A friend posted a link on Facebook to create your own personalized snowflake. I thought it was so cool I did all of our names. You can actually watch the snowflake change shape as you enter letters!
The order:
- Jennifer – Owen
- Thomas – Katie
Category Archives: Friends & Family
Sweatshirt Twins
It was chilly in the house this morning (daddy was back to work so there was no one to turn the heat on in the morning) so I put the kids in their new hoodies from Grannie Lin and Papa! They’re definitely big enough to grow into—for both of them!
Emmet, Benny, and the Minions
Owen picked these new PJ pieces to wear tonight! Thanks, Gramma Jean!
The very last gifts!
There was unmatching wrapping paper under the tree so the kids were curious… Thank you Aunt Beth and Uncle Jim! Both were a huge hit! As Owen was opening his he saw it was a Magic School Bus item right away and commented that “MAGIC SCHOOL BUS IS SOOOO AWESOME!” Tom and I were both like Huh? What? How does he know what that is? (We still don’t know.)
Interesting sticker placement.
Gramma Jean got Katie a Disney sticker book and she had zero interest in it when she opened it. However, today she got it out on her own and I saw her doing this: taking out a sticker, slapping it on her chest, taking another sticker, slapping it on her chest… There was a huge stack there!
A real ballerina!
Katie wasn’t too excited when she opened the real ballerina outfit from Gramma Jean because there was too much other stuff going on…but when things calmed down a bit, she had to wear it!
Opening presents via Skype, part 3!
Tonight was presents with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!
The kids loved everything, but Katie really loved her Olaf hat and tea set (they’re having a tea party in the picture) and Owen picked the Magformers as his favorite! We ALL loved Owen’s MSU PJs and he was thrilled with his Lego Movie PJs, too!
Opening presents via Skype, part 2!
Today we opened presents from Grauntie Marge!
They got to see Katie dance around with her dolly in their new matching outfits (I didn’t get a picture of it because they were watching live and I can’t take pictures at the same time!).
And Katie loved her new Frozen sheets!
And Owen LOVED his Robot Turtles game. We watched some videos online about how to play, then we played, and after we put it away he kept running around the house playing a full-sized version. 🙂
Bouncy Birthday Party
Owen was invited to a birthday party of the twins in his class (the same family that gave Katie her black ballerina outfit a ways back). It was at a bouncy place that had glow-in-the-dark lights. Tom took him because (long story short) I was told Katie couldn’t participate. Tom said when he got there, Owen turned super shy…but quickly got into it and had a BLAST.
And here’s Owen racing up the slide! I made sure he wore a neon shirt so he’d really stand out! And action video!
Here’s the group:
And some of the boys from his class (Xander, Colton, and Manuel).
And then after the party, they stopped at Wendy’s for dinner!
Opening presents via Skype!
It’s at times like this that I love technology!
Silly kids and a loose tooth!
Owen’s front tooth is SOOOO loose that we keep telling him to just pull it out. At dinner we talked about how the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay for teeth that fall out and can’t be found (like if he accidentally swallowed it). I told him I would match what the Tooth Fairy gave him last time if he pulled it out tonight. Uncle Rob promised him FIVE dollars if it came out tonight. Owen REALLY wanted the $5, but as it turns out, he didn’t want it bad enough to pull put his tooth.
Roughhousing with Uncle Rob
Reading with Grandma
Watching Frozen with Grandma
I had a few errands to run so Katie stayed home with Grandma and she wanted to watch Frozen. It was Grandma’s first time and probably Katie’s 25th time.
Hair Brushing
Grandma got Katie some ponies that come with their own brushes to brush their huge manes and tails. Well, Katie immediately took to brushing her own hair with it…as well as anyone else who would let her. Tonight, she wanted HER hair brushed and I was busy reading with Owen, so Uncle Rob took over. 🙂
And then she wanted to brush his hair which was a bit more difficult. 🙂
Taking turns flying Uncle Rob’s Christmas present.
They tried it in the house first—and it worked a little, but really needed more space. 🙂
Christmas with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob!
We celebrated Christmas this morning because Owen was home from school…due to ongoing constipation issues (he had been heavily medicated but NOTHING was happening and I hadn’t wanted to send him to school just in case).
She LOVED her princess tutu, crown, and wand! After about 10 minutes, we were all tired of the wand because it lit up AND made noise! (The crown lights up, too, but thankfully doesn’t make noise!)
Uncle Rob helped Owen with the Legos after Owen got stuck and I tried and gave up. 🙂
Stockings from Grandma!
The kids were itching to open all the presents they saw Grandma and Uncle Rob bring in, but it was a little late in the evening…so we just let them open the stocking stuff.
Katie LOVES Yoda!
My ornament hanger!
Katie LOVES hanging ornaments on the tree! As it happens, we’ve actually received a few ornaments since we initially decorated the tree, so she’s gotten to hang a few. This one today came from Grannie Lin and Papa and she had to run right to the tree to hang it! She does a pretty good job, too!
And a closeup of the Michigan ornament. I think the UP has grown since we’ve last been there. 🙂
Love a Grandma!
CHUCK E. CHEESE!!
Owen has wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for quite some time now. Neither Tom nor I wanted to go because the food really sucks and it’s just a money pit. So, we told Owen that he could go when Uncle Rob came down (that way it would be seen as a super special treat and he wouldn’t ask us to go all the time). He was actually very good about being patient—it’s probably been over a year that we’ve been telling him this.
So when we learned that Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob were going to be here this week, Owen knew what was going to happen! And boy was he exited!
Me: So who’s all going to Chuck E. Cheese?
Owen: Me and Uncle Rob.
Me: Just you and Uncle Rob? Not daddy?
Owen: No! Daddy, too. But not Grandma or you or Katie. Just the three boys!
The plan was to take separate cars to see Santa and then the boys would go to the restaurant and the girls would go home. I figure why get Katie excited about it when she really didn’t care to start with. I did, however, make Tom promise to take pictures. 🙂
These are the two pics Tom texted me.
I really really hoped he had taken more than that…and he had! 🙂 I saw these when he got home.
His $45 “prize”—a Dory fish from Finding Nemo.
Yes, they spent about $45 total on food, drinks, and games…and he only got a trinket worth about 49¢. It was a great lesson…we asked him if he’d rather have the little fish or a big Lego set. He obviously choose the Lego set. He was surprised that he could have had something so big instead of something so small. We said it was okay to go and play games and have fun, but it was really expensive so that’s why it was a super special treat that we didn’t do very often. He said from now on he’d rather have the Legos. 🙂
Santa Visit (Fail) 2014
I didn’t want to wait in any long lines so after requesting advice from a local facebook group, we decided to visit the Santa at the new Gander Mountain. Both kids hadn’t been able to stop talking about seeing Santa and they were SUPER excited leading up to the day…until we actually saw him, at which point neither kid wanted ANYTHING to do with him. Owen hid in a clothes rack and Katie begrudgingly got carried up by daddy. (And this is precisely why I didn’t want to spend any amount of time waiting in a line.)
This was their best shot. Not too bad. It was actually neat—they took the picture with an iPad and then emailed it to you right then and there.
After Katie was done, Owen decided he wanted to try again…so we tried to get them both on Santa’s lap. Ha. Ha ha. This time, Owen was pretty good, but Katie was still being a poop. This is the best one they got.
This was the best one I managed to get. Good times!
Then they had a green screen photo shoot and this is the background Owen picked:
Then the girls headed out to Target while the boys went on their super special trip to Chuck E. Cheese!!
We got our family photo!
Before heading out to see Santa, we had Uncle Rob take a few shots. Amazingly, the very first one was the winner! We hadn’t even tried to get Maggie in it, but she jumped right up!
I don’t love myself in it, but since everyone—including the dog!!—is actually looking at the camera with eyes open and mostly smiling faces…I consider it a win!
Owen’s Good Character Award
So I was sitting at home minding my own business when I got this text from our neighbor:
BIG CONGRATS TO OWEN!
Wait, what?! He got a good character award and no one told us?!?! I was PISSED. There was no email, no note in his daily folder, nothing. And Tom was actually home and we ALL could have been there!
I know in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal, but he gets SO excited when we’re there and he would have been over the moon about this. I actually momentarily had thought about just going (since I go on random Fridays), but this morning was a bit crazy as there was someone supposed to be here working on the garage so we were waiting and waiting but then they canceled…
So, I was happy that at least she was there and grabbed a few shots for me…but I literally wanted to cry because we missed it. 🙁
I sent a quick email to the teacher asking why we hadn’t been told in advance. (Past awardees have been alerted via email so precedent has been set, otherwise I wouldn’t think twice about it.) I am sure it’s just my bad luck. 🙁
But…YAY OWEN! 🙂
Katie takes flight!
We had a MOPS get together at Flight, a trampoline park (the same one Owen went to recently for a birthday party). She LOVED it—as if there was any doubt. 🙂
There was one tiny accident at the end where another little girl slid down the trampoline and apparently ran over Katie’s finger. Both were crying but Katie was over it in about a minute. 🙂
It’s a little expensive (we had a group discount today) but we’ll definitely go back. 🙂
Owen and Sauce
Our friend Sheryl brought each of the kids their own owl pillow (from the home goods company she works for). Owen deemed them Apple and Sauce so that when they’re together, it’s applesauce. When he got into bed tonight he had to have Sauce. 🙂
The guys just couldn’t power through.
Housewarming Party!
Prepping the bar!
My Andrew!
The kitchen table ended up being the center of the party. We definitely need a bigger kitchen AND a bigger table! 🙂
Skyping with a good friend who couldn’t make it!
About 1/3 of the food that we had. Which was way too much. 🙂
The sign comes out! I gave the background story and told them that since he’s five, you know even if I HAD tried to tell him to do it he would have likely screwed it up, so it had to have been completely random! Everyone LOVED it!
The only two guests who weren’t Tivo peeps—our realtor (who helped us find this house) and her friend “Moral Support.” 🙂 They got along with everyone and had a good time!
I learned later that they were making fun of my pantry labeling—this ketchup was the “LAST ONE.” 🙂
Maggie got along with everyone and actually wasn’t too much of a pain!
Charlie was right in the thick of things, too. I know she’s the people person cat, but we didn’t think she’d stick around with 25 loud people…but she did. She was in the middle of it for the most part…and didn’t mind the attention! 🙂
Amy wanted to steal the kids’ minion backpack.
Those of you who know…KNOW what this box means!
Rivals…on the chair of truth. I’m not quite sure how it got called that, but by the end of the night it was THE name and probably half the people had been in it. 🙂
The kids came home from the sitter’s at 8 and stayed up for a bit since there was just so much going on it was way too exciting to go to bed. 🙂
One of the many, many things I never saw happen until I was looking at other people’s pictures!
The night was pretty much wrapped up by 10:30 or so, with most of the major cleaning done and the last people leaving about 11 (gone are the days when we were partying hard until 2am!). 🙂
We agreed the party was a great success! There was too much food, lots of laughs, and lots of wine…and no one got hurt and nothing got broken! There was one red wine spill at the very end of the night, but considering how many people were drinking and sloshing red wine glasses it could have been lots worse many times over.
And we can’t wait to do it again!
Housewarming Party–Prep
Morning relaxing…Eddy was encroaching on what Maggie thinks is her new bed. 🙂
So this just blew. my. mind. Owen apparently brought this home from school Friday—just a completely random art project they did. But the letters? TCF? The abbreviation for the Tivo forum where we all met and how we have always referred to the group! I asked Owen how he came up with those letters. No reason, he liked them. He knows NOTHING of TCF. He knows the word Tivo, of course, and knew we had Tivo friends coming, but we have NEVER said or mentioned TCF in any capacity. I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!? I decided right then that we would have to incorporate it into the party later!
Katie said she wanted to help…until she actually stuck her hands in the bowl and got flour on her. That was all she wrote.
Eddy finishing mixing the sausage balls!
Mark and Karen are BIG Ohio State fans so there’s a loving rivalry between them and Tom, of course being an MSU fan. And the MSU-OSU game was going to be on the night of the party! They had stopped at our house to say hello and as they were leaving, Tom slapped the Sparty S magnet on the back of their car! 🙂
Housewarming Weekend—La Tasca
My Tivo friends all promised they’d come to our housewarming—and they came through! Eddy flew in from Florida, Sheryl drove down from New York (as seen in the last post!), Amy and Bill drove down from New Jersey (not seen below), Mark and Karen drove over from Ohio, and multiple people came in from around the entire metro DC area!
Tonight we went out to dinner at La Tasca, a delicious tapas place. I had never done tapas but I’m a convert now (it’s great for large parties because you all get to try a little bit of everything).
Our gnomes got to hang out with an old friend.
Our sangria flights. YUM.
Just pretending, but I really could have drank that entire thing with a straw. It was GOOD.
The whole group!
