Christmas 2019!

Once the Christmas decorations and accessories came out the boys found Santa hats that fit and would sometimes wear them to bed.  For some reason I thought of the Elf on the Shelf - kids try to find the elf each morning . . . .Mike would check on the boys when he went to bed and sometimes they'd still have their hats on . . .so I'd take a picutre - Ralph's ended up on his bed lamp after a few days but Henry would continue to wear his intermittently. 

We visted the Lincoln Children's Zoo inaugural Zoo Lights earlier in December.  It was pretty amazing, peaceful, and calming.

Christmas Day!

We spent Christmas morning opening gifts at home . . . . . .Ralph received books, a candle making kit, and a 3D printer. Henry received books and games.

Then we opened at Grandma and Grandpa's (with Uncle Nick and Jenel too). . . more books mostly and a chromebook for each. . . . followed by a great traditional Christmas meal.

Henry: Celebrating 10 Years!

We have left the single digits ~ Henry has turned 10!  This seems like a momentous occasion.  Ten years old?!  Henry has always been my mystery child.  He is a quiet observer, not a big talker, and likes time to prepare/does not like quick changes of the schedule.  He is our lefty.  He is a great reader but prefers graphic novels.  He has a strong interest in greek mythology and wars - specifically World War II.

Henry particpates in wrestling and cub scouts where he is a Webelo I.  This will be his third season wrestling. In his spare time he likes playing Minecraft on the WiiU and creating buildings and structures and watching youtube.  Legos have taken a backseat in his play time for the most part though they are played with once in awhile.

Henry is wearing size 1.5 in shoes and size 8 pants and shirts.   He now has egg, sausage, and usually a chocolate chip protein pancake during the week - and sometimes french toast on one of the  weekend days.  He eats a hot lunch at school most days with a cold lunch 1-2 days each week.  Suppers, when not "forced" to eat a family meal, are usually a hot dog or a soft shell taco with hamburger, cheese, ranch, and dorothy lynch. Chicken nuggets seem to be a thing of the past.

We are still working on improving his handwriting. It seems we care more than he does.  Its just not the formation of his letter but the lack of spacing between words.  His stories would be more enjoyable to read if one could tell where the words begin and end.

Henry opted for a minecraft cake this year - apparently one can make a cake in minecraft and it looks similiar to this one.

Henry with his gifts before they were opened and the excitement is building.

 Henry enjoyed opening a bag of army men - see it in his eyes?!?

Henry with his many gifts - lots of books to read and games to learn!  

The first order of business when we got home from Grandma and Grandpa's was to battle! 

The day after his Birthday, there was a birthday party at Laser Tag.  Two games of laser tag, tokens for the games, and pizza . . what better way to spend less than two hours.

Fall Festivities / Halloween 2019

Our fall festivities were a bit quieter than some years.  We did visit Vala's Pumpkin Patch, carved pumpkins, and went trick or treating.  Between the boys' schedules and them wanting some down time we didn't try to do as much as we have done some years.

We visited Vala's during a school day off - the line was long to enter but luckily once inside everyone scatters enough its not that noticeable.  As we approached the big chair someone asked if we should do the photo in the big chair before the line got to long . . . yep.

From there we ventured to the egg blaster for awhile - a small attempt to escape the wind for awhile.

Then on to the Big Slide!

AND after awhile, across the bridge to the peddle carts where Henry did a lap by himself this year!

I think the camera angle throws off Ralph's height a bit - he isn't quite as tall as it appears though he is going through a growth spurt!

We squeezed in pumpking carving 3 days before Halloween.  Ralph and Henry carved more than they did last year.  They did add some "war wounds" after the finished photo was taken and I forgot to take another photo.

Halloween - the question turned into whether Ralph, being a sixth grader should go or not.  I think I put too much thought into it.  After some discussion and looking online he found a costume that spoke to him - Pikachu!  Henry was doobby, the house elf, again.

The didn't go as far around the development as they did last year - Ralph couldn't get a long stride in and shuffled a lot.  Henry may have just been cold but he really wasn't into it much.  At least one lady took a photo of Ralph.  His costume was a hit.