"Not My Gumdrop Buttons!!"

We finally got around to decorating the gingerbread men that I baked (and froze) weeks ago. Can anyone guess which boy decorated each cookie?

The candy thief even had the audacity to snake some
frosting during my brief photo shoot! Hmmph!

And the day after Christmas...

With the exception of three meals and a quick trip to Target, this is what the buddies were up to today. I think Santa must know them pretty well.




PS - Thanks for the cool shirts, Me-Mom! :) :)

Christmas Day

Santa was certainly good to the buddies this year. Our big day started with a bang (and a big scream) when Ben awoke to find his eyes sealed shut with pink-eye gunk. What a day for that to happen! He was sure glad after he pried them open, as Santa had brought a new train table and set it up in the playroom. The buddies didn't even make it downstairs for breakfast or to see their stockings and other goodies for a good hour. And even after we did coax them down the stairs, Ben looked around at the presents and announced that he was going back upstairs to play with the train table. We spent the rest of the day opening presents between train table sessions. Ace was a little more game about unwrapping and was able to take on all the joint gifts while his brother glued himself to the train table.

Today, the day after Christmas, we are busy playing with all the toys. They also received scooters (Ace loves his and is quite skilled on it), a big Shrek (for Ben, who loves the green ogre), Ernie (for Ace, who is a fan), and tons of great educational toys from Me-Mom. More packages arrived today, so we'll have another present-opening session when Daddy comes home from work.

Below are a few pictures from the big day:

Ace and Ben's loot.

Ace, opening a gift from Me-Mom. Notice he is in regular clothes, not his Christmas jammies, as he insists on getting dressed immediately in the morning. No lazing around for this kid!

Ben, opening Clarabel.

An interesting tidbit: Each boy received one of Thomas' two coaches (Ace - Annie, Ben - Clarabel). They are almost identical, except Annie faces forward and Clarabel faces backwards. Each boy can distinguish one from the other (I cannot, unless I read the names) and adamantly prefer the one they were given. I'm am often amazed at how they distinguish between many of the similar trains in the series, but this one blows my mind a bit.

And last...our Christmas card wreath.
It's a bit garish and has taken over the front door, but we love looking at all our little friends. Our fridge couldn't hold them all last year so we had to try a new solution.

Christmas, Part 1

What a fun day we had yesterday! Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Carlee, Uncle Mike, and Cousin Michael visited our house to celebrate an early Christmas. The day was filled with family time, good food, presents, cookies, games, tickles, and lots of hugs. I suspect that when the buddies wake in a few hours to find an empty, quiet house, they will be disappointed.

Hyper Dash - a fun game if you need a last minute gift!

Even Grandpa played!

One Sugar High and One Big Mess

The buddies and I have been busy creating our holiday traditions. Yesterday, we decorated a gingerbread house and I was sure it would be an awesome experience that we'd want to repeat again and again. I'm not so sure now, but I definitely learned a few things from our first attempt.

1) Decorate after a meal. Duh! I don't know why I let the kids go at it right after they awoke from their nap. I handed Ben his bowl of candy and his eyes widened - he's never been given that much candy in his entire life. He ate and ate and ate, occasionally putting a piece on the house. When I finally clued in and took the bowl away, he ran around the kitchen in a big circle yelling, "I go! I go! I go!" He was wound up! And an hour later he only ate three bites of dinner.

2) Ration out the candy before hand and then put the rest out of sight. Again, duh! Ace, who does not have a sweet tooth, is a dumper. And he is very into doing everything by himself. So, while Ben was putting away more candy than he normally eats in a year, Ace was grabbing the bags of M&M's and gumdrops and candy canes and dumping them into his bowl and then Ben's, saying, "I do myself". There was candy everywhere (except on the house).

The good news is our house looks pretty good. Gingerbread houses are apparently very forgiving of small artists. Our house may not be a masterpiece, but it is certainly festive. The buddies couldn't wait to show Daddy when he got home.

Three Parties in Three Days

In the past three days, the buddies have attended three parties. On Sunday, they attended our neighbor's birthday party. On Monday, they had a Christmas party at preschool. And today, we joined our twin playgroup for a Christmas party, potluck, and gift exchange. I better come up with something exciting to do tomorrow, as they have come to expect a bunch of fanfare lately.

Ace, opening his Dr. Seuss book.

Ben chose a Dr. Seuss book as well.

Brrrr! A Chilly Party at the Amusement Park

Our neighbor and little friend turned four this week and invited the buddies to his birthday party. I have to say, I am glad our boys were born in April, since the thought of planning a birthday party amidst all the other holiday happenings might send me over the edge. But, we were more than happy to join our little friends at Kiddie Acres for the big celebration. The buddies love riding the rides there but before today had only been during the summer months. The crowds were much lighter today - only those attending little Will's party dared such an outing today, since the temperature was in the low 40's and we had 20 mph winds. Brrr! The parents huddled for warmth during the party but the kids barely seemed to notice. The birthday boy even declared that he did not want to wear his coat over his awesome Peter Pan costume but was visibly shivering.

For the first time ever, our buddies took a turn on the pony rides. The lines are usually too long for us, but they were not today, of course. They thought they were hot stuff on the little equines. They enjoyed all the rides, especially the train, ate some birthday cake, and then headed off to cheer for Daddy at his soccer game.

A funny note from the game: When the first goal was scored on Steve, the goalie, Ace said, "Oh no, Daddy! Daddy's so sad!" Even though his team lost 6-2, the buddies shouted, "Yea! Daddy did it! Great job!" after the game. Daddy couldn't be sad for long with such sweet fans.

Santa's Train

The mall is usually the last place you'll find me when there are just 12 shopping days left until Christmas. Our presents are wrapped and under the tree or traveling to various places across the United States. But, yesterday, I learned about a train at one of Austin's malls that the buddies just couldn't miss out on.



We arrived as the mall opened and the line to see Santa Claus was already 25+ families long. Thank goodness we took care of that before Thanksgiving. We met our triplet friends, (a.k.a. "the fearsome threesome"), in front of the train station and loaded onto the ride. Our kids enjoyed four laps around Santa and we even got a few bonus laps when the train had to stop to let a terrified, screaming child off. Don't let the buddies' serious expressions fool you - they loved the train ride. They are just very serious about their trains and sat on their bottoms enjoying the ride.

*Almost* Real People

Steve and I have been having the same conversation a lot lately. We are amazed that the buddies are almost real people now. We've taken most of the baby gates down to give them the ability to roam free around the house. They tell us what they want instead of throwing tantrums (and usually accept it if it is something they cannot have). When something hurts, they tell us and ask us to fix it. We have very basic, yet real conversations with them. Best of all, we are almost ready to ditch our stroller when we go out in public. After spending the last 2 1/2 years of my life practically attached to their heavy, bulky duo-glider, I won't be sad to pass it on to another family.

This morning, the buddies and I made a trip to Costco to buy some items for our Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve parties that are quickly approaching. As we completed our shopping trip, we stopped for our usual 1/2 pound hot dog and soda (for just $1.50!) at the snack stand. Instead of making them eat strapped into the cart, we decided to sit at the tables and eat, like "real people". They loved it and sat very nicely. And they took turns drinking our lemonade, passing it back and forth, saying, "Ace's turn!" and "Ben's turn!". I enjoyed my nice lunch date with my two handsome boys (although they don't have the nicest table manners yet - check out Ace, stuffing his hot dog in his mouth).