes after this picture was take Jack pulled his stocking down from the chimney and the holder conked him on the head.  I was just glad nothing broke - the hanger or Jack's head.  Will got all upset because his holder says Will and his stocking says William. He wants it to be the other way around.  Oh my.  Tomorrow we will work on hanging the outdoor lights.  Hopefully that one won't end in tears.

Sierra

Or as she is affectionately called in our household - Sierra-bo-berra - is our oh so sweet dog.  She is the kind of dog that makes non-dog people consider getting a dog.  She is calm, sweet, and affectionate.  She never snips and lets the boys climb all over her.  She doesn't car if they lat down and watch her eat.  She doesn't care if they hug her a little too tight.  She just soaks it in.

Unfortunately she won't be with us too much longer.  She was diagnosed with Lymphoma a little over a week ago.  We are giving her steroids to shrink her lymph nodes and hopefully keep the cancer from progressing as quickly.  In the meantime we are giving her lots of extra tender loving care - and canned dog food.

We are so grateful for the 11+ years she has been part of our family and we look forward to making the most of the time she has left.

Tropical Treasures

 We just love Max's music teacher. She does such amazing things with these kiddos!  We were totally impressed with Max's 1st grade musical, and his 3rd grade musical didn't disappoint either!

 The title was Tropical Treasures and it had a very Caribbean feel.  My favorite song was Day O.  It was a pleasure to watch.  Each child not only had a line or solo, but each class took turns playing one of the songs on the instruments.

Max was super proud of himself - and maybe a tiny bit nervous if we're being honest.  But he did a great job!

It helped that he had lots of family members cheering him on!  Dad had to go to Boston for work, but grandma, grandpa, nonna and nonno all made it to see his performance.

It was pretty much perfect :)