nye cont...

I completely love that in many ways, the little boy inside Ryan is still very alive and in touch with what speaks to our little guy. So without hesitation, the annual tradition of setting off fireworks out of our front door on NYE was another hit! Dare still can't decide if he's afraid or just a bit jumpy (or maybe some of both), but he loves helping in lighting them, but then runs inside. And, we all know where Bogey is every year...under our bed... begging for us to quit scaring the fur right off of his body! That lil 10.5 lb pup can shake better than any living creature I know!!!

All in all, it would not be New Year's Eve without the blasts, booms, and colors, and I'm so glad that Ryan continues to keep the child-like innocence alive in all of us. I tell him he's my favorite husband ever. And it's true❤️

caught + nye pancake challenge

I caught the kids playing the other night. Another heart melt for sure!

 

And, (THANK you YouTubeKids)  before we could even think about consuming daddy's delicious, well planned out, thoughtful, romantic, and loving NYE meal, we HAD to do the pancake challenge that Dare had been "planning to do with mom all day long"... waiting and waiting for her to get home from work. So, first things first, we made the pancakes: a pen, a cake, a pumpkin, a pair of scissors, and a dog...

paws

Bogey got an impression ornament kit for Christmas. Dare wanted to make his "paw" impression into an ornament too. 

silence means trouble

I knew he was up to something when it got all too quiet all of a sudden. This time is was lip gloss for face paint. 

christmas day

Christmas was a success! Dare was happy, Bogey was not forgotten by Santa, and mom and dad were in pure joy watching the magic unfold through our child's eye. There's nothing better than celebrating Christmas with a child (or 2). 

I love the form thank you note that Dare wrote so that he could send it to each individual who shared some Christmas love with him! It's too frustrating trying to get him to write individual cards, so I decided this year to have him do one, make color copies, and then just write their names at the top and the mail it off! 

christmas eve

Christmas Eve:

Dare and sis played today, and as part of the fun they helped make and frost Santa's cookies. As usual, Dare was over the moon excited to leave the cookies and milk for Santa, and the carrots for the reindeer. Additionally, this year he was fixated on the idea of setting a trap for 🎅, which incorporated some kind of string and rigged up bells, so that when he slid down the chimney, and came inside, the bells would jingle SO loud, they would wake Dare, and he'd be able to "catch him in the act"! 🤣 

**The next morning Santa's thank you note to Dare for having left treats for them all included a little "You sneaky boy!  You almost caught me, but not quite!" 

christmas at st. olaf's

We're so proud of Dare. He was the best little angel, in the cutest Christmas program we've ever seen! ♥️

elf

I took the kids to this performance on Sat morning. It was cute, well done, well casted, and a bit too lengthy. I'll give it 4.5 stars!!

westward

We may or may not have had a little fun out west over the weekend! A much needed break for this mama...that's for sure!!

just sayin...