Christmas (Times Five)….

Yes, we were busy this holiday – so busy that I didn’t really get a chance to get great pics at all of the parties we went to! 

Kole Christmas – this was the first of the holiday parties – with Scott’s dad’s side of the family….held at ‘the clubhouse’ (I think Owen thinks Mickey lives there)…here are all the cousins getting ready to tear into their presents… Syd got a baby with a bottle and she was very concerned the rest of the night about making sure she was feeing her baby! Owen got a lego boat and even had to bring it to bed that night! 

we had a fun time with family that night, pigging out on snacks and food and letting the kids run wild….scott took the wheelchair from the lobby and gave syd a ride around on it….she was sooooo excited!!  notice her haphazard outfit?  well, she wet through her cute little outfit and of course I came unprepared, so didn’t have a change of clothes with me for her….but, then scott remembered that i had some random clothes that she had grown out of in my car…so we came up with a pair of capri leggings and some legwarmers….it did the trick! 

Party #2 was with the Reifsnyders…the kiddos had so much fun together..they loved sitting on the little step together! 

handing out presents!   

The next party was the VI Christmas – with scott’s mom’s side of the family….all of the ‘cousins’ opening their gifts

Here are the boys in Lego-central – putting together all of their fun lego sets!

and silly little sydney 

the next party was the “Happy Birthday Jesus” party that we were invited to!  Jen and some friends put everything together and invited their friends and fam – they rented out the gym at church and the kids just had a BALL running around….

 

Reading the story of Baby Jesus’ birth….

 

Eating birthday cake….they also had crafts and things set up for the kids to do!  So important to us to make sure the kids understand the true meaning of Christmas and this was such a great way to do it!  Thanks so much for having us, guys! :)

And party number five was ‘playgroup’ party…even though i don’t get to bring the kiddos to playgroup – since its during the day, i still know most of the moms and their kids and it worked out great to take the day off to spend with my kiddos and bring them to hang out with some friends for the morning!  We all had a great time! thanks for having us Nichole!  :) 

…Deck the Halls, and Other Holiday Happenings…

 

The kids both had so much fun this year helping us decorate the Christmas tree!

Owen LOVED going through the box of ornaments and looking at each one and asking TONS of questions about what it was, where it came from etc….and Syd helped him out!

This was his favorite ornament…the little boy with the banjo…. :)

Told you…he LOVED it!

SO stinkin’ excited to put the star on the top!!

The final product…

The day we put up the tree, we decided to decorate cookies too!!! Gran got us lots of supplies, including frosting, food coloring, and TONS of sprinkles, plus some ‘Nilla Wafers…which worked out perfectly for the kids to decorate cookies on a smaller scale…

Licking off the frosting….she knows what she likes!! :)

These next two pics of Syd are soooo cute – she was just so excited about the tree the next day when she woke up…

And these are just tooo precious not to share!

(yes, they are holding hands! ) the sweetness melts my heart!

and then there was Santa….owen wasn’t too sure about it to begin with, but he did ok…here he is handing his car to santa – it was santa’s attempt to get Owen to come a little closer to him, but notice Owen wasn’t going to get even an inch closer than he needed to! Then he warmed up enough for a high five! And knuckles (Santa blew it up…lol….) And that was the extent of the santa pics…Syd was a little monkey with her knees CLAMPED to my side….oh well, Santa isn’t really what this time of year is about anyway!

Had to include this pic of Syd – this was after seeing santa…she wanted to ride on Papa’s shoulders and I put her mittens on her because it was pretty chilly outside….and she just holds her hands out like this once her mittens are on…all.the.time…..funny girl!

Lots more of our Christmas fun to come…

Winter Fun

Even though winter can get long, we try to make the best of it, and try to get out from time to time….over Christmas break, we took the kiddos to Deanna’s Playhouse…they had a blast! 

Owen LOVED the grocery store and scanning stuff for all of the other kids! 

Loretta and Henry were there too!  and they even sat still for a few minutes for a ride in the wagon!

Syd sat in the middle of the floor ‘pouring’ coffee creamer into my coffee cup forever!  she was so focused!

It was their New Year’s party day – so they had some fun crafts to make too!

Even though we try to get out, we also spend quite a bit of time at home, especially during the week, since its hard to do much of anything once we get home from ‘school’, with a 7:00 bedtime! 

so these two cuddle quite a bit together and with us….the other day, Owen insisted in giving Syd her milk before her nap….soooooo sweet!  

Syd can have herself a great ol’ time with a box of kleenex…on this particular night, owen was busy helping me put together a shelving unit for the living room, so she just plopped herself down  on the chair and started making a little fortress of wadded up tissues…kept her QUITE content until we were finished building!

Here’s O helping mom! 

This pic is not too clear, but soooo sweet! the kids each got rolling backpacks for christmas and they were a hit!  they keep themselves SO busy just pulling them around together!  Owen will bring his to school sometimes and ‘shares’ with syd and the two of them walk down the hall together pulling it together; its got to be just about the most adorable thing i’ve ever seen!

….And little miss Syd is also getting very self sufficient and wants to do EVERYTHINg by herself…she just looks so sweet on the stool brushing her teeth by herself!  I love the fact that she has one shoe off for some reason….

The kiddos (and moms) also like to get together with friends and we’ve done that from time to time during weekends too – Syd LOVES ‘ON-RHEA’ (Henry) and Owen LOVES ‘No-Retta’

I also experimented with Syd’s hair and got some little rubber bands, and her hair is JUST long enough to make little piggy tails….you can’t see it great here, but it was the best pic i had of them….SO SWEET! she looks so grown up!

No reason in particular for this pic other than its just so stinking cute and so ‘Sydney’ – runnin around in her diaper with her little boots on…little stinker!  

Early in December, Great Grandma and Grandpa Kole rented out the Aquatic Center for the family as an early Christmas present….the kids were SO excited and so were we!  We invited Kelly, Steve and Julia along and everyone had such a great time that GGma and GGpa are renting it out again in Feb! 

 

Syd was most content either being held or playing with some buckets in the shallow area

but she tried out the tire swing too!  (its a fave of hers at school, and even more fun in the water!) clockwise thats syd, Justyce (hiding behind), Kenz and Julia….

Owen was a little dare devil and loved running through the water with Uncle Paul….that smile on his face is just priceless! 

Now that it finally snowed enough to play in, we took the kiddos out one night after school and they both had a pretty fun time (owen probably more than syd)….

Syd got a rid on owen’s new sled – and thought that was FUN (and thanks to papa for making a non-pullable sled into a pullable one with the help of a ratchet strap!)

Syd had a lot more fun once we let her play with her shovel and bucket…she just sat on a little snow pile and shoveled the majority of the time we were out there so contently!  Owen got some fun rides around and helped papa shovel the driveway…then we headed inside to warm back up!

…..and with that….. Syd will sign off by saying ‘bye and stay tuned for LOTS MORE blog posts!'