Merry Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas this year. It was nice and relaxing to be at home and stay in our jammies ALL day long. They boys loved all their gifts and spent the day blissfully quiet playing with them. Hmmm...maybe we should have Christmas more often. :) On Christmas Eve, I made an overnight breakfast casserole that I popped into the oven while we were opening gifts. It smelled so good. It is definitely a keeper and will be an annual Christmas morning breakfast for us.

Tanner was exceptionally excited about his M&M candy cane found in his stocking. So much so in fact, that he not-so-stealthily took Riley's M&M's as well. But he didn't stop there. Before we knew it, Tanner had amassed quite the pile of stolen goodies. 2-year old turned Christmas thief!

Riley got lots and lots...and lots of Legos. I love watching this kid open gifts because he gets so excited about each one. He did however inform us that the "M&M's" in his Christmas candy cane were not actually M&M's but rather "Hershey-ettes". Hmmm...to me they are all the same gross little candies so what does it matter? :)

For those of you who are wondering, this is Todd's brother, and no, there is nothing wrong with him. Apparently he just really loves gum. :)

This year I wanted jewelry and books...adolescent fiction books to be precise. Thanks to my sisters and Todd, I got just what I wished for. I loved them all!!!

Uncle Sean bought Todd's gifts from his parents and did an awesome job!!! He knew the perfect things to get. We're thinking of always hiring Sean to buy gifts for us. (He got me an awesome North Face hat too that I love!)

Ava got her token gift, which her big brother Riley was quick to help her open. :) She got some cute little bows and some pink leather shoes that she can't kick off.

The big gift was a big Geo Trax set that Todd had set up in the family room. Those tracks kept Tanner entertained for the entire day. It was awesome!!!

Then we had the traditional Christmas dinner: Honey-Baked ham, cheese potatoes, rolls, asparagus, and Martinelli's. It was delish!

Christmas Eve

We had so much fun on Christmas Eve! It was actually the rare occasion where things worked out how I thought they should. (Unlike our Christmas tree buying experience: freezing cold, Tanner running around like a mad-man, Riley having to go potty after being there for 2-seconds, Todd just grabbing the first tree he saw so we could get the @#!&* outta there...you know what I'm talking about!)

Anyway, back to the fun night. After dinner the boys got to open 2 gifts...a pair of pj's and a game. Tanner got Spill the Beans (which is totally not for anyone over 3 because it is WAY too easy to sabotage the other player!) Tanner, however, loved it. Riley got the iconic Chutes and Ladders. We tried playing it with Tanner, but he ended up being branded as the "Chutes and Ladders terrorist" and was relegated to playing Spill the Beans by himself...which he was perfectly content to do.

Uncle Ryan came to visit which made Christmas even better. It's hard to be so far away from family during the holidays, so we were so excited that he was willing to make the 8-hour trek from Dallas...again. He was just here for Thanksgiving which was only 3-weeks ago! Ryan is the perfect guest too because he absolutely raves about any food that I make. (I think he would think that a potato I stuck in the microwave would be amazing since he eats "bachelor" food and isn't really used to anything home made...but hey, I'll take it! :)

Incriminating Evidence

Case File: Register vs. Register

Defendant: Tanner Register
Plaintiffs: Mom and Dad
Crime: Public Endangerment and Indecent Exposure

Court Notes: Tanner allegedly took off his clothes, peeing and pooping on the floor of the family's dining room, endangering those who walked on said floor. Mom and Dad are seeking for justice. The court rules that Tanner be made to sit on a small potty until he learns to pee and poop in an appropriate place.

Church is Cancelled

We just got a call telling us that church is cancelled tomorrow due to the truck-load of snow we got dumped on us. I told Riley and he got SOOOO excited and told me how glad he was that there was no church. I asked him why, and he sighed a big sigh and said, "Because church makes me so boring mom." Oh dear! :)

Holy Eyes Batman

This isn't the best quality picture...because it is the start of a funny video clip...but I had to post it anyway. It just made me smile. Thanks to Todd, our kids have killer eyes!

 

Father Christmas

Father Christmas made an appearance at our Ward Christmas party...the woman who was in charge of the whole thing is European, just in case you were wondering about the terminology.

Riley was a little bit nervous. He asked me if that was the "real" Santa...I told him it wasn't, just a helper. He was a bit tentative going up there, but soon warmed up and whispered what he wanted in Santa's ear...no doubt the word "Lego" came up once or twice :)

Tanner totally cut to the front of the line when I was distracted and wasn't watching him. All of a sudden I hear, "Sara, Tanner is sitting on Santa's lap...get your camera!" Not so patient that one...nor does he have much fear. :)

Presents

Riley has been very sweet lately with giving presents. He makes little Lego creations and then tapes a box shut for your present. It says, "Frum Riley, Foor Daddy". The first picture is of Riley giving me my present...

 

And this is about 30 seconds after I opened it.

 

Kids.

And...we would like to point out that Riley gets to dress himself in whatever he wants for bed. He is one stylin kid!

Video From The Front Window...

I miss a lot of things about PA...but THIS is not one of them!!! :) You know there's a lot of snow when the snow plows get stuck!

Ava, Yet Again

A friend watched Tanner and Ava for me today so I could run to the post office...seriously, is there a worse place you could possibly take your kids?!?! Anyway, she snapped a few pictures. Isn't Ava just a beautiful little baby? :)

 

 

Copy-Cat

Tanner absolutely wants to do EVERYTHING that his older brother does. It is pretty funny...for now anyway. Here are some of examples:



When Ava starts to cry

Riley: Ava is crying! It's crier Ava!
Tanner: It's cries! Crahrees Ava!

OR

Riley: Oh, it's my little sister...
Tanner: It's Lister mom, Lister

The12-Days of Christmas

I heard this on the radio the other day...it's probably old news to most of you, but I had never heard it and thought it was hilarious. So, I thought I'd share for those of you who are radio clueless like I am.

The Biggest Stinker On The Block!

This picture is soo Tanner it's not even funny! He is a mischievous stinker...STINKER being the operative word. I am counting down the minutes to when Todd gets home from Taiwan. He owes me BIG time!!! 10-days with no sleep and plenty of poop is enough to do even the most stalwart of us in. Sheesh!!!

These duck pictures crack me up!

Just For Fun

Too bad her pants are all hiked up and she's sitting on a very vividly striped blanket! :) These pictures pretty much depict her little personality though. She is a very sweet little girlie.

 

 

 

 

Park Pictures

My friend April offered to take us to the park to take some pictures...with the hopes of getting a good Christmas card shot of the kids. The boys and Ava were NOT cooperating at all, but April has some mad skills and actually got some decent shots.

Santa's Transient Brother

Last night was the annual lighting of the Mayor's Christmas tree in Kansas City. The symphony chorus is always invited to sing, so off we went with Uncle Ryan to enjoy the festivities. While I was up singing away, a little old bum with a long white beard came up to Riley and Tanner. He got down really low and shook both of their hands and then stood up and walked away. After a minute of watching him walk away, Riley turned his head up towards Todd and said with a very confused, thoughtful voice, "Dad...was that Santa?"

Quote of the Day

Here is Riley's quote of the day:




"Hey mom, Airplanes are faster than cars and cars are faster than mice."

You are right kiddo. Glad I have him around to keep this all straight. :)

Little Ava-Girl

She is one sweet girl!

7-Weeks Old

Ava is 7-weeks old! Where has the time gone?!?! She is such a good little baby. She is almost always in a good mood, and almost always sleeps really well. We love her and are so glad she is in our little family. I guess starving to death for months and months was worth it! :)

New Moon

Okay, so we are all a bit obsessed with Twilight around here...some of us more than others. I've read the books and enjoyed them, though I don't think they were very well written. There's just something about Edward... :) Anyway, we all decided that for November's girls night we were going to see New Moon. We bought our tickets months ago and headed out last night. It was way better than Twilight! We had to laugh because when Jacob took his shirt off everyone in the audience oohed and aahed...but when Edward took his shirt off, you could have heard crickets in the theater. Eewwee!!! Where was that boys trainer before this movie started filming?!?! It was a fun night...despite the pasty, hair chest. :)

Tanner's Bonk

Poor Tanner. I was teaching piano lessons at a friend's house when I hear this terrible thud that made my stomache drop. The thud was followed by screams from little Tanner. I ran over to him and picked him up, thinking that it was nothing more than just falling off the chair he was sitting on. Then all the kids started saying that he there was lots of blood on the back of his head. Sure enough, there was blood dripping everywhere! Apparently on the way off the chair, he hit the handle of their fireplace door making a pretty big gash in the back of his head. Todd took him to the Er...along with Riley who wanted to stay by his brother's side...where Tanner had to get three staples to close up the wound. He got over the staples pretty darn quick and is back to his mischevious, crazy self. Seriously, I can't believe that we have lasted this long before a visit to the ER with this kid!