Christmas at home

Christmas morning the boys were up nice and early to see what Santa had left under the tree.  Santa had also left a little present for each of them under the little tree they had in their room.  That kept them happy until almost 7am.  Andy was the good parent that went downstairs and made breakfast and coffee so we could gather our strength for some present opening.  First up, the stockings.  Each kiddo got a DVD, toy and some candy in those.  The under-the-tree presents came next.

Cale and Marcus with matching presents.

Liam with his Big Boots.

opening a dinosaur toy

Ewan and a DS game

Ewan has been asking for a big Buzz Lightyear for probably 3 years now.  Santa finally decided to bring him one.  I think the smile on his face says it all.

Kella woke up later than the boys.  I'm not too sure if she was totally aware of what was going on.  The boys were excited for her to open her presents.  It took her a little bit to get into the first one-a little dog that makes noise and moves around.

And, she was done after that.  Didn't care what other present there were for her.  Didn't want to open anything else.  Just wanted to play with that dog.  Drove the boys nuts that she didn't want to open other gifts.  They were very generous and offered to open Kella's presents for her.  She eventually decided to see what else Santa brought.

Cale and Marcus trying out their new skateboards.  Thankfully, it was nice enough out they could go outside and do that.

Playing with some bey blades.  Kella is a big fan of watching the action.

Christmas Eve at home

Christmas Eve was an exciting day at our house.  That morning, we took the kids for a swim at the YMCA-might as well occasionally use our membership.  The afternoon brought gingerbread shape baking with Andy.    That evening, we went over to our neighbors' house for dinner, conversation and a Christmas movie for the kids.  The boys were so excited, I even got them to change their sheets before bedtime.  They picked out snacks for Santa and the reindeer-hence the orange and grapes.  Then they went to bed.

Santa and his reindeer enjoyed eating the snacks.

The kids hang their stockings on door knobs throughout the downstairs instead of over the fireplace.  A couple reasons:  our television is on top of the fireplace so there is not room for stocking holders, I would hate for chocolate candy in the stocking to be melted by the fireplace

The presents wrapped and under the tree.  I like to use Santa Claus wrapping paper on their Santa presents.  I have to say that Santa did a great job this year of buying presents a little bit at a time since July and was ready to go a couple days before Christmas.  First time that Santa wasn't feeling panicked heading into December. I love doing all this prep work for my kids to enjoy their Christmas morning.  

basketball update from Jan 5th

Saturday saw the start-up of basketball games for the boys, Ewan included.  He was so excited to play a game just like his brothers.

The first game of the day was Cale's.  Cale played hard against a team that his friend was on.  Cale scored 12 points, shot the ball like the coach wanted him to, made lay-ups, made rebounds, dribbled the ball pretty well and had a couple steals.  If Cale's team had another player that played like Cale, they would probably win.  As it was, they came away with a loss 18-33.

Ewan and Marcus played at the same time.  Andy took Cale with him to be his "assistant", since his assistant coach was out of town.  A tweaked rotation helped balance the skill level of players on the court.  They came so close to a win, and actually led for most of the game.  Final score 34-37.  Bummer.  But, Andy is seeing improvement in some of the players and the kids are not coming away discouraged from the game.

Ewan's game was entertaining to watch.  The ref that works the little kid games is so nice and really works hard to not only ref the game, but teach the players the rules of the game, too.  He would stop the player every time they traveled and have them pass the ball.  He would tie shoe laces that came undone.  So nice.  Thank goodness for a running clock.  Most of these little folks don't have much of a clue and it will be interesting to see how they develop through the next 2 months.  Ewan was excited to play and did a good job trying to stick to the man he was guarding.  He also did a good job dribbling the ball down the court.  He did take several shots, but he needs a little more "umph" behind the shot to get the ball over the rim and into the basket.  He team won 18-14, mostly in part to a little man who must have learned how to do a lay-up as soon as he could walk.  Ewan is already excited for his next game.

playing catch-up: Liam's Christmas program

Liam's preschool Christmas program was way back on the 18th.  He did great and was excited to participate.  We barely made it on time, due to a miscalculation of the start time of the program and the actual time we would have to leave our house.  But, we just made it and they waited for us to get there.The preschool teachers are so creative with the decorations on the stage and the costumes they make for the kids.  Every year, its a little different.  Each group was dressed up like different toys.  Liam's class was toy drummers and rag dolls. 

Here's Liam, on the end

My videographer.  Once again, Andy was unable to make the performance.  Don't worry, I'm sure we have some awesome footage to view later. 

Liam, in the center of this photo

A shot of most of the preschoolers.

Liam, getting into the hand movements.

Afterwards, Santa made an appearance and Ewan got to talk with him again.  This time, he asked for a race car.  Nothing too big for Ewan!  Then we had some cookies and punch and the kids ran around in the gym for a little bit.  I got to talk to a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time.  It was nice to catch up.  After this program, we were done with holiday/music programs for the fall.  Spring semester should just bring Ewan's kindergarten program and Liam's spring program.

time for a Butler basketball game

One of our goals this year was to take the kids to a basketball game at Butler.  Thanks to Andy's connections, we got free tickets-so nice with as many people as we have.  The game was December 22nd against Evansville.  The only catch was that we had to split up-4 seats in one spot, 2 in another.  They actually weren't that far apart and we could have gotten together to sit after the first half.  Andy took Kella, Marcus, Cale and Ewan.  I had some one on one time with Liam.  A bag of candy to pass around made the game go more smoothly for those with shorter attention spans.  

Liam watching the game.  It was pretty warm, as you can tell by his rosy cheeks. 

Our view of the court.

The game was a good game.  Butler vs. Evansville.  You would think that being ranked and having beaten the #1 team in the country (IU), that Butler would have had this game in the bag.  Surprisingly, it was a close game.  Butler pulled away in the second half for a little while and people started to leave.  Then, Evansville came within 4 points of tying the game.  All those people getting ready to leave decided to stand there and see what would happen.

Liam didn't care.

Butler won!

My attempt of a photo of Andy and the kids in Hinkle Fieldhouse.  Not too shabby looking of a group.  I especially like how Ewan is giving himself bunny ears.

karate awards

Over Christmas break, the boys had an awards ceremony for karate.  They've been attending class now for about a year and a half.  Everyone gets an award, even the students that have just started.  Each of the boys was excited to get a new patch to wear on their gi.

The senseis 

Ewan-junior leader award

Marcus-STORM team award ("Special Team Of Role Models")

Cale-SWAT team award ("Special Winning Attitude Team")

Liam was jealous that everyone was getting an award except him.  He kept inching his way to the front, hoping his would be the next name they called.  When they didn't, he said, "Hey, what about me."  Mr. Phifer was so nice to pull out an extra awards certificate and present it to Liam.  Liam was super-excited to be included with the other students.

the new badges

New

A new baby for the new year!
Due 6/7/13.